St. Matthew Lutheran Church

3620 Red Rose Farm Road, Baltimore, MD 21220

Saturday, November 21, 2020 @ 6pm

Conference Call Service for the Octave of Pentecost 24 and the Proper 29

Order of Service:

Welcome & Announcements

Opening Dialogue

Opening Hymn – LBW # 279Oh, Gladsome Light

Salutation & Prayer

Psalm # 90:1-12

Scripture Lessons – Ezekiel 7:10-27 & Matthew 12:43-45

Sermon

Gospel Canticle

Apostle’s Creed

Prayers of the Church

Luther’s Evening Prayer

Closing Hymn – LBW # 412Sing to the Lord of Harvest”

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Welcome and Announcements           (Pastor John)

 

Opening Dialogue       Christus Lux Mundi    (delivered by Pastor Bill Wallace and responses by Lee Dobry)

Pastor Bill Wallace: Jesus Christ is the Light of the world.

Lee Dobry: The light that no darkness can overcome.

Pastor Bill Wallace: Stay with us, Lord, for it is evening.

Lee Dobry: And the day is almost over.

Pastor Bill Wallace: Let your light scatter the darkness.

Lee Dobry: And illumine your Church.

Pastor Bill Wallace: For even the darkness is not dark to you.

Lee Dobry: The night is bright as the day.

 

(Pastor Bill Wallace: Our opening hymn is hymn # 279, “Oh, Gladsome Light, from the LBW.)

 

Opening Hymn  LBW # 279, “Oh, Gladsome Light” (sung by Pastor Bill Gies & Darlene Ramsey)

 

Salutation & Prayer    (delivered by Pastor Bill Wallace and responses by Lee Dobry)

Pastor Bill Wallace: The Lord be with you.

Lee Dobry: And also with you.

Pastor Bill Wallace: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

Lee Dobry: It is right to give him thanks and praise.

Pastor Bill Wallace: Let us pray…God of light and life, through your most Holy Spirit, illumine our lives with your grace so that we may be ready for the coming of your Son. Grant that we may bear the light of your love to the world in need, that all may know of your justice and mercy, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

 

Psalm               Psalm # 90                  (recited by Darlene Ramsey)

The psalmist sings of the everlasting nature of God for whom a thousand years is like one day. Secret sins are brought to light in the sight of the God of the ages.

 

1Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to another. 2Before the mountains were brought forth, or the land and the earth were born, from age to age you are God. 3You turn us back to the dust and say, “Go back, O child of earth.”

4For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past and like a watch in the night. 5You sweep us away like a dream; we fade away suddenly like the grass. 6In the morning it is green and flourishes; in the evening it is dried up and withered. 7For we consume away in your displeasure; we are afraid because of your wrathful indignation. 8Our iniquities you have set before you, and our secret sins in the light of your countenance. 9When you are angry, all our days are gone; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. 10The span of our life is seventy years, perhaps in strength even eighty; yet the sum of them is but labor and sorrow, for they pass away quickly and we are gone. 11Who regards the power of your wrath? who rightly fears your indignation? 12So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. (This is the word of the Lord, thanks be to God.)

Scripture Readings     Ezekiel 7:10-27 & Matthew 12:43-45

Old Testament Reading from Ezekiel 7:10-27                   (read by Lee Dobry)

Ezekiel describes God’s coming wrath. The Law is necessary to the message of salvation. A weak preaching of the Law inevitably sets one up for a deficient or weak understanding of the Gospel. All of us constantly stand at the edge of the void, with the devil, the world, and our flesh ever-active and formidable enemies before whom we can never hope to stand by our own resources. Thanks be to God for there is a day of mercy too, which Ezekiel will proclaim and we may celebrate with joy in Christ, our Savior.  

 

10 “Behold, the day! Behold, it comes! Your doom has come; the rod has blossomed; pride has budded. 11 Violence has grown up into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, nor their abundance, nor their wealth; neither shall there be preeminence among them. 12 The time has come; the day has arrived. Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn, for wrath is upon all their multitude. 13 For the seller shall not return to what he has sold, while they live. For the vision concerns all their multitude; it shall not turn back; and because of his iniquity, none can maintain his life.

 

14 “They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but none goes to battle, for my wrath is upon all their multitude. 15 The sword is without; pestilence and famine are within. He who is in the field dies by the sword, and him who is in the city famine and pestilence devour. 16 And if any survivors escape, they will be on the mountains, like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each one over his iniquity. 17 All hands are feeble, and all knees turn to water. 18 They put on sackcloth, and horror covers them. Shame is on all faces, and baldness on all their heads. 19 They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For it was the stumbling block of their iniquity. 20 His beautiful ornament they used for pride, and they made their abominable images and their detestable things of it. Therefore I make it an unclean thing to them. 21 And I will give it into the hands of foreigners for prey, and to the wicked of the earth for spoil, and they shall profane it. 22 I will turn my face from them, and they shall profane my treasured place. Robbers shall enter and profane it.

