November 8, 2020 Service – St. Paul's Lutheran Church

Confession and Absolution

515 Rejoice, Rejoice, Believers LSB 515

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 and call upon Him in prayer and praise, 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.

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.

Introit Ps. 84:1, 9–12; antiphon: Ps. 84:3

Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may | lay her young,*

at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King | and my God.

How lovely is your | dwelling place,*

O | Lord of hosts!

Behold our shield, | O God;*

look on the face of your a- | nointed!

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand | elsewhere.*

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of | wickedness.

For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and | honor.*

No good thing does he withhold from those who walk up- | rightly.

O | Lord of hosts,*

blessèd is the one who | trusts in you!

Glory be to the Father and | to the Son*

and to the Holy | Spirit;

as it was in the be- | ginning,*

is now, and will be forever. | Amen.

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.

Lord God, heavenly Father, send forth Your Son to lead home His bride, the Church, that with all the company of the redeemed we may finally enter into His eternal wedding feast; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C Amen.

Sit

Old Testament Reading Amos 5:18–24

¹⁸Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!

Why would you have the day of the Lord?

It is darkness, and not light,

¹⁹as if a man fled from a lion,

and a bear met him,

or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,

and a serpent bit him.

²⁰Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,

and gloom with no brightness in it?

²¹“I hate, I despise your feasts,

and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

²²Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,

I will not accept them;

and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,

I will not look upon them.

²³Take away from me the noise of your songs;

to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

²⁴But let justice roll down like waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

A This is the Word of the Lord.

C Thanks be to God.

Epistle 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18

¹³But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. ¹⁴For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁵For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸Therefore encourage one another with these words.

A This is the Word of the Lord.

C Thanks be to God.

Alleluia and Verse

Holy Gospel Matthew 25:1–13

P The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the twenty-fifth chapter.

C Glory to You, O Lord.

¹“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. ²Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, ⁴but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ⁵As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. ⁶But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. ⁸And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. ¹¹Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ¹²But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ ¹³Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

P This is the Gospel of the Lord.

C Praise to You, O Christ.

Apostles’ Creed LSB 207

C I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His 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 into hell.

The third day He rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven

and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Christian Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life T everlasting. Amen.

Sit

516 Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying LSB 516

Sermon

Stand

Prayer of the Church

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.

Offering – placed on the altar.

Closing Collect

A Let us pray.

Lord of the Church, in whose name all who oversee and serve Your flock have been called, grant Your servants all the gifts necessary for the godly administration of their duties for the upbuilding of Your Church that they may bring glory to Your name; for You live and reign with the Father 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.

763 When Peace, like a River LSB 763