January 24, 2021 – 8:00 AM AS WE GATHER… This morning we continue our series, “A Skeptic’s Guide to the Scriptures” by addressing a popular question even among Christians, “How can God order the killing of a nation and still be a loving God?” It’s not ironic that today is also Life Sunday. It is that day that we as a church remember the 67 million babies that have been aborted since the Supreme Court’s Decision to uphold a woman’s right to abort a child. As skeptics wonder about the love of God, and Christians our culture lack of respect for all life, the message of God remains the same: God treasures life and desire all to come the knowledge of Him, that we all may have life and have it to the full. OPENING SONG “Today Your Mercy Calls Us” [LSB 915] Public Domain

Vs.1 Today Your mercy calls us To wash away our sin. However great our trespass, Whatever we have been, However long from mercy Our hearts have turned away, Your precious blood can wash us And make us clean today.

Vs.2 Today Your gate is open, And all who enter in Shall find a Father’s welcome And pardon for their sin. The past shall be forgotten, A present joy be giv’n, A future grace be promised, A glorious crown in heav’n.

Vs.3 Today our Father calls us; His Holy Spirit waits; His blessèd angels gather Around the heav’nly gates. No question will be asked us How often we have come; Although we oft have wandered, It is our Father’s home.

Vs.4 O all-embracing Mercy, O ever-open Door, What should we do without You When heart and eye run o’er? When all things seem against us, To drive us to despair, We know one gate is open, One ear will hear our prayer.

INVOCATION

Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. People: Amen.

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

Pastor: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.. People: But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins

and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Pastor: Let us then confess our sins to God our Father.

Silence for reflection on God’s Word and for self-examination.

People: Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. 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. We justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment. 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.

Pastor: Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

People: Amen. COLLECT Paster: Let us pray. Almighty God, open our eyes to behold Your great love toward us in the

humility of Your Son and to know Him in the least ones, that we may serve You by serving our neighbors, until You gather us together to rejoice as brothers and sisters in Your everlasting kingdom; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

People: Amen. OLD TESTAMENT READING Deuteronomy 20: 10-18

“When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. And when the Lord your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword, but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the Lord your God has given you. Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here. But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded, that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the Lord your God.

Pastor: This is the Word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God. PRAYER OF THE DAY

Pastor: Let us pray. Father in heaven, at the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, You proclaimed Him Your beloved Son and anointed Him with the Holy Spirit. Make all who are baptized in His name faithful in their calling as Your children and inheritors with Him of everlasting life; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

People: Amen. OLD TESTAMENT READING Genesis 1:1-5

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Pastor: This is the Word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God. CONNECT TIME: During this time please use your mobile device to fill out the Connect Card online at

www.trinitymerrill.com/live, text any prayer requests to 715-200-4546, and text your giving amount to 833-341-0335. You can also visit www.trinitymerrill.com/give to learn more about other ways to support the ministries at Trinity.

HOLY GOSPEL Luke 13:1-5

Pastor: The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke the thirteenth chapter. People: Glory to You, O Lord.

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Pastor: This is the Gospel of the Lord. People: Praise to You, O Christ. SERMON HYMN “O Christ, Our True and Only Light” [LSB 839] Public Domain

Vs.1 O Christ, our true and only light, Enlighten those who sit in night; Let those afar now hear Your voice And in Your fold with us rejoice.

Vs.2 Fill with the radiance of Your grace The souls now lost in error’s maze; Enlighten those whose inmost minds Some dark delusion haunts and blinds.

Vs.3 O gently call those gone astray That they may find the saving way! Let ev’ry conscience sore oppressed In You find peace and heav’nly rest.

Vs.4 Shine on the darkened and the cold; Recall the wand’rers to Your fold. Unite all those who walk apart; Confirm the weak and doubting heart,

Vs.5 That they with us may evermore Such grace with wond’ring thanks adore And endless praise to You be giv’n By all Your Church in earth and heav’n.

SERMON

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH + HOLY COMMUNION +

PREFACE

Pastor: The Lord be with you. [2 Timothy 4:22] People: And also with you.

