The Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity Sunday – October 20, 2024
also the Twenty-third Sunday of the Pentecost Season
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
“Seven Popular Heresies
and False Teachings in Churches Today”
The Heresy of “Antinomianism”
For us as Christians, there can be never be any doubt that the Gospel should always be the focal point in all of our preaching, teaching, and believing. Apart from the Gospel of Jesus Christ there is no salvation. However, we also know that God has given us His Law in the Scriptures. And so if the Gospel is paramount for our faith, where does the Law fit in the life of the Christian? Unless that question is answered correctly, the Gospel cannot be properly understood or used.
Human beings are naturally law-oriented. In fact, apart from our Christian faith based on the Gospel, every world religion is law-driven (salvation by works in one form or fashion). Sometimes a dominant emphasis on the Law (over against the Gospel) even finds its way into the hearts of people who call themselves Christians….and that is never a good thing. Whenever we encounter an over-emphasis on the Law we call that “legalism.” In general, legalism teaches that a Christian’s relationship to God and his/her eternal security is determined by through obedience to the Law. Probably the prime example of Legalism in a Christian church is found in the Roman Catholic Church. There salvation is not taught, not by grace alone through faith in Christ alone, but through faith that is dependant on good works in order to ensure salvation. Instead of being a fruit of faith, this “mandatory sanctification” is presented as essential to a person’s salvation. Typically Legalism motivates a person by demands and threats of punishment….the emphasis is on “do or be damned.” It also suggests that the “reward” of God’s favor and eternal life can be earned by an individual’s obedience to the Law, which – of course – is impossible for any sinner to achieve, since no one is perfect. In our worship service next week we’ll consider in more detail what God’s Word has to say about the false teaching of Legalism with its abuse of God’s righteous Law.
Instead, this morning, we’re going to look at a second – equally dangerous, and potentially damnable – abuse of God’s Law. It’s the opposite of Legalism, with its over-emphasis on the Law as the means of ones salvation. This second abuse of the Law is antinomianism. The term “Antinomianism” derives from two Greek language words: “anti” …. which means “opposed to.” and “nomos”…..which is the Greek word for “law.” Antinomianism is the unBiblical view that God’s Law is not necessary for the Christian since God has already forgiven all our sins for Jesus’ sake, and since Jesus kept all of God’s Law for our benefit.
Now, there are actually three types of antinomianism. The extreme form says God’s Law might have been useful for the Old Testament believer, but it is useless for anyone today. Its advocates contend that only the “Gospel” should be preached and taught to the New Testament Christian. Their reasoning is that since Christ both kept the Law for us and has freed us from the curse of our sins, obedience to the Law is no longer necessary for us. A second, “lesser,” form of antinomianism sees the need for the Law to bring an unrepentant sinner to repentance by showing the sinner his/her sin. But once that occurs, the advocates of this “lesser antinomianism” maintain there isn’t any other need for God’s Law in the life of a believer, since we’ve already been saved by Jesus.
In the third (and perhaps, most “personal”) type of antinomianism, the sinner simply ignores whatever behavior (or restriction) God’s Law directs, instead justifying his/her behavior under the selfish standard of doing whatever “I think…..or feel is right for me.” In other words, the sinner places his/her will above God’s Law. A variant of this is the humanistic attitude of “moral relativism”….. where its taught that there are no moral absolutes in life, but instead each person has the individual right to behave and believe as he/she chooses. As you can imagine, this form of antinomianism is quite popular and prevalent today. It’s even taught, or at lest tolerated, in many Christian churches today that don’t want to “offend” (and drive away) their followers by using God’s Law to point out sin and call sinners to repentance.
