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19TH Sunday After Pentecost

Sunday, October 3, 2021

PRELUDE “Draw Us in the Spirit’s Tether” Fridell/Chapin

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
Please stand as able
Blessed be the holy Trinity, one God, whose teaching is life, whose presence is sure, and whose love is endless. Amen.

Let us confess our sins to the one who welcomes us with an open heart.
Silence for reflection.

God our comforter: like lost sheep, we have gone astray. We gaze upon abundance and see scarcity, we turn our faces away from injustice and oppression. We exploit the earth with our apathy and greed. Free us from our sin, gracious God. Listen when we call out to you for help. Lead us by your love to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Gracious God,
have mercy on us. We confess that we have turned from you and given ourselves into the power of sin. We are truly sorry and humbly repent. In your compassion forgive us our sins, known and unknown, things we have done and things we have failed to do. Turn us again to you, and uphold us by your Spirit, so that we may live and serve you in newness of life through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.

People of God, hear the Good News: by the gift of grace ☩ in Christ, God makes you righteous. Receive with glad hearts the forgiveness of all your sins. Amen.

GATHERING SONG 640 Our Father By Whose Name

GREETING
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. And also with you.

KYRIE

PRAYER OF THE DAY
Let us pray.

O God, through suffering and rejection you bring forth our salvation, and by the glory of the cross you transform our lives. Grant that for the sake of the gospel we may turn from the lure of evil, take up our cross, and follow your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

CHILDREN’S TIME

FIRST READING: Genesis 2:18-24

The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

PSALM: Psalm 8

¹O Lord our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!—
²you whose glory is chanted above the heavens out of the mouths of infants and children;
you have set up a fortress against your enemies, to silence the foe and avenger.
³When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars you have set in their courses,
⁴what are mere mortals that you should be mindful of them,
human beings that you should care for them? R
⁵Yet you have made them little less than divine;
with glory and honor you crown them.
⁶You have made them rule over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet:
⁷all flocks and cattle,
even the wild beasts of the field,
⁸the birds of the air, the fish of the sea,
and whatever passes along the paths of the sea.
⁹O Lord our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth! R

SECOND READING: Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12

The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

GOSPEL: Mark 10:2-16 The holy gospel according to Mark.
Glory to you, O Lord.

²Some Pharisees came, and to test [Jesus] they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” ³He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” ⁵But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. ⁶But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ⁷‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, ⁸and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
¹⁰Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. ¹¹He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; ¹²and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

¹³People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. ¹⁴But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. ¹⁵Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.

SERMON

HYMN OF THE DAY – 603 God When Human Bonds are Broken

APOSTLES CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.*
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come 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.

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Response: Hear our prayer.

PEACE
The peace of Christ be with you always.
And also with you.

MOMENT FOR MISSION
Our offering is not simply giving money to keep the lights on. Our offering is a form of worship, taking part in God’s transforming mission in this world. Each dollar we give contributes to changing lives. Each week we will take a moment to remember one way that our offerings do that. This week, we remember Cross Roads Camp and Retreat Center. Cross Roads is an ecumenical retreat center of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark and the New Jersey Synod, ELCA. It provides a summer camp experience for children and youth in intentionally Christian community, offers resources to congregations such as Sunday School programs, and provides year-round retreat opportunities for transformation and renewal for the mind, body, and spirit.Our offering is not simply giving money to keep the lights on. Our offering is a form of worship, taking part in God’s transforming mission in this world. Each dollar we give contributes to changing lives. Each week we will take a moment to remember one way that our offerings do that. This week, we remember Cross Roads Camp and Retreat Center. Cross Roads is an ecumenical retreat center of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark and the New Jersey Synod, ELCA. It provides a summer camp experience for children and youth in intentionally Christian community, offers resources to congregations such as Sunday School programs, and provides year-round retreat opportunities for transformation and renewal for the mind, body, and spirit.Our offering is not simply giving money to keep the lights on. Our offering is a form of worship, taking part in God’s transforming mission in this world. Each dollar we give contributes to changing lives. Each week we will take a moment to remember one way that our offerings do that. This week, we remember Cross Roads Camp and Retreat Center. Cross Roads is an ecumenical retreat center of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark and the New Jersey Synod, ELCA. It provides a summer camp experience for children and youth in intentionally Christian community, offers resources to congregations such as Sunday School programs, and provides year-round retreat opportunities for transformation and renewal for the mind, body, and spirit.

OFFERING PRAYER – invite congregation to stand
Let us pray.

God of mercy and grace, the eyes of all wait upon you, and you open your hand in blessing. Fill us with good things at your table, that we may come to the help of all in need, through Jesus Christ, our redeemer and Lord. Amen.

GREAT THANKSGIVING
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right, our duty and our joy,
that we should at all times and in all places
give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God,
through our Savior Jesus Christ;
who on this day overcame death and the grave,
and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life.
And so, with all the choirs of angels,
with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven,
we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

THANKSGIVING AT THE TABLE
In the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks;
broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.

Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying: This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me.

For as often as we eat of this bread and drink from this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

LORD’S PRAYER
Lord, remember us in your kingdom and teach us to pray.

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.

INVITATION TO COMMUNION
Taste and see that the Lord is good.

LAMB OF GOD (sung)
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world;
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world;
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world;
grant us peace, grant us peace.

ANTHEM Children of the Heavenly Father – arr. P.J. Christiansen

COMMUNION HYMNS
286 Your Little Ones Dear Lord, Are We
557 Awake My Soul and With the Sun

POST COMMUNION BLESSING
May the body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ strengthen you and keep you in God’s grace. Amen.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Let us pray.

O God, we give you thanks that you have set before us this feast, the body and blood of your Son. By your Spirit strengthen us to serve all in need and to give ourselves away as bread for the hungry, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

BLESSING
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord’s face shine on you with grace and mercy.
The Lord look upon you with favor and ☩ give you peace.
Amen.

SENDING SONG – 835 All Creatures, Worship God Most High

DISMISSAL
Go in peace. Christ is with you.
Thanks be to God.

POSTLUDE All Creatures of Our God and King arr. P. Manz