09/07/25

As We Gather

In this series, Living Discipleship, we learn of God’s great love for people. The Scriptures teach that “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes on Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 It is God’s desire that all be saved and come to the knowledge of His Son. 1 Timothy 2:4   This is a series that seeks to instruct us as Christians what it means to believe in Christ and live as his people in a world that runs counter to Christian thought and life. For the next 8-10 weeks we will learn more fully what it means to be a ‘living disciple’ as God’s redeemed children. Adult Sunday School will feature a more in-depth teaching for today’s message. Study materials provided. All are encouraged to participate… why this would be a good opportunity to invite a friend! 

Children Activity Bags We value children in our worship services. If needed, there is a family room available for families with children. The family room has a diaper changing table, a closed-circuit TV to watch the worship service, toys and books for children. The family room is located across from the kitchen in the long hallway, the first door on the right, just past the bathrooms. There are “King’s Kids” bags with activities for children to help them worship. They are near the usher’s station on a small rack. Please return the bag to the rack after the service.

Holy Communion The Scripture teaches the Lord’s Supper is a precious gift of God in which Christ gives us His true body and blood (in a miraculous way), together with the bread and wine, for the forgiveness of our sins and the strengthening of our faith. Because the Bible teaches that this Sacrament may also be spiritually harmful if misused, and that participation in the Lord’s Supper is an act of confession of faith, we ordinarily commune those who have been instructed in the teachings of our church and who have confessed their faith in these teachings. If you have a question, please speak to Pastor Ralph before the service. For those who prefer a non-alcoholic alternative, there is grape juice at the center of each tray. Those not receiving the Sacrament, including children, are invited to come to the altar, cross their arms over their chest, and receive a special blessing.

Christianity the Oldest and Only True Religion “No religion has been so continuous, no worship of God so long established as the Christian religion and the worship of God. Apis, Baal, Apollo, Diana, and others have disappeared together with their cults. Similarly, Mohamed, as a new god, will shortly fall. Furthermore, the greatest monarchies have disappeared-those of the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, and the Romans. But this lowly little people of the Jews and Christians has continued to exist. This is strong proof that God was present with His people. Moreover, this religion of ours is a faith that is not different from Adam, Abraham, and the other patriarchs. Then, too, Holy Scriptures agree everywhere with itself. Therefore, our religion certainly is of God; and this worship of God will remain forever…” What Luther Says # 734

Living Discipleship 1

September 7. 2025

Welcome and Hand of Friendship

Opening Hymn                            How Firm a Foundation                           LSB  728

Invocation, Confession and Forgiveness  (Psalm 119: 81-88)

P:   We gather in the name and at the invitation of our great and gracious triune God,

C:   In the name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

P:   Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, 

C:   the people he chose for his inheritance. 

P:   From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth—

C:   he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. 

P:   No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. 

C:   A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.

P:   But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, 

C:   on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, 

P:   to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. 

C:   We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. 

P:   In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. 

C:   May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.

P:   Gracious heavenly Father, 

C:   We come before You knowing that we do not deserve the mercy or grace we find ourselves in according to Your unfailing love. We recognize that we do have a sin nature that seeks to thwart Your will for our lives and undo the washing and renewal we have experienced in holy Baptism. Strengthen our resolve to love you with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength so that, having endured the daily trials of the devil, the world and our sinful flesh, we may gain the victory that is only found in Jesus, Your Son, Amen.

(Silence for Meditation)

P:   Brothers and sisters in Christ, in Christ our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name!  His life, death and resurrection are yours in your baptism where having your sins washed away, He put His Holy Spirit in you to lead you into the truth as you abide in His Word. You are a forgiven people, chosen in Him, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

C:   Amen.

Hymn of Praise                                     Lord of All Hopefulness                                      LSB  738

Prayer of the Day 

All:   Gracious God and Savior Jesus Christ, we praise you for Your saving deliverance that cancelled our sin debt and brought us into a holy relationship to You through Your Son Jesus. As we grow in Your grace, keep us mindful of Your ever-present help as we seek to live for You; for You reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

O T Lesson       (In choosing us, God shows He keeps His promises)   Deuteronomy 7: 1-9

When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you— ² and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. ³ Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, ⁴ for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you. ⁵ This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire. ⁶ For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. ⁷ The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. ⁸ But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ⁹ Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.

