WELCOME

OPENING LITANY[1]:
Jesus said that whoever welcomes one of his followers, welcomes Jesus himself.
Whoever welcomes Jesus, also welcomes God. Whoever offers even a cup of cold water to one of God’s children will be blessed by God.

All are welcome here!
Let us worship God together.

CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS[2]:
Blessed be the holy Trinity, + one God, whose steadfast love is everlasting, whose faithfulness endures from generation to generation.
Amen.

Sisters and brothers, let us not let sin control the way we live. Let us not give in to sinful desires. Rather, let us offer ourselves to God, whose mercy has brought us from death to life.

Silence is held for reflection.

God, we confess that we have sinned in your sight. Despite our best efforts and intentions, we have failed to consistently live in ways that bring honor to your name. Forgive us. Through the grace of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, set us free from the grip of sin—from attitudes and actions that do not lead to life.

Once we were slaves to sin, living lives that led only to death. But thanks be to God! In mercy, God has set us free from the power of sin and death, and has offered us forgiveness and eternal life through + Jesus Christ our Lord! Now you are free to choose life, and to use your life to bring honor and glory to God!
Thanks be to God!

PRAYER OF THE DAY:
Let us pray.
O God, you direct our lives by your grace, and your words of justice and mercy reshape the world. Mold us into a people who welcome your word and serve one another, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.

FIRST READING: ROMANS 6:12-23
¹²Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. ¹³No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

¹⁵What then? Should we 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, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, ¹⁸and that you, 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 greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.

²⁰When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. ²²But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. ²³For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

This is the Holy Gospel according to Matthew, the 10^th chapter
Glory to you, O Lord.

GOSPEL: MATTHEW 10:40-42
⁴⁰“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. ⁴¹Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; ⁴²and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.

CHILDREN’S SERMON

SERMON

HYMN OF THE DAY

APOSTLE’S 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:
http://www.pilgrimpaths.co.uk/Finger%20Labyrinth%20and%20Prayer%20Guide%20Leaflet.pdf

Called into unity with one another and the whole creation, let us pray for our shared world.

. . . Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.

Receive these prayers, O God, and those too deep for words; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

SHARING OF THE PEACE

ANNOUNCEMENTS

OFFERING
https://tithe.ly/give_new/www/#/tithely/give-one-time/468062

SENDING LITANY[3]:
Jesus said, “Anyone who receives you, receives me, and anyone who receives me, receives the Father who sent me.”

Sisters and brothers: we have gathered together in the presence of the God who receives us with open arms, who loves us unconditionally, and who bids us do the same to one another.

Let us set ourselves to receive the world as God does.

LORD’S PRAYER:
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us pray as Jesus taught us saying:
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.

BENEDICTION:
Finally, brothers and sister, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace with be with you.
+ Amen

DISMISSAL:
Go in peace. Christ is with you!
Thanks be to God!

 

 

PRAYER REQUESTS:
Frank Danowsky, Marie Tanner, Sonja Noll, Irene Stark, Peg Swinehart, Alice Snyder, Greg Seibert, Harold Snyder, family and friends of Bill Krause, Colette Richards, Pat Thomas, Gladys Guffey, Terry Funk, Darv Krouse, Rob Lockwood, Kevin Hosey, Terry Smith, Rodney Heckert, Barbara Neilson, and Rebecca Otuszewski.

Portions reprinted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, copyright 2006. Used by permission of Augsburg Fortress, license #SBL09796L. Music reprinted from the ELW, by permission of OneLicense, license #A712349. Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission.

[1] Adapted from The Whole People of God. Check their website for other worship resources for June 26, 2011, or click on Proper 8A in the list of “Labels” at the lower right side of the page.

[2] Adapter from https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2011/06/act-of-confession.html.

[3] Adapted from https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2011/06/call-to-worship-matthew-10.html