But – to be saved – Christians need both the Law and the Gospel. We need to understand that we are separated from God and deserve to be eternally condemned because of our sinful nature, as well as our sinful behavior. The Law shows us that damnable reality. Then the Gospel comforts us with the reassurance that Christ came to provide us with His sinlessness, and – at the same time – to be punished in our place for our sinfulness and in order to secure our salvation in heaven. What’s more, through the Holy Spirit’s work in our hearts by means of God’s Word and Sacraments, we believe this Good News and so are saved through faith in Jesus, our Savior. That same Spirit that works faith also works faithfulness in us. The Holy Spirit has converted us from people who were consumed by unbelief and spiritual death (described as “the Old Adam”) into people who are Spiritually alive and in love with God (“the new man/new creation”). Grateful for Christ’s love, forgiveness and salvation, as well as for our faith in the true God, we are now motivated to gratefully do His Will (follow His Law) in order that God might be glorified through us.
Paul speaks about the “new man”/believer in us in our Sermon Text for Today as someone who wants to do God’s Will out of thankfulness for the salvation we have been given in Christ. In Psalm 1, the Psalmist also writes about the believer’s desire to please God by obeying His Law: “But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and on His law he meditates day and night.” And how do we know that pleases God? Because God tells us what is good and right in His sight (and so what is also good for us) in His Word…..most notably in His Law.
Of course, on this sinful side of heaven, and given our sinful natures that exist alongside the Spirit-given “new man” within us, there isn’t one of us who can claim to be fully faithful to God and His Law. That’s because every Christian still has an “old Adam” (that inherent sinful nature) that is evil and corrupt all the time, which is hostile toward God, and which constantly fights against the “new man”/believer in us. Paul spoke about the Spiritual conflict that went on in himself, and in all of us in our Sermon Text for today from Romans 7, where he says, “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh” (Romans 7:18). He knew that, although he was a believer, he could not get rid of his sinful nature completely on this side of heaven…..but he wished that he could be more godly and so more faithful to God’s Law. So do we.
Originally God placed his “Moral Law” (the Ten Commandments) in the hearts of the first humans. Consequently, Adam and Eve had a perfect knowledge of God, and a complete understanding of His Will. In the beginning they lived lives according to God’s perfect Law that pleased the LORD and blessed them. But they failed to remain fully faithful to Him and His Will when they sinned against God’s command. As a result, the original intent of the Law completely changed. Instead of being Adam and Eve’s means to salvation through their perfect obedience of it, God’s Law exposed their sin and condemned them because of their disobedience. Today it also serves to expose our sin and prove to us our need for a Savior, as well as to restrain sin within us through threats of punishment, and finally to serve as a guide for how we can live for and strive to please the LORD of our salvation…sinners though we are.
But even though we sin daily, you and I never have to be afraid of God’s eternal wrath because of our disobedience of His Law, because we have been freed from the Law’s curse of hellfire and damnation due to our sins, since Jesus already has suffered the curse of our sins in our place when He was rejected by His Father while suffering and dying on the cross. Three days later His resurrection was (in a certain sense) the “exclamation point”affirming that His sacrifice for our sins was sufficient and that our salvation is assured through faith in Him. As Christians we now find joy and pleasure in doing God’s will, because we love, with all our heart, soul and mind, our God Who graciously has forgiven and saved us for Jesus’ sake. And so, even through we are no longer bound to obey the Law in order to be saved, in a do-or-be-damned fashion, because we are God’s dearly loved and forgiven children and heaven’s heirs for Jesus’s sake, we are gratefully committed to obeying God’s Law as faithfully as we can, so that God might be glorified in all we do, think and say.
