St Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
313 4th St, Manistee, MI 49660-2901
website: stpaulsmanistee.com
facebook.com/SPLCManistee
Telephone: 231-299-1022
May 21, 2023 Easter 7 - The Lord’s Care Sustains
Prayer Before Worship: Lord, I get sad when I think You are not here any longer as You were once for 33 years. Help me to get over that by talking to You & by listening to You talk to me through the Bible.
Hymn 558
Common Service , front of hymnal page 15
Prayer: Almighty God,/ Your Son our Savior was taken up in glory/ & intercedes for us at Your right hand. Through Your living & abiding Word,/ give us hearts to know Him/ & faith to follow where He has gone; who lives & reigns with You & the Holy Spirit, one God, now & forever. (Sing) Amen.
Old Testament Lesson: 1 Samuel 1:21-28
The Lord’s presence sustained Hannah while she was childless. She responded to the LORD’s blessing by dedicating Samuel to the LORD.
21 When the man Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vow, 22 Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the LORD, and he will live there always.” 23 “Do what seems best to you,” Elkanah her husband told her. “Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the LORD make good his word.” So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him. 24 After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh. 25 When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli, 26 and she said to him, “As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. 27 I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there.
Psalm 8, front of hymnal, page 67
We praise the Lord’s majesty and His grace to us.
Epistle - I Peter 4:12-17, 5:6-11
We who are connected with Christ and His resurrection through Baptism look on our sufferings with eyes of faith, and trust in the eternal goodness of God. That sustains is in difficult times.
12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 5: 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever.
Verse: Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia. I will not leave your as orphans; I will come to you. Alleluia. (Sing) Alleluia!.....pg 18 front of hymnal
Gospel: John 17:1-11
Jesus prepared His disciples and us for His ascension with words like these. Because of Him, God the Son, we are members of the same family of which He is a member. This knowledge sustains us.
1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. 6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one.
Apostles' Creed, pg 19
Hymn 174
Sermon Text: 1Pet 5:6-11
Sermon Theme: NOW THAT JESUS ISN’T HERE
1 Resist the Devil
2 Cast Your Anxiety on the Lord
3 Trust God’s Promises
Prayer: LORD JESUS, help me resist the devil, cast my anxiety on You, and trust in Your promises.
(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.
Prayer of the church, front of hymnal, page 126
Special Prayers
Lord’s Prayer, page 20
Hymn 172
Continue page 25, front of hymnal
Hymn 359