EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

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October 9, 2022

Saved and Grateful

We know a lot about some of the people in today’s Readings. We could write a typical biography of Ruth, for example, because we know her family’s names and even that she was an ancestor of Jesus. Last week we learned that Timothy, the addressee of today’s Epistle, had a Christian mother and grandmother, and is now a young pastor. But all that we know about the leper who thanked Jesus in today’s Gospel is that he was a Samaritan. Yet that is sufficient, for only through his faith in our Lord was he truly saved, not from leprosy only, but from his sins and his sinfulness. He was ready to live in thanks and praise of his Savior and ours. What’s the story of your life? We were dead in sins but now are alive in Christ Jesus. May God strengthen you to share His love as the story of your life continues to unfold.

+ Preparation +

OPENING HYMN: #822 – Alleluia! Let Praises Ring

INVOCATION

Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

People: Amen.

OPENING SENTENCES Psalm 51:15, 17; 70:1

Pastor: O Lord, open my lips,

People: and my mouth will declare Your praise.

Pastor: Make haste, O God, to deliver me!

People: O Lord, make haste to help me!

Pastor: The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

People: a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION 2 Timothy 2:10

Pastor: Because of the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, our heavenly Father will not hold our sins against us but offers forgiveness, life, and salvation to all who call on Him for mercy and grace. Let us then confess our sins to Him in confident faith.

People: Gracious God, You have known us before we were born, and since coming to faith we have known Your amazing grace. We have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. For Jesus’ sake, turn us from selfish ways to walk in paths pleasing to You to the glory of Your holy name. Amen.

Pastor: In the mercy of almighty God, He gave His Son to live as one of us and to die for us. As surely as Jesus was born with Moabite Ruth in His human family tree, as certainly as the Samaritan leper was saved through his faith, and as confidently as Paul assured Timothy of “the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory,” I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

People: Amen.

+ SERVICE of the WORD +

PSALM Psalm 111

Pastor: Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,

People: in the company of the upright, in the congregation.

Pastor: Great are the works of the Lord,

People: studied by all who delight in them.

Pastor: Full of splendor and majesty is His work,

People: and His righteousness endures forever.

Pastor: He has caused His wondrous works to be remembered;

People: the Lord is gracious and merciful.

Pastor: He provides food for those who fear Him;

People: He remembers His covenant forever.

Pastor: He has shown His people the power of His works,

People: in giving them the inheritance of the nations.

Pastor: The works of His hands are faithful and just;

People: all His precepts are trustworthy;

Pastor: they are established forever and ever,

People: to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.

Pastor: He sent redemption to His people;

People: He has commanded His covenant forever.
Holy and awesome is His name!

Pastor: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;

People: all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!

KYRIE

Pastor: In peace, let us pray to the Lord.

People: Lord, have mercy.

Pastor: For the peace from above and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.

People: Lord, have mercy.

Pastor: For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the Church of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.

People: Lord, have mercy.

Pastor: For this holy house and for all who offer here their worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord.

People: Lord, have mercy.

Pastor: Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.

People: Amen.

SALUTATION and PRAYER OF THE DAY

Pastor: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Pastor: Let us pray.
Almighty God, You showed mercy by sending Your Son to become one of us and to die for us. Grant us always to see our coming to faith in Him as the beginning of our lives, lived in communion with You in time and to eternity; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

People: Amen.

OLD TESTAMENT READING Ruth 1:1–19a

(Widowed Ruth stays with Naomi and moves to Bethlehem with her.)

¹In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. ²The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. ³But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. ⁴These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, ⁵and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

⁶Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. ⁷So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. ⁸But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. ⁹The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. ¹⁰And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” ¹¹But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? ¹²Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, ¹³would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.” ¹⁴Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

¹⁵And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” ¹⁶But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. ¹⁷Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” ¹⁸And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.

¹⁹So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem.

Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

GRADUAL Psalm 91:11; 103:1

He will command His angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and all that is within me, bless His holy name!

EPISTLE 2 Timothy 2:1–13

(Paul encourages Timothy to be a good soldier for Christ.)

¹You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, ²and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. ³Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. ⁵An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. ⁷Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

⁸Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, ⁹for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! ¹⁰Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. ¹¹The saying is trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
¹²if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
¹³if we are faithless, he remains faithful—

for he cannot deny himself.

Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

ALLELUIA and VERSE Luke 5:15

Alleluia. Now even more the report about Him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear Him and to be healed of their infirmities. Alleluia.

HOLY GOSPEL Luke 17:11–19

(Only one leper thanks Jesus for his healing.)

Pastor: The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the seventeenth chapter.

People: Glory to You, O Lord.

¹¹On the way to Jerusalem [Jesus] was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance ¹³and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” ¹⁴When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. ¹⁵Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; ¹⁶and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? ¹⁸Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

Pastor: This is the Gospel of the Lord.

People: Praise to You, O Christ.

HYMN OF THE DAY: #435 – Come to Calvary’s Holy Mountain

SERMON: Saved and Grateful

NICENE CREED

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty,
      maker of heaven and earth
            and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
      the only-begotten Son of God,
      begotten of His Father before all worlds,
      God of God, Light of Light,
      very God of very God,
      begotten, not made,
      being of one substance with the Father,
      by whom all things were made;
      who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven
      and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary
      and was made man;
      and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.
      He suffered and was buried.
      And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures
            and ascended into heaven
      and sits at the right hand of the Father.
      And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit,
      the Lord and giver of life,
      who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
      who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified,
      who spoke by the prophets.
      And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church,
      I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins,
      and I look for the resurrection of the dead
      and the life + of the world to come. Amen.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

After each petition:

Pastor: … Lord, in Your mercy:

People: hear our prayer.

At conclusion:

Pastor: Into Your hands we commend all for whom we pray for the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

People: Amen.

LORD’S PRAYER Matthew 6:9–13

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 PRAYER

Pastor: Let us pray.
Almighty God, You show mercy to Your people in all their troubles. Grant us always to recognize Your goodness, give thanks for Your compassion, and praise Your holy name; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

People: Amen.

BENEDICTION Numbers 6:24–26

Pastor: 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.

People: Amen.

DISMISSAL

Pastor: Go in peace as you serve the Lord!

People: Thanks be to God.

EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST – Online Church at Home Bulletin