Open Arms Sunday worship Pentecost May 31, 2020

Pentecost Sunday
Divine Service
May 31, 2020

Welcome to Open Arms Lutheran Church, we're very glad you've come to worship with us!  God bless our worship together, as He gives us His gifts! 

Click here for the video:  Open Arms Worship, Pentecost Sunday May 31, 2020    

Invocation
V:   In the name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit,
C:  AMEN

Opening Song:    Living Hope

Confession and Absolution

V:  Jesus Christ is our Living Hope, because we are hopeless.  We’re hopelessly lost in our sins, hopelessly lost in our self-importance, our self-centeredness, our selfishness.  We're hopelessly lost in ourselves.  We’re hopeless because, by ourselves we can do nothing, especially nothing to save ourselves.  So, hopeless one, join with me as together we confess our sins, and ask God’s mercy and forgiveness.

C: O Father, have mercy on us, for Jesus’ sake.

                  Silent confession of your sins

V:  So, Jesus Christ stepped into our hopeless situation.  Because He died on Calvary’s cross and rose from the grip of His tomb, He is alive, and so are we!  Jesus Christ is our Living Hope, because He lives and gives us hope.  Not a worldly hope, which may give way.  Jesus Christ has given you a certain hope!   You are forgiven!  You are given His righteousness, in the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C:  Amen. 

Old Testament Reading        Numbers 11:24-30

   So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD. And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent.  Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied.  But they did not continue doing it.

   Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them.  They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp.  And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”  And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.”  But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake?  Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!”  And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

V:  This is the Word of the Lord.   

C:  Thanksbe to God.

Epistle Reading                     Acts 2:1-21

   When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

   Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.  And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.  And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?  And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?  Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”  And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”  But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

   But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.  For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.  But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

            “And in the last days it shall be, God declares,

   that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,

   and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

   and your young men shall see visions,

   and your old men shall dream dreams;

   even on my male servants and female servants

   in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 

And I will show wonders in the heavens above

   and signs on the earth below,

   blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;

   the sun shall be turned to darkness

   and the moon to blood,

   before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

V:   This is the Word of the Lord.   

C:  Thanks be to God.

Holy Gospel                           John 7:37-39

V:  The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the 7^thchapter.

C:  Gloryto You, O Lord. 

     On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”  Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

V:  This is the Word of the Lord.  

C:  Praise to You, O Christ.

Sermon  

 

The Nicene Creed     

   I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.

   And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.  

   And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church, I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Rite of Confirmation:  Ben O’Kelley

Prayers of the Church

The Lord’s Prayer  

   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  

Closing Song:   Our God

Open Arms Sunday worship May 24, 2020

Seventh Sunday of Easter
Divine Service
May 24, 2020

Welcome to Open Arms Lutheran Church, we're very glad you've come to worship with us!  God bless our worship together, as He gives us His gifts!

Click here for the video:  Open Arms Worship, Sunday May 24, 2020 

Opening Song:    You Are My Strength

Invocation

V:   In the name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit,         

C:  AMEN

Confession and Absolution

V:  O God our Father, we confess to You all of our sins, those which come now to mind and all others we have forgotten.  Our thoughts words and actions all fall short of what Your perfection demands.  We deserve only punishment; You have every reason to turn away from us.

C:  O Father, have mercy on us, for Jesus’ sake.

Silent confession of your sins

V:  God your Father in heaven promises to hear our confessions and forgive our sins, because of Jesus.  Your Savior took your God’s punishment that you deserve, so you are forgiven in the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C:  Amen. 

First Reading                         Acts 1:12-26

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.  And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James.  All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.  For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.”  (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out.  And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)   “For it is written in the Book of Psalms,

“May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it”

and

“Let another take his office.”

So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”  And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias.  And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”  And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

A: This is the Word of the Lord.

Epistle Reading                     1 Peter 4:12-19, 5:6-11

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.  If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.  But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.  Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.  For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?  And

          “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

Therefore, let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.  Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.  And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.  To him be the dominion forever and ever.  Amen.

A:  This is the Word of the Lord.   

Holy Gospel    John 17:1-11

V:  The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the 17^thchapter.

C:  Gloryto You, O Lord.

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.  And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.  I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.  And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.  Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.  For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.  I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.  All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.  And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.  Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

V:  This is the Word of the Lord.  

C:  Praise to You, O Christ.

Sermon    

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.

Prayers of the Church

The Lord’s Prayer  

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  

Closing Song:   The Power of Your Name

Ascension Day update: May 21, 2020

Please click here if you would prefer to watch a video version of this message.

