Immanuel
Evangelical Lutheran Church
11th Sunday after Pentecost
Service of Morning Praise page 45, July 31, 2016
WELCOME
Thank you for worshiping with us today. If you need anything during the service, please
speak with an usher.
THEME
Earthly wealth is meaningless without God. The meaning of life cannot be found in the
abundance of earthly possessions but in the abundance of heavenly blessings. The believer
recognizes that everything the world seeks and offers is meaningless. Rather, he sets his
heart on the treasure found in the fullness of Christ.
BEFORE YOU WORSHIP
Please consider reading the summaries in the shaded boxes before each lesson.
CARE ROOM
There is a care-room if your child becomes restless. But bring them back in quickly. We
love to have everyone in worship.
OPENING HYMN .................................................................. Lord of My Life, Whose Tender Care
Christian Worship 232
PRAYER
M: ♫
C: ♫
M: ♫
C: ♫
M: ♫
O Lord, open my lips.
And my mouth shall declare your praise.
Hasten to save me, O God.
O Lord, come quickly to help me.
The Spirit of the Lord fills the world: let us worship him.
HYMN OF PRAISE ...................................................Oh, Come, Let Us Sing to the Lord (Venite)
Christian Worship pages 46-47
All: ♫ Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord, let us make a joyful noise to the
rock of our salvation. Let us come into his presence with
thanksgiving, let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise.
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For the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods. The deep
places of the earth are in his hand; the heights of the hills are also
his. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hand formed the dry land.
Oh, come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord
our maker. For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture
and the sheep of his hand.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
M:
O God, you reveal your mighty power chiefly in
showing mercy and kindness. Grant us the full
measure of your grace that we may obtain your
promises and become partakers of your heavenly
glory; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, now and forever.
C:
Amen.
FIRST LESSON – Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:18-26
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“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the
Teacher. “Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”...
18
I hated all the things I had toiled for
under the sun, because I must leave
them to the one who comes after me.
19
And who knows whether he will be
a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have
control over all the work into which I
have poured my effort and skill under
the sun. This too is meaningless. 20 So
my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 For a man may do
his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to
someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22
What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the
sun? 23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This
too is meaningless. 24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find
The teacher, King Solomon, had more riches and
worldly pleasure than we can comprehend, but
experience had taught him that they are
meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Yet, in an
effort to find meaning in life, so many pursue the
“stuff” this sinful world offers. In the end, having the
most toys adds up to nothing but an inheritance
squandered by fools. Rather, true wealth, true value,
true satisfaction only comes from the hand of God. If
one seeks to find meaning in life, search no further
than the wisdom and knowledge of God.
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satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25
for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the man who
pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to
the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to
hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a
chasing after the wind.
PSALM OF THE DAY – Psalm 34 page 80
SECOND LESSON – Colossians 3:1-11
1
Since, then, you have
been raised with Christ, set
your hearts on things
above, where Christ is
seated at the right hand of
God. 2 Set your minds on
things above, not on
earthly things. 3 For you
died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life,
appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever
belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed,
which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in
these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things
as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to
each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on
the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here
there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free,
but Christ is all, and is in all.
The last of three readings in Colossians tells us to set our mind
on things above, not on earthly things like the man who built
bigger barns or the teacher who chased the wind. Yes, our
struggle continues between the old and new Adams. But that old
Adam has been buried with Christ, and the new man has been
raised with Christ. The result is that our life is hidden with Christ
in God. We do not seek worldly wealth but heavenly glory.
VERSE OF THE DAY (John 14:23)
M:
Alleluia.
Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father
will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
Alleluia.
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GOSPEL LESSON – Luke 12:13-21
13
Someone in the crowd said to him,
“Teacher, tell my brother to divide the
inheritance with me.” 14 Jesus replied, “Man,
who appointed me a judge or an arbiter
between you?” 15 Then he said to them,
“Watch out! Be on your guard against all
kinds of greed; a man’s life does not
consist in the abundance of his
possessions.” 16 And he told them this
parable: “The ground of a certain rich man
produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to
store my crops.’ 18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will
tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will
store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I’ll say to myself,
“You have plenty of good things laid up for many years.
Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’ 20 “But God said to
him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded
from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for
yourself?’ 21 “This is how it will be with anyone who stores
up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”
It is shocking to hear Jesus deny authority over
anything, much less something as mundane as
an inheritance. But finally, that is the point.
Earthly wealth is meaningless. The man called
Jesus “teacher” but hadn’t learned the lesson.
So Jesus teaches him and us how foolish it is to
think that life consists of what we have. By
contrast, the life of faith is lived in joyful
thanksgiving for both the temporal and eternal
blessings that come from above.
M:
C:
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise be to you, O Christ!
HYMN .................................................................................................... O Jesus, King Most Wonderful
Christian Worship 373
SERMON
EMBRACE HEAVENLY RICHES!
Fools live for heaven on earth
Wise live on earth for heaven
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Luke 12:13-21
HYMN OF PRAISE ...................................................................... We Praise You, O God (Te Deum)
Christian Worship pages 48-49
We praise you, O God, we acclaim you as Lord; all creation worships
you, Father everlasting. To you all angels, all the pow’rs of heav’n,
cherubim and seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of heav’nly hosts, heaven and earth are full
of your glory. The glorious company of apostles praise you. The noble
fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you. Throughout the world the
holy Church acclaims you: Father of majesty unbounded, your glorious,
true, and only Son, and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide. You, Christ,
are the King of glory, the eternal Son of the Father.
When you became man to set us free, you humbled yourself to be born
of a virgin. You overcame the sting of death and opened the kingdom
of heaven to all believers.
You sit at the right hand of God in the glory of the Father. We believe
that you will come to be our judge.
Come then, Lord, and help your people, bought with the price of your
own blood, and bring us with your saints to glory everlasting.
OFFERING
Visitors
Please don’t feel obligated to participate in this offering which supports
our ministry. We are happy to share in the riches of God’s grace with you.
LORD, HAVE MERCY (Kyrie) page 50
M: ♫ In the morning, O Lord, I call to you: be merciful to me
and hear my prayer.
C: ♫ Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have
mercy.
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LORD’S PRAYER
All:
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.
Special intercessions may be spoken here
PRAYER FOR GRACE
M:
O Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, you have
brought us safely to this new day. Defend us with your mighty power, and
grant that this day we neither fall into sin nor run into any kind of danger;
and in all we do, direct us to what is right in your sight, through Jesus
Christ, your Son, our Lord.
C:
Amen.
M: ♫ Let us praise the Lord.
C: ♫ Thanks be to God.
BLESSING
M: ♫ The grace of our Lord ♰ Jesus Christ and the love of God and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
C: ♫ Amen.
CLOSING HYMN ...................................................................... Take the World, but Give Me Jesus
Christian Worship 355
Words and music reprinted with permission under onelicense.net #A-726052 or CCLI #11270040
unless otherwise noted.
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Thank you for worshiping with us today!
website
email
phone
W4095 County Rd B ⠂Johnson Creek ⠂ WI ⠂53038
Pastors Paul Burk & Reuben Schmitz
www.immanuelinfarmington.com
[email protected]
(920) 699-2283
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