The Ninth Sunday after the Festival of the Holy Trinity
also known as
The Eleventh Sunday of the Pentecost Season
August 01, 2021
Jesus’ Appointment at a Well,
with a Woman Who Found Living Water
One of the wonderful things concerning the Good News about Jesus is that it satisfies fully the core spiritual need that all people have. You can go to the highest halls of learning and talk with someone who has multiple Ph.D.’s. Although highly educated, the most important message that individual needs to hear is that Jesus Christ died for his sins and was raised from the dead, and that eternal life is a free gift from God to him through faith in Christ, the Savior. But you also can take the message to the most primitive, illiterate tribesman in some remote jungle, because that person too needs to hear and believe the same Good News. Since all people are sinners who need to be reconciled to the holy God, the same Gospel applies to and blesses everyone: Jesus alone saves sinners who believe in Him.
In our Gospel Lesson/Sermon Text Jesus had a divine appointment at Sychar, in Samaria, with a sin-troubled woman who was spiritually confused and who desperately needed to hear His Good News (…then again, who doesn’t need to hear it?). Jesus was heading home from Judea to Galilee. Sychar was located about 30 miles north of Jerusalem, approximately half-way between Jerusalem and His hometown of Nazareth. It was at the base of Mount Gerazim, the Samaritans’ “holy mountain.” Jacob’s well was about a half mile outside the village (it still exists today!). John says Jesus was weary from His journey, so He stopped at Sychar. He was sitting by the well around midday, waiting for His disciples who had gone into the village to buy food. Samaria was not an area the most pious of Jews traveled through. That’s because hostilities between the Jews and the Samaritans went back centuries. After the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C., they deported most of the Israelites and replaced them with foreigners, who intermarried with the handful of Israelites that remained. The religion they practiced was a mixture of worshiping Jehovah and foreign gods (2 Kings 17:24-41). When the remnant of the Southern Kingdom of Judah returned from exile in Babylon in 536 B.C. the Samaritans offered to help them rebuild their temple, but the Jews viewed them as unbelievers and enemies, refusing their offer (Ezra 4:1-5). About 400 B. C. the Samaritans built a rival temple on Mount Gerazim, which the Jews burned down in 128 B.C. (That didn’t improve relations between the two groups!). In addition, the Samaritans only accepted the Pentateuch (the first five books of Moses), not all of the Old Testament Scriptures. So, as far as the Jews were concerned, the Samaritans were both biological and religious half-breeds. All these factors had led to intense hostility between the Samaritans and the Jews by Jesus’ day. We can’t properly appreciate this story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman and her fellow villagers unless we keep this hostile history in mind.
The normal time for women to get water was either early morning or later in the afternoon, when it was cooler. The well of Jacob provided a social gathering place where women could talk as they filled their water pots. As our lesson begins, this Samaritan woman likely came to the well at noon because her immoral life caused her to be scorned by the other women of Sychar. She wanted to come when she would be alone, gather her water and leave. But she meets a Jewish Man, Who has the audacity to ask her for a drink of water (besides Jews having nothing to do with Samaritans, it wasn’t socially acceptable for men to talk with strange women in public). However, at that moment her life would forever be changed, because it was God’s plan to bring her the Good News that day…..and for her to eventually share the Gospel with her fellow villagers.
As they conversed, Jesus steered the conversation from regular water to “living water.” This entire encounter was an evidence of His grace, for the Samaritan woman wasn’t seeking to know the true God, nor were her fellow villagers. Her guilt over her current live-in boyfriend and her five failed marriages, which had probably ended because of her multiple adulteries, apparently caused her to keep her distance from God. Jesus, therefore, was seeking a sinner who wasn’t seeking Him.
Jesus tells this woman (4:14): “Whoever drinks the water I will give him will never be thirsty ever again. Rather, the water I will give him will become in him a spring of water, bubbling up to eternal life.” When He speaks about “living water,” Jesus is referring to the eternal life that the Holy Spirit gives. …Just as Jesus said in John 7:37-38…..(today’s Children’s Lesson), “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! 38 As the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in Me.” This “Living water” Jesus is talking about is synonymous with being “spiritually renewed” or “born again.”