Hello, dear family members!  Blessings to you, in the name of Jesus our Savior!

We're enjoying warm breezes, budding trees, blooming flowers, even the dandelions which are beautiful in their own way.  God continues to unwrap His fabulous gifts of Spring among us!  With almost all change, there comes a hope for a better situation, a renewal of familiar blessings, for something new.  In our worship services and sermons of this Easter season, we have been looking forward to Jesus' Ascension, His return to His throne of glory in heaven.  For His disciples especially, this is change.  Jesus is leaving them physically, but He promised to never leave them, to be in them and with them, forever.  In His leaving, in this great change, Jesus created something new.

Today and this coming Sunday, we again celebrate Jesus' Ascension.   We remember the events of those days, and the new creations of Jesus.  New converts to Christianity, new faith in those who had been lost, a new earthly church which grew and boldly proclaimed the Gospel to everyone around them.  We celebrate and give thanks for these same new creations today!  Jesus is in us and with us and is creating new things in us, and in His church.  You and I, we are a new creation, through God's gifts of forgiveness and faith!  Thanks be to God for His new creations!

In this time of pandemic isolation, we have some "new" things to consider today at Open Arms.  First, our Daycare center will be re-opening on Tuesday May 26th.  Give thanks to God for this opportunity, and for the faithful and trusting work of our Staff and teachers.  Pray for them often, every day would be really cool.  Pray for our parents and their children, that these coming days of new routines, new relationships, new physical interactions will be safe and healthy and uplifting.

Second, we are studying, discussing and planning the best way and time to re-start public worship services at Open Arms.  We are committed to a couple of things in this process.  First, we will continue providing online worship resources for all who choose not to or are unable to attend in public.  We will continue to provide these resources for some time even after we start meeting together.  Second, everyone who comes together to worship must feel safe and comfortable in doing so.  Almost every part of the worship service we're "used to" will change in some way so that we can be safe and respectful to each other.  Once we make a plan, we will share this plan with each of you before we begin.  Stay tuned, we will keep you informed as we make progress.

In the meantime, we pray you will remain steadfast in your good habits of Bible reading and prayer, giving thanks to the Lord for all His goodness and care.  For those of you travelling this coming weekend, we join together in prayer for your safety and blessed recreation and relaxation!  Don't forget, you can worship with us on Sunday almost anywhere you may be!

In Christ's service, 

Vicar Mark

mobile:  248.881.7627

vicarmarksblog

"Oh, save Your people and bless Your heritage!  Be their Shepherd and carry them forever.”  Psalm 28:9

Open Arms Sunday worship 17May2020

Sixth Sunday of Easter
Divine Service
May 17, 2020

Welcome to Open Arms Lutheran Church, we're very glad you've come to worship with us!  God bless our worship together, as He gives us His gifts!

Click here for the video:  Open Arms Worship, Sunday May 17, 2020  

Opening Song:    Children of God 

Invocation

V:  In the name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit,

C:  Amen

Confession and Absolution

V:   O God our Father, we confess to You, that we are a prone to wander, following many different false idols and gods, rather than You.  We have sinned in so many ways, in our actions, our thoughts and the words we have spoken and not spoken.  We deserve nothing but punishment and rejection.

C:  O Father, have mercy on us, for Jesus’ sake.

 Silent confession of your sins

V:   Hear now the good news from God’s word:  Jesus your Savior took your punishment on Himself, gave up His life instead of demanding yours!  Accept this great gift He gives to you, that by His mercy, your sins are forgiven in the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C:  Amen

First Reading                         Acts 17:16-31

Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.  So, he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.  Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.  And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?  For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.”  Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.  For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.  The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.  And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for

“ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’;

as even some of your own poets have said,

“ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ ”

Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.  The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,  because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

V:   This is the Word of the Lord.   

C:  Thanksbe to God.

Epistle Reading                     1 Peter 3:13-22

Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?  But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.  For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.  Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

V:   This is the Word of the Lord.   

C:  Thanksbe to God.

Holy Gospel                           John 14:15-21
V:  The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the 14^thchapter.

C:  Gloryto You, O Lord.

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.  In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.   Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

V:   This is the Word of the Lord.  

C:  Praise to You, O Christ.

Sermon    

The Nicene Creed     

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried.  And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father.  And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets.  And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church, I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.  Amen.

Prayers of the Church

The Lord’s Prayer  

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  

Closing Song:   Everything That Has Breath