Welcome

Opening Litany^[1]:
Long ago a vineyard was planted.
The ground was prepared, and all was made ready.

But the vines grew wild, the ground was unable to support the wild grapes.

What happened in that place of promise?
People forgot the One who planted the vineyard.

They chose their own ways and failed.

Let us again turn to the Lord, who will again plant, prune, and cause us to grow in faithfulness.

Let us open our hearts to God, trusting in God’s ways and God’s word. Amen.

Confession and Forgiveness:
Blessed be the holy Trinity, + one God, who creates, redeems, and sustains us and all creation.
Amen.

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

Silence is held for reflection.

Faithful God,
have mercy on us.  We confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves.  We turn from your loving embrace and go our own ways.  We pass judgment on one another before examining ourselves.  We place our needs before those of our neighbors.  We keep your gift of salvation to ourselves.  Make us humble, cast away our transgressions, and turn us again to life in you through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

God hears the cries of all who call out in need, and through his death and resurrection, Christ has made us his own. Hear the truth that God proclaims: Your sins are forgiven in the name of + Jesus Christ. Led by the Holy Spirit, live in freedom and newness to do God’s work in the world.
Amen.

Prayer of the Day:
Let us pray.
Beloved God, from you come all things that are good. Lead us by the inspiration of your Spirit to know those things that are right, and by your merciful guidance, help us to do them, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.

First Reading: Isaiah 5:1-7
¹Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. ²He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.

³And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.

⁴What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?

⁵And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. ⁶I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

⁷For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!

The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Gospel: Matthew 21:33-46
³³“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. ³⁴When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. ³⁵But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. ³⁷Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ ³⁹So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’?

⁴³Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. ⁴⁴The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

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:
Confident of your care and helped by the Holy Spirit, we pray for the church, the world, and all who are in need.

. . .  Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

In the certain hope that nothing can separate us from your love, we offer these prayers to you; 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[2]:
How many times each day do You come to us, Jesus?
How many quiet prophets, how many whispered warnings are sent to catch our attention?

And how many times do we pass by unaware of your calm presence, unfeeling of your beckoning gaze?

How often have we shunned your messengers; sending them away with clipped words and cold eyes?

How often have we hurt the agents of your care; too busy or self-absorbed to notice your invitation in their words?

Forgive us, Lord, when through neglect, pre-occupation or wrongfulness, we turn our backs on you.

Teach us to see, to listen and to walk with an open heart, so that we can welcome you, and answer you, when, in grace and love, you call us to follow.

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:
As you go from here, remember to love.
For love is what God asks of us; it is the very heart and soul of what it means to follow Jesus Christ. So go from here to love and serve God by loving and serving those you meet.

May Almighty God, Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit, bless you and lead you into the way of truth and life.
Amen

Dismissal:
Go in peace. Remember the poor.
Thanks be to God!

 

Prayer Requests:
Marilyn Gresh, Bob Keifer, Celia Warren, Frank Danowsky, Marie Tanner, Sonja Noll, Irene Stark, Peg Swinehart, Alice Snyder, Greg Seibert, Harold Snyder, Colette Richards, Pat Thomas, Gladys Guffey, Terry Funk, Darv Krouse, Rob Lockwood, Terry Smith, Rodney Heckert, the family and friends of Barbara Neilson, and Rebecca Otuszewski, Bonnie Heddings Lyons, Roger Neilson, John Denius, Family and Friends of Joe Moyer.

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] From the Worship Connection page of the Ministry Matters website. http://www.ministrymatters.com/

[2] Adapted from John van de Laar, on his excellent website, Sacredise.com.