Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost – October 4, 2020 The Order of Worship at 11:00 am To mitigate spread of COVID-19 in our community, on-site activities— including worship services—have been cancelled. Many activities continue, but in different formats: ZOOM for interactive small groups and classes, togo meals for the Food Ministry, and streaming worship services and music from the archives. Our gathering policies will continue to respond to changes in the best public health data available to us. Worship will be Livestreamed from Redeemer with only leaders present. Throughout worship, participants will be masked even as they speak and sing, and each will remain in an area designated for them alone. Similar protections will probably be required when we are able gradually to open worship further, but for now we are glad return to the familiarity of Redeemer and the musical and technical options it provides us. Thanks to all of the lectors and musicians who have led us during the past weeks as we worshiped from home. Please use the links available on the viewing page to let us know that you are worshiping from home, to offer any prayer requests, to let us know if you need help or are available to help a neighbor, and to continue to give to support the ministries that continue, socially distant for the common good. As always, we pray that worship at Redeemer is a blessing for you, even as your participation blesses us, even though we are not together in person. As you are comfortable, we encourage you to sing the hymns and to sing or speak the congregational portions of the liturgy in bold type. This bulletin contains content protected by copyright and is provided only for you to participate in worship. Please delete or destroy any physical or digital copy of the material following the service.
1
PRELUDE
Variations on Wer nur den lieben Gott If You but Trust in God
Georg Boehm
WELCOME GATHERING The Holy Spirit gathers us in unity on the first day of the week, the day of Christ’s resurrection. HYMN 645
2
Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation Madison Tiegreen, cantor
CONFESSION 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. 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. 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.
3
KYRIE
4
HYMN OF PRAISE
5
The Lord be with you. | And also with you. PRAYER OF THE DAY Beloved God, from you come all things that are good. Lead us by the inspiration of your Spirit to know those things that are right, and by your merciful guidance, help us to do them, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. | Amen. Please use the Prayer Request link on the webpage to submit your requests.
WORD God speaks to us in scriptures read, sung and preached. CHILDREN’S SERMON FIRST READING Isaiah 5:1-7 Jonathan Fuller, Lector The prophet sings a sad, parable-like love song about the relationship between God and Israel. In this song Israel is compared to a promising vineyard. Despite God’s loving care, the vineyard that is Israel has brought forth “wild grapes” of injustice and distress, when fine grapes of justice and righteousness were expected. Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; 6
he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!
7
PSALM 80:7-15 Look down from heaven, O God; behold and tend this vine. (Ps. 80:14, 15) Restore us, O | God of hosts; let your face shine upon us, and we | shall be saved. You have brought a vine | out of Egypt; you cast out the nations and | planted it. You cleared the | ground for it; it took root and | filled the land. The mountains were covered | by its shadow and the towering cedar trees | by its boughs. You stretched out its tendrils | to the sea and its branches | to the river. Why have you broken | down its wall, so that all who pass by pluck | off its grapes? The wild boar of the forest has | ravaged it, and the beasts of the field have | grazed upon it. Turn now, O | God of hosts, look | down from heaven; behold and | tend this vine; preserve what your right | hand has planted. SECOND READING
Philippians 3:4B-14
Paul reviews some of his supposed credentials, which no longer have any bearing in comparison to the right relationship he has been given through the death of Christ. The power of Christ’s resurrection motivates him to press on toward the ultimate goal, eternal life with Christ. [Paul writes:] If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have 8
suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. GOSPEL Matthew 21:33-46 Jesus tells a parable to the religious leaders who are plotting his death, revealing that their plans will, ironically, bring about the fulfillment of scripture. [Jesus said to the people:] “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, 9
and it is amazing in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.� When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet. The Gospel of the Lord. | Praise to You O Christ. SERMON HYMN 769
10
Pastor Jonathan Trapp If You but Trust in God to Guide You
APOSTLES’ CREED I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION Each petition concludes: Lord, in your mercy, | Hear our prayer. At the conclusion of the prayers: Amen PEACE The peace of Christ be with you always. | And also with you. Please let us know you worshiped with us today by using the I’m Worshiping link as you would the attendance pad at church. THANKSGIVING MISSION MOMENT
Lauren Gaia
GATHERING OF GIFTS Please use the Help and Give links to support the ministry of Redeemer. MUSIC
11
Allemande from Suite III Jonathan Fuller, cello
J.S. Bach
THANKSGIVING FOR THE WORD Let us pray. Praise and thanks to you, holy God, for by your Word you made all things: you spoke light into darkness, called forth beauty from chaos, and brought life into being. For your Word of life, O God, | we give you thanks and praise. By your Word you called your people Israel to tell of your wonderful gifts: freedom from captivity, water on the desert journey, a pathway home from exile, wisdom for life with you. For your Word of life, O God, | we give you thanks and praise. Through Jesus, your Word made flesh, you speak to us and call us to witness: forgiveness through the cross, life to those entombed by death, the way of your self-giving love. For your Word of life, O God, | we give you thanks and praise. Send your Spirit of truth, O God; rekindle your gifts within us: renew our faith, increase our hope, and deepen our love, for the sake of a world in need. Faithful to your Word, O God, draw near to all who call on you; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory forever. | Amen. LORD’S PRAYER 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. 12
SENDING God blesses us and sends us in mission to the world. BLESSING Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. God, the creator, ☩ Jesus, the Christ, and the Holy Spirit, the comforter, bless you and keep you in eternal love. | Amen. SENDING Go in peace. Christ is with you. | Thanks be to God. POSTLUDE
Fugue in G Major, BWV 541
J.S. Bach
Liturgy from Sundays and Seasons.com. Copyright 2013 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #21979.
CONGREGATIONAL CARE We express our sincere sympathy to Pat and Don Cornwell at the death of Pat’s mother, Sarah Heyer on September 25. May God comfort them in their time of grief. LAST WEEK AT REDEEMER Worship attendance for September 27: Livestream 432, Facebook Live 103 WEDNESDAY EVENING Pastor Mark’s Class | Zoom | 6 pm Worship | Livestream | 7:15 pm NEXT WEEK AT REDEEMER Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost Isaiah 25:1-9, Psalm 23, Philippians 4:1-9, Matthew 22:1-14
13
The Council Nominating Committee would like to thank those of you who submitted names for consideration and to those of you who expressed an interest in serving Redeemer. This year’s Council nominees are: Michael Adamson, Wren Carlson, Susan Cordell, Creston Herold, Erin Hull, Karin Mayo, Jeff Merkel, John Pearson, Richard Spady, and Roxann Thompson. Ballots will be emailed on Sunday, October 18. Hard copy ballots to those registered as not able to receive electronic communications will be mailed by post the following day. If you have questions regarding your ballot, contact Robin Durdin rdurdin@redeemer.org. The election concludes on Sunday, November 8, at 12:45 pm. ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING | OCTOBER 11 | 1 PM | Webinar The purpose of the meeting will be to vote on the following: For approval vote: Approval of the 2019 Annual Report o The Report will be emailed by October 1, 2020
Be it resolved, that the 2019 required changes to the ELCA Model Constitution for Congregations be incorporated into the constitution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia. These changes will become effective upon approval by the congregation. The Redeemer constitution with the required ELCA changes shown is available in *Realm on the Church Documents page. For ratification vote: C. 13.07 This Congregation shall have a Legacy Giving Board that will operate as specified in this Congregation’s Continuing Resolutions. The purpose of the Legacy Giving Board is 1) To encourage, educate, and equip the Congregation for making long-term planned gifts to support the mission of the Church as a part of a donor’s overall financial and estate planning; and 2) To honor and advocate for the donor’s intent and wishes. Note: The existing paragraph C13.07 will be renumbered to C13.08 without any other changes. 14
This change shall go into effect upon notification that the synod has approved it at the next Synod Council meeting in January 2021. *Please visit Realm to access the Church Constitution with highlighted changes. To access: Login to www.onrealm.org Click Groups Click Church Documents and Council Minutes Choose RedeemerConst_with_proposed-ELCA_changes If you need assistance please contact Robin Durdin, rdurdin@redeemer.org
THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER 731 Peachtree Street, NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30308 www.redeemer.org | 404.874.8664 | Emergency Line: 404.874.9759 The Rev. Mark H. Larson ................................................Senior Pastor, ext. 201 The Rev. Ronald Bonner ............. Pastor for Community Engagement, ext. 203 The Rev. Jonathan Trapp ........................... Pastor for Faith Formation, ext. 233 The Rev. Jenny McLellan ...................Pastor for Congregational Care, ext. 224 STAFF Bob Boyd ......................................Director of Operations and Finance, ext. 232 Seth Brown .............................................Facilities and Media Director, ext. 218 Robin Durdin .......................................Office Administration Director, ext. 204 Kate Elkins............................................................... Preschool Director, ext. 252 David Hansen .................................................... Adult Choral Director, ext. 236 Sarah Hawbecker ..................... Organist & Children’s Music Director, ext. 206 Deacon Mary Houck .............. Children & Family Ministries Director, ext. 227 Jennifer Isaacson ................................. Financial Information Director, ext. 237 Karen Medford ..... Parish Nurse, and Adult Faith Formation Director, ext. 230 Hillary Nelson.......................................Youth Director, hnelson@redeemer.org Tawanda Searcy .......................... Receptionist and Wedding Director, ext. 200 Stacey Williams ......................................................................... Head of Security 15