Open Arms Sunday Worship June 21, 2020

3rd Sunday after Pentecost
Divine Service
June 21, 2020

Please click here for the video of this service.  Due to technical problems, the audio stops just at the start of the sermon, about 15 minutes into the service.  We're so sorry for this mix-up!

Welcome! 

Invocation

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

C:  AMEN

Opening Song:     Beneath the Waters

Call to Worship                Psalm 91:1-6

V:   He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

C:  will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

V:   I will say to the Lord,

C:  “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

V:   For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler

C:  and from the deadly pestilence.

V:   He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge;

C:  his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

V:   You will not fear the terror of the night,

C:  nor the arrow that flies by day,

V:   nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,

C:  nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. 

Confession and Absolution
V: We come before the Lord today to be strengthened in faith and to be witnesses of
     righteousness and truth before a hostile world.  Let us first confess our own sinfulness,
     that we receive mercy, grace, and forgiveness from God.
 
Silent confession of your sins

V:  We confess together:

C:  Heavenly Father, in our thoughts, words and actions, we have sinned against You, against each other and against others we don’t even know.  For the sake of Jesus, Your Son and our Savior, forgive our sins, and create new hearts in us, better able to serve and love our neighbors. 

V:  God is your Refuge and Fortress!  He has delivered you from all sins!  His faithfulness is your shield and protection!  He has removed the weight of your guilt, your sins from you!  Your sins are forgiven, in the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C:  Amen. 

Sit

Old Testament Reading      Jeremiah 20:7-13

O LORD, You have deceived me, and I was deceived;

     You are stronger than I, and you have prevailed.

I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me.

For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, “Violence and destruction!”

For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long.

If I say, “I will not mention Him, or speak any more in His name,”

     there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones,

         and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.

For I hear many whispering.  Terror is on every side!  

“Denounce him!  Let us denounce him!” say all my close friends, watching for my fall.

“Perhaps he will be deceived; then we can overcome him and take our revenge on him.”

But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble;

     they will not overcome me.  They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed.

         Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.

O LORD of hosts, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind,

     let me see Your vengeance upon them, for to You have I committed my cause.

Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD!

     For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers. 

V:   This is the Word of the Lord.

C:  Thanksbe to God.

Epistle Reading                   Romans 12:1-21

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.  For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.  Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Let love be genuine.  Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.  Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.  Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.  Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.  Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.  Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.  Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.  Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.  If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.  Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”  To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

V:   This is the Word of the Lord.

C:  Thanks be to God.

Stand

Holy Gospel                           Matthew 10:5a, 21-33

V:  The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the 10^th chapter.

C:  Gloryto You, O Lord.

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans,

Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.  But the one who endures to the end will be saved.  When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.  It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.  If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.  What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.  And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.  Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.  But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.  Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.  So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

V:  This is the Word of the Lord.

C:  Praise to You, O Christ.

Sit

Sermon

Stand

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

      O Lord, hear our prayer.

The Sacrament of the Altar

     

Benediction

  

Announcements

Closing Song:             Who You Say I Am