N T Lesson            (We are chosen gifted with every spiritual blessing)  Ephesians 1: 3-14

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸ that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. ⁹ And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰ to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. ¹¹ In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹² in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. ¹³ And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Gospel Lesson           (Those Jesus has chosen He now calls friends)  John 15: 9-16

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.

Message Song                                         Who You Say I Am

Who am I that the highest King would welcome me

I was lost but He brought me in     Oh, his love for me (Oh, His love for me) 

Who the Son sets free, is free indeed – I’m a child of God, yes, I am!

Free at last, He has ransomed me, His grace runs deep

While I was a slave to sin, Jesus died for me Yes, He died for me!

   Chorus       Who the Son sets free, is free indeed – I’m a child of God, yes, I am!

In my Father’s house there’s a place for me – I’m a child of God, yes, I am!

 Bridge        I am chosen, not forsaken. I am who You say I am.

            You are for me, not against me. I am who You say I am   2 x’s

Now it’s time to serve the King, His power in me

The Spirit moves in ways unseen, re- making me!

                                                          Yes, re-making me!         Chorus

Message                                  Chosen for Life or Called to Follow?

1. There are many reasons people __________________________________     .

2. We understand from God’s Word that we are:              Matthew 4: 18-22

1. _________  __      by Jesus.
2. __________         by Jesus.
3. ___________       by Jesus.

3. Jesus came to give _____       and to give it _____          ________________         . John 10

4. The answer is  _____       .

Explanation of the 1^st Article of Apostles Creed

All:   I believe in God the Father.

P:   What does this mean?

C:  I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason, and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals and all that I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil. All this He does out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey him! This is most certainly true.

Offering 

Offertory                                   We Give Thee But Thine Own                          LSB 781  vs 1, 6

Prayers of the Church  

 After each petition:

 P:  Lord, in your mercy,

 C:  hear our prayer.

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.

The Lord’s Supper

Preface                                                                      page 194 in the hymnal

P:  The Lord be with you.

C:  ♪ And with thy spirit.

P:  Lift up your hearts.

C:  ♪ We lift them up unto the Lord.

P:  Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

C:  ♪ It is meet and right so to do.

P:  It is truly good, right, and salutary …. And with the host of heaven we sing:

Sanctus — Holy, Holy, Holy                                          page 195 in the hymnal

C:  ♪ Ho -ly, ho-ly, ho-ly Lord God of Sa – ba – oth. Heaven and earth are full of Thy   

        glory. Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He, blessed is He, 

        blessed is He who cometh in the name of the Lord.  Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna 

        in the highest.

The Words of Institution (Jesus Institutes the Lord’s Supper)

Pax Domini—The Peace of the Lord                  page 197 in the hymnal

P:  The peace of the Lord be with you always.C:  ♪ Amen.

Agnus Dei – Lamb of God                                                                 page 198 in the hymnal                                      

C:  ♪ O Christ, Thou Lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the world; 

         have mercy upon us.

         O Christ, Thou Lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the world; 

         have mercy upon us.

         O Christ, Thou Lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the world; 

         grant us Thy peace.  A – men.

Distribution of Communion

Distribution Hymn                      Rock of Ages, Cleft For Me                             LSB  761                                                         

 Nunc Dimittis                                                                                      page 199 in the hymnal        

C: ♪ Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace according to Thy Word, for mine  

       eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people,

       a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Thy people Israel. Glory be to the            Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and 

       ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

 Post Communion Collect

All:  O God the Father, the fountain and source of all goodness, who in loving-kindness sent Your only-begotten Son into the flesh, we thank You that for His sake You have given us pardon and peace in this Sacrament. We ask You not to forsake Your children but always to rule our hearts and minds by Your Holy Spirit that we may constantly to serve You; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Benediction                                                                                       Numbers 6:24–26                                                                                                    

P:   The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you with favor and ✠ give you peace.

C:   Amen. Alleluia. Amen!Closing Hymn                               Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us     LSB 711

1. Announcements 

Dismissal

P:   Go in peace as you serve the Lord.      

C:   Thanks be to God!   

Postlude