Eighteenth
Sunday after Pentecost
27 September
2015
The Gathering of the
Community
Gathering Music
Greeting
Blessed be the Holy Trinity, one God,
who forgives all our sin,
whose mercy endures forever.
Blessed
be God forever. [i]
Collect for Purity
Almighty God,
to
you all hearts are open,
all
desires known,
and
from you no secrets are hidden.
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. [ii]
Hymn of Praise
‘Praise to the Lord, the Almighty’ Common Praise #384 vv. 1, 2, 4, 6
Collect of the Day
Let us pray.
O God,
our
guide and help in strange lands:
strengthen
us by the faith and courage of Esther,
so
that we may confront the oppressor
with
the justice and unity of your reign,
freeing
the oppressed
and
proclaiming your glorious liberty;
in
the name of Christ, our freedom. Amen. [iii]
The Proclamation of the
Word of God
The First Reading
A reading from Esther (7.1-6, 9-10; 9.20-22).
7.1
So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2 On the second day, as they were
drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen
Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be
fulfilled.” 3 Then Queen
Esther answered, “If I have won your favour, O king, and if it pleases the
king, let my life be given me — that is my petition — and the lives of my
people — that is my request. 4
For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to
be annihilated. If we had been sold
merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; but no enemy can
compensate for this damage to the king.” 5 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen
Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has presumed to do this?” 6 Esther said, “A foe and enemy,
this wicked Haman!” Then Haman was
terrified before the king and the queen.
9 Then
Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Look, the very gallows
that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, stands at
Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” And
the king said, “Hang him on that.” 10
So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the anger of the king abated.
9.20 Mordecai
recorded these things, and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the
provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21 enjoining them
that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the
fifteenth day of the same month, year by year, 22 as the days on
which the Jews gained relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been
turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday;
that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending
gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks
be to God.
The Psalm of the Day
Psalm 124 with a refrain from Songs for the
Holy One
Refrain (sung twice): Our help
is in the name of the Holy One.
1 If the Lord had not been on our
side, *
let Israel now say;
2 if the Lord had not been on our side, *
when
enemies rose up against us;
3 then would they have swallowed
us up alive *
in their fierce anger toward us;
4 then would the waters have overwhelmed us *
and
the torrent gone over us;
5 then would the raging waters *
have
gone right over us.
Refrain:
Our help is in the name of the
Holy One.
6 Blessed be the Lord *
who
has not given us over to be a prey for their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird from
the snare of the fowler; *
the
snare is broken, and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the
Lord, *
the
maker of heaven and earth.
Refrain:
Our help is in the name of the
Holy One.
The Second Reading
A reading from the Letter of James (5.13-20).
5.13
Are any among you suffering? They should
pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church
and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save
the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins
will be forgiven. 16
Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that
you may be healed. The prayer of the
righteous is powerful and effective. 17
Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not
rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and the
heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.
19
My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is
brought back by another, 20 you should know that whoever brings back
a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a
multitude of sins.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks
be to God.
Hymn before the Gospel
Alleluia. Alleluia.
Alleluia.
Your word, O Lord, is truth; sanctify us in
the truth.
Alleluia. Alleluia.
Alleluia. [iv]
The Gospel
The Lord be with you.
And
also with you.
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
according to Mark (38-50).
Glory
to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
9.38
John said to [Jesus], “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name,
and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop
him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward
to speak evil of me. 40
Whoever is not against us is for us. 41
For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you
bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
42
“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe
in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your
neck and you were thrown into the sea. 43
If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter
life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.
45 And if your foot causes
you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to
have two feet and to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to
stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one
eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, 48 where their
worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
49
“For everyone will be salted with fire. 50
Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have
salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
The Gospel of Christ.
Praise
to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
The Sermon
An Affirmation of Faith
Let us declare our faith in God.
We
believe in God the Father,
from
whom every family
in
heaven and on earth is named.
We
believe in God the Son,
who
lives in our hearts through faith,
and
fills us with his love.
We
believe in God the Holy Spirit,
who
strengthens us
with
power from on high.
We
believe in one God;
the
holy and undivided Trinity. Amen. [v]
The Prayers of the Community
Intercessions, Thanksgivings and Petitions
The Exchange of the Peace
May the peace of the Lord be always with you.
