St. Matthew Lutheran Church500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation A Prayer Liturgy for the Healing of the Church

October 31, 2017

AN * INDICATES TO STAND AS YOU ARE ABLE.WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

PRELUDE

*GREETINGP In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. C Amen*GATHERING HYMN The Church’s One Foundation ELW # 654

*CONFESSION OF FAITH (read in unison) P What do you believe concerning the holy catholic Church? C I believe that the Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens and makes a “holy

Christian people” – the whole Christian church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one common, true faith. Daily in this Christian church the Holy Spirit abundantly forgives all sins – mine and those of all believers.

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SOLO Shelley Clinich accompanied by Mary Lou HinishSteal Away

FIRST READING Ephesians 4:1-61I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to

which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

After the reading: L The word of God. C Thanks be to God.*CONFESSION (read in unison) P Let us pray… C We resist being your prisoners, O Christ: we have not always led lives worthy

of our calling, but have, all too often, sought to go our own way, and so we have fractured your Church when we seek to reform it. Hear us as we own and confess our self-importance and severity, our impatience, our shunning of one another in conceit, and our reluctance to be bound by unity or peace.

P Let us pray… C We resist oneness, O Spirit: we too often struggle against the fervent hope

you express in continually calling us, and so we have fractured your Church when we seek to reform it. Hear us as we own and confess our refusal to share our Savior, our insistence on a tailor-made faith, and our fantasy that baptism is our experience rather than your gift.

P Let us pray… C We resist giving ourselves to you, God of all: we too often see you only in

ourselves rather than above us and everyone, working through us and everyone, present in us and everyone, and so we have fractured your Church when we seek to reform it. Hear us as we own and confess our selfish insistence at exclusivity and our rejection of your glorious family.

P Let us pray… C Triune God, forgive our resistance, break down our divisions, and scatter

our fears. Make us truly one, even as you are one. All this we earnestly pray. Amen

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*FORGIVENESS (read in unison) P Only by faith,C and indeed, by faith in the strict sense of the word, do we receive the

forgiveness of sins, because a promise cannot be received in any other way than by faith. But faith, strictly speaking is that which assents to the promise. This is the faith about which the Scripture speaks. And because faith receives the forgiveness of sins and reconciles us to God, we are first regarded as righteous by this faith on account of Christ before we love and keep the law, although love necessarily follows…And because faith alone receives and forgives sins, makes us acceptable to God, and brings peace and tranquility to the conscience, it can more correctly be called a “grace that makes us pleasing to God” than an effect that follows, namely, love. Amen

ANTHEM Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence ChoirSECOND READING Ephesians 2:1-81You were dead through the trespasses and sins 2in which you once lived, following

the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. 3All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. 4But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

After the reading: L The word of God. C Thanks be to God.

(Please rise for the reading of the Gospel)

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*GOSPEL Msgr. Michael BeckerGospel Reading: John 17:13-2313But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they

may have my joy made complete in themselves. 14I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 16They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

18As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

20I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

After the reading: P The Gospel of the Lord. C Praise to you, O Christ.*MESSAGE Msgr. Michael Becker

"Luther's impact on Roman Catholic Life and Worship

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*HYMN OF THE DAY Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord ELW # 395Flute – Tori Waite Verse 1 – Solo Verse 2 – Choir Verse 3 - Congregation

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*PRAYERS P Lord of heaven and earth, we have begun to listen to your holy Spirit, calling us

to unity in Christ: C We thank you, O Lord.P May we be more attentive to your inspiration and more ready to listen to one

another. C We ask you, O Lord.P We have begun to dialogue with one another, celebrating our common faith and

seeking to understand our differences: C We thank you, O Lord.P May the patient work of pastors, theologians and Christian people continue to

progress and bear lasting fruit: C We ask you, O Lord.P For the agreements reached on matters of theology and pastoral life: C We thank

you, O Lord.P That we may be able to face and resolve the difficult issues which still divide us:

C We ask you, O Lord.P For common witness in Christ which we have given in times of crisis, for justice,

peace and humanitarian aid: C We thank you, O Lord.P That our unity may one day become such that the whole world may believe in the

Christ you have sent: C We ask you, O Lord.P For progress in inter-religious dialogue throughout the world: C We thank you,

O Lord.P That engaged in this dialogue, we may sense the urgency of full communion

among Christians as a witness to other believers: C We ask you, O Lord.P For all living witnesses of personal communion in the love of Creator, Christ and

Comforter. C We thank you, O Lord.P May their family life contribute to the Christian joy of the members of their

churches: C We ask you, O Lord.P May the hope of one day sharing the same table and drinking from the same cup,

increase our desire to do your will so as to receive from you this gift: C We ask you, O Lord.