Believers familiar with the Scriptures know that the Lord Himself is our spiritual Fountain of living water, and that nothing else can provide the spiritual life and refreshment our souls desperately need – except Him. That’s why in our Old Testament Lesson from Jeremiah 2, the Lord rebukes His worldly-oriented people: “For My people have committed two evils: They have abandoned Me, the spring of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that hold no water!” Their priorities, as ours can sometimes be, were earthly, rather than eternal…..and so were ultimately unsatisfying for their souls. (May each of us be reminded of that important lesson from Jeremiah today!)
Today’s Gospel Lesson also allows us to see Jesus revealing His deity in a two ways. First, He shows His divine omniscience (all-knowing attribute) as He shares with the Samaritan woman at the well some very personal details about her life. In addition, as He speaks to the Samaritan woman, we have one of those “rare instances” in His ministry where Jesus publicly declares Himself to be the Promised Messiah. As Jesus tells this woman that the water that He gives “will become in him a spring of water, bubbling up to eternal life.” He is also telling her (and us) that true Christianity is not primarily a matter of rituals and ceremonies, but rather an inner, faith-relationship with the living God. In describing this “living water” as “welling up,” Jesus is pointing her to source of spiritual life in us: the indwelling Holy Spirit, Who supplies and sustains faith to believers through God’s Word and Sacraments. When Jesus says that whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never thirst, He means that we who have drunk this living water are satisfied with Him in the sense that we know, by faith, that He has rescued us from sin and judgment (Rom. 8:1), that He has given us forgiveness, peace with God, and the assurance – by grace – of eternal life him heaven (John 3:16). He further promises us that nothing can ever separate us from His love, and that He will work out everything we encounter (even the bad things) for our earthly and everlasting good (Rom. 8:28-39).
As sinners, we too need Jesus’ “living water” (Spirit-given faith for eternal life) as dearly as that woman did….and by God’s grace, we have it! Because of God’s limitless love for every one of us (no matter what sin-skeletons we have in our lives), through faith in Jesus, you and I are assured that we will enjoy the blessings that are part of everlasting life in heaven (today’s Epistle Lesson)! Also, because our Savior wants us to be like Him (always concerned for the salvation of souls; that’s why He came here to be our Savior, and it’s why we are here as His followers)……part of our calling as Christians is that we will also be committed to seeking out lost and struggling souls, so we can share the Good News of God’s love and salvation through faith in Christ with them…..just as God the Holy Spirit has worked saving faith in our hearts.
Pre-Service Prayer In the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. I thank You my Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your Son, that You have kept me through this night from all harm and danger. Keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. Into Your hands I commend my body and soul and all things. Let your holy angel be with me, that the wicked foe may have no power over me. Amen.
The portions of God’s Word used in this worship flyer have been taken from
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version Copyright 2019,
The Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission
Music and lyrics, as needed, are used with permission via OneLicense.net #A712831
Pre-service prayer Pre-worship music
Let Us Praise The Lord
The Greeting and Introduction to Worship
following which, at the invitation of the Pastor, the Congregation will rise for the invocation
The Invocation
We make our beginning
In the name…. of the Father,
Who created and preserves this world and every one of us, and Who gave
His Son into death for us and raised Him in glory on the third day;
And of the Son,
Who became fully human in order to be our Savior-Substitute, Who laid
down His life only to take it up again on the third day, Who rules over all things from
heaven for the good of His Church, and Who will return in glory on the Last Day
to deliver that Church;
And of the Holy Spirit
through Whom Christ was made alive,
Who has worked and sustains saving faith in our hearts,
Who lives in us now through the Word,
and Who will one day give life to our mortal bodies.
Amen.
The Psalm for this Morning Psalm 139, selected verses
P: LORD, You have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You discern my thoughts from afar.
C: You search out my path and my lying down + and are acquainted with all my ways.
P: Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
C: You hem me in, behind and before, + and lay Your hand upon me.
P: Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence?
