CREATED, SAVED AND GIFTED BY GOD, WE SEEK, SERVE AND SHARE JESUS CHRIST.
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 6, 2020
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
901 East Stroop Road Kettering, OH
45429-4688
(937) 298-0136
Introduction
Conflict is a part of relationships and life in community. Jesus’ words in today’s gospel are often used in situations having to do with church discipline. The prophet Ezekiel tells of warning the wicked to turn from their ways, and Paul reminds us that love is the fulfilling of the law. We gather in the name of Christ, assured that he is present among us with gifts of peace and reconciliation.
Restoring Right Relationships
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus turns his attention to the community of believers. Matthew is the only gospel in which Jesus explicitly speaks about the church and therefore addresses some concerns of communal living. This week, Matthew provides a framework for responding to sin and conflict for the sake of restoration within a community.
It is inevitable that in a relationship, a time comes when someone lets you down. They may disappoint you, fail to meet your expectations, hurt your feelings, disagree with you, misspeak, or break your trust. This happens in all relationships and in all places—the church is no exception. Although these actions can be unintentional, occasionally relationships are scarred by purposeful acts of betrayal, abuse, deception, and malice. In all cases, Jesus’ way acknowledges the reality of broken people and relationships, and recommends a path forward.
It is common to seek revenge or try to get even with those who have hurt us. We expect them to be punished for the wrong they have done. What Jesus proposes here is a system not of retributive justice but of restorative justice. Instead of demanding vengeance, we can engage the other person in order to heal and repair the relationship and community. We are to try multiple times, involving the community as needed, to make amends. We are not to give up on the ones who do harm, but to offer opportunities for dialogue and healing.
Jesus does not abandon sinners or the church filled with conflicted believers. He comes among them as they listen to each other and works to restore their relationships. We practice the work of restoration every week by sharing a sign of peace with one another. In each exchange of peace, Jesus comes among us to offer grace and forgiveness.
GATHERING
The Holy Spirit calls us together as the people of God.
WELCOME
ANNOUNCEMENTS
THANKSGIVING FOR BAPTISM
All may make the sign of the cross, the sign that is marked at baptism, as the presiding minister begins.
Joined to Christ in the waters of baptism, we are clothed with God’s mercy and forgiveness. Let us give thanks for the gift of baptism.
Silence is kept for reflection.
We give you thanks, O God, for in the beginning your Spirit moved over the waters and by your Word you created the world, calling forth life in which you took delight. Through the waters of the flood you delivered Noah and his family. Through the sea you led your people Israel from slavery into freedom. At the river your Son was baptized by John and anointed with the Holy Spirit. By water and your Word you claim us as daughters and sons, making us heirs of your promise and servants of all. We praise you for the gift of water that sustains life, and above all we praise you for the gift of new life in Jesus Christ. Shower us with your Spirit, and renew our lives with your forgiveness, grace, and love. To you be given honor and praise through Jesus Christ our Lord in the unity of the Holy Spirit, now and forever.
Amen.
Music – The Church Song
Refrain
We are the church,
the body of our Lord;
we are all God’s children.
We have been restored.
The church is not a building
where people go to pray;
it’s not made out of sticks and stones,
it’s not made out of clay. Refrain
You can go to worship
but you cannot go to church;
you can’t find a building that’s alive
no matter how you search. Refrain
The church is not a business,
a committee or a board;
it’s not a corporation for
the business of the Lord. Refrain
The church, it is the people
living out their lives,
called, enlightened, sanctified
for the work of Jesus Christ. Refrain
GREETING
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. And also with you.
KYRIE
Have mercy on us, Lord, and hear our solemn prayer.
We come to hear your living word; is saves us from despair.
Have mercy on us, Christ, and wash away our sin.
Pour out your grace and make us whole that new life may begin.
Have mercy on us, Lord, make sin and shame depart.
renew us with your saving pow’r; create in us new hearts!
CANTICLE OF PRAISE
Glory be to God in heaven; peace, goodwill to all the earth.
Mighty God of all creation, Father of surpassing worth:
we exalt you, we adore you, we lift high our thanks and praise.
Saints and angels bow before you; here on earth our songs we raise.
Glory be to Christ forever, Lamb of God and Lord of love.
Son of God and gracious Savior, you have come from heav’n above;
on the cross you died to save us; now you reign at God’s right hand.
Hear our prayer; restore, forgive us; in your promise firm we stand.
Holy One we now acclaim you; Lord alone, to you we call;
Holy One in faith we name you, God most high, yet near to all:
Jesus Christ, with God the Spirit, in the Father’s splendor bright.
For the peace that we inherit, glory be to God on high!
PRAYER OF THE DAY
O Lord God, enliven and preserve your church with your perpetual mercy. Without your help, we mortals will fail; remove far from us everything that is harmful, and lead us to- ward all that gives life and salvation, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
WORD
God speaks to us in scripture reading, preaching, and song.
FIRST READING Ezekiel 33:7-11
God appointed Ezekiel as a sentinel for the house of Israel. Ezekiel must faithfully convey God’s warnings to the people. Remarkably, God—who is about to attack Jerusalem—gives a warning with the hope that repentance will make the attack unnecessary.
A reading from the book of Ezekiel.
