Welcome & Announcements

Prelude

Confession and Forgiveness:
Blessed be the holy Trinity, + one God, who redeems us in Christ Jesus, whose steadfast love endures forever.
Amen.

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

Silence is kept for reflection.

Most merciful God,
We confess that we have sinned against you and our neighbors.  We have ignored voices that call for your justice.  We have neglected actions that witness to your righteousness.  We have spoken and acted in ways that disrupt your beloved community.  We truly repent of things we have done and left undone.  For the sake of Jesus Christ, have mercy on us.  Restore our troubled spirits, so that we may live in newness, follow the way of the Spirit, and build up the body of Christ.  Amen.

Rejoice and be glad! God hears the prayers of all who cry out, and restores us to life through the death and resurrection of Jesu Christ. Therefore, I declare to you the forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Opening Hymn: ELW 843  “Praise the One Who Breaks the Darkness”
Praise the One who breaks the darkness with a liberating light;
praise the One who frees the pris’ners, turning blindness into sight.
Praise the One who preached the gospel, healing ev’ry dread disease,
calming storms and feeding thousands with the very bread of peace.

Praise the One who blessed the children with a strong yet gentle word;
praise the One who drove out demons with a piercing, two-edged sword.
Praise the One who brings cool water to the desert’s burning sand;
from this well comes living water quenching thirst in ev’ry land.

Praise the one true love incarnate: Christ, who suffered in our place;
Jesus died and rose for many that we may know God by grace. 
Let us sing for joy and gladness, seeing what our God has done.
Praise the one redeeming glory; praise the One who makes us one.

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.

Hymn of Praise:
This is the feat of victory for our God. Alleluia
Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain, whose blood set us free to be people of God.
Power and riches and wisdom and strength, and honor and blessing and glory are his.

This is the feat of victory for our God. Alleluia
Sing with all the people of God and join in the hymn of all creation.
Blessing and honor and glory and might be to God and the Lamb forever. Aman

This is the feat of victory for our God, for the lamb who was slain has begun his reign.
Alleluia.  Alleluia

Prayer of the Day:
Let us pray.
God of deliverance,
You rescued Daniel from the mouths of the lions when he was punished for worshiping you. Liberate all who are endangered for the sake of their faith, and rescue us from anything that separates us from you, for the sake of the one who made your name known to all people, across land and seas, Jesus Christ, our redeemer.
Amen.

Reading: Daniel 6:1-28
¹It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred twenty satraps, stationed throughout the whole kingdom, ²and over them three presidents, including Daniel; to these the satraps gave account, so that the king might suffer no loss. ³Soon Daniel distinguished himself above all the other presidents and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king planned to appoint him over the whole kingdom. ⁴So the presidents and the satraps tried to find grounds for complaint against Daniel in connection with the kingdom. But they could find no grounds for complaint or any corruption, because he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption could be found in him. ⁵The men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”

⁶So the presidents and satraps conspired and came to the king and said to him, “O King Darius, live forever! ⁷All the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an interdict, that whoever prays to anyone, divine or human, for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into a den of lions. ⁸Now, O king, establish the interdict and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.” ⁹Therefore King Darius signed the document and interdict.

¹⁰Although Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he continued to go to his house, which had windows in its upper room open toward Jerusalem, and to get down on his knees three times a day to pray to his God and praise him, just as he had done previously. ¹¹The conspirators came and found Daniel praying and seeking mercy before his God. ¹²Then they approached the king and said concerning the interdict, “O king! Did you not sign an interdict, that anyone who prays to anyone, divine or human, within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be thrown into a den of lions?” The king answered, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.” ¹³Then they responded to the king, “Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the interdict you have signed, but he is saying his prayers three times a day.”

¹⁴When the king heard the charge, he was very much distressed. He was determined to save Daniel, and until the sun went down he made every effort to rescue him. ¹⁵Then the conspirators came to the king and said to him, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no interdict or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.”

¹⁶Then the king gave the command, and Daniel was brought and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you faithfully serve, deliver you!” ¹⁷A stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, so that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. ¹⁸Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no food was brought to him, and sleep fled from him.

