Welcome & Announcements

Prelude

Confession & Forgiveness:
Blessed be the holy Trinity, + one God, whose teaching is life, whose presence is sure, and whose love is endless.
Amen.

Let us confess our sins to the one who welcomes us with an open heart.

Silence is kept for reflection.

God our comforter,
like lost sheep, we have gone astray.  We gaze upon abundance and see scarcity.  We turn our faces away from injustice and oppression.  We exploit the earth with our apathy and greed.  Free us from our sin, gracious God.  Listen when we call out to you for help.  Lead us by your love to love our neighbors as ourselves.  Amen.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. By the gift of grace in + Christ Jesus, God makes you righteous. Receive with glad hearts the forgiveness of all your sins.
Amen!

Opening Hymn: ELW 858 “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”

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

Prayer of the Day:
Let us pray.
Gracious God, throughout the ages you transform sickness into health and death into life.

Open us to the power of your presence, and make us a people ready to proclaim your promises to the whole world, through Jesus Christ, our healer and Lord.
Amen.

First Reading: James 2:1-17
¹My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? ² or if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, ³and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,” ⁴have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? ⁵Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? ⁶But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? ⁷Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?

⁸You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ⁹But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. ¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. ¹¹For the one who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. ¹²So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. ¹³For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? ¹⁵If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, ¹⁶and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? ¹⁷So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Gospel: Mark 7:24-37
This is the Holy Gospel according to Mark, the 7th chapter.
Glory to you, O Lord.

²⁴From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, ²⁵but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. ²⁶Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁸But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” ²⁹Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

³¹Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. ³²They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. ³³He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. ³⁴Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” ³⁵And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. ³⁶Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. ³⁷They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

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

Children’s Message

Sermon

Hymn of the Day: ELW 675 “O Christ, Our Light, O Radiance True”

Apostle’s Creed:
Let us confess our faith using the 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
Made children and heirs of God’s promise, we pray for the church, the world, and all in need.

Prayers continue with each petition ending:

Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

Receive these prayers, O God, and those in our hearts known only to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

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

The Great Thanksgiving:
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God, through our Savior Jesus Christ; who on this day overcame death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life. And so, with all the choirs of angels, with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven, we praise your name saying:
Alleluia! Come, Holy Spirit!

Holy God, mighty Lord, gracious Father: Endless is your mercy and eternal your reign. You have filled all creation with light and life; heaven and earth are full of your glory.

We praise you for the grace shown to your people in every age: the promise to Israel, the rescue from Egypt, the gift of the promised land, the words of the prophets; and, at this end of all the ages, the gift of your Son, who proclaimed the good news in word and deed and was obedient to your will, even to giving his life.

In the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks; broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.

Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying: This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me.

For as often as we eat of this bread and drink from this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

Therefore, O God, with this bread and cup we remember the life our Lord offered for us. And, believing the witness of his resurrection, we await his coming in power to share with us the great and promised feast.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Send now, we pray, your Holy Spirit, that we who share in Christ’s body and blood may live to the praise of your glory and receive our inheritance with all your saints in light.
Amen. Come, Holy Spirit.

Join our prayers with those of your servants of every time and every place, and unite them with the ceaseless petitions of our great high priest until he comes as victorious Lord of all. Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father, now and forever.
Amen.

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.

Communion

Table Blessing:
The body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen you and keep you in his grace.
Amen.

Post-Communion Prayer:
Let us pray.
Lord of life, in the gift of your body and blood you turn the crumbs of our faith into a feast of salvation. Send us forth into the world with shouts of joy, bearing witness to the abundance of your love in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.

Benediction:
People of God, you are Christ’s body, bringing new life to a suffering world. The holy Trinity, + one God, bless you now and forever.
Amen.

 Sending Hymn: ELW 886 “O, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing

Sharing of the Peace & Dismissal:
May the peace of the Lord be with you always.|
And also with you.

Go in peace. The living Word dwells in you.
Thanks be to God!

Postlude

 

Prayer Requests:
Marie Tanner, Keith Shirk, James Zook, Tammy Stamm, Betsy Thomas, Grace Yost, Tim Trant, Viv Marsh, Peg Swinehart, Delroy Caris, Sonja Noll, Walt Bingaman, Mason Peluso, Martha Ketchem, Mary Baker, Bob Keifer.

Are you or a loved one in need of prayer?

Submit your prayer request by calling 570-568-2254 or emailing it to office@unitedinchristlutheran.net. 

 

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.