Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Date
October 9, 2022
Author
Don Bennett
Category
Bulletins

Created, saved and gifted by God, we seek, serve and share Jesus Christ.

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
October 9, 2022
10:30 a.m.

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
901 East Stroop Road
Kettering, OH 45429-4688
(937) 298-0136

Introduction

It’s a miracle! Multiple miracles! The waters of holy baptism have healed us. The body and blood of Jesus in Holy Communion have made us clean. We have died with Christ and been raised with him. For all this we have returned to offer thanks. From this place we are sent on our way rejoicing to share the good news.
Returning with Gratitude
What are you grateful for today? As you prepare for worship, take a moment to be present in this space. Breathe deep. Even if everything seems familiar to you, try to observe your sur- roundings in a fresh way. Who is gathered with you? What sounds do you hear? As you settle in, ask yourself: Why am I here? What brings me back to this place and this community?
In today’s gospel, Jesus meets ten people suffering from leprosy—a disease that required them to live cut off from the rest of society. Jesus tells them to go to the religious leaders to be examined for cleanliness, and along the way they are healed. One can only imagine the relief and joy that overcame this group as they experienced the restoration not just of their health but of their places in community. Yet, for one of these people something more happened: he not only experienced joy, but he felt compelled to return to Jesus, fall at his feet, and thank him.
At the center of the worshiping community is Christ, who offers healing to all who gather. Through the proclamation of God’s love, Christ speaks words that restore our lives. In the waters of baptism, Christ offers us a new future in a community of his disciples. Around the table, Christ gives us his body and blood to strengthen us and renew us for the work of discipleship we will face in the week ahead.
But today’s gospel reminds us that the healing we come to receive is only half the equation. Christ also longs for us not to grow complacent with the gift of God’s grace. Rather, in every moment of healing, Christ hopes to fill our hearts with a gratitude that will draw us into deeper and deeper relationship with him. Let your worship today be like that of the man in the gospel, an act of worship and gratitude for all that Christ has already done.

GATHERING

The Holy Spirit calls us together as the people of God.

WELCOME

ANNOUNCEMENTS

CONFESSION & FORGIVENESS

All may make the sign of the cross, the sign that is marked at baptism, as the presiding minister begins.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.

Most merciful God,
we confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name. Amen.

In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for his sake God forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

GATHERING SONG “You are Holy”

You are holy, you are whole.
You are always ever more
than we ever understand.
You are always at hand.
Blessed are you coming near.
Blessed are you coming here
to your church in wine and bread,
raised from soil, raised from dead.
You are holy,
you are wholeness,
you are present.
Let the cosmos praise you, Lord!
Sing hosanna in the highest!
Sing hosanna!
Sing hosanna to our God!

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

In peace, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the peace from above, and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the church of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
for this holy house, and for all who offer here their worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.
Amen.

CANTICLE OF PRAISE

Glory to God in the highest, and peace to God’s people on earth.
Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father,
we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory.
Glory to God in the highest, and peace to God’s people on earth.
Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father,
Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world:
have mercy on us;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father:
receive our prayer.
Glory to God in the highest, and peace to God’s people on earth.
For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Glory to God in the highest, and peace to God’s people on earth.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Almighty and most merciful God,
your bountiful goodness fills all creation. Keep us safe from all that may hurt us, that, whole and well in body and spirit, we may with grateful hearts accomplish all that you would have us do, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

WORD

God speaks to us in scripture reading, preaching, and song.

FIRST READING 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c

Naaman, a Syrian general, suffers from leprosy. In this passage Elisha miraculously cures his illness, but only after Naaman realizes, with the help of his servants, that he also needs healing for his pride. This foreign general then acknowledges the sovereignty of the God of Israel.

A reading from the book of Amos.
Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.”
But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.
Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.”

Word of God, word of life.
Thanks be to God.

SECOND READING 2 Timothy 2:8-15

Though Paul is chained as a prisoner, the word of God is never shackled or confined. Timothy is encouraged to proclaim that word of freedom in an honest and upright life as well as in his teaching and preaching.

A reading from Paul’s letter to Timothy.
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David—that is my gospel, for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. The saying is sure:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.
Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.

Word of God, word of life.
Thanks be to God.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

GOSPEL READING Luke 17:11-19

Jesus’ mission includes making people clean again. Unexpectedly, a Samaritan healed of leprosy becomes a model for those who would praise and worship God and give thanks for God’s mercy.

The Holy Gospel according to Luke.
Glory to you, O Lord.

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.