Technically speaking, insofar as the Christian is a renewed, born-again person, he/she doesn’t need the law at all. The “new man” (believer) within us is primarily motivated to love God and carry out His commands because God first loved (and saved) us. In fact, if we Christians were able to be completely “new man” on this side of heaven, we wouldn’t need at all the Law as a guide to please and serve God, or the Gospel to motivate us, because we would automatically know God’s will completely and would want to carry it out gladly and perfectly. That’s the way it will be for us when we reach heaven. But on this side of heaven, in this sinful world, because we still have active sinful natures within us, we need to have the Law preached to us to show us our sinfulness and our need for a Savior, to drive us to repent, to restrain the worst of our sinful behaviors, and to serve us as a reliable guide and standard for God-pleasing Christian living.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the Law can’t give anyone the power or proper motivation to do God’s will. It’s only through the Gospel that the Holy Spirit works in us to will and to do what pleases God (Philippians 2:13). In his letter to church in Ephesus, Paul encouraged them to live godly lives because they already had redemption and salvation through Jesus’ blood, and so they had been forgiven all their sins, according to the riches of God’s grace. He urged them to avoid sexual immorality. He also called on wives to submit to their husbands in the same way they submitted to the LORD, and he called on husbands to love their wives with the kind of unselfish love that Christ showed for His church. He instructed children to obey their parents, and directed that parents should bring up their children in the training and love of the Lord. Paul relied, not on threats or guilt, but on the Gospel as motivation for his appeal to the Ephesians to live God-pleasing, obedient lives. At the same time he used the Law to detail for them how the Christian life should be evident in the lives. Whether in Paul’s inspired writings, or elsewhere in the New Testament, it is abundantly clear that when it comes to Christian living, the Law and Gospel each have a distinctive and essential purpose. You can’t see your sinfulness and your need for a Savior without the Law. You can’t find the motivation to live for God unless you see in the Gospel how God loved you enough to send Jesus to be your Savior from sin and for heaven. And you can’t know how to live for God, unless God spells out for you His Will through His Law.
There’s another point we need to keep in mind as we consider the Christian’s proper use of both God’s Law and Gospel. It’s a sad fact that the Christian is both a saint and sinner at the same time. Because of that reality, we need to keep in mind that everything the Christian does is tainted with sin. Consequently, no good work the Christian does is ever the product only of the “new man.” Every day we’re on this side of heaven our sinful nature is going to get in the way of our godliness….by “tarnishing” the Godly things we say, think and do. It’s here again that God’s Law that reveals to us how thoroughly sinful we are and how much we need a Savior from sin (since we can’t possibly be perfect….which would be the only way we could save ourselves).
Finally, does all of this mean that a Christian never performs works that are pleasing to God? Technically-speaking, we don’t and can’t please God, given our sinful condition. God demands absolute perfection and nothing less from anyone (Matthew 5:48)….and every day we are all a lot less than perfect, aren’t we? However, what we do that is imperfect according to God’s perfect Law, has been made holy and acceptable to God through the Gospel….because of the righteousness and perfect obedience of Jesus Christ on our behalf. In other words, our Heavenly Father accepts – and is actually pleased with – our efforts at obeying His Law….not because what we do is so good, or because of our (flawed) sincerity and love for Him, but for the sake of Jesus Christ, His Son, our Savior.
In closing, let’s summarize what the relationship of the Law and Gospel are to the Christian, and why both are absolutely necessary for our lives of faith. Insofar as the Christian is a “new man” who has been redeemed by Christ and is born-again through the Holy Spirit, he is completely free from obligation to the Law because he has been fully, freely forgiven and is already regarded by God as a sinless saint for Christ’s sake. Consequently, the Law no longer condemns him, nor are we bound to keep it in order to secure our salvation in heaven. We already have that, by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus.
Nevertheless, as long as you and I are in this sinful world, living as sinners who have a sinful nature….and so we are people who are not yet perfectly renewed, nor do we know and love the will of God perfectly……each of us continues to desperately need instruction from God’s Law, so that we can fight against sin, and instead can know and do those works which are pleasing to God as fruits of our faith. In addition, our sinful flesh still needs the Law as a curb to keep it in check, lest it overwhelm us. And above all, we still need to have the Law continue to reveal to us that all our righteousnesses amount to nothing but filthy rags in God’s sight, because they are always tainted by our sinful flesh. And, as the Holy Spirit moves us, we need – through daily contrition and repentance – to cast ourselves completely and confidently upon the mercy and grace of our God ….grace that each of us is assured of enjoying now and forever, through Christ Jesus, our Savior.
