8th Sunday After Trinity - 30 July 2023

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

Today's liturgy is the Divine Service, Setting Three, LSB pages 184ff.

725 Children of the Heavenly Father

Text: Carolina Sandell Berg, 1832–1903; tr. Ernst W. Olson, 1870–1958
Tune: Lofsånger och andeliga wisor, 1873, Sweden
Text: Public domain
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.

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.

Introit Psalm 48:1, 3, 11, 14; antiphon: vv. 9–10

We have thought on your steadfast love, | O God,*
in the midst of your | temple.
As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends | of the earth.*
Your right hand is filled with | righteousness.
Great is the Lord and greatly | to be praised*
in the city of our God, his holy | mountain.
Within her | citadels*
God has made himself known as a | fortress.
Let Mount Zion | be glad!*
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your | judgments!
This is God, our God forever and | ever.*
He will guide us for- | ever.
Glory be to the Father and | to the Son*
and to the Holy | Spirit;
as it was in the be- | ginning,*
is now, and will be forever. | Amen.
We have thought on your steadfast love, | O God,*
in the midst of your | temple.
As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends | of the earth.*
Your right hand is filled with | righteousness.

Kyrie LSB 186

Gloria in Excelsis LSB 187

Salutation and Collect of the Day

P Grant to us, Lord, the Spirit to think and do always such things as are right, that we, who cannot do anything that is good without You, may be enabled by You to live according to Your will; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Sit

Old Testament Reading Jeremiah 23:16–29

¹⁶Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. ¹⁷They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

¹⁸For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord
to see and to hear his word,
or who has paid attention to his word and listened?
¹⁹Behold, the storm of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
²⁰The anger of the Lord will not turn back
until he has executed and accomplished
the intents of his heart.
In the latter days you will understand it clearly.

²¹“I did not send the prophets,
yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.
²²But if they had stood in my council,
then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,
and they would have turned them from their evil way,
and from the evil of their deeds.

²³“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God afar off? ²⁴Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. ²⁵I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ ²⁶How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, ²⁷who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? ²⁸Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. ²⁹Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”

A This is the Word of the Lord.

C Thanks be to God.

Gradual Psalm 31:2b, 1a

Be a rock of ref- | uge for me,*
a strong fortress to | save me!
In you, O Lord, do I take | refuge;*
let me never be | put to shame.

Epistle Acts 20:27–38

²⁷[Paul said:] “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. ²⁸Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. ²⁹I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; ³⁰and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. ³¹Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. ³²And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ³³I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. ³⁴You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. ³⁵In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. ³⁷And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, ³⁸being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.

A This is the Word of the Lord.

C Thanks be to God.

Stand

LSB 190

Holy Gospel Matthew 7:15–23

P The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the seventh chapter.

¹⁵[Jesus said:] “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

²¹“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

P This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Ordinarily, we confess the Nicene Creed during the Divine Service. During these summer months, we confess the creed of our baptism, the Apostles' Creed, to help keep it fresh in our minds throughout our lives as God's baptized children.

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

745 In God, My Faithful God

Text: Veer schöne nye Geistlike Leder, before 1603, Lübeck; tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1827–78, alt.
Tune: Kurtzweilige teutsche Lieder, 1576, Nürnberg, alt.
Text and tune: Public domain

Sermon- Rev. Brett Cornelius, Pastor Holy Cross Lutheran Church

Stand

Offertory LSB 192

773 Hear Us, Father, When We Pray

Text: Chad L. Bird, 1970
Tune: Geist-reiches Gesang-Buch, 1704, Halle, ed. Johann A. Freylinghausen
Text: © Chad L. Bird. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License no. 110001518
Tune: Public domain

Rubric

Prayer of the Church

Sit

The offering is gathered.

Stand

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. 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 LSB 196

The Words of Our Lord LSB 197

Pax Domini LSB 197

Agnus Dei LSB 198

Sit

Distribution

637 Draw Near and Take the Body of the Lord

Text: Latin, 7th cent.; tr. John Mason Neale, 1818–66, alt.
Tune: Trente quatre Pseaumes de David, 1551, Geneva, ed. Louis Bourgeois
Text and tune: Public domain

627 Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Savior

5 Firmly hold with faith unshaken
That this food is to be taken
By the sick who are distressed,
By hearts that long for peace and rest.

6 Agony and bitter labor
Were the cost of God’s high favor;
Do not come if you suppose
You need not Him who died and rose.

7 Christ says: “Come, all you that labor,
And receive My grace and favor:
Those who feel no pain or ill
Need no physician’s help or skill.

8 “For what purpose was My dying
If not for your justifying?
And what use this precious food
If you yourself were pure and good?”

9 If your heart this truth professes
And your mouth your sin confesses,
You will be your Savior’s guest,
Be at His banquet truly blest.

10 Let this food your faith so nourish
That its fruit of love may flourish
And your neighbor learn from you
How much God’s wondrous love can do.

Text: John Hus, c. 1369–1415; German version, Martin Luther, 1483–1546; (sts. 1–2, 4–5, 7, 9): tr. The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941, alt.; (sts. 3, 8): tr. Lutheran Service Book, 2006; (sts. 6, 10): tr. F. Samuel Janzow, 1913–2001, alt.
Tune: Geistliche Lieder auffs new gebessert, 1533, Wittenberg, ed. Joseph Klug, alt.
Text (sts. 3, 6, 8, 10): © 1980 and 2006 Concordia Publishing House. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License no. 110001518
Text (sts. 1–2, 4–5, 7, 9) and tune: Public domain

701 Draw Us to Thee

Text: Friedrich Funcke, 1642–99; tr. August Crull, 1845–1923, alt.
Tune: As hymnodus sacer, 1625, Leipzig
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 201

Benedicamus LSB 202

Benediction LSB 202

RubricPlease be Seated

643 Sent Forth by God’s Blessing

Text: Omer E. Westendorf, 1916–97, alt.
Tune: Welsh
Text: © 1964 World Library Publications. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License no. 110001518
Tune: Public domain

Acknowledgments

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.

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