P We raise before you the concerns raised before us this day…For our prayers in your heart: C We praise you, O Lord. Amen

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*AFFIRMATION P The Church has existed from the beginning of the world and will last until the

end, C as appears from the fact that Christ is eternal King who cannot be without

subjects. And this holy Church is preserved by God even though for a time it may appear very small to human eyes – as though it were snuffed out. And so this holy Church is not confined, bound, or limited to a certain place or certain people. But it is spread and dispersed throughout the entire world, though it is still joined and united in heart and will, in one and the same Spirit, by the power of faith.

SOLO Steve Oswalt accompanied by Alex SnyderI’ll Fly Away

THIRD READING Revelation 7:9-179After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from

every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. 10They cried out in a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

11And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12singing, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen."

13Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?" 14I said to him, "Sir, you are the one that knows." Then he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal ;they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. 16They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; 17for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,  and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

After the reading: L The word of God. C Thanks be to God.

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*PRAYERS P Lord our God, C You have revealed yourself as One who wishes to bring about justice and

true peace among people; In a world that looks away from injustice, You cast your eyes on the destitute, the poor and the wronged; You have call us to follow you, to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release for the captives and recovery of sight for the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed and to proclaim the time of your blessing.

P Be present with your church, Lord, as we respond to your call. C Open our eyes to the downtrodden. Fill us with compassion for the plight of

the alien, the refugee, and the immigrant. Lead us into ministries that help orphans and widows. Give us courage to block the paths of the ungodly who exploit the poor. Set us free from pious exercises that prevent us from the true worship you choose: Sharing bread with the hungry, Sharing homes with the homeless, Sharing clothes with the naked, Sharing hearts with our own kin.

P So may your justice roll down like waters, C your righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Lead our footsteps to stand

with the poor, that we might stand with you. Have mercy, O God: Scatter the proud, Put down the mighty, Lift up the lowly, Fill up the hungry, And send the rich away empty-handed.

*LORD’S PRAYER P Lord, remember us in your kingdom, and teach us to pray: C 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

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*SENDING P We believe that God has entrusted the church with the message of reconciliation in

and through Jesus Christ, that the church is called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, that the church is called blessed because it is a peacemaker, that the church is witness both by word and by deed to the new heaven and the new earth in which righteousness dwells, that God’s life-giving Word and Sprit has conquered the powers of sin and death, and therefore also of irreconciliation and hatred, bitterness and enmity, that God’s life-giving Word and Spirit will enable the church to live in a new obedience which can open new possibilities of life for society and the world.

C Amen*BLESSING P Let us bless the Lord. C Thanks be to God.P The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be

gracious to you. The Lord lift his countenance upon you, and give you peace. In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

C Amen

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*HYMN A Mighty Fortress ELW # 504

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*DISMISSAL P We go in peace. C We go, united for Christ’s ministry. Amen

Serving God and UsOur Ministers - the People of St. MatthewOur Pastor – Rev. Ed HarshbargerOur Organist Today – Janet Roarabaugh Our Missionary Families – On Eagle’s Wings, Elizabeth Hendrickson and Rev.

Michael G. Fonner, KenyaOur Administrative Assistant – Lori TremmelOur Sexton – Destarta Carberry, John LearOur Lector – Rev. Mary HendricksOur Liturgists – Rev. Edward Harshbarger, Rev. Sharon ErbOur Guest Speaker – Msgr. Michael BeckerOur Usher – David LehmanOur Audio/Video Tech – Lori TremmelOctober’s Altar Guild – Carol Replogle, Janet Stewart

Fourth Quarter Ventures in Faith to “Gettysburg Seminaries”

Altar Flowers are placed to the Glory of God by The Stock Family in memory of loved ones.

Reprinted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship copyright © 2006Used by permission of Augsburg Fortress license #SB105031

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