Cycle A All Saints

 11/2/2014 Confession

A Great Sunday to use Thanksgiving for Baptism -ELW

Sunday Title: All Saints Sunday

Sermon Title: Present Tense Saints

Previously:

Sunday Title: All Saints Sunday

Sermon Title: Saint “hood” (the neighborhood of saints)

Sunday Title: All Saints Sunday

Sermon Title: “Hearing your Blessings”

Sunday Title: All Saints Sunday

Sermon Title: “Pure in Heart”

Scripture Cuttings:

Revelation 7:9-17 These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Psalm 34:1-10 & 22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

1 John 3:1-3 And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Matthew 5:1-12 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

All may make the sign of the cross in remembrance of baptism

as the presiding minister begins:

P:  In the Name of the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen

P:  Let us put down our defenses and be honest with God.

  (what defense can you set down in this silence?)

  Lord of all,

C: we search for the wrong things,

  our desires make an illusion of our lives.

We dislike the depressed for their mood,

  we judge the weak in their inadequacies.

We value traits of strength and self-rightness

  above purity in relationship.

We are even proud of our humbleness.

Save us Lord from the sins we know in our heart.

Save us Lord from the sins we hide.

  (pause for reflection and self-examination)

P:  Our Lord does desire for us to be blessed with pure hearts to know God. For our sake God provides the blood of the Lamb so that we might be able to stand before the throne of God and worship in God’s own temple. The Son of God: Jesus Christ is that Lamb, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Our sins are washed away. We are made pure in Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit we may live together in hope as children of God. In the name of the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen. -wjw

P:  The peace of the Lord be with you always!

C: And also with you!

Cycle ABC Reformation

10/26/2014 Confession

Sunday Title: Reformation Sunday

Sermon Title: “Independence Day?”

Previously:

Sunday Title: New Sunday

Sermon Title: “From faithfulness to religion and back”

Sunday Title: Heritage Sunday

Sermon Title: What is Your Favorite Passage in Scripture?

Sunday Title: Reformation Sunday

Sermon Title: God and God Alone

Sunday Title: Reformation Sunday

Sermon Title: dismembering

Sunday Title:  Reformation Sunday

Sermon Title: Freedom.

Sunday Title:  Affirmation Sunday

Sermon Title: What is next?

Sunday Title:  Reformation Sunday

Sermon Title: "Grace is that hard to believe"

Sermon Title: "Free to Choose Freedom"

Sermon Title: "Inner Bondage"

Sermon Title: "Slave or Free"

Sermon Title: “Why Reform”

Sermon Title: “Know the Lord!- Compliance or Confidence”

Scripture Cuttings:

Jeremiah 31:31-34 I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Psalm 46 The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Romans 3:19-28 For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus....

John 8:31-36 Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.

All may make the sign of the cross in remembrance of baptism

as the presiding minister begins:

P:  In the Name of the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen

P:  Let us put aside our good works

  and remember that we do sin and fall short of the glory of God.

    (silence is a good way to end a public boast

      confession is a good way to end a private boast)

  Lord of all,

C: the demands of your righteousness

are too hard for us to fulfill alone,

  so we rush off with this excuse

    and ignore your law.

You forgive our iniquity and remember our sin no more,

  and we abuse this freedom

    as if it were a license to selfishness,

      self-indulgence and self-righteousness.

You give us the gift of grace: atonement in the blood your Son,

  yet we make it cheap without serious repentance.

We fail to see the power of your faithfulness.

We are your people, but do we know you as our God?

Forgive us Lord, the sins we know in our heart.

Save us Lord from the sins we hide.

  (pause for reflection and self-examination)

P:  God of our refuge and strength...

C: have mercy on us, write on our hearts. Amen

P:  God does show us God’s own righteousness, and divine forbearance. Through the work of the Holy Spirit given to us, we may come to know the truth and be made free. Jesus Christ the Son of God sets us free from our slavery to sin. Our sins are forgiven. Through his death and resurrection a place is made for us in the household, and we may be know as children of God. To the glory of the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen. -wjw

P:  The peace of the Lord be with you always!

C: And also with you!

-or-

All may make the sign of the cross in remembrance of baptism

as the presiding minister begins:

P:  In the Name of the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen

P:  We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

  before we worship we should prepare our hearts...

      (pause for self-examination)

P:  Faithful Lord...

C: we are slaves to our sin,

  we choose this bondage each day.

Sometimes we plot a wicked deed,

  or use our status for personal gain.

    We follow through with an unfair advantage,

      and always remain oblivious in small offenses.

Whatever our sin is we justify it to ourselves,

  ignore our conscience,

    rationalize it to the authorities

      and boast of it to our friends.

This remains our habit, our way

  because we do not tend to our relationship with you.

Rather we consider ourselves all right with you.

  We treat your forgiveness like permission.

Lord, forgive the sin we confront.

