11th Sunday After Trinity ~ 2025

 

Today's Service Leader Rev. Brett Cornelius, Pastor, Holy Cross Lutheran Church

 

Today's liturgy is the Divine Service THREE, page 184ff.

 

684 Come unto Me, Ye Weary

Text: William C. Dix, 1837–98, alt.
Tune: Friedrich K. Anthes, 1812–after 1857
Text and tune: Public domain

 

Stand

 

The sign of the cross may be made by all in remembrance of their Baptism.

 

Invocation

P In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C Amen.

 

Exhortation LSB 184

P Beloved in the Lord! Let us draw near with a true heart and confess our sins unto God our Father, beseeching Him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness.

P Our help is in the name of the Lord,

C who made heaven and earth.

P I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord,

C and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.

 

Kneel/Stand

 

Silence for reflection on God’s Word and for self-examination.

 

Confession of Sins LSB 184

P O almighty God, merciful Father,

C I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You and justly deserved Your temporal and eternal punishment. But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them, and I pray You of Your boundless mercy and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor, sinful being.

 

Absolution LSB 185

P Upon this your confession, I, by virtue of my office, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God unto all of you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C Amen.

 

Stand

 

Introit Psalm 68:1, 3, 7a, 10b, 19; antiphon: vv. 5b, 6a, 35b

God is in his holy habitation;
[he] settles the solitary in a home.
The God of Israel—he is the one
who gives power and strength to his people.
God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered;
and those who hate him shall flee before him!
But the righteous shall be glad; they shall exult before God;
they shall be jubilant with joy!
O God, when you went out before your people,
in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.
Blessèd be the Lord, who daily bears us up;
God is our salvation.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen.
God is in his holy habitation;
[he] settles the solitary in a home.
The God of Israel—he is the one
who gives power and strength to his people.

 

Gloria Patri LSB 186

 

Kyrie LSB 186

 

Gloria in Excelsis LSB 187

 

Salutation and Collect of the Day

P Almighty and everlasting God, always more ready to hear than we to pray and to give more than we either desire or deserve, pour down upon us the abundance of Your mercy, forgiving those things of which our conscience is afraid and giving us those good things that we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 

Sit

 

Old Testament Reading Genesis 4:1–15

¹Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” ²And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. ³In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, ⁴and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, ⁵but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. ⁶The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? ⁷If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

⁸Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. ⁹Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” ¹⁰And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. ¹¹And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹²When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” ¹³Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. ¹⁴Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” ¹⁵Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.

A This is the Word of the Lord.

C Thanks be to God.

 

Gradual Psalm 28:7b, 1a, 2a

In [God] my heart trusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.
To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me,
hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help.

 

Epistle Ephesians 2:1–10

¹And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ²in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. ⁴But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

A This is the Word of the Lord.

C Thanks be to God.

 

Stand

 

Alleluia LSB 190

 

Holy Gospel Luke 18:9–14

P The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the eighteenth chapter.

⁹[Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: ¹⁰“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹²I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ ¹³But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ ¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

P This is the Gospel of the Lord.

 

Apostles’ Creed

C 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 T everlasting. Amen.

 

Sit

 

559 Oh, How Great Is Your Compassion

Text: Johann Olearius, 1611–84; tr. August Crull, 1845–1923, alt.
Tune: Schäffer-Belustigung . . . Hirthen-Lieder, 1653, Altdorf
Text and tune: Public domain

 

Sermon ~ Rev. Brett E. Cornelius, Pastor Holy Cross Lutheran Church

 

Stand

 

Offertory LSB 192

 

Sit

 

Offering

 

568 If Your Beloved Son, O God

Text: tr. The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941, alt.; (sts. 1–4): Johann Heermann, 1585–1647; (st. 5): Neu-vermehrtes . . . Gesangbuch, 1661, Braunschweig
Tune: Etlich Cristlich lider, 1524, Wittenberg
Text and tune: Public domain

 

Stand

 

Prayer of the Church

P In peace, let us pray to the Lord:

C Lord, have mercy.

P That our God would raise up men in the spirit of St. Paul, who are humble and strong to labor abundantly for the sake of preaching the grace of Christ, let us pray to the Lord:

C Lord, have mercy.

P For God to fortify His Church by the preaching of the risen Christ, and so inspire His people to labor for His glory and the good of our neighbors, let us pray to the Lord:

C Lord, have mercy.

P For the families of the Church to share the love of God our Father and to provide for their own, in His name and with His blessing, let us pray to the Lord:

C Lord, have mercy.

P For rulers who are set against all oppression and plead the cause of the widow, the fatherless and all those outcast, that we may live together in peace and holy joy, let us pray to the Lord:

C Lord, have mercy.

P For all the solitary and those in need, [especially _____________,] that God would go before them in their trials and lead them to rejoice in His grace and goodness, let us pray to the Lord:

C Lord, have mercy.

P For those who commune this day, that they may receive the forgiveness of their sins in this blessed Sacrament, let us pray to the Lord:

C Lord, have mercy.

P For the baptized, that as Cain’s mark protected him despite his sin, we, too, might rejoice that Holy Baptism marks and protects us from spiritual harm despite our sin, let us pray to the Lord:

C Lord, have mercy.

P Into Your hands, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C Amen.

 

Preface LSB 194

 

Proper Preface

P It is truly meet, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who, out of love for His fallen creation, humbled Himself by taking on the form of a servant, becoming obedient unto death, even death upon a cross. Risen from the dead, He has freed us from eternal death and given us life everlasting. Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You and saying:

 

Sanctus LSB 195

 

Lord's Prayer

C 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 Words of Our Lord

P Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said: “Take, eat; this is My T body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me.”

In the same way also He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying: “Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My T blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

 

Pax Domini LSB 197

 

Agnus Dei LSB 198

 

Sit

 

Distribution Hymns

 

618 I Come, O Savior, to Thy Table

Text: Friedrich Christian Heyder, 1677–1754; tr. The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941, abr.
Tune: Emskirchner Choral-Buch, 1756, Leipzig
Text: © 1941 Concordia Publishing House. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License no. 110001518
Tune: Public domain

 

570 Just as I Am, without One Plea

 

5 Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
    O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

 

6 Just as I am; Thy love unknown
Has broken ev’ry barrier down;
Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
    O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Text: Charlotte Elliott, 1789–1871
Tune: William B. Bradbury, 1816–68
Text and tune: Public domain

 

761 Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me

Text: Augustus M. Toplady, 1740–78
Tune: Thomas Hastings, 1784–1872
Text and tune: Public domain

 

Stand

 

Nunc Dimittis LSB 199

 

Thanksgiving LSB 200

 

Post-Communion Collect

A Let us pray.

We give thanks to You, almighty God, that You have refreshed us through this salutary gift, and we implore You that of Your mercy You would strengthen us through the same in faith toward You and in fervent love toward one another; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 

Salutation LSB 201

 

Benedicamus LSB 202

 

Benediction LSB 202

 

Closing Hymn

 

655 Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word

Text: Martin Luther, 1483–1546; tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1827–78, alt.
Tune: Geistliche Lieder auffs new gebessert, 1543, Wittenberg, ed. Joseph Klug
Text and tune: Public domain

 

Acknowledgments

Divine Service, Setting Three from Lutheran Service Book

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2025 Concordia Publishing House.