Sunday, January 28th, 2018 THE ORDER OF WORSHIP

The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany PRELUDE Chorale Prelude on O wie selig seid Ihr doch, ihr Frommen
O How Blessed Are You, Ye Righteous J. Brahms
Holy Communion (V)
WELCOME

INVOCATION

In the name of the Father, and of the (+)Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
GATHERING SONG: You Servants of God (ELW 825)
In Deuteronomy God promises to raise up a prophet like Moses, who will
speak for God; in Psalm 111 God shows the people the power of God’s GREETING
works. For the church these are ways of pointing to the unique authority
people sensed in Jesus’ actions and words. We encounter that authority in The grace of our Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the
God’s word, around which we gather, the word that trumps any lesser Holy Spirit be with you all.
spirit that would claim power over us, freeing us to follow Jesus. And also with you.

CHILDREN are always welcome to our Worship Service. Rainbow bags CANTICLE OF PRAISE
and a cry room are available. A staffed nursery is also available if needed.
An usher will gladly provide you with assistance.

As a worship courtesy, we ask that you please turn off or set to vibrate
all cellular telephones and pagers during the worship service.

We ask that all present today please fill out the Attendance and Communion
registration card found in your bulletin and place it in the offering plate so
that we may record your presence with us.

PRAYER UPON ENTERING THE PEW

By your power, great God, our Lord Jesus healed the sick and gave new
hope to the hopeless. Send your Holy Spirit upon me to make me whole.
Heal all who are sick or injured or troubled, soothe fevered brows, and give
us peace and joy. Help us to welcome every healing as a sign that, though
death is against us, you are for us, and have promised renewed and risen
life in Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.
 PSALM: PSALM 111

Refrain:

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Tone:
Compassionate God, you gather the whole universe into your radiant
presence and continually reveal your Son as our Savior. Bring wholeness to
all that is broken and speak truth to us in our confusion, that all creation
will see and know your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. 1
Hallelujah! I will give thanks to the LORD with | my whole heart,
in the assembly of the upright, in the | congregation.
Please be seated. 2
Great are your | works, O LORD,
pondered by all who de- | light in them.
CHILDREN”S MESSAGE 3
Majesty and splendor | mark your deeds,
and your righteousness en- | dures forever.
FIRST READING Deuteronomy 18:15-20 4
You cause your wonders to | be remembered;
Today’s reading is part of a longer discourse in Deuteronomy, an updating you are gracious and full | of compassion. R
of the law for the Israelite community as the people wait to enter the
promised land. Here Moses assures the people that God will continue to 5
You give food to | those who fear you,
guide them through prophets who will proclaim the divine word. remembering forev- | er your covenant.
6
You have shown your people the power | of your works
in giving them the lands | of the nations.
[Moses said:] 15The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me 7
The works of your hands are faithful- | ness and justice;
from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. 16This is what all of your pre- | cepts are sure.
you requested of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly 8
They stand fast forev- | er and ever,
when you said: “If I hear the voice of the LORD my God any more, or ever because they are done in | truth and equity. R
again see this great fire, I will die.” 17Then the LORD replied to me: “They
are right in what they have said. 18I will raise up for them a prophet like you 9
You sent redemption to your people and commanded your cove- | nant
from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the forever; holy and awesome | is your name.
prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. 19Anyone 10
The fear of the LORD is the begin- | ning of wisdom;
who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I all who practice this have a good understanding. God’s praise
myself will hold accountable. 20But any prophet who speaks in the name of en- | dures forever. R
other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not
commanded the prophet to speak—that prophet shall die.” SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Paul is concerned about how some Corinthian Christians use their freedom
The word of the Lord. in Christ as license to engage in non-Christian behavior that sets a
Thanks be to God. damaging example to other, impressionable, believers. Christians have a
responsibility to each other that their behavior does not cause a sister or
Silence for reflection on the reading. brother to sin.
Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that “all of us possess GOSPEL: Mark 1:21-28
knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2Anyone who claims As the Gospel is announced, worshippers are invited to trace a cross upon
to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; 3but anyone their forehead, then over their lips, and then over their hearts, silently
who loves God is known by him. praying, “May the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ be ever on my mind, on
4
Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol my lips, and in my heart.”
in the world really exists,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5Indeed,
even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact The holy gospel according to Mark.
there are many gods and many lords—6yet for us there is one God, the Glory to you, O Lord.
Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord,
Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. The story has barely begun, and already the battle is joined. Jesus sides
7
It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have with humanity against every force that would bring death and disease.
become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they These forces recognize Jesus and know what his power means for them.
eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is This, however, is only the first fight. The war will go on much longer.
defiled. 8“Food will not bring us close to God.” We are no worse off if we 21
[Jesus and his disciples] went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came,
do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9But take care that this liberty of
he entered the synagogue and taught.22They were astounded at his teaching,
yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10For if
for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23Just
others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol,
then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24and he
might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point
cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you
of eating food sacrificed to idols? 11So by your knowledge those weak
come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” 25But
believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. 12But when you thus sin
Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26And the
against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is
unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of
weak, you sin against Christ. 13Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling,
him. 27They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What
I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.
is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean
The word of the Lord. spirits, and they obey him.” 28At once his fame began to spread throughout
Thanks be to God. the surrounding region of Galilee.

