Thank you to Pastor Tim Redfield, St. Luke's Lutheran Church Watertown, WI 53094 for leading us in worship and study today. St Luke's has 1206 communicants, 1592 baptized, 2 pastors plus a retired pastor, a school with 143 students, and an ECM with 16.
St Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
313 4th St, Manistee, MI 49660-2901
website: stpaulsmanistee.com
facebook.com/SPLCManistee
Telephone: 231-299-1022
Pentecost 8 - July 31, 2022
Theme: Word Produces Faith Produces Fruit
Prayer Before Worship: Lord, please keep me hearing Your Word so my faith in Jesus stays strong and my godliness stays productive
Hymn 287
Common Service, front of hymnal, page 15
Prayer: Almighty God, we thank You for planting in us the seed of Your Word. By Your Holy Spirit help us to receive it with joy/ & bring forth fruits in faith and hope and love; through Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,/ who lives & reigns with You & the Holy Spirit,/ one God, now and forever. (Sing) Amen.
Old Testament Lesson: Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Moses reminds us that God doesn’t leave us when we follow His Word.
9 Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, 10 if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
Verse: Alleluia! The word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. Alleluia! (Sing) Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Gospel: Luke 10:25-37
We shouldn’t ask “Who is my neighbor?” but “To whom may I be a neighbor?
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” 29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ 36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Apostles Creed, front of hymnal, pages 19
Hymn 456
Sermon Text: Epistle: Colossians 1:1-14
Paul thanks God for the Colossians’ faith produced by the Gospel & prays that God would fill them with His will to provide strength for fruitful lives.
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father. 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the word of the truth, the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in truth. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Sing: Create in me…, pg 20
Thankoffering
The members of St Pauls have joined together to do the Lord’s work in this area & around the world. Visitors need not feel obligated to participate in this offering which supports our church’s ministry.
Prayer of the church, front of hymnal, pg 127
Lord’s Prayer, bottom of page 20
Hymn 521
Continue page 25
Hymn 326