Seventh Sunday After Pentecost Worship Order of Service
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
PENTECOST 7 – Coronavirus
07-11-2021 10:00AM Zoom Worship
OPENING SONG: “SO GLAD I’M HERE” Tan #304
So glad I’m here in Jesus’ name; so glad I’m here in Jesus’ name!
I don’t know what you’ve come to do… I don’t know what you’ve come to do…
I’ve come to praise His name, I’ve come to praise His name!
- Pray while I’m here in Jesus’ name…
- Sing while I’m here in Jesus’ name…
- Shout while I’m here in Jesus’ name…
- Serve while I’m here in Jesus’ name…
- So glad I’m here in Jesus’ name…
THE OPENING RITE (based on today’s Ephesians 1:3-14 lesson):
L Blessed be the God and Father of our (+) Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing…
C who has chosen us for a very special purpose –
TO BE HOLY AND BLAMELESS BEFORE HIM IN LOVE.
L God has adopted us as his own children through the cross of Christ,
and poured out his grace to heal and to save us.
C God has redeemed and chosen us to be his disciples,
so that we might proclaim his good news to all.
L God is teaching us, leading us, guiding us, and empowering us,
so that we might bring harmony and unity to all of life!
C Oh, let us fill this world with the love of God in Christ Jesus
and help fix what is broken and unite what is fragmented!
L Oh, let us faithfully stand firmly “in Christ”,
because if we don’t, then we might fall for anything!
PRAYER OF THE DAY:
O God, we pray that we may be a strong people, an obedient people, a people who seek the glory of God and want to truly share God’s love and mercy, a people of joy, a people of courage, a living Body empowered with the Spirit to show and tell of Jesus Christ – here and there, now and always and forever, Amen.
FIRST READING: AMOS 7:7-15 [Speaking truth to power… a refusal to pimp religion for politics.]
7:7 This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.
7:8 And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by;
7:9 the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
7:10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words.
7:11 For thus Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.'”
7:12 And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there;
7:13 but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”
7:14 Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees,
7:15 and the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’
SONG SELECTION
SECOND READING: EPHESIANS 1:3-14 [The vision of a unified world… through Christ, we are the glue!]
1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
1:4 just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.
1:5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,
1:6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace
1:8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight
1:9 he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ,
1:10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
1:11 In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will,
1:12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.
1:13 In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit;
1:14 this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.
GOSPEL VERSE:
There’s a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place, and I know that it’s the Spirit of the Lord.
There are sweet expressions on each face, and I know they feel the presence of the Lord.
SWEET HOLY SPIRIT, SWEET HEAVENLY DOVE,
STAY RIGHT HERE WITH US, FILLING US WITH YOUR LOVE.
AND FOR THESE BLESSINGS WE LIFT OUR HEARTS IN PRAISE;
WITHOUT A DOUBT WE’LL KNOW THAT WE HAVE BEEN REVIVED
WHEN WE SHALL LEAVE THIS PLACE!” (repeat chorus)
THE HOLY GOSPEL: MARK 6:14-29 [Two men who lost their head… one lost his soul.]
6:14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.”
6:15 But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”
6:16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
6:17 For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her.
6:18 For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
6:19 And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not,
6:20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him.
6:21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee.
6:22 When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.”
6:23 And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.”
6:24 She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.”
6:25 Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
6:26 The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her.
6:27 Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison,
6:28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother.
6:29 When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
THE SERMON: Rev. Robert Holum, member of St. Peter’s
SONG SELECTION
A CREED OF FAITH:
As long as I have breath in my body…
I will seek to praise God.
As long as I have a mind that is sound…
I will try to walk in the love of Christ.
Oh, deep down in the soul of my heart…
I desire to surrender to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Because I have been saved to serve…
I will do my best to think right, say right, do right, and be right.
Because I am serving to save others…
I want to be real around others,
to be a liberating presence in the lives of others,
to be a person for others,
to walk in love and share God’s grace,
to build justice and make peace
every hour, every day. Amen to that!
OFFERING… God has blessed us in our Lord Jesus Christ, destined us to be children of God, and sealed us in the Holy Spirit so that we might joyously and faithfully share the gospel with others. Sisters, brothers, help make all things new through Jesus Christ by offering your time, your talents, and your treasures.
OFFERING SONG:
“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.
THIS IS MY STORY, THIS IS MY SONG,
PRAISING MY SAVIOR ALL THE DAY LONG! [sing the chorus 2 times]
We are God’s people, we are Christ’s Church, called by God’s Spirit into the world.
We have God’s power from heaven above, we’ll share God’s justice, mercy and love!”
OFFERING PRAYER:
Lord God, thank you for making a way out of no way in my life! During this summer may I dedicate my leisure and my work, my rest and travel, my service and spending, my health and my wealth, my worship and my witness to glorify You and to extend your Kingdom to others. Someone somewhere is in need of your Good News. Amen.
THE PRAYERS… We pray for NEW LIFE in the Spirit and for the MISSION of the Church to the world!
THE LORD’S PRAYER
SONG SELECTION: “I AM ON THE BATTLEFIELD” Tan #480
THE BENEDICTION… We are sent forth to be and become the BODY OF CHRIST for the world!