St Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
313 4th St, Manistee, MI 49660-2901
website: stpaulsmanistee.com
facebook.com/SPLCManistee
Telephone: 231-299-1022
October 30, 2022 Festival of the Lutheran Reformation
The LORD grants us people in every generation whom He uses to proclaim and preserve His truth. Luther was one of them. We are called to be others of them.
Prayer Before Worship - (By Martin Luther) I know & confess my great sin & my terrible ingratitude. I have horribly neglected Your precious Word & have been lazy, unwilling to hear it. I have not desired it nor ever given proper thanks for it. My dear God, I have often allowed You to preach in vain to me. I have left this precious treasure to slip away from me, & I have stepped on it. With pure & divine goodness You have tolerated all this & have never stopped on account of this to preach & call with fatherly divine love & faithfulness that my soul be saved. I am sorry for this, & I pray for grace and forgiveness. Amen.
Hymn 199:1-2
Confession of sins: Lord God, all satisfying Father,/ we have received everything from You. The means of grace - the Bible, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper -/ are some of Your generously given satisfying gifts. Despite all of Your bounty,/ we have often given little or no respect to these wonderful means. We have taken them for granted. We have forgotten to use them. And at times we have even rejected them altogether. We beg Your forgiveness for these sins.
Absolution: As one called by you and by God to serve you with God’s Word, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, I assure you that the blood of Jesus Christ has purified you from every sin against the means of grace, as well as from every sin against any other command of the Lord.
Response: Lord, bountiful God,/ You so richly load us down with Your benefits. We thank You and praise You for the blessings You continue to pour upon us. Surely we must join Paul in saying, “Lord, You have supplied all our needs.” We ask You to help us to use those blessings for our spiritual benefit and for the spiritual growth of those around us.”
Psalm 46, page 84, front of hymnal (Basis of hymn “A Mighty Fortress)
God is within us, upholds us through His Word & is exalted in the world.
This Psalm inspired Luther to hold to God’s truth even though opposed by all the authorities in church and government.
Prayer: Gracious Lord, our Refuge & Strength,/ pour out Your Holy Spirit on Your faithful people. Keep them steadfast in Your Word, / protect and comfort them in all temptations,/ defend them against all their enemies,/ and bestow on the Church Your saving peace; / through Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives & reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,/ one God, now and forever. (Sing) Amen.
Old Testament Lesson: Jeremiah 31:31-34
The Lord’s new covenant of forgiveness is based on the merits of Christ.
31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by
the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,”declares the Lord. 33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
Hymn 199:3
Epistle: Romans 3:19-28
Righteousness apart from the law through faith in Jesus saves us.
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. 21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. 27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
Hymn 199:4-5
Sermon Text & Gospel Lesson: Luke 7:27-35
27 This is the one about whom it is written: " 'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' 28 I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." 29(All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus' words, acknowledged that God's way was right, because they had been baptized by John. 30But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God's purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.) 31"To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other: " 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.' 33For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' 34The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' 35But wisdom is proved right by all her children."
Sermon Theme: Thank the Lord for His servants because of
1. Their message
Prayer: Lord Jesus thank You for using Martin Luther to restore to its rightful position in the church the Biblical message of Law and Gospel.
Hymn 201, vs 4
2. Their Work
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for using Luther to bring Your Word and Sacraments to the people of his day and through their descendants to us.
Hymn 201:3
3. Their Life-style
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for using Luther to remind us that Your Word is also our standard for lifestyle issues.
Hymn 201, verses 1-2
Final Prayer: Lord, please continue to raise up servants whose work is to teach us Your Word and how to apply it to our lives.
Apostles' Creed, front of hymnal, pg 19
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 introduce yourselves to our chuuch family.
Prayer of the Church, Hymn 203
Special Prayers
Lord’s Prayer
Benediction
Hymn 199:6-7