C: If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, + and the light about me be night”
P: even the darkness is not dark to You; the night is bright as day, for darkness is as light with you.
C: For You formed my inward parts; + You knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
P: I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. My frame was not hidden from You when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
C: Your eyes saw my unformed substance; + In Your book were written – every one of them – the days that were formed for me + when as yet there were none of them.
P: How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
C: If I would count them, they are more than the sand. + I awake and am still with You.
P: Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts.
C: See if there be any grievous way in me, + and lead me in the way everlasting!
After which the Congregation will be seated for
The Opening Hymn Hymn 195 “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty”
1 Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee.
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
2 Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was and is and evermore shalt be.
3 Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye made blind by sin Thy glory may not see,
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in pow’r, in love and purity.
4 Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth and sky and sea.
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
After which the Congregation will rise
We Make Confession Of Our Sins To God
Pastor God, our Heavenly Father, invites us to come into His presence and to worship Him with humble and penitent hearts. Therefore, let us now turn to Him, acknowledging our sinfulness and seeking His forgiveness for all our sins.
Congregation Holy and merciful Father, I confess that I am by nature sinful and that I have disobeyed You in my thoughts, words, and actions; I have done what is evil in Your sight and have failed to do what is good. For this I know that I deserve Your punishment, both now and for eternity. But I am truly sorry for all my sins and trusting in the perfect life and innocent death of my Savior, Jesus Christ, I plead: God have mercy on me, a sinner.
(Sung)
Lord have mercy on us. Christ have mercy on us. Lord have mercy on us.
Pastor Our gracious Lord and Master has shown us His mercy: He has given His one and only Son to save us from all our sins. And now, having humbly and sincerely confessed your sins before Almighty God, be strengthened in your faith, mindful that our Lord is not willing that anyone should perish eternally, but that everyone should come to repentance, turning from their evil ways and receiving from Him everlasting life. God has commanded His ministers to declare His forgiveness of sins to all who are penitent. There-fore, addressing you as a called servant of Christ, and according to His command and under His authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
May the peace of God rest upon all of you. Amen.
(Sung) Glory be to God on high. And on earth peace good will toward me.
We praise You. We thank You. We worship You.
We glorify You. We give thanks to You for Your great glory.
O Lord God, Heavenly King, God the Father Almighty.
O Lord, the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father.
You take away the sin of the world. Have mercy on us.
You take away the sin of the world. Receive our prayer.
You sit at the right hand of God the Father, Have mercy on us.
For You only are holy. You only are the Lord.
You only, O Christ, with the Holy Spirit
Are most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen
Our Prayer for This Morning
Almighty and eternal God + direct our actions that we may always please You. + Open our eyes by the power of the Holy Spirit + that we may see and confess Your Son, Jesus Christ, + as truly God and truly Man, + and as the one and only Redeemer of the entire world. + Also give us the strength of faith + to faithfully live each day + to the honor of Your glorious name. + We ask this for Jesus’ sake + Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit + as the one true God, + for ever and ever. + Amen.
After which the Congregation may be seated
Feed Us, Lord
The Old Testament Lesson Jeremiah 2:4-13
4 Hear the word of the Lord, you house of Jacob. All you families of the house of Israel, 5 this is what the Lord says. What fault did your fathers find in Me, that they departed so far from Me? They followed worthless idols, and so they became worthless themselves. 6 They did not say, “Where is the Lord, Who brought us up from the land of Egypt? Where is the One Who led us through the wilderness, through a desert wasteland filled with ravines, through a land of drought and the shadow of death, a land which no one passes through, a land where no human being lives?”
7 I brought you into a fertile land, to eat its fruit and its good things. But you defiled My land and made My inheritance repulsive. 8 The priests did not ask, “Where is the Lord?”
The experts in the law did not acknowledge Me. Their shepherds rebelled against Me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and went after useless idols.
9 So I am bringing charges against you again, declares the Lord, and I am bringing charges against your children’s children. 10 Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and look.
Send someone to Kedar and observe carefully. See if there has ever been anything like this.
11 Has a nation ever exchanged its gods (even though they are not gods at all)? Yet My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols. 12 Be appalled at this, you heavens.
