Gathering

Welcome

Prelude

Confession

Lord, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

May God have mercy on us, forgive us our sin, and lead us to life everlasting.  Amen

Gathering Song            “God Is Here!”                    # 526

Words: Fred Pratt Green, b. 1903-2000, © 1979 Hope Publishing Company. 

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-736296. All rights reserved.

Greeting

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

And also with you.

Let us pray,

Sovereign God, raise your throne in our hearts.  Created by you, let us live in your image.  Created for you, let us act for your glory.  Redeemed by you, let us give you what is yours; for we pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

A reading from Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, the 1^st chapter.

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace.

² We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly ³remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, ⁵because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of people we proved to be among you for your sake. ⁶And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, ⁷so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. ⁸For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place where your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. ⁹For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, ¹⁰and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.

Word of God.  Word of Life.

Thanks be to God!

Gospel Acclamation (sung together)                                          page 142

Alleluia, Lord to whom shall we go?

You have the words of eternal life.

Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Gospel

The holy gospel according to Matthew, the 22^nd chapter.

Glory to you, O Lord.

Then the Pharisees went and deliberated together about how to entrap Jesus in what he said. ¹⁶So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you are true, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not see into the outward expression of people. ¹⁷Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to give a poll tax to Caesar, or not?’

¹⁸But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? ¹⁹Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. ²⁰Then he said to them, ‘Whose image is this, and whose inscription?’ ²¹They answered, ‘Caesar’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ ²²When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

The Gospel of the Lord. 

Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

Hymn of the Day         “All My Hope on God is Founded”              # 757

1. All my hope on God is founded
   who will all my trust renew,
   who through change and chance will guide me,
   only good and only true.
   God unknown, God alone,
   call my heart to be thine own.

• Mortal pride and earthly glory,
  sword and crown betray our trust;
  what with care and toil we fashion,
  tow’r and temple, fall to dust.
  But thy pow’r, hour by hour,
  is my temple and my tow’r.

•  Still from earth to God eternal
  sacrifice of praise be done,
  high above all praises praising
  for the gift of God’s own Son.
  Christ doth call one and all:
  ye who follow shall not fall.

Creed

P:      We are made God’s people through our baptism into Christ.  Living together in trust and hope, let us confess our faith:

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven,

and is seated at the right hand of the Father;

he will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.  Amen

Prayers

            God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

P:      Into your hands, O God, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord who teaches us to pray:

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

Sending

Announcements may be made.

Benediction

God be your comfort and your strength;
God be your hope and support;
God be your light and your way;
and the blessing of God,
Creator, Redeemer and + Giver of life,
remain with you now and forever.
Amen                                 

Sending Hymn             “We Give Thee but Thine Own”              # 686

1.  We give thee but thine own, whate’er the gift may be;
   all that we have is thine alone, a trust, O Lord, from thee.

•  May we thy bounties thus as stewards true receive,
  and gladly, as thou blessest us, to thee our first-fruits give.

•  The captive to release, to God the lost to bring,
  to teach the way of life and peace – it is a Christ-like thing.

•  And we believe thy word, though dim our faith may be:
  whate’er we do for thine, O Lord, we do it unto thee.

Dismissal

Go in peace. 

Do justice; love kindness;

and walk humbly with your God.

Thanks be to God!