Please stand for the reading of the gospel. The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
All sing the Alleluia. The choir will sing the verse, all repeat the Alleluia Please be seated.

SERMON Pastor Charles Peterson

Silence for reflection, then we invite you to stand as we sing:

HYMN OF THE DAY: Songs of Thankfulness and Praise (ELW 310)

CREED
As they recite the creed, worshippers are invited to bow beginning with the
Verse: words “born of the Virgin Mary,” until the words “he descended to the
The people who sat in darkness have seen | a great light;* dead.”
for those who sat in the shadow of death | light has dawned. (Matt. 4:16)
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. strengthen you through the Holy Spirit, that Christ may live in your hearts
through and show forth in your lives. Amen.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived
by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius We invite you to stand and to greet one another in the peace of Christ.
Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at PEACE
the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and
the dead. The peace of Christ be with you always.
And also with you.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of Please be seated.
saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life
everlasting. ANTHEM AT THE OFFERING Dona Nobis Pacem Ester Mägi

We invite you to please stand.

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
OFFERTORY HYMN Let All Things Now Living (ELW 881)
Confident that God our light and our salvation is eager to hear us, let us
offer our prayers for the church, the world, and all people in need.
Please sit or kneel as you are able.
Each petition ends with:
let us pray.
Have mercy, O God.

Merciful God, you hear our prayers even before we speak them. Receive
them for the sake of the one through whom you have revealed your
goodness, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

CONFESSION OF SINS AND PROCLAMATION OF FORGIVENESS

Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.

Most merciful God, we confess that we are captive to sin and cannot
free ourselves. 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 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.

God, who is rich in mercy, loved us even when we were dead in sin, and
made us alive together through Christ. By grace you have been saved. In
the name of ☩ Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. Almighty God
OFFERING PRAYER

Merciful God, receive the gifts we bring, ourselves, our time, and our
possessions. Through this meal unite us as your body, shining with the light EUCHARISTIC PRAYER
Worshippers are invited to bow with the consecration of the Lord’s body
of your justice and mercy; for the sake of him who gave himself for us,
and blood, each time the words “Do this for the remembrance of me,” are
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
spoken.
DIALOGUE
Holy God, Creator of all and Source of life, at the birth of time your word
brought light into the world…Through him all glory and honor is yours,
Almighty Father, with the Holy Spirit, in your holy Church, both now and
forever. Amen.

LORD'S PRAYER

Lord, as we turn to live in and to live out your Kingdom, teach us to pray:
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.

PREFACE INVITATION TO COMMUNION

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of heaven is here! All who wish to
turn to God and live in Christ, come to the feast.

Please be seated.
All baptized people are welcome to the table to receive Christ’s body and BLESSING
blood. If you have not been baptized, you are also welcome to the table as
God’s guest; we are honored by your presence. We recognize the Body of God Almighty send you light and truth to keep you all the days of your life.
Christ as the community of the baptized, so if you would like to become part The hand of God protect you; the holy angels accompany you; and the
of the Body of Christ, we encourage you to seek baptism. If you can’t or blessing of almighty God, Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit, be upon and
don’t wish to receive today, we encourage you to hold your hands over remain with you forever. Amen.
your chest for a blessing as you come forward.
SENDING SONG: The Lord Now Sends Us Forth (ELW 538)
LAMB OF GOD
DISMISSAL

Go in peace. Christ is with you.

Thanks be to God.

POSTLUDE Chorale Prelude on O Gott, du frommer Gott J. Brahms

O God, You Righteous Good

UPCOMING COMMEMORATIONS

Thomas Aquinas, teacher, died 1274

Sunday, January 28, 2018
One of the most brilliant and creative theologians in the church's history,
Aquinas worked to bring together scripture and the philosophy of Aristotle.
A member of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), Aquinas was also a
hymnwriter.

Presentation of Our Lord

Friday, February 2, 2018
Forty days after the birth of Jesus we mark the day Mary and Joseph
COMMUNION HYMN: There Is a Balm in Gilead (ELW 614)
presented him in the temple in accordance with Jewish law. There they
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION were greeted by Simeon, an aged priest who offered the song "Lord, now
you let your servant depart in peace," as well as by the prophet Anna, who
Radiant God, with our eyes we have seen your salvation, and in this meal spoke of the redemption of Israel.
we have feasted on your grace. May your Word take flesh in us, that we
may be your holy people, revealing your glory made known to us in Jesus Ansgar, Bishop of Hamburg, missionary to Denmark and Sweden, died
Christ our Savior. Amen. 865 Saturday, February 3, 2018
A monk who helped bring Christianity to Scandinavia, Ansgar returned to
MINISTRY ANNOUNCEMENTS Germany where he was named bishop of Hamburg. He is remembered for
his love for poor people.