FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST – Online Church at Home Service Bulletin

June 25, 2023 – PINNACLE LUTHERAN CHURCH the FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST “We Walk By Faith In Times of Persecution”
Delivered from Sin and Death, You Now Live before God in the Righteousness of Christ The outcome of sin is death, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). He has set you free from the slavery of sin and has brought you “from death to life” (Rom. 6:13). No longer are you under the condemnation of the Law, but you live “under grace” (Rom. 6:14).

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OPENING HYMN: #553 O Christ, Our Hope, Our Hearts, Desire
HYMN OF THE DAY: #794 The Lord, My God, Be Praised
CLOSING HYMN: #720 We Walk by Faith and Not by Sight

PINNACLE LUTHERAN CHURCH

FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
“We Walk By Faith In Times of Persecution”

June 25, 2023

+ AS WE GATHER +

Delivered from Sin and Death, You Now Live before God in the Righteousness of Christ

The outcome of sin is death, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). He has set you free from the slavery of sin and has brought you “from death to life” (Rom. 6:13). No longer are you under the condemnation of the Law, but you live “under grace” (Rom. 6:14). Such is your courage in the face of “those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul” (Matt. 10:28). For though “you will be hated by all” and maligned by the world for the name of Christ (Matt. 10:22, 25), you abide in the care of your Father in heaven, who numbers “even the hairs of your head” and values you more “than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:30–31). By the Word of Christ, you have become like Him, your Teacher and Master in whom you endure to the end, and “will be saved” (Matt. 10:22, 25). For He is with you “as a dread warrior,” who has overcome your enemies (Jer. 20:11). By the righteousness of faith, He delivers your heart, mind, body and life “from the hand of evildoers,” and He brings you into the land of the living (Jer. 20:12–13).

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

OPENING HYMN: #553 O Christ, Our Hope, Our Hearts, Desire

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 56:3–4, 10–11; antiphon: v. 13
                        (spoken responsively as marked)

For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling,
            that I may walk before God in the light of life.
When I am afraid,
            I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
            What can flesh do to me?
In God, whose word I praise,
            in the Lord, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
            What can man do to me?
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.
For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling,
            that I may walk before God in the light of life.

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.

SALUTATION and PRAYER OF THE DAY

P      The Lord be with you.

C     And also with you.

P     Let us pray.

       O God, because Your abiding presence always goes with us, keep us aware of Your daily mercies that we may live secure and content in Your eternal love; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C     Amen.

OLD TESTAMENT READING    Jeremiah 20:7–13

⁷O Lord, you have deceived me,
            and I was deceived;
you are stronger than I,
            and you have prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all the day;
            everyone mocks me.
⁸For whenever I speak, I cry out,
            I shout, “Violence and destruction!”
For the word of the Lord has become for me
            a reproach and derision all day long.
⁹If I say, “I will not mention him,
            or speak any more in his name,”
there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
            shut up in my bones,
and I am weary with holding it in,
            and I cannot.
¹⁰For I hear many whispering.
            Terror is on every side!
“Denounce him! Let us denounce him!”
            say all my close friends,
            watching for my fall.
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
            then we can overcome him
            and take our revenge on him.”
¹¹But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior;
            therefore my persecutors will stumble;
            they will not overcome me.
They will be greatly shamed,
            for they will not succeed.
Their eternal dishonor
            will never be forgotten.
¹²O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous,
            who sees the heart and the mind,
let me see your vengeance upon them,
            for to you have I committed my cause.
¹³Sing to the Lord;
            praise the Lord!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
            from the hand of evildoers.

 

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

GRADUAL    Psalm 145:3, 5b, 6b
                        (spoken together)

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
            and his greatness is unsearchable.
On your wondrous works, I will meditate,
            and I will declare your greatness.

Epistle            Romans 6:12–23

      ¹²Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. ¹³Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. ¹⁴For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

      ¹⁵What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, ¹⁸and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

      ²⁰When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death. ²²But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. ²³For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

L          This is the Word of the Lord.

C          Thanks be to God.

VERSE              Matthew 10:32           (spoken together)

Alleluia. Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven. Alleluia.

HOLY GOSPEL  Matthew 10:5a, 21–33

P          The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the Tenth chapters.

C          Glory to You, O Lord.

⁵These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, . . .

            ²¹“Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, ²²and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ²³When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

            ²⁴“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. ²⁵It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

            ²⁶“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. ²⁷What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. ²⁸And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. ³²So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, ³³but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”

P      This is the Gospel of the Lord.

C     Praise to You, O Christ.

HYMN OF THE DAY: #794 The Lord, My God, Be Praised

SERMON: “We Walk By Faith in Times of Persecution”

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.

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.

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

P      Let us pray.

O God, from whom come all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works, give to us, Your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be set to obey Your commandments and also that we, being defended from the fear of our enemies, may live in peace and quietness; 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

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.

DISMISSAL

P          Go in peace! Serve the Lord!
C          Thanks be to God.

CLOSING HYMN: #720 We Walk by Faith and Not by Sight

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