G E L C T , A N 27, 2024
+ ORDER OF WORSHIP +
OPENING HYMN Now Thank We All Our God
Christian Worship 597
Please stand
PSALM 100
Minister: Shout to the Lord with joy, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Congregation: Come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courtyards with praise.
Give thanks to him and bless his name.
For the Lord is good.
His mercy endures forever.
His faithfulness continues through all generations.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Let us pray.
O Lord, maker of all things, you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living creature. We praise you for crowning the fields with your blessings and enabling us once more to gather in the fruits of the earth. Teach us to use your gifts carefully, that our land may continue to yield its increase; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
18Noah went out with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives along with him. 19Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever swarms on the earth went out of the ship, species by species.
20Noah built an altar to the L and took from every clean animal and every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21The L smelled the pleasant aroma. The L said in his heart, “I will never again curse the soil anymore because of man, for the thoughts he forms in his heart are evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike every living thing, as I have done. 22While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
CHOIR ANTHEM—Glad Praises We Sing
We praise you, O God, our Redeemer, Creator; in grateful devotion our tribute we bring. We lay it before you, we kneel and adore you; we bless your holy name, glad praises we sing.
With voices united our praises we offer our songs of thanksgiving to you we now raise. Your strong arm will guide us; our God is beside us, to you, great Redeemer, forever be praise!
We worship you, God of our fathers and mothers; through life’s storm and tempest our guide you have been. When perils o’ertake us, you never forsake us, and with your help, Lord, our battles we win.
With voices united our praises we offer our songs of thanksgiving to you we now raise. We praise you, O God, our Redeemer, Creator; in grateful devotion glad praises we sing!
Text: Julia B. Cory, 1882–1963, alt. Public domain.
16Do not be deceived, my dear brothers. 17Every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, who does not change or shift like a shadow. 18Just as he planned, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creations.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Please stand
GOSPEL
1Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2A man named Zacchaeus was there. He was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3He was trying to see who Jesus was, but since he was short, he could not see because of the crowd. 4He ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus, because he was about to pass by that way. 5When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6He came down quickly and welcomed Jesus joyfully.
7When the people saw it, they were all grumbling because he went to be a guest of a sinful man.
8Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I am going to give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone out of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”
9Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise be to you, O Christ.
Please be seated
19:1-10
OFFERING
Members of Grace respond to their Savior’s love with offerings that are given joyfully, generously, regularly, and in a way that is proportionate to how the Lord has blessed them. Their cheerful gifts support the mission and ministry of our congregation. If you are a guest today, please know that we do not expect you to contribute to our congregation’s work. However, if you would like to give an offering to the Lord in response to his love to you, we are happy to receive it and put it to work in God’s kingdom. If you prefer, use your smart phone to give online by scanning this QR code:
Please fill out the Friendship Register located in the red folder at the end of the row and pass it along. Thank you!
HYMN—For the Fruits of His Creation Christian Worship 506
Please stand
RESPONSIVE PRAYER
Give thanks to the Lord, who is good. His love is everlasting.
Come, let us praise God joyfully. Let us come to him with thanksgiving.
For the good world; for things great and small, beautiful and awesome; for seen and unseen splendors: We thank you, Lord God.
For human life; for talking and moving and thinking together; for common hopes and hardships shared from birth until our dying: We thank you, Lord God.
For work to do and strength to work; for the comradeship of labor; for exchanges of good humor and encouragement:
We thank you, Lord God.
For marriage; for the mystery and joy of flesh made one; for mutual forgiveness and burdens shared; for secrets kept in love:
We thank you, Lord God.
For family; for living together and eating together; for family amusements and family pleasures:
We thank you, Lord God.
For children; for their energy and curiosity; for their brave play and startling frankness; for their sudden sympathies:
We thank you, Lord God.
For the young; for their high hopes; for their candid criticism; for their search for freedom and fairness:
We thank you, Lord God.
For growing up and growing old; for wisdom deepened by experience; for rest in leisure; for time made precious by its passing:
We thank you, Lord God.
For your help in times of doubt and sorrow; for healing our diseases; for preserving us in temptation and danger:
We thank you, Lord God.
For the Church into which we have been called; for the good news we receive by Word and Sacrament; for our life together in the Lord:
We praise you, Lord God.
For your Holy Spirit, who guides our steps and brings us gifts of faith, hope, and love, who prays in us and prompts our grateful worship:
We praise you, Lord God.
Above all, O God, for your Son, Jesus Christ, who lived and died and lives again for our salvation; for our hope in him; and for the joy of serving him:
We thank and praise you, eternal God, for all your goodness to us.
Hear us, Lord, as we pray in silence.
Silent prayer
Give thanks to the Lord, who is good. His love is everlasting. Amen.
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. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.
SPOKEN RESPONSE
Let us praise the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
BLESSING
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Amen.
Please be seated
CLOSING HYMN Sing to the Lord of the Harvest Christian Worship 508
Please join us for Thanksgiving desserts in the Fellowship Hall following the service!
WE THANK THOSE ASSISTING IN OUR THANKSGIVING WORSHIP:
Minister.......................................................................................................................... Pastor Ron Koehler
Accompanist...........................................................................................................................Teri Guenther
Vocalist Jeff Weinstein
Choir Director........................................................................................................................ Paul Kassulke
Violin Kate Holden
Clarinet............................................................................................................................ Missy Wiechmann
Greeters Eric & Erika Hanson
Ushers................................................................ Ferdie Kramm, Stanley Mead, Rick Street, Vic Thornton
Sound Technicians Jeremy Snavely, Danny Koehler, Sam Kassulke
Acknowledgements: