Welcome

Opening Litany[1]:
Truth be told, Jesus, there are lots of tables that need overturning in our lives; beneath the veneer of respectability the tidy rows and neat regulations hide dark addictions and angry judgements hungry greeds and heartless rejections.

We know the pain—and so do those around us—of keeping up the facade;
What a relief it would be to have it all upset, smashed, scattered, destroyed.

So, perhaps, Jesus, today you could pay us a visit and help us to radically rearrange the furniture of our lives.

Confession and Forgiveness:
Blessed be the holy Trinity, + one God, the keeper of the covenant, the source of steadfast love, our rock and our redeemer.
Amen.

God hears us when we cry, and draws us close in Jesus Christ. Let us return to the one who is full of compassion.

Silence is kept for reflection.

Fountain of living water,
pour out your mercy over us. Our sin is heavy, and we long to be free.  Rebuild what we have ruined and mend what we have torn.  Wash us in your cleansing flood.  Make us alive in the Spirit to follow in the way of Jesus, as healers and restorers of the world you so love.  Amen.

Beloved, God’s word never fails. The promise rests on grace: by the saving love of Jesus Christ, the wisdom and power of God, your sins are + forgiven, and God remembers them no more. Journey in the way of Jesus.
Amen.

Prayer of the Day:
Let us pray.
Holy God, through your Son you have called us to live faithfully and act courageously. Keep us steadfast in your covenant of grace, and teach us the wisdom that comes only through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

First Reading: Exodus 20:1-17
¹Then God spoke all these words:
²I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; ³you shall have no other gods before me.

⁴You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁵You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, ⁶but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

⁷You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

⁸Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. ⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work. ¹⁰But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. ¹¹For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

¹²Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

¹³You shall not murder.

¹⁴You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵You shall not steal.

¹⁶You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

¹⁷You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Gospel: John 2:13-22

This is the Holy Gospel according to John, the 2nd chapter.
Glory to you, O Lord.

¹²After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; and they remained there a few days.

¹³The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. ¹⁵Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” ¹⁷His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” ¹⁸The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” ¹⁹Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” ²⁰The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” ²¹But he was speaking of the temple of his body. ²²After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

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

Children’s Sermon

Sermon

Hymn of the Day

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:
Relying on the promises of God, we pray boldly for the church, the world, and all in need.

Prayers continue with each petition ending:

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

We entrust ourselves and all our prayers to you, O faithful God, 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]:
Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, your mind and your soul.

We will love God with an intensity such that no substitute will suffice, the very mention of God’s name will be precious as we cleave to our time of communion with the sacred.

Love your neighbor as yourself.
We will respect the wisdom of our elders. We will protect the lives and the reputations of those around us. We will cherish the relationships entrusted to us. We will not take what is not ours. We will learn the value of enough.

Love the Lord your God. Love your neighbor as yourself.

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:
You are what God made you to be:
Created in Christ Jesus for good works,
Chosen as holy and beloved,
Freed to serve your neighbor.

God bless you + that you may be a blessing, in the name of the holy and life-giving Trinity.
Amen.

Dismissal:
Go in peace. Share the good news.
Thanks be to God!

 

Prayer Requests:
Darv Krouse, Brenda Krouse, Kay Hilkert, Glen Van Dyke, Gladys Fawcett,  family and friends of Pete Shearer, Tom Burns, Megan Brodsky, family and friends of Bob Berger, Shirley Hauck-Troxell, Ryan Caris, family and friends of Frank Danowsky, Gretchen Becker, Deb Fern, Kay Keister, Annette Baker, Courtney Price, Cami Zimmerman, Helen Barsh,  Jamie, Matt Koch, Bob Keifer, Peg Swinehart.

 

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 John van de Laar, and posted on Sacredise.

[2] Adapted from Katherine Hawker and posted on her Liturgy Outside website.