 

23 “Forge a chain! For the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence. 24 I will bring the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the pride of the strong, and their holy places shall be profaned. 25 When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there shall be none. 26 Disaster comes upon disaster; rumor follows rumor. They seek a vision from the prophet, while the law perishes from the priest and counsel from the elders. 27 The king mourns, the prince is wrapped in despair, and the hands of the people of the land are paralyzed by terror. According to their way I will do to them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, and they shall know that I am the Lord.” (This is the word of the Lord, thanks be to God.)

 

Gospel Reading from Matthew 12:43-45                (announced by Lee Dobry and read by Pastor Bill Wallace)

(Lee Dobry):

The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the 12th Chapter. Glory to you, O Lord.

 

(Pastor Bill Wallace):

Jesus describes how a person delivered from a demon becomes worse when there is failure to fill the emptiness with goodness. We can also relapse into old and habitual sins when we fail to nourish our spiritual lives through Word and Sacrament. Only the Holy Spirit can replace the evil spirits that are constantly “seeking someone to devour”.

 

43 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.” (This is the gospel of the Lord, praise to you, O Christ.)

 

Sermon            (delivered by Pastor John)

 

Gospel Canticle  (sung by Pastor Bill Gies & Darlene Ramsey)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apostle’s Creed          (lead and recited by Pastor Bill Wallace)

Let us join together in confessing our faith with the saints who have gone before us, in the words of the Apostles’ Creed:

 

I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

 

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again 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 the Church             (read and responded by Pastor Bill Gies and Darlene Ramsey)

(Pastor Bill Gies): Filled by the Spirit, let us join the whole people of God in Jesus Christ in praying for the church, those in need, and all of God’s creation. A brief silence.

 

(Darlene Ramsey): Holy God, you are the source of all goodness and the origin of our lives. Teach us to number our days, that we would live each day in the shelter of your love and companionship. Let us be ready for Christ’s return as we live in faith, trusting in your eternal promises. Lord, in your mercy,

 

(Pastor Bill Gies): hear our prayer.

 

(Darlene Ramsey): Gracious Lord, you call us to be silent in your holy presence and yet we are always thinking of the next thing we want to say. Help us to calm down so that we might listen for your word among us, that we would feel you among us, and dwell quietly as we wait for you to speak to us. Lord, in your mercy,

 

(Pastor Bill Gies): hear our prayer.

 

(Darlene Ramsey): Almighty One, pour out your healing power on all those who are sick or suffering. Bring them relief from pain and comfort for their anxious hearts. Give them the faith they need to trust in your abiding mercy, knowing that you will never leave them and that you alone are the source of all renewal. Lord, in your mercy,

 

(Pastor Bill Gies): hear our prayer.

 

(Darlene Ramsey): Heavenly Father, you are the giver of all good gifts. Everything we have belongs to you and has been granted to us so that we might use it wisely for your kingdom here on earth. Give us generous hearts, open hands, and complete trust in your willingness to care for our every need. Lord, in your mercy,

 

(Pastor Bill Gies): hear our prayer.

 

(Pastor Bill Gies): Be our light in the darkness, O Lord, and in Your great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of Your only Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.  

 

(Darlene Ramsey): Amen.

 

Luther’s Evening Prayer         (recited by Pastor Bill Wallace)

Hear our petitions, O Lord, as we entrust our lives into your care this night. Let us pray…We give thanks to you, heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ your dear Son, that you have this day so graciously protected us. We beg you to forgive us all our sins and the wrong which we have done. By your great mercy defend us from all the perils and dangers of this night. Into your hands we commend our bodies and souls and all that is ours. Let your holy angels have charge of us, that the wicked one have no power over us. Amen.

 

(Pastor Bill Wallace: Our closing hymn is hymn # 412“Sing to the Lord of Harvest” in the LBW.)

 

Closing Hymn LBW # 412“Sing to the Lord of Harvest” (sung by Pastor Bill Gies and Darlene Ramsey)

 

 

 

 

The Lord’s Prayer       (recited by Pastor Bill Wallace)

Let us pray together the prayer our Savior taught us: 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.

 

Benediction & Dismissal        (lead by Pastor Bill Wallace and responses by Lee Dobry)

(Pastor Bill Wallace): May 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.

(Lee Dobry): Amen.

(Pastor Bill Wallace):  Go in peace. Christ is with you.

(Lee Dobry): Thanks be to God!