St Paul’s

Evangelical Lutheran Church

313 4th Street, Manistee, MI 49660

www.StPaulsManistee.com

facebook.com/SPLCManistee

Pastor Dennis Himm (810) 252-5821

June 23, 2024 4th Sunday after Pentecost

THE DEVIL DOES HIS WORST, YET JESUS ALWAYS WINS

WELCOME

HYMN 249 “God of Mercy, God of Grace” (stand for last stanza)

SERVICE OF THE WORD - pages 38-44

PRAYER OF THE DAY:

O God, the strength of all who trust in you, mercifully hear our prayers. Be gracious to us in our weakness and give us strength to keep your commandments in all we say and do; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Sing) Amen.

FIRST LESSON: Genesis 3:8-15

The devil did his worst, but a gracious God promised that from Eve’s descendants would come one who would defeat the serpent for us.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring[ and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

P: The Word of the Lord.

C: Thanks be to God.

PSALM 51a – page 86

Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

SECOND LESSON: Revelation 20:1-6

God had promised victory in the Garden. Jesus allows St. John to see that victory in his Revelation.

1And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. 4I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

P: The Word of the Lord.

C: Thanks be to God.

VERSE OF THE DAY:

Alleluia. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Alleluia.

(Sing) Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

These words are written that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

GOSPEL: Mark 3:20-35

Jesus came to oppose Satan and his allies and undo all their work.

20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” 22And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” 23 So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. 28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” 30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.” 31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated in a

circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

P: The Gospel of the Lord.

C: (sung) Praise be to you, O Christ!

HYMN 378 “All Mankind Fell in Adam's Fall”

SERMON: Genesis 3:8-15

God makes our problem His problem.

APOSTLES’ CREED - page 41

PRAYER & LORD’S PRAYER

HYMN 396 “In Adam We Have All Been One”

PRAYER - page 43 C: (sung) Amen.

BLESSING - page 44 C: (sung) Amen. Amen. Amen.

HYMN 201 “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”

ANNOUNCEMENTS & REFRESHMENTS

THANKOFFERING BASKET BY DOOR

The members of St Paul's & the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) have joined together to do the Lord’s work here and around the world. Our guests may but are not expected to participate in this offering which supports our church’s ministry.

TODAY’S GUEST PASTOR is Pastor Brad Krause from Fox Valley Lutheran High School in Appleton, WI. He & his wife, Heidi, have five children (Sienna-11, Natalia-10, Leo-8, Owen-6 and Caleb-3). Before serving at FVLHS, they lived in different areas of Mexico from 2009-2016. Thank you for being here and for your faithful service!

NEXT SUNDAY: Pastor Josh Kreiger from St. Paul’s, Livonia, will be our guest pastor.

All Scripture readings are from the NIV 2011. Used by permission.