November 19th, 2023, TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
God’s Gift of Forgiveness Engenders Our Forgiveness of Others The Day of the Lord is “near and hastening fast,” and it will be “a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation” (Zeph. 1:14, 15). The Lord will search out and punish “the men who are complacent” concerning His Word, “who fill their master’s house with violence and fraud” (Zeph. 1:9, 12). Then all their works and efforts will be for nothing: “Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards,…
PINNACLE LUTHERAN CHURCH | “Final Instructions! (Based off 1 Thesssalonians 5:12-28)“

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OPENING HYMN: #570 Just as I Am, Without One Plea
HYMN OF THE DAY: #585 Lord Jesus Christ, with Us Abide vs 1 – 4
CLOSING HYMN: #807 When Morning Gilds the Skies

PINNACLE LUTHERAN CHURCH

TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

“Final Instructions! (Based off 1 Thesssalonians 5:12-28)”

November 19, 2023

+ AS WE GATHER +

God’s Gift of Forgiveness Engenders Our Forgiveness of Others

The Day of the Lord is “near and hastening fast,” and it will be “a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation” (Zeph. 1:14, 15). The Lord will search out and punish “the men who are complacent” concerning His Word, “who fill their master’s house with violence and fraud” (Zeph. 1:9, 12). Then all their works and efforts will be for nothing: “Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them” (Zeph. 1:13). But those who fear, love and trust in the Lord are “good and faithful” stewards of His property (Matt. 25:21). They live by faith in His free gift of forgiveness, and they multiply His goods in the loving forgiveness of their neighbor, and “the master of those servants” settles His accounts with them by the gracious reckoning of His Gospel (Matt. 25:19). Likewise, “God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:9). Therefore, let us also “put on the breastplate of faith and love” in our dealings with one another (1 Thess. 5:8).

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

OPENING HYMN: #570 Just as I Am, Without One Plea

INVOCATION

P      In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C     Amen.

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION       Psalm 3:4, 8

P     If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

C     But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Silence for meditation and reflection.

P     Let us then confess our sins to God our Father.

C     Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. 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. We justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment. For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the glory of Your holy name. 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 +

INTROIT          Psalm 143:2, 5–6, 10–11; antiphon: v. 1     (spoken responsively as marked)

Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy!
            In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
Enter not into judgment with your servant,
            for no one living is righteous before you.
I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done;
            I ponder the work of your hands.
I stretch out my hands to you;
            my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God!
            Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!
For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life!
            In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!
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.
Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy!
            In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!

Kyrie

P     In peace let us pray to the Lord. 

C     Lord, have mercy.

P     For the peace from above and for our salvation let us pray to the Lord.

C     Lord, have mercy.

P     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.

C     Lord, have mercy.

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

C     Lord, have mercy.

P     Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.

C     Amen.

HYMN OF PRAISE: This Is the Feast    LSB 155

SALUTATION and PRAYER OF THE DAY

P      The Lord be with you.

C     And also with you.

P     Let us pray.

Almighty and ever-living God, You have given exceedingly great and precious promises to those

who trust in You. Dispel from us the works of darkness and grant us to live in the light of

Your Son, Jesus Christ, that our faith may never be found wanting; 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    Zephaniah 1:7–16

⁷Be silent before the Lord God!
            For the day of the Lord is near;
the Lord has prepared a sacrifice
            and consecrated his guests.
⁸And on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice—
“I will punish the officials and the king’s sons
            and all who array themselves in foreign attire.
⁹On that day I will punish
            everyone who leaps over the threshold,
and those who fill their master’s house
            with violence and fraud.
¹⁰“On that day,” declares the Lord,
            “a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,
a wail from the Second Quarter,
            a loud crash from the hills.
¹¹Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!
            For all the traders are no more;
            all who weigh out silver are cut off.
¹²At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
            and I will punish the men
who are complacent,
            those who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will not do good,
            nor will he do ill.’
¹³Their goods shall be plundered,
            and their houses laid waste.
Though they build houses,
            they shall not inhabit them;
though they plant vineyards,
            they shall not drink wine from them.”
¹⁴The great day of the Lord is near,
            near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;
            the mighty man cries aloud there.
¹⁵A day of wrath is that day,
            a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and devastation,
            a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness,
            ¹⁶a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
against the fortified cities
            and against the lofty battlements.