¹⁹Then, at break of day, the king got up and hurried to the den of lions. ²⁰When he came near the den where Daniel was, he cried out anxiously to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you faithfully serve been able to deliver you from the lions?” ²¹Daniel then said to the king, “O king, live forever! ²²My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.” ²³Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. ²⁴The king gave a command, and those who had accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. Before they reached the bottom of the den the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.

²⁵Then King Darius wrote to all peoples and nations of every language throughout the whole world: “May you have abundant prosperity! ²⁶I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel:

For he is the living God, enduring forever. His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion has no end. ²⁷He delivers and rescues, he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth; for he has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.”

²⁸So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God!

Children’s Message

Sermon

Hymn of the Day: ELW 796 “How Firm a Foundation
How firm a foundation, O saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in Christ Jesus, the Word!
What more can he say than to you he has said who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?

“Fear not, I am with you, oh, be not dismayed, for I am your God and will still give you aid;
I’ll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand, upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.”

“When through fi’ry trials your pathway shall lie, my grace, all-sufficient, shall be your supply.
The flames shall not hurt you; I only design your dross to consume and your gold to refine.”

“Throughout all their lifetime my people shall prove my sov’reign, eternal, unchangeable love;
and then, when gray hairs shall their temples adorn, like lambs they shall still in my bosom be borne.”

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:
United with your saints across time and space, we pray for our shared world.

Prayers continue with each petition ending:

Lord, in your mercy,
receive our prayer.

Accept these prayers, gracious God, and those known only to you; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.

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

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

Offertory Hymn:
Let the vineyards be fruitful, Lord, and fill to the brim our cups of blessing.
Gather a harvest from the seeds that were sown, that we may be fed with the bread of life
Gather the hopes and dreams of all; united them with the prayers we offer.
Grace our table with your presence, and give us a foretaste of the feast to come.

Offering Prayer:
Let us pray.
Blessed are you, Maker of all things. As you have entrusted us with all that you have created, now gather our gifts, nourish us with this sacrament, and send us to those who hunger and thirst, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Savior.
Amen.

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 and join their unending hymn:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, Lord God of pow’r and might,
heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

You are indeed holy, almighty and merciful God. You are most holy, and great is the majesty of your glory.

You so loved the world that you gave your only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.

We give you thanks for his coming into the world to fulfill for us your holy will and to accomplish all things for our salvation.

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.

Remembering, therefore, his salutary command, his life-giving passion and death,  his glorious resurrection and ascension, and the promise of his coming again, we give thanks to you, O Lord God Almighty, not as we ought but as we are able; we ask you mercifully to accept our praise and thanksgiving and with your Word and Holy Spirit to bless us, your servants, and these your own gifts of bread and wine, so that we and all who share in the body and blood of Christ may be filled with heavenly blessing and grace, and, receiving the forgiveness of sin, may be formed to live as your holy people and be given our inheritance with all your saints.

To you, O God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory in your holy church, 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 Canticle:
Thankful hearts and voices raise; tell ev’ryone what god has done.
Let ev’ryone who seeks the Lord rejoice and bear the name of Christ.

Send us with your promises and Lead your people forth in joy 
with shouts of thanksgiving.  Alluluia, alleluia.

Post-Communion Prayer:
Let us pray.
We give you thanks, most gracious God, that you have fed us with the bread of heaven and given us a foretaste of Paradise. Enliven us to be your body in the world and to serve those who are in need; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Benediction:
The God of peace, who creates all things and calls them good, who makes us alive in Jesus, and who breathes on us the Spirit of hope, + bless you now and forever.
Amen.

Sending Hymn: ELW 726 “Light Dawns on a Weary World”

Dismissal:
Go in peace. Be a blessing in the world.
Thanks be to God!

Postlude

 

Prayer Requests: Dave Wall, Liz Smith and Baby Grace, family and friends of Matt Rosamilia, family and friends of Michael McCollum, Mark Rabuck, Ryan Hunter, Rusty, Marilee, Jean Pfirman, Melissa Baumer-Spear, Dennis Rearick, Walt Bingaman, Shirley Russell, Russ Wynn, Viv Marsh, Gladys Fawcett,  Alice Snyder, Marie Tanner, Peg Swinehart, Martha Ketchem, Bob Keifer.

 

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.