Leading us in worship and Bible study today is Adam Zimpelmann. He is one of two pastors serving Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Fond du Lac, WI.
St Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
313 4th St, Manistee, MI 49660-2901
website: stpaulsmanistee.com
facebook.com/SPLCManistee
Telephone: 231-299-1022
June 18, 2023- Pentecost 3 - God's Choice
Prayer Before Worship - Lord, thank You for showing me Your mercy by teaching me that I am a sinner and that You are my Savior. Help me to show the same mercy to others by bringing them the Law and the Gospel
Hymn 380
Common Service, front of hymnal, page 15
Prayer: O God, the strength of all who trust in You,/ mercifully hear our prayers. Be gracious to us in our weakness/ & give us strength to keep Your commandments in all we say & do;/ through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord,/ who lives & reigns with You & the Holy Spirit, one God, now & forever. (Sing) Amen.
Old Testament Lesson: Exodus 3:1-15
The LORD chose Moses to play a pivotal role in carrying out God's plan to have the Savior come from Abraham's descendants.
Now Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, a priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 The Angel of the Lord appeared to him in blazing fire from within a bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but the bush was not burning up. 3 So he said, “I will go over and look at this amazing sight—to find out why the bush is not burning up.” 4 When the Lord saw that Moses had gone over to take a look, God called to him from the middle of the bush and said, “Moses! Moses!” Moses said, “I am here.” 5 The Lord said, “Do not come any closer. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 He then said, “I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. 7 The Lord said, “I have certainly seen the misery of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their cry for help because of their slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. 8 So I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 Now indeed, the Israelites’ cry for help has come to me. Yes, I have seen how the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 Come now, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 So he said, “I will certainly be with you. This will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will serve God on this mountain.” 13 But Moses said to God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I say to them?” 14 So God replied to Moses, “I am who I am.”[b] He also said, “You will say this to the Israelites: I am has sent me to you.” 15 God also told Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered from generation to generation.’
Psalm 119c, front of hymnal, page 111
Those who rejoice in the Lord’s salvation find His Word to be welcome refreshment. It gives life, fellowship, insight, protection, & guidance.
Epistle: Romans 4:18-25
God chose Abraham as the one from whom the Savior would come. God's promise: Abram would have a son. Done. God’s promise: In Christ people are credited with righteousness. Done. God’s promise: Jesus will rise from the dead. Done. Our message to others: God’s promises are as good as done for them too.
Hoping beyond what he could expect, (Abraham) he believed that he would become the father of many nations, just as he was told: “This is how many your descendants will be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith, even though he considered his own body as good as dead (because he was about one hundred years old), and even though he considered Sarah’s womb to be dead. 20 He did not waver in unbelief with respect to God’s promise, but he grew strong in faith, giving glory to God 21 and being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 Now the statement “it was credited to him” was not written for him alone, 24 but also for us to whom it would be credited, namely, to us who believe in the one who raised our Lord Jesus from the dead. 25 He was handed over to death because of our trespasses and was raised to life because of our justification.
Apostles' Creed, pg 19
Hymn 304
Sermon Gospel: Matthew 9:9-13
Jesus chose Matthew to follow Him
{9:9} As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. {10} While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. {11} When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" {12} On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. {13} But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
(Sing) Create in me.... pg 20
Thankoffering The members of St. Paul's 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. However, we do ask that everyone sign the guest register
Prayer of the church, front of hymnal, page 127
Special Prayer, Lord's Prayer pg 20
Hymn 460
Continue front of hymnal, page 25
Hymn 552:1, 18, 3