L          This is the Word of the Lord.
C          Thanks be to God.

GRADUAL        Revelation 7:14b; Psalm 84:5       (spoken together)

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 5:12–28

                ¹²We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, ¹³and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. ¹⁴And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. ¹⁵See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. ¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray without ceasing, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰Do not despise prophecies, ²¹but test everything; hold fast what is good. ²²Abstain from every form of evil.

                ²³Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

    ²⁵Brothers, pray for us.

    ²⁶Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.

    ²⁷I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

    ²⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

L          This is the Word of the Lord.
C          Thanks be to God.

ALLELUIA,  p. 156

HOLY GOSPEL  Matthew 25:14–30

P          The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the Twenty-Fifth chapter.
C          Glory to You, O Lord.

                        ¹⁴[Jesus said:] “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. ¹⁵To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. ¹⁶He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. ¹⁷So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. ¹⁸But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. ¹⁹Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. ²⁰And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ ²¹His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ²²And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ ²³His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ²⁴He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, ²⁵so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ ²⁶But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed and gather where I scattered no seed? ²⁷Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. ²⁸So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. ²⁹For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

P          This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C          Praise to You, O Christ.

HYMN OF THE DAY: #585 Lord Jesus Christ, with Us Abide vs 1 – 4

SERMON: Final Instructions! (Based off 1 Thesssalonians 5:12-28)

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 T of the world to come. Amen.

     the forgiveness of sins,

     the resurrection of the body,

     and the life T everlasting. Amen.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

After each petition:     P   … Lord, in Your mercy:

                                    C    hear our prayer.

At conclusion:              P   … one God, now and forever.

                                    C    Amen.

OFFERING

OFFERTORY LSB 159  

PREFACE         p. 160

P     The Lord be with you.

P     Lift up your hearts.

P     Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

PROPER PREFACE

P        It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who ascended above the heavens and, sitting at Your right hand, poured out on this day the promised Holy Spirit on His chosen disciples. For all this the whole earth rejoices with exceeding joy. Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You and saying;

SANCTUS, p. 161

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

P     Blessed are You, Lord of heaven and earth, for You have had mercy on those whom You created and sent Your only-begotten Son into our flesh to bear our sin and be our Savior. With repentant joy we receive the salvation accomplished for us by the all-availing sacrifice of His body and His blood on the cross.

Gathered in the name and the remembrance of Jesus, we beg You, O Lord, to forgive, renew, and strengthen us with Your Word and Spirit. Grant us faithfully to eat His body and drink His blood as He bids us do in His own testament. Gather us together, we pray, from the ends of the earth to celebrate with all the faithful the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom, which has no end. Graciously receive our prayers; deliver and preserve us. To You alone,

O Father, be all glory, honor, and worship, with the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C     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.

THE WORDS OF OUR LORD   

P      Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said: “Take, eat; this is My T body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me.”

        In the same way also He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying: “Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My T blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

Pax Domini  LSB 163

P     The peace of the Lord be with you always.

C     Amen.

AGNUS DEI, p. 163

DISTRIBUTION

POST-COMMUNION CANTICLE: Nunc Dimittis          LSB 165

Post-Communion Collect

P      Let us pray.

We give thanks to You, almighty God, that You have refreshed us through this salutary gift, and we implore You that of Your mercy You would strengthen us through the same in faith toward You and in fervent love toward one another; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C     Amen

Benediction   LSB 166

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

CLOSING HYMN: #807 When Morning Gilds the Skies

DISMISSAL

Pastor:       Go in peace as you serve the Lord.

People:     Thanks be to God!

Creative Worship for the Lutheran Parish, Series C, Quarter 3. Copyright © 2022 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. Used by permission.