FAITH Lutheran Church     Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
4241 Williamson Road P.O. 242                 September 6, 2020
Bridgeport, MI 48722					

Confession and Absolution
915 Today Your Mercy Calls Us	 LSB 915

Public domain

Stand
The sign of the cross may be made by all in remembrance of their baptism.
P	In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C	Amen.

P	Our help is in the name of the Lord,
C	who made heaven and earth.
P	If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?
C	But with You there is forgiveness; therefore You are feared.
P	Since we are gathered to hear God’s Word, call upon Him in prayer and praise, and receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in the fellowship of this altar, let us first consider our unworthiness and confess before God and one another that we have sinned in thought, word, and deed, and that we cannot free ourselves from our sinful condition. Together as His people let us take refuge in the infinite mercy of God, our heavenly Father, seeking His grace for the sake of Christ, and saying: God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

Kneel/Stand
C	Almighty God, have mercy upon us, forgive us our sins, and lead us to everlasting life. Amen.
P	Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C	Amen.

Stand
Service of the Word
Introit	Ps. 92:1–4; antiphon: Ps. 92:5
How great are your works, O Lord!
Your thoughts are very deep!
It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
and your faithfulness by night,
to the music of the lute and the harp,
to the melody of the lyre.
For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;
at the works of your hands I sing for joy.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
How great are your works, O Lord!
Your thoughts are very deep!

Kyrie	 LSB 204

Gloria in Excelsis	 LSB 204

Salutation and Collect of the Day	
P	The Lord be with you.
C	And also with you.
P	Let us pray.
O God, from whom all good proceeds, grant to us, Your humble servants, Your holy inspiration, that we may set our minds on the things that are right and, by Your merciful guiding, accomplish them; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C	Amen.

Sit
Old Testament Reading	 Ezekiel 33:7–9
7“So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

A	This is the Word of the Lord.
C	Thanks be to God.

Psalm	 Psalm 32:1–7
A	Blessèd is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
C	whose sin is covered.
A	Blessèd is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
C	and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
A	For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
C	through my groaning all day long.
A	For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
C	my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. 
A	I acknowledged my sin to you,
C	and I did not cover my iniquity;
A	I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
C	and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. 
A	Therefore let everyone who is godly
C	offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
A	surely in the rush of great waters,
C	they shall not reach him.
A	You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble;
C	you surround me with shouts of deliverance. 
C	Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Epistle Reading	 Romans 13:1–10
1Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
8Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

A	This is the Word of the Lord.
C	Thanks be to God.

Stand
Alleluia and Verse

Holy Gospel	 Matthew 18:1–20
P	The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the eighteenth chapter.
C	Glory to You, O Lord.

1At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
7“Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! 8And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.
10“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 12What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
15“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

P	This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C	Praise to You, O Christ.

Nicene Creed	 LSB 206
C	I believe in one God,
     the Father Almighty,
     maker of heaven and earth
          and of all things visible and invisible.
 
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
     the only-begotten Son of God,
     begotten of His Father before all worlds,
     God of God, Light of Light,
     very God of very God,
     begotten, not made,
     being of one substance with the Father,
     by whom all things were made;
     who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven
     and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary
     and was made man;
     and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.
     He suffered and was buried.
     And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures
          and ascended into heaven
     and sits at the right hand of the Father.
     And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead,
     whose kingdom will have no end.
 
And I believe in the Holy Spirit,
     the Lord and giver of life,
     who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
     who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified,
     who spoke by the prophets.
     And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church,
     I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins,
     and I look for the resurrection of the dead
     and the life T of the world to come. Amen.

Sit
Kidz’ Word
511 Herald, Sound the Note of Judgment	 LSB 511

© 1977 Moir A. J. Waters. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License .NET, no. 100011552.
© 1975 Stainer  admin. Hope Publishing Co. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License .NET, no. 100011552.

Sermon
Stand
Prayer of the Church
Service of the Sacrament
Preface	 LSB 208
P	The Lord be with you.
C	And also with you.
P	Lift up your hearts.
C	We lift them to the Lord.
P	Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
C	It is right to give Him thanks and praise.
P	It is truly good, right, and salutary…. evermore praising You and saying:

Sanctus	 LSB 208

Prayer of Thanksgiving	
Lord's Prayer	 LSB 209
C	Our Father who art in heaven,
     hallowed be Thy name,
     Thy kingdom come,
     Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven;
     give us this day our daily bread;
     and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;
     and lead us not into temptation,
     but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

The Words of Our Lord	
Pax Domini	 LSB 209
P	The peace of the Lord be with you always.
C	Amen.

Agnus Dei	 LSB 210

Sit
Distribution
709 The King of Love My Shepherd Is	 LSB 709

5	Thou spreadst a table in my sight;
    Thine unction grace bestoweth;
And, oh, what transport of delight
    From Thy pure chalice floweth!

6	And so through all the length of days
    Thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise
    Within Thy house forever!

Public domain

637 Draw Near and Take the Body of the Lord	 LSB 637

Public domain

Stand
Nunc Dimittis	 LSB 211

Post-Communion Collect	
A	Let us pray.
We give thanks to You, almighty God, that You have refreshed us through this salutary gift, and we implore You that of Your mercy You would strengthen us through the same in faith toward You and in fervent love toward one another; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C	Amen.

Benedicamus and Benediction
A	Let us bless the Lord.
C	Thanks be to God.

P	The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.
The Lord look upon you with favor and T give you peace.
C	Amen.

707 Oh, That the Lord Would Guide My Ways	 LSB 707

Public domain

Acknowledgments
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2006 Concordia Publishing House.