SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY

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February 20, 2022

Forgive as You Have Been Forgiven

The season of Epiphany is one of the “accordion” seasons of the Church Year. The later Easter falls in March or April, the more Sundays after the Epiphany there are. This year’s “Epiphany accordion” is stretched long enough to include eight Sundays. In an extended Epiphany season, the light of Christ burns brightest, as Jesus is revealed in action and in teaching through the Gospel writers. There is power when and where Jesus is among His people, as the hymn “Jesus Comes Today with Healing” teaches (LSB 620). May we welcome His presence among us!

+ PREPARATION +

**OPENING HYMN: #820 – *My Soul, Now Praise Your Maker***

INVOCATION

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

People: Amen.

OPENING SENTENCES Psalm 30:10; 43:3; Proverbs 4:18; Isaiah 2:5b

Pastor: Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!

People: O Lord, be my helper.

Pastor: Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me;

People: let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your dwelling!

Pastor: The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,

People: which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24

Pastor: Let us now make confession of our sins to God, our gracious heavenly Father.

People: Eternal God, we confess that by nature we are sinful people. We are given to sinful thoughts, sinful words, and sinful deeds. We have transgressed Your law in many ways, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We deserve Your punishment, now and for eternity. Merciful God, in Your mercy, forgive our sin and restore us to a full and joyful relationship with You through the merits of Jesus, our Lord. Direct our days by Your Holy Spirit that we may joyfully follow Your will and gladly obey Your commandments as Your redeemed people, bringing the brightness of Your light to the darkened world.

Pastor: In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

People: Amen.

Pastor: Now 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. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.

People: Thanks be to God. Amen.

+ WORD +

PSALM Psalm 103:1–13 (spoken responsively by verse)

¹Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and all that is within me,

bless his holy name!

²Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits,

³who forgives all your iniquity,

who heals all your diseases

⁴who redeems your life from the pit,

who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

⁵who satisfies you with good

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶The Lord works righteousness

and justice for all who are oppressed.

⁷He made known his ways to Moses,

his acts to the people of Israel.

⁸The Lord is merciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

⁹He will not always chide,

nor will he keep his anger forever.

¹⁰He does not deal with us according to our sins,

nor repay us according to our iniquities.

¹¹For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

¹²as far as the east is from the west,

so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

¹³As a father shows compassion to his children,

so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

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

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

People: Lord, have mercy.

Pastor: For the peace we have with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, let us pray to the Lord.

People: Lord, have mercy.

Pastor: For peace among the families of the nations and in coming generations, let us pray to the Lord.

People: Lord, have mercy.

Pastor: For all who rejoice here for our access by faith into this grace in which we stand, let us pray to the Lord.

People: Lord, have mercy.

Pastor: By Your purposeful suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection—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.
O Lord, You taught us to love our enemies and to be merciful as You are merciful. By Your Holy Spirit, grant us the gifts of love and peace without which we cannot live before You; for the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

People: Amen.

OLD TESTAMENT READING Genesis 45:3–15

(Joseph forgives his brothers.)

³ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.

⁴So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. ⁶For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. ⁷And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. ⁸So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. ⁹Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. ¹⁰You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. ¹¹There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’ ¹²And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. ¹³You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” ¹⁴Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. ¹⁵And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him.

Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

GRADUAL (spoken together)

Praise the Lord, all nations!
            Extol him, all peoples!
For great is his steadfast love toward us,
            and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
            bring an offering, and come into his courts!

EPISTLE 1 Corinthians 15:21–26, 30–42

(Paul teaches regarding the resurrection of the dead.)

²¹For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. ²²For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. ²³But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. ²⁴Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. ²⁵For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶The last enemy to be destroyed is death. . . .

³⁰Why am I in danger every hour? ³¹I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! ³²What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” ³³Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” ³⁴Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

³⁵But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” ³⁶You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. ³⁸But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. ³⁹For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. ⁴⁰There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. ⁴¹There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

⁴²So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.

Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

VERSE Luke 6:36

Alleluia. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Alleluia.

HOLY GOSPEL Luke 6:27–38

(Jesus teaches about loving enemies.)

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

People: Glory to You, O Lord.

²⁷[Jesus said:] “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ²⁹To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. ³⁰Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. ³¹And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

³²“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. ³⁵But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. ³⁶Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

³⁷“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; ³⁸give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Pastor: This is the Gospel of the Lord.

People: Praise to You, O Christ.

HYMN OF THE DAY: #570 – Just as I Am, without One Plea

SERMON Forgive as You Have Been Forgiven

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: … through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

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 God, the strength of all who put their trust in You, mercifully grant that by Your power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

People: Amen.

BENEDICAMUS and BENEDICTION Numbers 6:24–26

Pastor: Let us bless the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

Pastor: The blessing of almighty God—the Father, the + Son, and the Holy Spirit—be with you, now and forever.

People: Amen.

DISMISSAL

Pastor: Go in peace! Serve the Lord!

People: Thanks be to God.

SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY – Online Church at Home Service Bulletin