August 5, 2018

The Invocation:

Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

And blessed be His Kingdom, now and forever. Amen.

The Prayer of Preparation:

Almighty God, to You all hearts are open, all desires known, and from You no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love You, and worthily magnify Your Holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hymn: “Our God”

Water you turned into wine, opened the eyes of the blind there's no one like you, none like You!

Into the darkness you shine out of the ashes we rise there's no one like you none like You!

Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other.

Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God!

Into the darkness you shine, out of the ashes we rise there's no one like you, none like You!

Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other.

Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God!

Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other.

Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God!

And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?

And if our God is with us, then what could stand against?

And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?

And if our God is with us, then what could stand against?

Then what could stand against?

Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other.

Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God!

Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other.

Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God!

And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?

And if our God is with us, then what could stand against?

And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?

And if our God is with us, then what could stand against?

Then what could stand against?

Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other.

Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God!

Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other.

Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God!

Hymn: “Praise The Father, Praise The Son

O sov'reign God, O matchless King-

the saints adore, the angels sing

and fall before the throne on grace

to you belongs the highest praise.

These sufferings, this passing tide

under Your wings I will abide,

and every enemy shall flee;

You are my hope and victory.

Praise the Father, Praise the Son.

Praise the Spirit, Three in One.

Clothed in power and in grace

the name above all other names.

To the valley, for my soul;

Thy great descent has made me whole!

You word my heart has welcomed home;

now peace like water ever flows.

Praise the Father, Praise the Son.

Praise the Spirit, Three in One.

Clothed in power and in grace

the name above all other names.

Praise the Father, Praise the Son.

Praise the Spirit, Three in One.

Clothed in power and in grace

the name above all other names.

Yours is the kingdom,

yours is the power.

Your is the glory forever.

Yours is the kingdom,

yours is the power.

Your is the glory forever.

Praise the Father, Praise the Son.

Praise the Spirit, Three in One.

Clothed in power and in grace

the name above all other names.

The name above all other names.

The Collect of the Day:

Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Old Testament:

2 Samuel 11:26-12:15

26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.

27 And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

1 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: "There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor.

2 The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds.

3 But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him.

4 And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him."

5 So David's anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die!

6 And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity."

7 Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

8 I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more!

9 Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.

10 Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.'

11 Thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.

12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.' "

13 So David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." And Nathan said to David, "The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.

14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die."

15 Then Nathan departed to his house.And the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and it became ill.

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

The Response:

Psalm 51:1-13

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.

5 Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.

6 You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.

9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.

The Epistle:

Ephesians 4:1-16

1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called,

2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling,

5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift.

8 Therefore it is said, "When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people."

9 (When it says, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth?

10 He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.)

11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,

12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.

14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming.

15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love.

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

The Gospel:

John 6:24-35

24 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?"

26 Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal."

28 Then they said to him, "What must we do to perform the works of God?"

29 Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."

30 So they said to him, "What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing?

31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, "He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' "

32 Then Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.

33 For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

34 They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always."

35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

The Gospel of our Lord.

Praise to You, Lord Christ.

The Sermon:

The Apostles Creed:

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

I believe 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 to the dead.

On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Amen.

The Prayers of the People:

-Prayer concerns shared.

Confession of Sin:

Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against You in thought, word and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.

For the sake of Your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in Your will, and walk in Your ways, to the glory of Your name. Amen.

The Great Thanksgiving:

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

We lift up our hearts.

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give Him thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to You, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

The Preface:

Therefore we praise You, joining our voices with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of heaven, who for ever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of Your Name.

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of Your glory.

Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Holy and gracious Father: In Your infinite love You made us for Yourself; and when we had fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death, You, in Your mercy sent Jesus Christ, Your only and eternal Son, to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to You, the God and Father of all.

He stretched out His arms upon the cross, and offered Himself, in obedience to Your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world.

On the night He was handed over to suffering and death, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread; and when He had given thanks to You, He broke it, and gave it to His disciples, and said, “Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.”

After supper He took the cup of wine; and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, and said,

“Drink this, all of you: This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.”

Therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith:

Christ has died.

Christ is risen.

Christ will come again.

We celebrate the memorial of our redemption, O Father, in this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Recalling His death, resurrection, and ascension, we offer You these gifts.

Sanctify them by Your Holy Spirit to be for Your people the Body and Blood of Your Son, the holy food and drink of new and unending life in Him. Sanctify us also that we may faithfully receive this holy Sacrament, and serve You in unity, constancy, and peace; and at the last day bring us with all Your saints into the joy of Your eternal kingdom.

All this we ask through You Son Jesus Christ. By Him, and with Him, and in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is Yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer:

And now as our Savior Christ taught us, we are bold to say:

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 Breaking of the Bread:

Alleluia. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

Therefore let us keep the feast. Alleluia.

The gifts of God for the People of God.

Take them in remembrance that Christ died for you, and feed on Him in your hearts by faith with thanksgiving.

The Body of Christ, the bread of heaven. Amen.

The Blood of Christ, the cup of salvation. Amen.

The Prayer of Thanksgiving:

Let us pray.

Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.

The Blessing:

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen.