09/26/26

As We Gather

Welcome to Worship! We are glad you are here!  Sometimes it feels the times in which we live are the very first time that people directly challenge God. There are more atheist and ‘nones’ (those who have no affiliation with a religion) than ever before! We are reminded by Ezekiel that God’s people were going around saying, “God is not just.” In the Gospel, chief priests and elders question the authority of Jesus. But Jesus doesn’t react angrily. Instead, He lets His actions speak louder than words. In Christ, we need not fear scoffers, respond by being snarky, or seek to try to silence anyone. We simply trust the authority of Jesus’ death and resurrection and follow His way of loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us.

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.

Without the Bible Life is Sleepwalking “We are truly sticking in the midst of night and in the densest darkness if that morning star does not send forth its light of which it is said: “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105). For if we do not have Holy Scripture to shed light on our actions and to direct them, then this entire life and all the light of reason, yea, and all the wisdom and advice of men are mere darkness and confusion.” 

                                                                                                                        What Luther Says # 2452

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

September 27, 2026

Welcome

Opening Hymn                        Blessed Jesus, at Your Word                         LSB 904

Invocation, Confession and Absolution     (Psalm 25:1-10)

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:   To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. 

C:   Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 

P:   No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, 

C:   but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. 

P:   Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; 

C:    guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, 

       and my hope is in you all day long. 

P:   Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 

C:   Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; 

P:   according to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord. 

C:   Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. 

P:   He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. 

C:   All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful 

P:   for those who keep the demands of his covenant. 

C:   We confess, Lord God Almighty that we are by nature sinful and unclean, sinners. We fall short of Your glory and have followed the desires of our own hearts. We have used Your holy name in ways that do not honor You. We have wished for that which is not rightfully ours and have not put the best construction on all things and on all people. We pray for Your forgiveness and help to cleanse our hearts by renewing our minds as You bring us to everlasting life through Jesus, our Savior. Amen.

(Silence for Meditation)

P:   The Lord spares those who confess their faults. He restores the penitent according to His promises as declared in Jesus Christ, our Lord. The almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon and peace in the forgiveness of sin Christ earned for you, in the name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C:   Amen.

Hymn of Praise                            Great Is Thy Faithfulness                         LSB 809

Prayer of the Day

All:   Almighty God, You exalted Your Son to the place of all honor and authority. Enlighten our minds by Your Holy Spirit that, confessing Jesus as Lord, we may be led into all truth; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

OT Lesson                   (The prophet gives words of warning.)          Ezekiel 18:1–4, 25–32

The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: “ ‘The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son—both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.

“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, O house of Israel: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will die. But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life. Because he considers all the offenses he has committed and turns away from them, he will surely live; he will not die. Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are my ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust? “Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!

NT  Lesson              (Christians are to look to the interests of others.)   Philippians 2:1-13

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Gospel Lesson                        (Jesus and the elders.)                               Matthew 21:23–27

Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?” Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or from men?” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

Message Hymn                     What a Beautiful Name                       Fielding/Ligertwood

You were the Word at the beginning,  One with God the Lord Most High

Your hidden glory in creation, now revealed in You, our Christ.

Chorus 1      What a beautiful name it is, What a beautiful name it is,

The name of Jesus Christ, my King. What a beautiful name it is,

Nothing compares to this. What a beautiful name it is,  the Name of Jesus.

You didn’t want heaven without us, so Jesus You brought heaven down.

My sin was great, Your love was greater; What could separate us now?

Chorus 2         What a wonderful name it is, What a wonderful Name it is,

The Name of Jesus Christ, my King.  What a wonderful Name it is,

Nothing compares to this. What a wonderful name it is,

The name of Jesus. What a wonderful name it is, the Name of Jesus

Bridge one and two

Death could not hold you, the veil tore before You silence the boast of sin and grave. 

The heavens are roaring   the praise of Your glory  for You are raised to life again.

You have no rival, You have no equal.  Now and forever God, Your reign.

Yours is the kingdom, Yours is the glory, Yours is the name above all names…

Chorus 3     What a powerful name it is, What a powerful name it is,

The name of Jesus Christ, my King. What a powerful name it is,  Nothing can stand against.

What a powerful name it is, The name of Jesus

What a powerful name it is, The name of Jesus

CCLI Song # 7068424 © 2016 Hillsong Music Publishing Australia

All rights reserved. www.ccli.com CCLI License # 11390779

Message                     Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing

1.      The making of disciples   –    followers      of Jesus.  Matt 28; Luke 24

a.       Entrance into the Kingdom       – 

                            i.      Repentance – turning     away      from sin robbing thoughts and ways

b.      Sustainable          faith –

                          i.      Continual      contact     with God’s Word in relation to God’s people for purposes of growing in our faith     and service           towards making more disciples.Message                    

Notes:

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.

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                         What Wondrous Love Is This           LSB 543

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 that Your Son’s body and blood, O Lord, which You have given us to eat and to drink, may abide in us as our source of strength and encouragement, as we continue on our pilgrim journey through this world to Your heavenly kingdom; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Benediction

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.

Sending Hymn                                  O Word of God Incarnate                         LSB 523

C:   ♪Amen.

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.”