Sixth Sunday After Pentecost
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
PENTECOST 6
07-17-2022 10:00AM Hybrid Worship
+ We Seek and Rejoice in the Spirit +
THE OPENING RITE:
L Let us gather this morning in the presence and the peace, the power and the promises of Almighty God, Amen.
With humble and trusting hearts, let us confess our sins before God and each other.
C Merciful God, we confess that we are busy, busy, oh so busy –
busy doing this, busy doing that, and busy trying not to be busy.
We confess that we have been distracted with many things.
We confess that we have allowed our lives to be filled with anxiety.
We confess that all this busy-ness makes us less attentive to your Word and less patient with one another.
Slow us up and forgive us. Help us to focus on the presence, the peace, and the teachings of Christ. Amen.
L Saint Paul says that, “though we were once estranged, hostile in mind and doing evil deeds, we have now been reconciled with God in [+] Jesus Christ”. Baptized, forgiven, and freed, we are one with the Lord and with each other.
Thanks be to God!
OPENING SONG: “We Have Come into His House” Tan #174
PRAYER OF THE DAY:
Almighty God, here we are, flesh and blood, spirit and life – created, redeemed, and empowered by your love. As the Scriptures are read and the gospel proclaimed, open our ears to hear your Word, open our eyes to see your truth, and open our hearts to receive your grace. Only then can we open our lives in faithful witness and fervent service to you. Amen.
+ We Rejoice in God’s Saving Word +
FIRST READING: GENESIS 18:1-10a [Welcoming strangers, Abraham receives God’s assurance of a promise to be kept.]
18:1 The LORD appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day.
18:2 He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground.
18:3 He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant.
18:4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.
18:5 Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on–since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.”
18:6 And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.”
18:7 Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it.
18:8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
18:9 They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.”
18:10a Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.”
SECOND READING: COLOSSIANS 1:15-28 [Those who have received Christ fully in their lives will never be the same.]
1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;
1:16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers–all things have been created through him and for him.
1:17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
1:18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.
1:19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
1:20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
1:21 And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
1:22 he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him–
1:23 provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.
1:24 I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.
1:25 I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,
1:26 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints.
1:27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
1:28 It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
GOSPEL VERSE:
“Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.”
THE HOLY GOSPEL: LUKE 10:38-42 [Welcoming Christ with an undistracted heart…serving Christ with unburdened joy.]
10:38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.
10:39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying.
10:40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.”
10:41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things;
10:42 there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
THE SERMON: Pastor Neil
SONG SELECTION St. Peter’s Choir
THE PRAYERS… We pray for NEW LIFE in the Spirit and for the MISSION of the Church to the world!
+ We Rejoice in God’s Nourishing Meal +
OFFERING OF TITHES (10% giving) AND GIFTS… Our grateful devotion to God and our humble service to God both result in a response of open hearts and willing hands offered in joy and love!
SONG SELECTION St. Peter’s Choir
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:
O Lord our God, if your Spirit is alive within us, then stretch our time and abilities, our money and our mouths,all that we are and all that we have, to testify to your amazing grace in Jesus Christ. Someone somewhere is in need of your Good News. Amen.
THE PREFACE AND THE EUCHARISTIC WORDS:
L The Lord be with you. C And also with you.
L Lift up your hearts! C We lift them up in love for God!
L Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. C It is right to give God our thanks and praise.
L Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful… C … and set us on fire with your love! Alleluia!
THE EUCHARISTIC WORDS by the Celebrant, who recalls and re-enacts Jesus’ Holy Meal.
THE LORD’S PRAYER (spoken)
COMMUNION AND BLESSINGS… All believers in Jesus Christ are welcome at the Lord’s Table! We will have “continuous distribution” with wafers and wine or grape juice. Praise the Lord for this community meal that renews our spirits, powers our faith, and reminds us of the future heavenly banquet that awaits us!
COMMUNION SONGS: Tan #686 Tan #396
THE COMMUNION BLESSING by the Celebrant after all have communed.
POST-COMMUNION PRAYER by the Communion Assistant.
+ We Rejoice in Our Mission +
THE BENEDICTION by the Pastor… We are sent forth to be and become the BODY OF CHRIST for the world!
CLOSING SONG: “More About Jesus” Tan #565