And
also with you.
The Holy Communion
Offertory Hymn
‘We Lay Our Broken World’ Common Praise #613 (sung to #496)
The Prayer over the Gifts
Let us pray.
Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things.
Through
your goodness you have blessed us with these gifts:
our
selves, our time, and our possessions.
Use
us, and what we have gathered,
in
feeding the world with your love,
through
the one who gave himself for us,
Jesus
Christ, our Saviour and Lord. Amen. [vi]
The Thanksgiving at the Table
The Lord be with you.
And
also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We
lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It
is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right that we should praise
you, gracious God,
for you created all things.
You formed us in your own image:
male and female you created us.
When we turned away from you in sin,
you did not cease to care for us,
but opened a path of salvation for all
people.
You made a covenant with Israel,
and through your servants Abraham and Sarah
gave the promise of a blessing to all
nations.
Through Moses you led your people from
bondage into freedom;
through the prophets you renewed your
promise of salvation.
Therefore, with them, and with all your
saints
who have served you in every age,
we give thanks and raise our voices 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.
Holy God, source of life and goodness, all
creation rightly gives you praise.
In the fullness of time, you sent your Son
Jesus Christ,
to share our human nature, to live and die
as one of us,
to reconcile us to you, the God and Creator
of all.
He healed the sick and ate and drank with
outcasts and sinners;
he opened the eyes of the blind
and proclaimed the good news of your kingdom
to the poor and to those in need.
In all things he fulfilled your gracious
will.
On the night he freely gave himself to
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 all people for
the forgiveness of sins.
Whenever you drink it, do this for the
remembrance of me.”
Gracious God, his perfect sacrifice destroys
the power of sin and death;
by raising him to life you give us life for
evermore.
Therefore we proclaim our hope.
Dying
you destroyed our death.
Rising
you restored our life.
Lord
Jesus, come in glory.
Recalling his death, proclaiming his
resurrection,
and looking for his coming again in glory,
we offer you, O Holy One of Israel, this
bread and this cup.
Send your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these
gifts,
so that all who eat and drink at this table
may be one body and one holy people,
a living sacrifice in Jesus Christ, our
Lord.
Through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory
is yours,
Creator of all things, seen and unseen,
now and for ever. Amen. [viii]
The Lord’s Prayer
As our Saviour taught us, let us pray,
Our
Father in heaven,
hallowed
be your name,
your
kingdom come,
your
will be done,
on
earth as in heaven.
Give
us today our daily bread.
Forgive
us our sins
as
we forgive those who sin against us.
Save
us from the time of trial,
and
deliver us from evil.
For
the kingdom, the power,
and
the glory are yours,
The Breaking of the Bread
“I am the
bread of life,” says the Lord.
“Whoever
comes to me will never be hungry;
whoever
believes in me will never thirst.”
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
happy are they who trust in him! [x]
The gifts of God for the people of God.
Thanks
be to God.
Communion
Hymn after Communion
‘For All Your Blessings’ Common Praise #440 (sung to #445)
The Sending Forth of the
Community
The Prayer after Communion
We give you thanks, almighty God,
that
you have refreshed us
through
the healing power of this gift of life.
In
your mercy, strengthen us through this gift,
in
faith toward you
and
in fervent love toward one another;
for
the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. [xi]
Glory to God,
whose
power, working in us,
can
do infinitely more
than
we can ask or imagine.
Glory
to God from generation to generation,
in
the Church and in Christ Jesus,
Closing Hymn
‘How Firm a Foundation’ Common Praise #527 (sung to #393)
The Dismissal
The Deacon sends the People forth with a
Dismissal for the occasion.
[i] Evangelical
Lutheran Worship (2006), 94 alt.
[ii] The
Book of Alternative Services (1985), 185.
[iv] Common
Praise #710 with Sentence for Proper 26B sung by the presider.
[v] Common
Worship (2000), 148 alt.
[vii] Common Praise #732.
[viii] The
Book of Alternative Services (1985), 193-195 alt.
[ix] The Book of Alternative Services
(1985), p. 918
[x] The
Book of Alternative Services (1985), 212.
[xii] The
Book of Alternative Services (1985), 214.
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