Lord, save us from the sin we evade in heart and mind. (Pause for reflection)

P:  God's righteousness is shown to us. We are now justified- that is brought into right relationship- with God by God's grace, as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. For Christ's sake our sins are forgiven. In this state of grace we may recognize God is writing on our hearts, and live as faithful people of God. To the glory of the Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit.

C: Amen. -wjw

P:  The peace of the Lord be with you always!

C: And also with you!

Cycle A Lectionary 30 Proper 25

10/26/2014 Confession

Sunday Title: Authority Sunday

Sermon Title: “Why are we good?”

Previously:

Sunday Title: Law Sunday

Sermon Title: “Too Many Laws”

Scripture Cuttings:

Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Psalm 1 Happy are those… but their delight is in the law of the Lord,  and on his law they meditate day and night.

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts.

Matthew 22:34-46 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Confession:

All may make the sign of the cross in remembrance of baptism

as the presiding minister begins:

P:  In the Name of the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen

P  Our Lord God is holy and just and good,

and our Lord God requires us to be holy and just and good. (pause)

  O Lord...

C: your list of laws is too great,

we can not remember them all:

  no vengeance, no grudge,

    no hate, no partiality in justice, no slander....

Books and books of your law,

  not even counting all our special cases and exceptions.

Yet in our freedom we encroach upon your will.

  It is our nature to do so.

Forgive us Lord for the sins we know in our hearts.

Save us Lord from the sins we hide.

   (pause for reflection and self-examination)

P:  God holds our relationship with God above even God’s own stiff requirements of us. It is in this love that God gave Jesus Christ as a sacrifice to pay the price of our sinfulness. Our sins are forgiven. Calling us in love to repentance. We have even been given the power of the Holy Spirit that we might seek to love the Lord our God with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind, and even our neighbor as our self. In the name of Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen. -wjw

P:  The peace of the Lord be with you always!

C: And also with you! 

Cycle A Lectionary 29 Proper 24

10/19/2014 Confession

Sunday Title:  Loyalty Sunday

Sermon Title: “Welcome Pastor Jim Brandis Chaplain at Shepherd of the Valley”

Previously:

Sunday Title:  Debt Sunday

Sermon Title: “Please Welcome Pastor Linda Hilliard”

Sunday Title:  God's Sunday 

Sermon Title: "What Is Owed to God?"

Isaiah 45:1-7 For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I surname you, though you do not know me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no god.

Psalm 96:1-9 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction....

Matthew 22:15-22 Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's.

All may make the sign of the cross in remembrance of baptism

as the presiding minister begins:

P:  In the Name of the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen

P  The Lord is God, and there is no other

let us turn from our idols. (listen for the sound of turning hearts)

  O Lord...

C: we come to this place to worship you,

  the one; the only true God,

    and still we will leave

      and put everything else in our lives ahead of you.

We take personal pride in the work of our hands

  and all we accomplish,

    we forget you give us every resources,

      even our very selves.

We give our best to the world for our own sake

  and give to you our Lord: leftovers.

Forgive us the sins we know in our hearts.

Save us Lord from the sins we hide. (pause for reflection and self-examination)

P:  Our God is not rejected by our rejections. The Lord’s grace is more powerful than any human idolatry. For our sakes Jesus the Christ, the Son of God died for our sins. The good news is: our sins are forgiven. This  message of the gospel comes to us in word, and in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; so that we might become examples of believers; to the glory of the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen. -wjw

P:  The peace of the Lord be with you always!

C: And also with you!

Cycle A Lectionary 28 Proper 23

10/12/2014 Confession

Sunday Title:  Banquet Sunday

Sermon Title: “keep the change - be changed by the change”

Previously:

Sunday Title:  Discipleship Sunday

Sermon Title: Please Welcome Pastor Richard Bowen

Sunday Title:  Invite Sunday

Sermon Title: “Welcome Pastor Jim Brandis”

Sunday Title:  Invitation Sunday 

Sermon Title: "RSVP"

Scripture Cuttings:

Isaiah 25:1-9 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.

Psalm 23 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

Philippians 4:1-9 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Matthew 22:1-14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

Confession:

All may make the sign of the cross in remembrance of baptism

as the presiding minister begins:

P:  In the Name of the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen

P  We are invited to God's Banquet, let us cover ourselves in humbleness and confess our sin. (pause cause humble don't come easy)

  O Lord God...

C: we receive your invitation

and we really want to attend your banquet

  yet we attend to so much other business.

We are grateful you extend your invitation to all people,

  not just the pious privileged.

But now that we are members of your church,

  we screen the guest list,

    so that people will be like us,

      think like us, and ...like us.

We count on your faithfulness in the open invitation

  but do not RSVP with our faithfulness.

Lord forgive the sins we reveal.

Lord save us from the sins we cover.

   (pause for reflection and self-examination)

P:  The invitation to God's Banquet remains open. The covenant is sealed by our Savior's victory over sin and death. For Christ's sake our sins are forgiven. Let us Respond to our Savior's Victory Party, and live out the gift given to us for the glory of the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen. -wjw

P:  The peace of the Lord be with you always!

C: And also with you!