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OPENING HYMN In This Place Your Word Is Planted Christian Worship 981

PRESERVICE MUSIC: Thy Word

Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant

Almighty God, Your Word Is Cast Jeffrey Blersch

On What Has Now Been Sown

Jerry van der Pol

Please stand

This hymn was not included in the pew edition of the hymnal. Rather, it was made available in the supplementary materials released in connection with the hymnal.

Invocation

Minister: In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit.

Congregation: Amen.

Psalm 122:1

Spoken Responses

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

Psalm 84:1

Psalm 84:4

Psalm 145:18

How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty! Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

Psalm 119:33

Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end.

Psalm 119:105

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

Romans 10:17

Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

Prayer

Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness, come to my relief.

Spare us, Lord, from the lies of the devil and the attacks of our conscience. Comfort and save us in your patient compassion. Have mercy on us, Jesus.

Guide us, Lord, to the wisdom of your Word and the power of your promises. Take away our confusion and doubt. Have mercy on us, Jesus.

Hear us, Lord, when we come to you in prayer. Make us confident to take you at your word and to follow you in faith.

Have mercy on us, Jesus.

Empower us, Lord, to walk in your ways and live in your truth. Fill us with your love, that we may love you and one another. Have mercy on us, Jesus.

Lord, we confess our sins to you and plead for your mercy. We acknowledge that sin runs too deep in our nature for us ever to rid ourselves of it, but we thank you that Jesus has done what we could not do, washing us clean of every stain. We plead that your Spirit would give us the strength to live a new life; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

God’s Word always works a seed that produces the fruit that God earnestly desires.

Prayer Of The Day

The Lord be with you. And also with you.

Let us pray.

Blessed Lord, since you have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning, grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

6 Seek the L while he may be found! Call on him while he is near!

7 Let the wicked man abandon his way. Let an evil man abandon his thoughts. Let him turn to the L , and he will show him mercy. Let him turn to our God, because he will abundantly pardon.

8 Certainly my plans are not your plans, and your ways are not my ways, declares the L .

9 Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my plans are higher than your plans.

10 Just as the rain and the snow come down from the sky and do not return there unless they first water the earth, make it give birth, and cause it to sprout, so that it gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

11 in the same way my word that goes out from my mouth will not return to me empty. Rather, it will accomplish whatever I please, and it will succeed in the purpose for which I sent it.

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

PSALM OF THE DAY—The Seed That Falls

Christian Worship 65

The vocalist will sing the first refrain and the verses. Please join in singing the remaining refrains and the final bolded verse.

Second Reading

1

Corinthians 3:5-11

5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are ministers through whom you believed, and each served as the Lord gave him his role. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7 So then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but it is God who causes the growth. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters are united, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For God is the one whom we serve as coworkers, and you are God’s field, God’s building.

10 In keeping with the grace of God given to me, as a wise master builder, I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. But let each person be careful how he builds on it. 11 In fact, no one can lay any other foundation than the one that has been laid, which is Jesus Christ.

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Please stand

GOSPEL

Acclamation

Isaiah 55:11

Vocalist: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. My word will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Refrain (ALL): pictures ministry as a sower scattering seed to all with no regard for where it might land.

Please open your hymnal for this Psalm today. The Psalms are found in the opening pages of the hymnal. We sow the seed of God’s Word, but only God can make that seed grow. The Gospel Acclamation points toward the words of the Gospel.

1 That same day Jesus left the house and was sitting by the sea. 2 A large crowd gathered around him. So he stepped into a boat and sat down, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 He told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen, a sower went out to sow. 4 As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. Immediately the seed sprang up, because the soil was not deep. 6 But when the sun rose, the seed was scorched. Because it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked it. 8 But some seed fell on good ground and produced grain: some one hundred times, some sixty, and some thirty times more than was sown. 9 Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.

18 “So listen carefully to the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the Evil One comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the seed that was sown along the path. 20 The seed that was sown on rocky ground is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he is not deeply rooted and does not endure. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. 22 The seed that was sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worry of this world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it produces no fruit. 23 But the seed that was sown on the good ground is the one who continues to hear and understand the word. Indeed he continues to produce fruit: some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times more than was sown.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Please be seated

CONFESSION OF FAITH Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father. Through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became truly human.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who in unity with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.

We believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Be Seated

Prayer Of The Church

Almighty God and Father, we thank you for all your mercies, especially for the gift of your Son, through whom you have revealed your gracious will. We praise you for the Holy Spirit and his working through the means of grace.

Plant your Word in our hearts, and cause it to produce fruit in our lives.

The Nicene Creed was first developed in 325 at the First Council of Nicea. It was written to reaffirm the Biblical teaching of the divinity of Jesus, God’s Son. Like the Apostles’ and Athanasian Creeds, the Nicene Creed is a confession of what the Bible teaches.

Brief intercessory prayers may be added in a fitting place.

Strengthen and defend your Church, that by your Word and sacraments faith may grow and love toward all may increase.

Support all who spread the light of your truth throughout the world.

OFFERTORY:

VOCAL

SOLO Be Thou My Vision

arr. Susan W. Henry

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; naught be all else to me, save that thou art. Thou my best thought, by day or by night; waking or sleeping thy presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true word; I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord. Thou my great Father; thine own may I be, thou in me dwelling and I one with thee.

High King of heaven, my victory won, may I reach heaven’s joys O bright heaven’s Sun, heart of my own heart, whatever befall, still be my vision, O ruler of all.

Keep our children in the grace of their baptisms. Enable their parents to train them in lives of faith.

Raise up Christians to serve you in the ministry of the Word and in all godly walks of life.

Preserve our nation in justice and honor. Guide and bless all who make, administer, and judge our laws.

Give them wisdom that they may promote justice and hinder evil.

Let your blessing rest on planting and harvest, commerce and industry, medicine and science, the arts and culture. Protect all who travel, and care for those whose work is difficult or dangerous.

Be with all who devote themselves to any useful task.

Comfort all who are in sorrow or need, sickness or adversity. Remember those who suffer persecution for the faith. Have mercy on those for whom death draws near.

Grant them your love, and take them into your tender care.

Hear us, Lord, as we pray in silence.

Silent prayer

We remember with thanksgiving those who have loved and served you, who now rest from their labors. Console those who are mourning or living with sadness.

Keep us in the true faith, and bring us at last to the joys of heaven.

Grant us these things, Father, for the sake of Jesus, who died and rose again.

Amen.

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!