So you, mortal, I have made a sentinel for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, “O wicked ones, you shall surely die,” and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from their ways, and they do not turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but you will have saved your life. Now you, mortal, say to the house of Israel, Thus you have said: “Our transgressions and our sins weigh upon us, and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?” Say to them, As I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?
Word of God, word of life.
Thanks be to God.
SECOND READING Romans 13:8-14
The obligation of Christians is to love one another and so fulfill the heart and goal of the law. Clothes make the person as we “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” and live today in light of the future God has in store for us.
A reading from the book of Romans.
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Word of God, word of life.
Thanks be to God.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
Alleluia! Lord and Savior: open now your saving word.
Let it burn like fire within us; speak until our hearts are stirred.
Alleluia! Lord, we sing for the good news that you bring.
GOSPEL Matthew 18:15-20
Jesus offers practical advice to his disciples on how individuals—and the church as a whole— should show wrongdoers their need for repentance.
The holy gospel according to Matthew.
Glory to you, O Lord.
[Jesus said to the disciples:] “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
MESSAGE
Special Music – And All the People Said Amen
You are not alone if you are lonely.
When you feel afraid, you’re not the only.
We are all the same – in need of mercy,
To be forgiven and be free.
It’s all you got to lean on,
But thank God it’s all you need.
And all the people said, “amen.”
Whoa!
And all the people said, “amen.”
Give thanks to the Lord,
for his love never ends;
And all the people said, “amen.”
If you’re rich or poor… well it don’t matter;
Weak or strong, you know love is what we’re after.
We’re all broken, but we’re all in this together.
God knows we stumble and fall,
And he so loved the world,
He sent his Son to save us all.
And all the people said, “amen.”
Whoa!
And all the people said, “amen.”
Give thanks to the Lord,
for his love never ends;
And all the people said, “amen.”
Blessed are the poor in spirit who are torn apart;
Blessed are the persecuted and the pure in heart;
Blessed are the people hungry for another start,
For theirs is the kingdom, the kingdom of God.
And all the people said, “amen.”
Whoa!
And all the people said, “amen.”
Give thanks to the Lord,
for his love never ends;
And all the people said, “amen.”
APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried;he descended into hell.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.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Drawn together in the compassion of God, we pray for the church, the world, and all those in need.
A brief silence.
Each intercession concludes: Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer.
All these things and whatever else you see that we need, we entrust to your mercy; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
CANTICLE OF THANKSGIVING
Lift ev’ry voice and sing till earth and heaven ring,
ring with the harmonies of liberty.
Let our rejoicing rise high as the list’ning skies,
let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us;
sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
let us march on till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod, bitter the chast’ning rod,
felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet
come to the place for which our parents sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered;
we have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last
where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.
God of our weary years, God of our silent tears,
thou who hast brought us thus far on the way;
thou who hast by thy might led us into the light,
keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee;
lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee;
shadowed beneath thy hand may we forever stand,
true to our God, true to our native land.
THANKSGIVING FOR THE WORD
Praise and thanks to you, holy God, for by your Word you made all things: you spoke light into darkness, called forth beauty from chaos, and brought life into being.
For your Word of life, O God,
We give you thanks and praise.
By your Word you called your people Israel to tell of your wonderful gifts: freedom from captiv- ity, water on the desert journey, a pathway home from exile, wisdom for life with you.
For your Word of life, O God,
We give you thanks and praise.
Through Jesus, your Word made flesh, you speak to us and call us to witness: forgiveness through the cross, life to those entombed by death, the way of your self-giving love.
For your Word of life, O God,
We give you thanks and praise.
Send your Spirit of truth, O God; rekindle your gifts within us: renew our faith, increase our hope, and deepen our love, for the sake of a world in need. Faithful to your Word, O God, draw near to all who call on you; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory forever.
Amen.
LORD’S PRAYER
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us pray as Jesus taught us.
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 tempta- tion, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
SENDING
God blesses us and sends us in mission to the world.
BLESSING
Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. God, the creator, Jesus, the Christ, and the Holy Spirit, the comforter, bless you and keep you in eternal love. Amen.
Special Music – Go, My Children, with My Blessing
“Go, my children, with my blessing, never alone.
Waking, sleeping, I am with you, you are my own.
In my love’s baptismal river
I have made you mine forever.
Go, my children, with my blessing, you are my own.
“Go, my children, sins forgiven, at peace and pure.
Here you learned how much I love you, what I can cure.
Here you heard my dear Son’s story,
here you touched him, saw his glory.
Go, my children, sins forgiven, at peace and pure.
“Go, my children, fed and nourished, closer to me.
Grow in love and love by serving, joyful and free.
Here my Spirit’s power filled you,
here his tender comfort stilled you.
Go, my children, fed and nourished, joyful and free.
Make a commitment to not only worship each week but also try to find a way to serve in the congregation and seek out a way to serve our community.
YOU ARE NOW ENTERING THE MISSION FIELD
UPCOMING COMMEMORATIONS
Peter Claver, priest, missionary to Colombia, died 1654
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
Born into Spanish nobility, Claver became a Jesuit missionary, and served in present-day Colombia. His ministry was focused on the slaves that arrived there. He gave them food and medicine, learned their dialects, and taught them Christianity.