PINNACLE LUTHERAN CHURCH
Sunday, November 8, 2020 – 10:00 a.m.
Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost
The Gospel Prepares Us for Our Heavenly Bridegroom’s Coming
The Day of the Lord is “darkness, and not light” (Amos 5:18, 20) for all who trust in their own righteousness and piety. The Lord will not accept their “burnt offerings and grain offerings,” nor will He look upon their “peace offerings” (Amos 5:22). Instead, He desires a heart of faith that trusts in Him, which lets “justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24) in love for the neighbor. In order for the “lamps” of our lives to burn brightly with such love, we must be filled with the “oil” of forgiveness through faith in our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ (Matt. 25:1–4). Therefore, as we await His coming, wisdom directs us “to the dealers” (Matt. 25:9), that is, to the ministers of His Gospel. Thus, we wait upon the Lord, and we “encourage one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4:18). Waking or sleeping, we are prepared to meet Him when He comes “with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God,” and “we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:16, 17).
PRELUDE
WELCOME and ANNOUNCEMENTS
P In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C Amen.
P Our help is in the name of the Lord,
C who made heaven and earth.
P If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?
C But with You there is forgiveness; therefore You are feared.
P Since we are gathered to hear God’s Word, call upon Him in prayer and praise, and receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in the fellowship of this altar, let us first consider our unworthiness and confess before God and one another that we have sinned in thought, word, and deed, and that we cannot free ourselves from our sinful condition. Together as His people let us take refuge in the infinite mercy of God, our heavenly Father, seeking His grace for the sake of Christ, and saying: God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
C Almighty God, have mercy upon us, forgive us our sins, and lead us to everlasting life. Amen.
P Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C Amen.
+ SERVICE OF THE WORD +
PSALM (spoken responsively by verse) Psalm 70
1Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
O LORD, make haste to help me!
2Let them be put to shame and confusion
who seek my life!
Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor
who desire my hurt!
3Let them turn back because of their shame
who say, “Aha, Aha!”
4May all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you!
May those who love your salvation
say evermore, “God is great!”
5But I am poor and needy;
hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O LORD, do not delay!
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen.
KYRIE
C Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
GLORIA IN EXCELSIS
C To God on high be glory
And peace to all the earth;
Goodwill from God in heaven
Proclaimed at Jesus’ birth!
We praise and bless You, Father;
Your holy name we sing—
Our thanks for Your great glory,
Lord God, our heav’nly King.
To You, O sole-begotten,
The Father’s Son, we pray;
O Lamb of God, our Savior,
You take our sins away.
Have mercy on us, Jesus;
Receive our heartfelt cry,
Where You in pow’r are seated
At God’s right hand on high—
For You alone are holy,
You only are the Lord.
Forever and forever,
Be worshiped and adored;
You with the Holy Spirit
Alone are Lord Most High,
In God the Father’s glory.
“Amen!” our glad reply.
SALUTATION and COLLECT OF THE DAY
P The Lord be with you.
C And also with you.
P Let us pray.
Lord God, heavenly Father, send forth Your Son to lead home His bride, the Church, that with all the company of the redeemed we may finally enter into His eternal wedding feast; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT READING Amos 5:18–24
18Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD!
Why would you have the day of the LORD?
It is darkness, and not light,
19as if a man fled from a lion,
and a bear met him,
or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,
and a serpent bit him.
20Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?
21“I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.
23Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
24But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
A This is the Word of the Lord.
C Thanks be to God.
GRADUAL (spoken in unison) Rev. 7:14b; Ps. 84:5
These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.
They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Blessèd are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
EPISTLE 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18
13But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18Therefore encourage one another with these words.
A This is the Word of the Lord.
C Thanks be to God.
ALLELUIA and VERSE (spoken in unison)
C Alleluia. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. Alleluia.
HOLY GOSPEL Matthew 25:1–13
P The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the twenty-fifth chapter.
C Glory to You, O Lord.
1“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
P This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C Praise to You, O Christ.
APOSTLES’ CREED
C I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His 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 into hell.
The third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life T everlasting. Amen.
SERMON
SERMON: Careful what you wish for
Prayers, Benediction, and Dismissal
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
After each petition: At conclusion:
P … let us pray to the Lord: P … our Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
C Lord, have mercy. C Amen.
LORD’S PRAYER
C 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.
CLOSING COLLECT
P Let us pray.
O Lord, encourage us with Your presence in Your Word and Sacraments, that we be strengthened for service to You and our neighbors as we await the return of Jesus, through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C Amen.
BENEDICAMUS and BENEDICTION
P Let us bless the Lord.
C Thanks be to God.
P The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.
The Lord look upon you with favor and T give you peace.
C Amen.
SENDING WORDS
P Go in Peace. Serve the Lord.
C Thanks be to God!
POSTLUDE
