09/06/26

As We Gather

It often irritates us when a kindness extended to others is not returned. When we fail to forgive others as we have been forgiven, something greater is at stake. In the parable of the unforgiving servant, Jesus ties together the forgiveness we receive from God and the forgiveness we offer to others in His name. We are reminded of the great debt of sin of which we have been forgiven and of the petty things we cling to and refuse to forgive of our brothers. While this might seem to lay a burden upon the Christian, it is instead the call to live out what is the ground and center of our relationship with God in our daily lives with others. This treasure of forgiveness only grows in us as we apply it and give it away to others.

Family Room & Children Activity Bags- 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 the LCMS ordinarily communes only those who have been instructed in the teachings of our church and who have confessed their faith in these teachings. Please speak to Pastor Ralph before the service if you have a question about this. 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.

Constantly Forgive, As Christ Does “For the love among Christians should be the same kind of love as that of every member of the body for every other one, as St Paul often says, each one accepting the faults of the other, sympathizing with them, bearing and removing them, and doing everything possible to help him. Hence the doctrine of the forgiveness of sins is the most important of all, both for us personally and for our relations with others. As Christ continually bears with us in His kingdom and forgives us all sorts of faults, so we should bear and forgive one another in every situation and in every way.” What Luther Says # 1575

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

September 13, 2026

Welcome

Opening Hymn                             Today Your Mercy Calls Us                       LSB 915

Invocation, Confession and Absolution     (Portions of Psalm 66)

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:   Shout for joy to God, all the earth;

C:   sing the glory of His name; give to Him glorious praise!

P:   Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds! . . .

C:  All the earth worships You and sings praises to You; they sing praises to Your name.”

P:   Come and see what God has done:

C:   He is awesome in His deeds toward the children of man.

P:   Bless our God, O peoples;

C:   let the sound of His praise be heard.

P:   Let us now confess our sin to God, our merciful Father.

C:   O most gracious God, we know well that we are by nature sinful and unclean. Daily we have done things we ought not to have done and have not done that which we are to have been doing. We have been unforgiving and loveless distancing ourselves from others. We have been careless in the stewardship of our place in your kingdom and in caring for Your creation. We come to You for forgiveness trusting in the merits of Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Create in us a clean spirit that reflect Your goodness and love. Amen.

(We pause for a moment of silent prayer and confession.)

P:   God is indeed gracious and merciful and hears our supplications. By the command of my Lord Jesus Christ and as His called and ordained servant, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C:   Amen.

Hymn of Praise                     How Wide the Love of Christ                     LSB 535  vs 1, 4-5

Prayer of the Day

All:   O merciful Lord, in Your goodness You acted with patience toward us sinners and delivered up Your own Son to be our Savior and Redeemer. Grant to us patience with the erring and grace to forgive one another as You have forgiven us, and in all things holding fast to Jesus Christ; through Him who died that we might live and who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

OT Lesson                                   (Joseph and his brothers)                          Genesis 50:15–21

When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. 

NT  Lesson                                       (We belong to the Lord.)                       Romans 14:1–12

Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: “ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’ ”So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. 

Gospel Lesson       (The parable of the servant who would not forgive)      Matt. 18:21–35

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. “The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” 

Message Hymn                Before the Throne of God Above                              Vikki Cook

Before the throne of God above     I have a strong, A perfect plea,

A great High Priest whose name is “Love.      Who ever lives and pleads for me.

My name is graven on His hands,    My name is written on His heart;

I know that while in heaven He stands     No tongue can bid me thence depart,

When Satan tempts me to despair,    And tells me of the guilt within,

Upward I look and see Him there     Who made an end to all my sin.

Because the sinless Savior died,     My sinful soul is counted free;

For God, the Just is satisfied     To Look on Him and pardon me,

Behold Him there! The Risen Lamb,    My perfect, spotless Righteousness;

The great unchangeable I AM,    The King of glory and of grace!

One with Himself I cannot die,    My soul is purchased with His blood;

My life is hid with Christ on high,    With Christ, my Savior and my God.

    Words and music by Charitie Lees Bancroft and Vikki Cook.         CCLI License #11390779

Message                                   Forgiveness Wins the Day

1.       The call to    believe       and be    faithful     continues to go forth.

2.      Only through the Gospel does the Kingdom of God advance  personally        and collectively       .

3.      There is still time to get       on         board       .

Nicene Creed

C:   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.

Offering

Offertory                    Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow                         LSB 805

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 160 in the hymnal

P:  The Lord be with you.

C:  ♪ And also with you.

P:   Lift up your hearts.

C:  ♪ We lift them to the Lord.

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

C:   ♪ It is right to give Him thanks and praise.

P:   It is truly good, right, and salutary …. And ever more praising You and singing:

Sanctus — Holy, Holy, Holy                                         page 161 in the hymnal

C:  ♪ Holy, holy, holy Lord God of pow’r and might: Heaven and earth are full of Your glory. Hosanna. Hosanna. Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

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

Pax Domini—The Peace of the Lord                                               page 163 in the hymnal

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

C:   ♪ Amen.

Agnus Dei – Lamb of God                                                             page 163 in the hymnal

C:  ♪Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us.

         Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us.

         Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world; grant us peace.

Distribution of Communion

Distribution Hymn                            Beautiful Savior                                              LSB 537

Post Communion Canticle                                                  page 164 in the hymnal

C:  ♪ Thank the Lord and sing His praise; tell ev’ryone what He has done.  Let all who seek the Lord rejoice and proudly bear His name.  He recalls His promises and leads His people forth in joy with shouts of thanksgiving. Alleluia, alleluia. 

Post Communion Thanksgiving

All:   Grant, O Lord, that this Sacrament that we have now received strengthen us in faith, faith demonstrated in loving service to one another and marked by forgiveness and care. As we have shared in the hospitality of Your Table, enable us to live each day as Your people who are given to hospitality, charity, and service in the name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. 

Benediction

P:   Go out into the world in peace, have courage, hold to what is good, return no person evil for evil, strengthen the fainthearted, support the weak, help the suffering, honor all people, love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. The almighty God—the Father, the ✠ Son, and the Holy Spirit—bless you.                                 

C:   Amen.

Sending Hymn                                  When Peace Like A River                         LSB 763

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.”