FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

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September 5, 2021

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is – Be Doers of the Word

We focus today on the words of James, which call us to an active faith that loves our neighbors. We are forced to ask ourselves: What good is a faith that bears no fruit of love and service to others? Such a question might make us worry about our salvation. Friends in Christ: do not fear; your living, saving faith in Christ will inevitably overflow with His good works. Christ powerfully works in us as we live out our daily vocations. Serve the Lord with gladness.

+ PREPARATION +

OPENING HYMN: #398- Hail to the Lord’s Anointed

INVOCATION

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

People: Amen.

OPENING SENTENCES Based on Psalm 146

Pastor: Praise the Lord, O my soul!

People: I will praise the Lord as long as I live.

Pastor: Blessed are those whose hope is in the Lord;

People: the Lord sets the prisoners free.

Pastor: The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.

People: The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down.

Pastor: The Lord upholds the widow and the fatherless.

People: The Lord will reign forever!

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

Pastor: Yes, the Lord reigns over every nation, language, and people. Yet, we have not loved all people as Christ has loved us. The fruits of our faith are not always evident. But our Lord is gracious and merciful, and He offers His forgiveness to all.

Silence for reflection.

Pastor: Heavenly Father,

People: we have failed to love others as You love them. We have failed to reflect Your grace to the world in service and sacrifice. We have failed in our actions and in our unwillingness to act. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may follow You in joy. Amen.

Pastor: Almighty God in His mercy sent Jesus Christ into our world to serve and save all people, showing no partiality or favoritism. By His death, He forgives all our sins. By His resurrection, He destroys death forever and offers us eternal life. Therefore, as a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

People: Amen. We are forgiven in Christ. We set free to love and serve our neighbors. Amen.

+ WORD +

PSALM Psalm 146 (spoken responsively by verse)

¹Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

²I will praise the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

³Put not your trust in princes,

in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.

⁴When his breath departs he returns to the earth;

on that very day his plans perish.

⁵Blessèd is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the Lord his God,

⁶who made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them,

who keeps faith forever;

⁷who executes justice for the oppressed,

who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;

⁸the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.

The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;

the Lord loves the righteous.

⁹The Lord watches over the sojourners;

he upholds the widow and the fatherless,

but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

¹⁰The Lord will reign forever,

your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!

KYRIE,LSB p.186 (spoken together)

Lord, have mercy upon us.

Christ, have mercy upon us.

Lord, have mercy upon us.

SALUTATION and PRAYER OF THE DAY

Pastor: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Pastor: Let us pray.
Lord Jesus Christ, Your grace and mercy overflow to all people. Lead us to love our neighbors, regardless of their differences from us, so that all people might know the good news of Your death and resurrection for their eternal life and salvation; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

People: Amen.

OLD TESTAMENT READING Isaiah 35:4–7a

(God will come and restore all things.)

⁴Say to those who have an anxious heart,
            “Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
            will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
            He will come and save you.”
⁵Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
            and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
⁶then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
            and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness,
            and streams in the desert;
⁷the burning sand shall become a pool,
            and the thirsty ground springs of water.”

Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

GRADUAL Psalm 34:9, 19, alt.

Fear the Lord, you His saints,
for those who fear Him lack nothing!
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

EPISTLE James 2:1–10, 14–18

(What good is a dead faith?)

¹My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. ²For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, ³and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” ⁴have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? ⁵Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? ⁶But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? ⁷Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

⁸If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. ⁹But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. ¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. . . .

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? ¹⁵If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, ¹⁶and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? ¹⁷So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

VERSE Psalm 147:2–3 (spoken together)

Alleluia. The Lord builds up Jerusalem; He gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Alleluia.

HOLY GOSPEL Mark 7:31–37

(Jesus heals a deaf man in the Decapolis.)

Pastor: The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark, the seventh chapter.

People: Glory to You, O Lord.

³¹[Jesus] returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. ³²And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. ³³And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. ³⁴And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” ³⁵And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. ³⁶And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. ³⁷And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Pastor: This is the Gospel of the Lord.

People: Praise to You, O Christ.

HYMN OF THE DAY: #839 – O Christ, Our True and Only Light

SERMON: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is – Be Doers of the Word

Apostles’ Creed

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 + everlasting. Amen.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

After each petition:

Pastor: … Lord, in Your mercy:

People: hear our prayer.

At conclusion:

Pastor: … You and the Holy Spirit, one God forever.

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.
O Lord, let Your merciful ears be open to the prayers of Your humble servants and grant that what they ask may be in accord with Your gracious will; 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 + give you peace.

People: Amen.

DISMISSAL

Pastor: Go in peace! Serve the Lord!

People: Thanks be to God.

FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST – Online Church at Home Service Bulletin