Pentecost 5 Sunday Order of Service
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
PENTECOST 5 Coronavirus
07-05-2020 10:00AM Worship
(Welcome / Greeting by the Pastors)
THE OPENING RITE:
L Come, all you who carry heavy burdens, and Christ will give you rest.
For he is gentle and humble in heart; and in him you will find rest for your souls.
Are you looking for relief and release this morning?
C O Lord, we confess to you and to our brothers and sisters that we are tired and weighed down by the mistakes we have made, even in our closest relationships.
We have sinned against You and against one another.
The good that we want to do, we often fail to do.
The evil we do not want, we find ourselves doing.
Who will rescue us from our sin? We know of no other solution to try, no other savior to turn to. Amen.
L The good news of our faith is this: God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.
As tender as a loving parent to child, so gentle is God with us.
As high as heaven is above the earth, so vast is God’s love for us.
As far as the east is from the west, so far God removes our sin from us.
Jesus Christ (+) invites you and embraces you, offers you rest and forgiveness, and gives you a second chance. Amen.
PRAYER OF THE DAY:
Almighty God, here we are, flesh and blood, spirit and life – created, redeemed, and empowered by your love!
Give us peace and give us rest, especially in those moments when we feel so weak and unworthy.
Then direct us as we extend Christ’s comfort and compassion to a heavy-burdened world. Amen.
SONG SELECTION
FIRST READING: ZECHARIAH 9:9-12 [Hope grounded in God. No matter the present, the future is full of promise!]
9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
9:10 He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9:11 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
9:12 Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.
SONG SELECTION
SECOND READING: ROMANS 7:15-25a [The Christian’s inner struggle with sin. Without Christ, we’ll always lose!]
7:15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
7:16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good.
7:17 But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.
7:18 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it.
7:19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.
7:20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.
7:21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand.
7:22 For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self,
7:23 but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
7:24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
7:25a Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
GOSPEL VERSE: “More about Jesus would I know, more of his grace to others show,
More of his saving fullness see, more of his love who died for me.
MORE, MORE ABOUT JESUS… MORE, MORE ABOUT JESUS…
MORE OF HIS SAVING FULLNESS SEE, MORE OF HIS LOVE WHO DIED FOR ME.
More about Jesus let me learn, more of his holy will discern;
Spirit of God, my Teacher be, showing the things of Christ to me.”
HOLY GOSPEL: MATTHEW 11:16-19, 25-30 [It’s no yoke – bearing Christ in your life will lighten your load. Jesus is a refreshing burden and will help shoulder the weight!]
11:16 “But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,
11:17 ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’
11:18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’;
11:19 the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
11:25 At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants;
11:26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
11:27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
11:28 “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
THE SERMON: Pastor NEIL
SONG SELECTION
THE APOSTLES’ CREED:
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
MUSIC SELECTION Dennis Fortune
THE PRAYERS
THE LORD’S PRAYER
SONG SELECTION
THE BENEDICTION:
L The Spirit-fire is burning in your life – don’t let it go out!
The Spirit-wind blows where it will – don’t seek to divert it!
You have a message to share – don’t silence it!
Go out, sisters and brothers, into the world with courage and conviction, bearing the love of God, the good news of Jesus
Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit in every word you speak, and in everything you do.
C This is our day. This is our time. This is our mission.
Let us be faithful in our living and fervent in our loving! ALLELUIA AND AMEN!