Pre-service Silent Prayer Heavenly Father, please guide me in wisdom and truth through Your Holy Spirit, as I spend this hour meditating on Your Word and rejoicing in Your limitless love for me. Assist me in being attentive in heart and mind to Your Word, as well as to the hymns of praise, the various petitions, and the prayers of thanksgiving my voice directs toward You. Use this worship service, O Lord, to deepen my love for You, to strengthen my trust in You, and to renew my commitment to You. All this I ask for the sake of and in the name of Your One and only Son, Jesus Christ, my Savior. 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
Prayer upon entering the sanctuary Pre-service Music
Let Us Praise The Lord
The Greeting and Invitation to Worship
The Invocation
P: We begin this service in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Opening Hymn Hymn 240 “Immortal, Invisible”
1 Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, O Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, your great name we praise!
2 Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Not wanting nor wasting, you rule in your might,
Your justice like mountains high soaring above,
Your clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.
3 All life you engender in great and in small,
Of all life Befriender, the true Life of all.
We blossom and flourish in richness and range;
We wither and perish, but you never change.
4 Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Your angels adore you, all veiling their sight.
Our praises we render; oh, lead us to see
The light of your splendor, your love’s majesty!
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.
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, by His command and under His authority, I assure you that your sins are all forgiven – and that eternal life is yours, by grace through faith…….in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. May the peace of God rest upon all of you.
Congregation Amen.
Lord Have Mercy
P: For all that we need in life, and for the wisdom to use all Your gifts with gratitude and joy, hear our
prayer, O Lord.
C: (sung) Lord have mercy
P: For the steadfast assurance that nothing can separate us from Your love and for the courage to stand firm against the assaults of Satan and every evil, hear our prayer, O Christ:
C: (Sung) Christ have mercy.
P: For the well-being of Your holy Church in all the world and for those who offer here their worship and praise, hear our prayer, O Lord
C: (Sung) Lord have mercy.
P: Merciful God, Maker and Preserver of life, uphold us by Your power, and keep us in Your tender care:
C: (sung) Amen.
P: The works of the Lord are great and glorious; His name is worthy of praise.
O Lord, our Lord,
How glorious is Your name in all the earth.
Almighty God, merciful Father,
Your crown our life with Your love.
You take away our sin; You comfort our spirit;
You make us pure and holy in Your sight.
You did not spare Your only Son,
but gave Him up for us all.
O Lord, our Lord,
How glorious is Your name in all the earth.
O Son of God, eternal Word of the Father,
You came to live with us;
You made Your Father known;
You washed us from our sins in Your own blood.
You are the King of glory; You are the Lord!
O Lord, our Lord, How glorious is Your name in all the earth
After which the Congregation may be seated
Feed Us, Lord
The Old Testament Lesson Malachi 6:1-8
Listen now to what the Lord is saying! Get up. Plead your case to the mountains. Let the hills hear your voice. 2 Listen, you mountains, to the accusation from the Lord. Pay attention, you enduring foundations of the earth, because the Lord is presenting a case against His people, and He is indicting Israel.
3 My people, what have I done to you, and how have I made you weary? Answer Me! 4 I was the One Who brought you up from the land of Egypt. I redeemed you from the place where you were slaves. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam ahead of you. 5 My people, remember what Balak king of Moab planned, and how Balaam son of Beor responded to him when you were about to travel from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the Lord’s righteous acts.
6 With what am I to appear before the Lord? How should I bow down to God on high? Should I appear before Him with burnt offerings, with one-year-old calves? 7 Will the Lord be delighted with thousands of rams, with tens of thousands of streams of oil? Should I give my firstborn for my rebellion, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has told you, mankind, what is good. What does the Lord require from you, except to carry out justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?
The Epistle Lesson Romans 3:19-32
19 Now we know that whatever the law says is addressed to those who are under the law, so that every mouth will be silenced and the whole world will be subject to God’s judgment. 20 For this reason, no one will be declared righteous in his sight by works of the law, for through the law we become aware of sin.