Be horrified and wither away completely, declares the Lord. 13 For My people have committed two evils: They have abandoned Me, the spring of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that hold no water!
The Epistle Lesson Revelation 7:9-17
9 After these things I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing in front of the throne and of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. 10 They called out with a loud voice and said: Salvation comes from our God, Who sits on the throne, and from the Lamb.
11 All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures. They fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and might belong to our God forever and ever. Amen.
13 One of the elders spoke to me and said, “These people dressed in white robes, who are they and where did they come from?” And I answered him, “Sir, you know.” 14 And he said to me: These are the ones who are coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Because of this they are in front of the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple. He Who sits on the throne will spread His tent over them. 16 They will never be hungry or thirsty ever again. The sun will never beat upon them, nor will any scorching heat, 17 for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
following which the Congregation will rise, out of respect for Jesus for
Today’s Gospel Lesson John 4:1-42
Jesus found out that the Pharisees had heard He was making and baptizing more disciples than John, 2 though it was not Jesus Himself Who was baptizing but His disciples. 3 So He left Judea and went back again to Galilee. 4 He had to go through Samaria. 5 So He came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the piece of land Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Then Jesus, being tired from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 (His disciples had gone into town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and Who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” she said, “You don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do You get this living water? 12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You? He gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his animals.” 13 Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I will give him will never be thirsty ever again. Rather, the water I will give him will become in him a spring of water, bubbling up to eternal life.” 15 “Sir, give Me this water,” the woman said to him, “so I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16 Jesus told her, “Go, call your husband, and come back here.” 17 “I have no husband,” the woman answered.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say, ‘I have no husband.’ 18 In fact, you have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 “Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews insist that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Believe Me, woman, a time is coming when you will not worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But a time is coming and now is here when the real worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for those are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” 25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (the One called Christ). “When He comes, He will explain everything to us.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I, the One speaking to you, am He.”
27 Just then His disciples returned and were surprised that He was talking to a woman. Yet no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are You talking to her?” 28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back into town. She said to the people, 29 “Come, see the Man Who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” 30 They left the town and came to Him.
31 Meanwhile, the disciples kept urging Him, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But Jesus said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 Then the disciples said to each other, “Did anyone bring Him something to eat?” 34 Jesus told them, “My food is to do the will of Him Who sent Me and to finish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘Four more months and the harvest will be here’? Pay attention to what I am telling you. Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are already ripe for harvest. 36 The reaper is getting paid and is gathering grain for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together. 37 Indeed in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap a harvest for which you did no hard work. Others have done the hard work, and you have benefitted from their labor.”
39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony: “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them. And He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of His message. 42 They told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said. Now we have heard for ourselves. And we know that This really is the Savior of the world.”
The Nicene Creed
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 Ghost 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 sitteth on the right hand of the Father; And he shall come again with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead; Whose Kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, The Lord and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, Who spake by the Prophets. And I believe 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.
After which the Congregation may be seated for
The Children’s Lesson John 7:37-38
37 On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and called out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! 38 As the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in Me.”
Have A Drink of Living Water!
The Hymn of the Day Hymn 338 “I Heard The Voice of Jesus Say”
1 I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto me and rest;
Lay down, O weary one, lay down Your head upon my breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was, Weary and worn and sad;
I found in him a resting place, And he has made me glad.
2 I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold, I freely give
The living water, thirsty one; Stoop down and drink and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank Of that life-giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, And now I live in him.
3 I heard the voice of Jesus say, “I am this dark world’s light.
Look unto me; your morn shall rise And all your day be bright.”
I looked to Jesus, and I found In him my star, my sun;
And in that light of life I’ll walk Till trav’ling days are done.
after which the Congregation will REMAIN SEATED for
The Pre-Sermon Salutation
Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ, our Lord! May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
The Sermon Text John 4:4-24
Today’s Gospel Lesson
An Woman’s Appointment At A Well With Jesus
after the Sermon, the Congregation will REMAIN SEATED for
The Post-Sermon Blessing
May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God our Father, Who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, now encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. Amen.
