St Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
313 4th St, Manistee, MI 49660-2901
Kieth Bernard Kuschel, pastor
Pastor’s cell phone 262-765-2328
website: stpaulsmanistee.com
facebook.com/SPLCManistee
Pentecost 22 Theme: Service October 24, 2021
Prayer Before Worship – Lord, serving is hard. Help me to do it. Thanks for serving me by giving Your life as a ransom for me.
Hymn 454 (Gospel Lesson) Service of Word, front of hymnal page 38
Prayer: Lord, keep us in continual godliness and set us free from all adversities,/ that under Your protection, we may serve You with true devotion and holy deeds; through Your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord,/ who lives & reigns with You & the Holy Spirit,/ one God , now & forever. (Sing) Amen.
Old Testament Lesson: 2 Chronicles 26:16-23
Self-defined service to the LORD in conflict with the LORD’S will can only lead to disaster.
16 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the Lord followed him in. 18 They confronted him and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the Lord God.” 19 Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the Lord’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. 20 When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the Lord had afflicted him. 21 King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house—leprous, and excluded from the temple of the Lord. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land. 22 The other events of Uzziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 23 Uzziah rested with his fathers and was buried near them in a field for burial that belonged to the kings, for people said, “He had leprosy.” And Jotham his son succeeded him as king.
Verse: Alleluia! We are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works. (Eph 2:10) Alleluia! (Sing) Alleluia pg 40 front of hymnal
Epistle Lesson: 1 Corinthians 9:7-12, 19-23
Serving people with the Gospel demands putting oneself in a position to relate to those we want to serve. Servants are supported by those served.
7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk? 8 Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? 10 Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. 11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 12 If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. 19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
Hymn 492 (Gospel)
Sermon Text & Mark 10:35-45
Greatness among Jesus’ followers is defined by service. Jesus defined service by His willingness to give up His life for us as a ransom.
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. 37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” 38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” 39 “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Sermon Theme: If you want to be great
Be a slave of all
Be willing to take abuse
Apostles’ Creed, front of hymnal, page 41
Thankoffering
Pg. 42,front of hymnal Hymn 518
Pg 43 Hymn 491