19th Sunday After Pentecost Photo by Isaac Gil CALL TO WORSHIP P: Christ the cornerstone welcomes us to this house of God. C: May our minds perceive God’s word, even as our hearts receive God’s love. P: May God’s Spirit bless us with wisdom and faith. CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS Based on today’s readings P: With faith in Christ’s righteousness and confidence in God’s grace, let us confess our sin. Silence for reflection P: Loving God, C: you have planted us like a vineyard on a fertile hill. You cleared away the stones, planted us with choice vines, and kept watch over us by night and day. But we have not yielded the good fruit that you expected or desired. We are overgrown with sin, choked with violence and injustice. Forgive us, we pray. Uproot our evil, prune away our sin, and shower upon us the gift of your grace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. P: Our salvation does not depend on anything we have done, but comes from the grace of God alone through faith in Jesus Christ. This is the good news: in Jesus Christ we are forgiven. C: Thanks be to God. HYMN “There in God’s Garden” PRAYER OF THE DAY Matthew 21:33–46 P: Holy God, Maker of heaven and earth, out of your great love for the world you sent us your beloved Son—but we sent him to his death. Have mercy on us, O Lord; forgive us, renew us, restore us so that we may be the people of your vineyard and bear good fruit for your holy realm; through Jesus Christ our Savior. C: Amen. READINGS Hebrew Bible Reading: Isaiah 5:1-7 The prophet sings a sad, parable-like love song about the relationship between God and Israel. In this song Israel is compared to a promising vineyard. Despite God’s loving care, the vineyard that is Israel has brought forth “wild grapes” of injustice and distress, when fine grapes of justice and righteousness were expected. 1Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. 3And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? 5And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 7For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry! Gospel: Matthew 21:33-46 [Jesus said to the people:] 33“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 34When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. 37Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ 39So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.” 42Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’? 43Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. 44The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” 45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 46They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet. SERMON Rev. Lori E.L. Kitzing HYMN “The Church of Christ, In Every Age” PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION P: Trusting in the transformative power of God’s loving Spirit, let us pray for the church, the world, and all in need. P: God of all grace, you are the source of life and joy. Strengthen the resolve of your church throughout the world, that together we press on toward the goal of your heavenly call in Jesus Christ. God of grace, C: hear our prayer. P: God of all creation, you plant and nourish the earth as your own precious vineyard. Bless fields and orchards and the hands of those who labor in them, that your people are fed with an abundant harvest of good fruit. God of grace, C: hear our prayer. P: God of all the earth, you desire peace and justice between nations and peoples. Guide leaders of nations, states, provinces, and cities, that they faithfully govern your people with wisdom, integrity, and compassion. We pray especially for the people of Israel and Palestine. God of grace, C: hear our prayer. P: God of all compassion, in Christ, you lovingly poured yourself out like wine for your people. Have mercy on all who mourn, who struggle with their mental health, who cry out for justice, who hunger, and all in any need (especially Julie, Karla, Stephanie, Cammie, Nancy, Beverly, Micala, Murlene, Donald, Dale, and Eileen). God of grace, C: hear our prayer. P: God of all steadfastness, you set Christ as the cornerstone and foundation of the church. Build up this congregation as living stones, that it stands in the community as a witness to your enduring faithfulness and love. God of grace, C: hear our prayer. P: God of all hope, the saints who came before us lived and died with their hearts fixed on you. We give you thanks for their faithful witness, and we wait with hope for the great day when we join their voices in praise. God of grace, C: hear our prayer. P: Gracious God, into your hands we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your unending love and amazing grace; through Jesus Christ, our Savior. C: Amen. OFFERING PRAYER Financial gifts may be sent to the church. Throughout October WELCA is collecting “ultra soft” and “lotion” tissue box cubes to be given to residents at our area nursing homes. P: God of power, God of plenty, all things belong to you. We bring our gifts today, that all might be fed. Form us into the body of your Beloved, Jesus Christ, our Savior. C: Amen. LORD’S PRAYER Sung by Matt Maher BENEDICTION P: The grace of Christ, + the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit fill you and the whole church until all things in heaven and on earth are reconciled. C: Amen. HYMN “Lord, Dismiss Us with Your Blessing” CHARGE
P: Go And...Ask! So that you can better love and serve God and others. C: Thanks be to God. Printed by permission oneliscense.net A-717495
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AuthorRev. Lori E.L. Kitzing Archives
April 2024
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