11/14/26

As We Gather

   We read today about three servants. Two were good and faithful. One was evil and faithless. Two enter into the joy of their master. One does not. Our Lord has entrusted us with many good and gracious gifts and sends us into the world to make disciples and multiply the gifts we have received. Yet, it is not our own work that leads us into the joy of our Master; rather, it is our Master’s work on our behalf. Jesus’ saving work of death and resurrection brings us into the joy of our Master.

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.

“A Change in Man, Not in the Law Attains This Liberty  “A human liberty has been achieved when laws are changed while men remain unchanged. But a Christian liberty has been achieved when men are changed while the Law remains unchanged, so that the same Law which formerly was hateful to free will now becomes welcome, because through the Holy Spirit love has been diffused in our hearts.”                                                             What Luther Says # 2413

Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

November 15, 2026

Welcome                                                       

Opening Hymn                     Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee                                   LSB 803

Invocation, Confession and Absolution (Portion of Psalm 90)

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:   Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

C:   You have been our good and faithful Master.

P:   You have poured out blessings upon us.

C:   You have given us all we need to support this body and life.

P:   We meditate on all that You have done.

C:   We ponder the work of Your hands.

P:   On account of Your name, O Lord, preserve our lives.

C:   In Your righteousness, bring us out of trouble.

P:   Teach us to number our days aright,

C:   that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

P:   Heavenly Father,

C:   we confess that we have not been faithful with all of the good gifts You have given us. We have sinned in our thoughts, words, and actions. We have failed by our inactivity. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, O Lord, that we might be restored as Your servants. Amen

(Silence for Meditation)

P:   God hears your confession and has promised to be with you always. Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son, Jesus Christ, to die and rise for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C:   Amen. We are forgiven. We are restored in Jesus.

Hymn of Praise               I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light                           LSB 411

Prayer of the Day

All:  Almighty and ever-living God, You have given exceedingly great and precious promises to those who trust in You. Dispel from us the works of darkness and grant us to live in the light of Your Son, Jesus Christ, that our faith may never be found wanting; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

O T Lesson                                 (The Day of the Lord is near.)                           Zephaniah 1:7–16

Be silent before the Sovereign Lord, for the day of the Lord is near. The Lord has prepared a sacrifice; he has consecrated those he has invited. ⁸ On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice I will punish the princes and the king’s sons and all those clad in foreign clothes. ⁹ On that day I will punish all who avoid stepping on the threshold, who fill the temple of their gods with violence and deceit. ¹⁰  “On that day,” declares the Lord, “a cry will go up from the Fish Gate, wailing from the New Quarter, and a loud crash from the hills. ¹¹ Wail, you who live in the market district; all your merchants will be wiped out, all who trade with silver will be ruined. ¹²At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad.’ ¹³Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished. They will build houses but not live in them; they will plant vineyards but not drink the wine. ¹⁴ “The great day of the Lord is near— near and coming quickly. Listen! The cry on the day of the Lord will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior there. ¹⁵ That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, ¹⁶ a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers. 

N T Lesson                 (Let us live as children of the light.)           1 Thessalonians 5:1

Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, ² for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³ While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. ⁴ But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. ⁵ You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. ⁶ So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. ⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. ⁸ But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

 ⁹ For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁰ He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. ¹¹ Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 

Gospel Lesson                            (The parable of the talents)               Matthew 25:14–30

 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. ¹⁷ So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. ¹⁹ “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ ²¹ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ ²² “The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’ ²³ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ ²⁴ “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ ²⁶ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. ²⁸ “ ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. ²⁹ For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Message Song                                   Take My Life                                                      Tomlin

Take my life and let it be      consecrated Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days,     let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands and let them move      at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet and let them be     swift and beautiful for thee.

Take my voice and let me sing       always, only for my king.
Take my lips and let them be        filled with messages from thee.
Take my silver and my gold      not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use      every power as you choose.

                    Chorus:               Here am I, all of me      Take my life, it’s all for thee.    2x’s

                          
Take my will and make it Thine    it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart it is thine own;    it shall be thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord I pour    at your feet its treasure store
                          Take myself and I will be ever,    only all for thee,         Chorus

Take my life and let it be,  consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

CCLI # 11390779

Message                        Making the Best Use of Our Time, Talent and Treasure!

Making the best use of time, treasure, and talent

1.       begins with acknowledging           the goodness of the Master who gave us these gifts!

2.       gives inherent    meaning            to our lives now and shows gratitude in action. 

3.     ensures the ongoing     blessing / provision  of      God           so that that next generation is prepared to live by faith in God’s promises.  in God’s promises.    

The Apostle’s Creed                                      

C:   I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.  

1. 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 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.

Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

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.

Communion Hymn                                   Beautiful Savior                                                LSB 537

Dismissal of Communicants

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:  We give thanks to You, almighty God, that You have graced us with Your presence in this Sacrament, and we pray that You would keep us in the one true faith until life everlasting when we enter into the joy of our Master; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Benediction

P:   May the God of hope, Father,  ✠ Son and Holy Spirit, fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

C:   Amen.

Offering                    (Please place offering in plate in the narthex.  Thank you!)    

Sending Hymn                 We Praise You, O God                                          LSB 785

Announcements
Dismissal

P:  Go in peace as you serve the Lord.

C:  Thanks be to God!

Postlude 

¹² Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”