We Respond To God’s Word through our Offering and Prayers
The Offering Interlude
Our Offerings of Love to our Lord
the Congregation will please rise as the offerings are brought to the altar
This Morning’s Prayers
Included in our Prayers are
A Prayer of Intercession asking our God, in His grace, to give the blessing of a full recovery to
Carl Boettcher, who is undergoing rehabilitation therapy at the Highlands
Rehabilitation Center in Bella Vista.
and also
A Prayer of Intercession for Janet Milas, as she continues to recover at home from
a fractured pelvis.
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 for ever and ever. Amen.
We Celebrate the Lord’s Supper
Pastor: The Lord be with you.
Congregation (Sung) And also with you
Pastor: Lift up your hearts
Congregation: (Sung) We lift them up unto the Lord
Pastor: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God
Congregation: (Sung) It is good and right so to do.
Consecration of the Elements (Pastor)
Pastor – The peace of the Lord be with you always.
Congregation – (Sung) Amen
The Exhortation Regarding the Lord’s Supper
Please read the following if you have not spoken with
our Pastor about taking communion. Thank you.
TO OUR GUESTS AND FRIENDS
We ask that only “Confirmed, Communicant” members of this congregation, or of one of our Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod congregations come forward to receive the Lord’s Supper at this time.
We believe, according to Scripture, that only those who are “one,” that is, in complete doctrinal agreement, united in a common public confession of faith, are to commune together at the same altar (see I Corinthians 10:17 and I Corinthians 1:10).
To be “in communion” means to share and to hold in common. By eating and drinking at our Lord’s Table, we are not only sharing in, with, and under the bread and wine, Jesus’ very body and blood…we are also publicly declaring that we hold in common a specific confession of faith. In other words, as a result of having comprehensively studied the Scriptures together all of our communicants have agreed to accept and proclaim the same Biblical doctrines and practices.
Through membership in a particular church body (for us, that church body is the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod), each person makes a public statement that he/she is in full agreement with the teachings and practices of that body. Because not every church body or Lutheran Synod teaches and practices the same things, we in the WELS want to be honest in our recognition of the doctrinal differences that, here on earth, separate us from other church bodies. Please bear in mind that we are not, in any way, judging the legitimacy of your Christian faith.
Still, we ask that if you have not (upon study of the Word with us) declared yourself to be in full doctrinal agreement with us, you would respectfully not join us in the Lord’s Supper this morning. It is our prayer that our Scripture-based practice of “Close Communion” will encourage anyone among us today who is not presently in full fellowship with us to seriously examine the teachings and practices of his/her church in order to determine if those teachings and practices are really in full agreement with God’s Word. And if you are a guest among us today, we want you to know that it is our earnest desire that you might become familiar with the Biblical doctrines our congregation confesses, in order that you might one day join with us at the Lord’s altar in this public expression of full unity of doctrine and practice. Until then, please know that we are most grateful for your participation as a fellow Christian in this worship service, and that we appreciate your understanding and respect of this Scriptural, “Close Communion” practice.
The First Distribution Hymn Hymn 303 “With Broken Heart And Contrite Sigh”
1 With broken heart and contrite sigh, A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry;
Your pard’ning grace is rich and free: O God, be merciful to me!
2 I smite upon my troubled breast, With deep and conscious guilt oppressed;
Christ and His cross my only plea: O God, be merciful to me!
3 Far off I stand with tearful eyes, Nor dare uplift them to the skies;
But You can all my anguish see, O God, be merciful to me!
4 With alms, or deeds that I have done, Not one sin’s pardon can be won;
To Calvary alone I flee; O God, be merciful to me!
5 And when redeemed from sin and hell, With all the ransomed throng I dwell,
My joyous song shall ever be, God has been merciful to me!
The Second Distribution Hymn “I Stand Here Before You”
Sung to the melody of “How Firm A Foundation”
I stand here before You, O mightiest One
In need of forgiveness for wrongs I have done.
Oh, grant me Your pardon, my spirit now pleads
Forgive my transgressions in thoughts, words, and deeds.
