**INVOCATION (Matthew 28:19)
**CONFESSION/ABSOLUTION (1 John 1:8-9)
Pastor: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
People: But, if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
(silence for reflection and self examination)
Pastor: Let us then confess our sins to God our Father.
People: Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve your present and eternal punishment. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways to the glory of your most Holy Name. Amen.
Pastor: God in His mercy has given His Son to die for His sake….
**KYRIE ELEISON: Lord, have mercy, Christ, have mercy, Lord, have mercy, have mercy, O Lord.
** GLORIA IN EXCELSIS (to be sung)
Pastor: Glory be to God on high
People: and on earth peace, good will toward men. We praise you, we bless you, we
worship you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory. O
Lord God, heav’nly King, God the Father Almighty. O Lord, the only
begotten Son, Jesus Christ; O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy; who takes away the sin of
the world, receive our prayer, who sits at the right hand of God the Father,
have mercy. For you only are holy; you only are the Lord; you only, O
Christ, with the Holy Spirit, are most high in the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
**PRAYER FOR TODAY
O Lord, absolve Your people from their offenses that from the bonds of our sins, which by reason of our frailty we have brought upon ourselves, we may be delivered by Your bountiful goodness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
HYMN ~ LSB#748, I’m But a Stranger Here
1 I’m but a stranger here,
Heav’n is my home;
Earth is a desert drear,
Heav’n is my home.
Danger and sorrow stand
Round me on ev’ry hand;
Heav’n is my fatherland,
Heav’n is my home.
2 What though the tempest rage,
Heav’n is my home;
Short is my pilgrimage,
Heav’n is my home;
And time’s wild wintry blast
Soon shall be overpast;
I shall reach home at last,
Heav’n is my home.
3 Therefore I murmur not,
Heav’n is my home;
Whate’er my earthly lot,
Heav’n is my home;
And I shall surely stand
There at my Lord’s right hand;
Heav’n is my fatherland,
Heav’n is my home.
EPISTLE READING Philippians 3:17-21
**THE GOSPEL Matthew 22:15-22
**WHAT WE BELIEVE The Apostles Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His 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 into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
SERMON HYMN ~ TFBF#71, “Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed”
1 Alas! And did my Savior bleed,
And did my sov’reign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?
At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light;
And the burden of my heart rolled away.
It was there by faith, I received my sight.
And now I am happy all the day
2 Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity, grace unknown,
And love beyond degree!
3 Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut his glories in
When God, the mighty maker, died
For His own creatures’ sin.
4Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear cross appears,
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt mine eyes to tears.
5 But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away:
’Tis all that I can do.
THE MESSAGE
OFFERTORY
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with your free Spirit
SONG~The Old Rugged Cross TFBF#77 (St. 1-2)
1 On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
the emblem of suffering and shame;
and I love that old cross where the dearest and best
for a world of lost sinners was slain.
Refrain:
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
and exchange it some day for a crown.
2 O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
has a wondrous attraction for me;
for the dear Lamb of God left his glory above
to bear it to dark Calvary. [Refrain]
3 In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.
4 To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He’ll call me someday to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I’ll share.
PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL & LORD’S PRAYER