Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
PENTECOST 21 – Coronavirus
10-17-2021 10:00AM Zoom Worship
OPENING SONG: “COME, THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING” Trudi Wright Brown #108
THE OPENING RITE: Pastor John Gottschall + Donna Jones
L The steadfast love of God, the life of (+) Jesus Christ, and the growth of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
C And also with you.
L With humility that is not pretended and hope that is fully grounded in the death and resurrection of Christ, let us draw near to the throne of grace to find mercy and to ask for God’s help.
C Righteous and Almighty God,
in place of servanthood we long for status,
in place of thorns we hope for thrones,
and in place of the cross we beg for a crown.
Spare us from the self-denial of suffering, service, and sacrifice.
Hear our selfish plea for power, prestige, and positions.
We will follow you if you lead us to glory, we will love you if you do as we wish.
But, Lord, let YOUR will be done. Amen.
L Our ways are not God’s ways, and we can thank God for that! Brothers and sisters, know that Jesus – who came not to be served but to serve – calls you out of your self, offers you deliverance from your pride and ego, and leads you to “drink the cup” and to “be baptized” into a radical new life marked by humble service, sacrificial compassion, and genuine love. Will you drink this difficult “cup” of Jesus? Will you face his tough “baptism”? It is the only way to be a Christian and the best way to live. If you are willing, your sins are forgiven in the name of (+) Jesus Christ, Now live like you know it! Hallelujah!
THE PRAYER OF THE DAY: Donna Jones
And let us pray.
Gracious God, your Son Jesus shows and tells us the way to servanthood in your Kingdom.
Continue to shape us into humble and willing servants who offer ourselves, our time, and our possessions in blessing to others. Amen now, Amen tomorrow, Amen for the rest of our life’s journey!
FIRST READING: ISAIAH 53:4-12 [Because “the Servant” didn’t fit in with society, he was brutally eliminated. Is this Israel the Old Testament nation, the prophet Isaiah, the awaited Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, his future Church, even you?]
53:4 Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.
53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
53:8 By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people.
53:9 They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
53:10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the LORD shall prosper.
53:11 Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
53:12 Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Christina Crawford
SECOND READING: HEBREWS 5:1-10 [Jesus is the Great High Priest not by family heritage but by humility and compassion. And the sacrifice he presided over was the ultimate one – his own life!] Doris Fortune
5:1 Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
5:2 He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness;
5:3 and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people.
5:4 And one does not presume to take this honor, but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was.
5:5 So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”;
5:6 as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”
5:7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
5:8 Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered;
5:9 and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,
5:10 having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
GOSPEL VERSE: Ben Shipanga
“To God be the glory… to God be the glory…
to God be the glory for the thing he has done!
With his blood God has saved me…
with his power God has raised me…
to God be the glory for the things he has done!”
THE HOLY GOSPEL: MARK 10:35-45 [In the Gospel of Mark, three different times Jesus spoke of his impending suffering and death… and each time the disciples responded with disbelief, fear, ignorance, and even requests for their own greatness and glory.] David Johnson
10:35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
10:36 And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?”
10:37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
10:38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
10:39 They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
10:40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
10:41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John.
10:42 So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.
10:43 But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,
10:44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.
10:45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
SERMON Pastor Neil or Pastor Gwen
SONG RESPONSE: “MUST JESUS BEAR THE CROSS ALONE?” Valary Wright Lewis Brown #237
AN AFFIRMATION OF OUR FAITH: Alex Harris
We confess our FAITH in the God who has given us life, love, and new life…
I trust in God who has made me his own. I know that God loves me. To God I am as precious as his own Son, Jesus Christ, who lived and died in obedience to his Father’s will. Jesus suffered our pain, and through his suffering and death has brought us into fellowship with God.
I believe that God through his Spirit will give me strength when I am oppressed and weary… will give me love when I am afraid and lonely… and will guide his Church to make people free at last.
I believe that God lives in the fellowship of those who trust him, and that God wants all people to be brought into that fellowship.
I believe that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Living in hope and trust, I will deny myself, take up my cross, and walk the Jesus walk of faithful servant love.
Amen.
OFFERING… Friends of Jesus Christ, the Son of Man came to serve, not to be served. And he did this through humble love, compassionate service, and self-sacrifice. Always the Church – bearing the name, spirit, and mission of Jesus – is called and commanded into that same path of loving servanthood!
THE OFFERTORY SONG: “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!”
OFFERING PRAYER: Jerona Jackson Rice
O Lord our God, it is a great privilege and a great responsibility to be your people, and we thank you for loving and calling us! As one family of faith, we offer our various gifts in the service of Christ. Transform our self-centeredness into compassionate outreach. Help us to rejoice with those who rejoice, to weep with those who weep, and to overcome evil with good. Amen.
MUSIC SELECTION: Dennis Fortune
THE PRAYERS… We pray for NEW LIFE in the Spirit and for the MISSION of the Church to the world! Beverly Morris
THE LORD’S PRAYER
SONG SELECTION: “HE WANTS IT ALL” Iyanna
THE BENEDICTION… We are sent forth to be and become the BODY OF CHRIST for the world!