21 But now, completely apart from the law, a righteousness from God has been made known. The Law and the Prophets testify to it. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all and over all who believe.
In fact, there is no difference, 23 because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God 24 and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 Whom God publicly displayed as the atonement seat through faith in His blood. God did this to demonstrate His justice, since, in His divine restraint, He had left the sins that were committed earlier unpunished. 26 He did this to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so that He would be both just and the One Who justifies the person who has faith in Jesus.
27 What happens to boasting then? It has been eliminated. By what principle—by the principle of works? No, but by the principle of faith. 28 For we conclude that a person is justified by faith without the works of the law. 29 Or is He only the God of the Jews? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, also of the Gentiles, 30 since there is one God Who will justify the circumcised person by faith and the uncircumcised person through the very same faith. 31 So are we doing away with the law by this faith? Absolutely not! Instead, we are upholding the law.
The Gospel Lesson Matthew 5:17-20
17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy them but to fulfill them. 18 Amen I tell you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not even the smallest letter, or even part of a letter, will in any way pass away from the Law until everything is fulfilled. 19 So whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 Indeed I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and experts in the law, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
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.
The Children’s Lesson Psalm 119:70-72
The calloused hearts of the arrogant feel nothing, but I delight in your law. 71 It was good for me that I was afflicted, so that I might learn your statutes. 72 Better for me is the law from your mouth than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.
God’s Law Is Our Great Treasure
Hymn of the Day Hymn 287 “The Law of God Is Good And Wise”
1 The law of God is good and wise;
It sets his will before our eyes,
Shows us the way of righteousness,
But dooms to death when we transgress.
2 The law is good, but since the fall
Its holiness condemns us all;
It dooms us for our sins to die
And has no pow’r to justify.
3 Its light of holiness imparts
The knowledge of our sinful hearts
That we may see our lost estate
And seek relief before too late.
4 To Jesus we for refuge flee,
Who from the curse has set us free,
And humbly worship at his throne,
Saved by his grace through faith alone.
after which the Congregation will rise 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 based on Romans 7:7-25
7 What will we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! On the contrary, I would not have recognized sin except through the law. For example, I would not have known about coveting if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity provided by this commandment, produced every kind of sinful desire in me.
For apart from the law, sin is dead. 9 Once I was alive without the law. But when this commandment came, sin came to life, 10 and I died. This commandment that was intended to result in life actually resulted in death for me. 11 You see, sin, seizing the opportunity provided by this commandment, deceived me and put me to death through it.
12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good. 13 Then did what is good become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, so that it might be recognized as sin, brings about my death by this good thing, so that through this commandment sin might prove itself to be totally sinful.
14 Certainly we know that the law is spiritual, but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not keep doing what I want. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 But now it is no longer I who am doing it, but it is sin living in me. 18 Indeed, I know that good does not live in me, that is, in my sinful flesh. The desire to do good is present with me, but I am not able to carry it out. 19 So I fail to do the good I want to do. Instead, the evil I do not want to do, that is what I keep doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who am doing it, but it is sin living in me.
21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is present with me. 22 I certainly delight in God’s law according to my inner self, 23 but I see a different law at work in my members, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me captive to the law of sin, which is present in my members. 24 What a miserable wretch I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my sinful flesh I serve the law of sin.
The Value of the Law for Every Christian
after the Sermon, the Congregation will rise 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.
following which the Congregation will be seated
We Offer Our Gifts to the Lord
We offer you the following suggestions for providing God with Your thank-offerings through our ministry:
1) Those in the chapel can place their offerings in the offering plates
2) You can send a check (no cash) in the mail to Grace Lutheran Church (415 N. 6th Place, Lowell, AR 72745)
3) Or, go online to our website (www.gracelutherannwa.com) and use the giving option there.
