Service outline for Sunday, August 29, 2021

 Welcome to worship at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church!

PRELUDE     Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus             Berry

CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS

All may make the sign of the cross, the sign that is marked at baptism, as the presiding minister begins.

 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Almighty God,

to whom all hearts are open,

all desires known,

and from whom no secrets are hid:

cleanse the thoughts of our hearts

by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,

that we may perfectly love you

and worthily magnify your holy name,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

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

Silence is kept for reflection.

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.

The presiding minister announces God’s forgiveness with these or similar words.

In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for his sake God forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the ☩ Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

HYMN       Gather Us In          #532 v. 1,4

GREETING

The grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the love of God, and communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

And also with you.

KYRIE

HYMN OF PRAISE                                                                                                                  

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Children's message

FIRST READING: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9

 ¹So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. ²You must neither add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the LORD your God with which I am charging you. ⁶You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!" ⁷For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is whenever we call to him? ⁸And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?

 ⁹But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children's children.

 

PSALM: Psalm 15

¹LORD, who may dwell in your ^| tabernacle? Who may abide upon your ^| holy hill?

²Those who lead a blameless life and do ^| what is right,    who speak the truth ^| from their heart;

³they do not slander with the tongue, they do no evil ^| to their friends; they do not cast discredit up- ^| on a neighbor.

⁴In their sight the wicked are rejected, but they honor those who ^| fear the LORD.     They have sworn upon their health and do not take ^| back their word.

⁵They do not give their money in hope of gain, nor do they take bribes a- ^| gainst the innocent. Those who do these things shall never be ^| overthrown. 

 

SECOND READING: James 1:17-27

 ¹⁷Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. ¹⁸In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

¹⁹You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; ²⁰for your anger does not produce God's righteousness. ²¹Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

²²But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. ²³For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; ²⁴for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. ²⁵But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.

²⁶If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. ²⁷Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

 

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Alleluia, Alleluia. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Alleluia!

 GOSPEL: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

 ¹Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around [Jesus], ²they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. ³(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; ⁴and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) ⁵So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?" ⁶He said to them, "Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

            'This people honors me with their lips,

            but their hearts are far from me;

            ⁷in vain do they worship me,

            teaching human precepts as doctrines.'

⁸You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition."

 ¹⁴Then he called the crowd again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile." ²¹For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, ²²adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. ²³All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

 

SERMON

HYMN    O God, My Faithful God     #806 v. 1,3,4

  

APOSTLES CREED

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

 

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 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 the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

 

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.   Amen

PRAYERS 

PEACE

OFFERING

COMMUNION PRAYER

LORD'S PRAYER

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

 

DISTRIBUTION OF COMMUNION

HYMN     For the Beauty of the Earth        #879

 

POST COMMUNION PROCLAMATION

POST COMMUNION PRAYER

BLESSING

HYMN         In the Garden

1 I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses;
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses.

Refrain:
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

2 He speaks, and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing;
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing. [Refrain]

3 I'd stay in the garden with Him
Tho' the night around me be falling;
But He bids me go; thro' the voice of woe,
His voice to me is calling. [Refrain]

DISMISSAL

POSTLUDE      Onward Christian Soldiers                    Sullivan

Liturgy and hymns printed and streamed with permission through OneLicense. A-710659