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Midvale Community Lutheran Church Online Worship  19th Sunday after Pentecost - October 11, 2020  

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

 Welcome and Announcements   Confession and Forgiveness  Adapted from the Lutheran World Federation and based on Leviticus 25:1-25 and Romans 8:26-27.  

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

 

We praise you God, for the Earth that sustains life. Through the planetary cycles  of days and seasons, renewal and growth, you open your hand to give all  creatures our food in the proper time. In your Wisdom you gave a Sabbath for  the land to rest. But these days our living pushes the planet beyond its limits.  Our demand for growth, and an endless cycle of production and consumption  are exhausting our world. The forests are leached, the topsoil erodes, the fields  fail, the deserts advance, the seas acidify, the storms intensify. Humans and  animals are forced to flee in search of security. We have not allowed the land to  observe a Sabbath, and the Earth is struggling to renew. And so we confess.  God of mercy and justice,   You tell us the land must rest, free from the burden of production.  We confess our demand that the earth produce beyond its limits, and  our bondage to desire more.     

2 You call us to pause from sowing, pruning, and reaping in ways that  destroy the soil.  We confess our vicious consumption of food and energy.   You assure us that we can be filled from the yield of the land.  We confess our lack of trust that we can thrive within the Earth’s  limits.   You affirm that our security is found in enough.  We confess our lack of courage to resist the myth of endless growth.   You tell us that the land must not be sold permanently, because the  land is Yours, and everything in it.  We confess to thinking of creation as ours, instead of Yours.   You call us to leave enough fruit on the vine and in the fields to feed  our neighbors, animals, and replenish the earth.  We confess our failure to share what we receive from the earth.   You call us to fairness and justice.  We confess our lack of faith, not loving you with our whole heart and  strength and mind, or our human and non-human neighbors as  ourselves.   Turn us from fear and mistrust,  and free us to imagine a life reconciled to the Earth and all creatures,  through the Good News of Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray.   The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as  we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.  And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit,  because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.  Amen.     

3 Song    

     

4 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.   Prayer of the Day  Source of all life, we give thanks to you for your  wondrous creation made manifest in the  environment that surrounds us; strengthen us in  the mission of stewardship and care towards  nature, the work of your hands, encouraging us to  preserve life in all its precious forms. All this we  ask through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns  with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one  God, now and forever.   Amen.   WORD God speaks to us in scripture reading, preaching, and song.   Children’s Message   Reading: Psalm 23   1 The Lord is my shepherd;   I shall not be in want.   2The Lord makes me lie down in green pastures   and leads me beside still waters.   3You restore my soul, O Lord,   and guide me along right pathways for your name’s sake.   4Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil;   for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.   5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;   you anoint my head with oil, and my cup is running over.   6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,   and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.   The word of the Lord.  Thanks be to God.      

5 Gospel Acclamation  

  

 The holy gospel according to St. Matthew, the 22nd chapter.  Glory to you, O Lord.   Gospel: Matthew 22:1-14  1 Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: 2“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to  a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3He sent his slaves to call those who had been  invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. 4Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell  those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been  slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ 5But they made light of it and  went away, one to his farm, another to his business, 6while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated  them, and killed them. 7The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and  burned their city. 8Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not  worthy. 9Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’  10Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so  the wedding hall was filled with guests.   11“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a  wedding robe, 12and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And  he was speechless. 13Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him  into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14For many are called,  but few are chosen.”   The gospel of the Lord.  Praise to you, O Christ.      

6 Sermon   

     

7 Song  

 

8 Profession of Faith  We belong to the Creator in whose image we are all made.  In God we are breathing, in God we are living, in God we share the life of all creation.   We belong to Jesus Christ, the true icon of God and of humanity.  In Jesus God is breathing, in Jesus God is living, through Jesus we are reconciled.   We belong to the Holy Spirit, who gives us new life and strengthens our faith.  In the Spirit love is breathing, in the Spirit truth is living, the breath of God always moves us.   We belong to the Holy Trinity, who is one in all and Three-in-One.  In God we are all made, in Christ we are all saved, in the Spirit we are all united.    Prayers of Intercession  After each petition: Gracious God,   

Inspire us to love the whole of creation.   Receive the prayers we now offer you as a sign of our immense gratitude for the many  blessings you have given us, and above all for the life in nature that continues to flourish despite  our carelessness. Grant that we may return your love in acts of charity and compassion toward  the world that you created and all of its creatures.  Amen.  

 Offering and Prayer  Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things.  You have set before us these gifts of your good creation.  Prepare us for your heavenly banquet,  nourish us with this rich food and drink,  and send us forth to set tables in the midst of a suffering world,  through the bread of life, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.   MEAL God feeds us with the presence of Jesus Christ.   The minister and the assembly set their tables.   The Great Thanksgiving   Dialogue  The Lord be with you.   And also with you.  Lift up your hearts.   We lift them to the Lord.  Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.   It is right to give our thanks and praise.    

9 Words of Institution   The Lord’s Prayer  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth  as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin  against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power,  and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.   Invitation to Communion  Come to the banquet table  where Christ gives himself as food and drink.   As the bread and wine are given, say:  The body of Christ, given for you.  The blood of Christ, shed for you.   The communicant may respond, “Amen.” or “Thanks be to God.” Silence for reflection may follow.   For those not yet receiving communion, a blessing may be given by marking the sign of the cross on  the forehead and saying, “Jesus loves you.”     Special Music  

 

10 Prayer after Communion  We give you thanks, gracious God,  that you have once again fed us with food beyond compare,  the body and blood of Christ.  Lead us from this place, nourished and forgiven,  into your beloved vineyard  to wipe away the tears of all who hunger and thirst,  guided by the example of the same Jesus Christ  and led by the Holy Spirit, now and forever.  Amen.   SENDING God blesses us and sends us in mission to the world.   Blessing  May God who established the dance of creation, who marvelled at the lilies of the field, who  transforms chaos to order, lead us to transform our lives and the Church to reflect God’s glory in  creation.  Amen.   Peace  The peace of Christ be with you always.  And also with you.   Dismissal  Go in peace, care for all creation.  Thanks be to God.  

 Postlude     Thank you to those serving today  Preaching Pastor Katie Baardseth  Presiding Pastor Blake Rohrer  Musician Nancy Linder  AV Technician Brenda Goble     Liturgy words from the World Council of Churches Season of Creation Celebration Guide. New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright ©  1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission.  All rights reserved. Additional words & music used by permission under ONE LICENSE #A-72452. All rights reserved.