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We Bring our Prayers Before Our Lord
In our prayers this morning we include:
A Prayer of Intercession for our brother, Tim Pfortmiller,
who continues to receive treatments for the cancer that afflicts him;
and for Ruth Strackbein, the mother of our sister, Cynthia Tragasz. Ruth has been placed in hospice care and
looks forward to entering heaven.
Today’s Prayer concluding with…..
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
P: The Lord be with you.
C: (sung) And also with you.
P: Lift up your hearts.
C: (sung) We lift them up to the Lord.
P: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God
C: (sung) It is right to give Him thanks and praise.
P: It is truly good and right that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, O Lord, holy Father, almighty, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, and we praise You especially for the gracious death and the glorious resurrection of Your Son, the true Passover Lamb, Who by His sacrifice took away the sins of the world and by His resurrection restored everlasting life to all who believe in Him. Now have come the salvation and power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ. To Him Who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and thanks and honor and glory forever and ever. Amen
(Sung) Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts.
The whole earth is full of Your glory
You are my God and I will exalt You.
I will lift You up for You have become my salvation.
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts.
The whole earth is full of Your glory
The Words of Institution
P: “The peace of the Lord be with you always.”
C: (sung) Amen.
O Christ, Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world;
Have mercy on us.
O Christ, Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world,
Have mercy on us.
O Christ, Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world;
Grant us Your peace. Amen.
After which the Congregation may be seated.
The Exhortation Regarding the Lord’s Supper
The Distribution of the Sacramental Elements
(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. To us the Lord’s Supper is both an expression of our common faith in Christ (which we share with all our fellow Christian worshipers this morning), and also a public expression of our complete doctrinal agreement as a congregation and church body (as I Corinthians 1:10 and 10:17, as well as Romans 16:17 and I John 4:1 require of us).
Accordingly if you are not a communicant member of Grace Lutheran Church or our Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, we are not, in any way, judging your Christian faith by respectfully asking you not to join us in the Lord’s Supper this morning. Rather, we pray that our Scripture-based practice of “Close Communion” will encourage all those Christians who are not presently in full fellowship with us to seriously examine the teachings and practices of their church in order to determine if those teachings and practices are really in full agreement with God’s Word. It is our earnest desire that you might become familiar with the doctrines of our congregation, so 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 patience and understanding of our Communion practice. Finally, if you do have any questions or concerns about our “Close Communion” practice, please speak with our Pastor following this worship service, or at your convenience.
The Thanksgiving
(Sung) Thank the Lord and sing His praise.
Tell everyone what He has done.
Let all who seek the Lord rejoice,
and proudly bear His name.
He renews His promises and leads His people forth in joy,
With shouts of thanksgiving, Alleluia! Alleluia!
We Leave with the Lord’s Blessing
The Closing Prayer
Hear the prayer of Your people, O Lord, that the lips which have praised You here may glorify You in the world, that the eyes which have seen the coming of Your Son may long for His coming again, and that all who have received in his true body and blood the pledge of Your forgiveness may be restored to live a new and holy life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: (sung) Amen.
The Benediction
P: Brothers and sisters, go in peace. Live in harmony with one another. Serve the Lord in gladness.
The Lord bless you and keep you
The Lord make His face to shine upon you
and be gracious unto you.
The Lord look upon you with favor, and grant you His peace.
C: (sung) Amen. Amen. Amen.
The Closing Hymn Hymn 330 “Now the Hour of Worship O’er”
1 Now, the hour of worship o’er,
Teaching, hearing, praying, singing,
Let us gladly God adore,
For his Word our praises bringing;
For the rich repast he gave us
Praise the Lord, who deigned to save us.
2 Now the blessing cheers our heart,
By his grace to us extended.
Let us joyfully depart;
Be our souls to God commended.
May his Spirit ever guide us
And with all good gifts provide us.
3 Bless our going out we pray
Bless our entrance in like measure
Bless our bread, O LORD, each day
Bless our toil, our rest, our pleasure.
Bless us when we reach death’s portal.
Bless us then with life immortal.
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