St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
Alliance, Ohio
Sunday, October 29, 2023
9:30 AM
PRELUDE All Glory Be to God on High P. Manz
Confession and Forgiveness
Blessed be God, the one
who forms us, ☩ Jesus who bears the cross,
the Spirit who makes our
joy complete.
Amen.
Let us bow before God in humility, confessing our sin.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Steadfast and faithful God, you have revealed the ways of justice, yet we fail to follow you.
We are overwhelmed by the
world’s violence and suffering. We are afraid to risk what we have for the sake
of others. For the harm we have caused, known and unknown, forgive us. For the
unjust demands we place on others and your creation, forgive us. For the ways
we turn away from you and our neighbor, forgive us. Lead us back to you and set
us on the right path; in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Amen.
Beloved in Christ, God’s justice stretches beyond all understanding. God’s compassion is beyond compare. In Jesus, God is always making a new way for us. In ☩ Christ, you are already and always forgiven.
Amen.
HYMN A Mighty Fortress Is Our
God #504
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 Sermon
First Reading: Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18
1The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2Speak to all the
congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I
the Lord your God am
holy. 15You shall not render an
unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great:
with justice you shall judge your neighbor. 16You shall not go around
as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your
neighbor: I am the Lord. 17You shall not hate in
your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will
incur guilt yourself. 18You shall not
take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love
your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
The Word of
the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Psalm 1
1Happy are they who have not walked in the
counsel | of the wicked,
nor lingered in the way of sinners,
nor sat in the seats | of the scornful!
2Their delight is in the
law | of the Lord, and
they meditate on God’s teaching | day and
night.
3They are like trees
planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves
that | do
not wither; everything they | do shall prosper.
4It is not so | with the wicked;
they are like chaff which the wind | blows away.
5Therefore the wicked shall
not stand upright when | judgment comes, nor the sinner in the
council | of the righteous.
6For the Lord knows the way | of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked shall | be
destroyed.
Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
1You
yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in
vain, 2but though we
had already suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi, as you know,
we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great
opposition. 3For our
appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, 4but just as we have been
approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we
speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. 5As you know and as God is
our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for
greed; 6nor did we
seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others, 7though we might have made
demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse
tenderly caring for her own children. 8So deeply do we care for you that we are
determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own
selves, because you have become very dear to us.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
Gospel: Gospel: Matthew 22:34-46
The Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew the
22nd chapter. Glory to you O Lord
34When the
Pharisees heard that [Jesus] had silenced the Sadducees, they
gathered together, 35and one of
them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36“Teacher, which
commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37He said to him, “You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your mind.’ 38This is the
greatest and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.’ 40On these two commandments hang all the law and
the prophets.” 41Now while the
Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: 42“What do you think of the
Messiah? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” 43He said to them, “How is
it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, 44‘The Lord said to my
Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’? 45If David thus calls him
Lord, how can he be his son?” 46No one was able to give him an answer, nor from
that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
The Gospel
of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.
SERMON
HYMN Built
on a Rock #504
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 of Intercession, PEACE,
OFFERING
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 Amazing Grace #779
PRAYER, BLESSING
HYMN The Church’s One Foundation #654
DISMISSAL
POSTLUDE Praise to thy Name H. Decoe