The Tempter keeps taunting me day after day,
I often succumb and submit to his way.
From birth I’ve been evil — my mortal flesh weak,
I do not abide by the words that You speak.
I humbly confess with the deepest of shame
The times I abused Your magnificent Name.
In spite of Your right to demand faithfulness,
My life’s often guided by my selfishness.
I covet, I slander, I look with lust, too.
I fail to give honor where honor is due.
I steal and I gossip…..so far do I fall –
Your perfect commandments: I’ve broken them all.
Right here at Your table forgiveness is found
In Christ’s holy blood that flowed down to the ground,
His body and blood in the bread and the wine
A marvel of love that is truly divine!
That blood of Your Chosen was shed to erase
The sins of the world. How I cherish that grace!
Dear God I am thankful to be such a one,
Washed clean by the blood of my Savior, Your Son.
We Leave With The Lord’s Blessing
The Closing Prayer
The Closing Blessing
The LORD bless you and keep you.
The LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you.
The LORD look upon you with favor, and grant you His peace. Amen.
the Congregation will be seated for
The Closing Hymn Hymn 323 “Almighty Father, Bless The Word”
1 Almighty Father, bless the word Which through your grace we now have heard.
Oh, may the precious seed take root, Spring up, and bear abundant fruit.
2 We praise you for the means of grace As homeward now our steps we trace.
Grant, Lord, that we who worshiped here May all at last in heav’n appear.
Post-service prayer
Announcements,
Postlude
Announcements
Recently At Grace Lutheran: Sunday Worship Attendance: 47 Online views: 25
Sunday Bible Class: 26 Online views: 6 Sunday School: 3 Budgetary Offerings: $27,740 Online Offerings: $164.80 Gift for the Endowment Fund: $25,000 Tuesday Bible Class: 25
This Week’s Birthdays August 02 – Keith Ihms; August 04 – Lori Meyers;
August 04 – Mike Outlaw; August 07 – Rick Tragasz
This Coming Week at Grace Lutheran Church
Today Morning Worship, with Communion 9:30 a.m. Fellowship Period, 10:45 a.m. Bible Classes and Sunday School – 11:05-noon
Tuesday Morning Bible Class, 10:30 a.m.
Wednesday Ten Minutes With Jesus, over the phone prayers and devotion; 6 p.m.
Saturday Outreach Calling/Visitation, 10:00 a.m.
Sunday Morning Worship, 9:30 a.m Fellowship 10:40 a.m.
Bible Class/Sunday School, 11:05 a.m.
Serving Us Next Sunday Elders: Vic Walker, Tim Pfortmiller
Altar Guild: Christine Quinlan, Linda Winnat Ushers: Jim Winnat, Kent Mayer
This Week’s Bible Classes ……..In our Sunday Bible Class we’re studying Paul’s letters to the Church in Corinth. This morning we’re beginning chapter 3. Our lesson is called “The Continual Construction of the Christian: Solid or Uncertain Foundation? ……Tuesday morning, from 10:30-11:30 am, we’re studing 2 Kings 1-2. We’ll see how God dealt with the wickedness of Ahab’s son Ahaziah, and also look at one of the Bible’s most amazing stories: the account of Elijah being taken into heaven without experiencing death. If you can’t join us in person, you can join us over the phone (call 1-701-802-5405, then dial 7519304#) or watch the our class online at YouTube.com, under “Grace Lutheran Church & Academy.”
We hope to resume choir practices (and the choir singing in church) starting this fall. For that to happen, we need many of you to choose to be a part of our church choir. Won’t you please blend your voice with ours? Rehearsals will be on the 1st and 2nd Sundays of each month, from 8:40- 9:10 a.m.. For more information, please speak to Debbie Huebner.
Fellowship Volunteers Requested (and Needed) We dearly need more help preparing the after-worship fellowship-time coffee and other drinks, plus furnishing light snack items. Won’t you please volunteer to help? A sign-up poster for 2021 is on the fellowship hall bulletin board.. You can serve one or more Sundays. A reimbursement for expenses can be provided of up to $25 per Sunday. It comes through our “donation jar.”