Pastor: Lift up your hearts. [Colossians 3:1] People: We lift them to the Lord.

Pastor: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. [Psalm 136] People: It is right to give Him thanks and praise. PROPER PREFACE

Pastor: It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord; for what had been hidden from before the foundation of the world You have made known to the nations in Your Son. As Your call to repentance remains for us this day, enable and equip us with faithful hearts to follow in faith, and grant us faithfully to eat His body and drink His blood as He bids us to do in His own testament. Receive our prayers; deliver and preserve us. To You alone, O Father, be all glory, honor, and worship, with the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

THE WORDS OF OUR LORD Matthew 26:26–28; Mark 14:22–24; Luke 22:19–20; 1 Corinthians 11:23–25

THE LORD’S PRAYER Matthew 6:9–13

People: 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 forever and ever. Amen.

PAX DOMINI

Pastor: The peace of the Lord be with you always. People: Amen. DISTRIBUTION HYMNS “Great is Thy Faithfulness” [LSB 809] Public domain

Vs.1 Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father; There is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest not: Thy compassions, they fail not; As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be. (Refrain)

Refrain Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided; Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Vs.2 Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above Join with all nature in manifold witness To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. (Refrain)

Refrain Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided; Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Vs.3 Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide; Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! (Refrain)

© 1923, renewed 1951 Hope Publishing Co. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License .NET, no. 100012749.

“Beautiful Savior” [LSB 537] Public Domain

Vs.1 Beautiful Savior, King of creation, Son of God and Son of Man! Truly I’d love Thee, Truly I’d serve Thee, Light of my soul, my joy, my crown.

Vs.2 Fair are the meadows, Fair are the woodlands, Robed in flow’rs of blooming spring; Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer, He makes our sorr’wing spirit sing.

Vs.3 Fair is the sunshine, Fair is the moonlight, Bright the sparkling stars on high; Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer Than all the angels in the sky.

Vs.4 Beautiful Savior, Lord of the nations, Son of God and Son of Man! Glory and honor, Praise, adoration Now and forevermore be Thine!

“What is This Bread” [LSB 629]

Vs.1 What is this bread? Christ’s body risen from the dead: This bread we break, This life we take, Was crushed to pay for our release. O taste and see—the Lord is peace.

Vs.2 What is this wine? The blood of Jesus shed for mine; The cup of grace Brings His embrace Of life and love until I sing! O taste and see—the Lord is King.

Vs.3 So who am I, That I should live and He should die Under the rod? My God, my God, Why have You not forsaken me? O taste and see—the Lord is free.

Vs.4 Yet is God here? Oh, yes! By Word and promise clear, In mouth and soul He makes us whole— Christ, truly present in this meal. O taste and see—the Lord is real.

Vs.5 Is this for me?

I am forgiven and set free! I do believe That I receive His very body and His blood. O taste and see—the Lord is good.

.

© 1991 Fred and Jean Baue. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License .NET, no. 100012749

DISMISSAL BLESSING

POST-COMMUNION THANKSGIVING

Pastor: Let us pray. We give thanks to You, almighty God, that You have refreshed us through this salutary gift, and we implore You that of Your mercy You would strengthen us through the same in faith toward You and in fervent love toward one another; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

People: Amen. BENEDICTION Numbers 6:24–26

Pastor: The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace.

People: Amen. CLOSING HYMN “Lord, Dismiss Us with Your Blessing” [LSB 924] Public Domain Vs.1 Lord, dismiss us with Your blessing,

Fill our hearts with joy and peace; Let us each, Your love possessing, Triumph in redeeming grace. O refresh us; O refresh us, Trav’ling through this wilderness.

Vs.2 Thanks we give and adoration For Your Gospel’s joyful sound. May the fruits of Your salvation In our hearts and lives abound. Ever faithful, ever faithful To Your truth may we be found.

Vs.3 Savior, when Your love shall call us From our struggling pilgrim way, Let not fear of death appall us, Glad Your summons to obey. May we ever, may we ever Reign with You in endless day.

Creative Worship for the Lutheran Parish, Series B, Quarter 1. Copyright © 2020 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Acknowledgements Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2018 Concordia Publishing House.