The 7th Sunday after Pentecost
July 19, 2020
Emmanuel & St. John’s Ev. Lutheran Churches
Mecan & Montello, WI
✠P R E P A R A T I O N F O R W O R S H I P ✠
We prepare ourselves to worship the one Savior God by expressing our humble repentance, offering our fervent prayers and singing our thankful hymns of praise.
Please note: Worship Service Restart Plans (Bulletin pages 17, 18.) Due to the recent increase of
COVID-19 virus cases testing positive in our area, worshipers are kindly asked to maintain social distancing, refrain from singing, and wear masks that cover both mouth and nose. Thank you for your consideration.
OPENING HYMN Come unto Me, Ye Weary Sung by cantor. Christian Worship Supplement #336
Please stand
M: The grace of our Lord ✠ Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.
C: And also with you.
CONFESSION & ABSOLUTION
When we confess to God that we have failed to live up to the perfect standards in his law, the pastor announces the perfect forgiveness of sins won for us by Jesus.
M: We have come into the presence of God, who created us to love and serve him as his dear children. But we have disobeyed him and deserve only his wrath and punishment. Therefore, let us confess our sins to him and plead for his mercy.
C: Merciful Father in heaven, I am altogether sinful from birth. In countless ways I have sinned against you and do not deserve to be called your child. But trusting in Jesus, my Savior, I pray: Have mercy on me according to your unfailing love. Cleanse me from my sin, and take away my guilt.
M: God, our heavenly Father, has forgiven all your sins. By the perfect life and innocent death of our Lord Jesus Christ, he has removed your guilt forever. You are his own dear child. May God give you strength to live according to his will.
C: Amen.
PRAYER AND PRAISE
M: In the peace of forgiveness, let us praise the Lord.
OH, TASTE AND SEE
PRAYER OF THE DAY
M: Let us pray.
God of all power and might, you are the giver of all that is good. Help us to love you with all our heart, strengthen us in true faith, provide us with all we need, and keep us safe in your care; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Please be seated for the day’s Scripture readings
✠T H E W O R D ✠
The Lord Jesus speaks to us in Scripture reading, preaching and song.
FIRST READING Exodus 33:12-23
Summary: The Lord reassured Moses, “I will give you rest.”
Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, `Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, `I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”
The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”
Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
Then the LORD said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”
PSALM OF THE DAY 145
The cantor sings refrains. Pastor reads the verses.
Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;*
his greatness no one can fathom.
One generation will commend your works to another;*
they will tell of your mighty acts.
The LORD upholds all those who fall*
and lifts up all who are bowed down.
Refrain
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.*
You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
The LORD is near to all who call on him,*
to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;*
he hears their cry and saves them.
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.
Refrain
SECOND READING Romans 7:15-25
Summary: Our struggle against sin ends when Jesus rescues us for heaven
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do– this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God– through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
VERSE OF THE DAY Luke 8: 15
Alleluia. Happy are they who hear the Word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience. Alleluia.
Stand.
GOSPEL READING Matthew 11:25-30 (today’s sermon text underlined)
Summary: Jesus invites us to come to him for rest
At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Be seated.
HYMN OF THE DAY Day by Day
Sung by cantor. Christian Worship Supplement #765
SERMON Matthew 11: 28-30
“Jesus, the Friend Who Gives…”
- …the warmest invitation
- …the greatest comfort
Stand after the sermon.
APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth. I believe 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 is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there 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 everlasting. Amen.
Be seated.
✠ O F F E R I N G S O F G I F T S & P R A Y E R S ✠
THE OFFERING
Members of this congregation show their thanks to God for all he has done for them by returning a portion of their income to the Lord. Through these free will offerings, this congregation and its ministries are maintained. Please deposit your offering on the plate located near the church entry.
PRAYER FOR PATIENCE AND PEACE AND INTERCESSORY PRAYERS
Read by Pastor. Intercessory Prayers on bulletin page 12.
Stand.
LORD’S PRAYER
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.
M: O Lord God, our heavenly Father, pour out the Holy Spirit on your faithful people. Keep us strong in your grace and truth, protect and comfort us in all temptation, and bestow on us your saving peace, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
M: Brothers and sisters, go in peace. Live in harmony with one another. Serve the Lord with gladness.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.
The Lord look on you with favor and ✠ give you peace.
CLOSING HYMN I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say
Sung by cantor. Christian Worship #338
Announcements
Next week’s theme July 26, 2020 8th Sunday after Pentecost:
“The Seed of the Word”
“PRAYING HANDS” by Albrecht Dürer is a famous ink and pencil sketch drawing that was created in the early 16th century. There are several competing references to the creation of this piece of art.
Description of the Artwork
The drawing is on blue colored paper that the artist made himself. “Praying Hands” is part of a series of sketches that Dürer drew for an altarpiece in 1508. The drawing shows the hands of a man praying with his body out of view on the right. The sleeves of the man are folded and noticeable in the painting.
Origin Theories
The work was originally requested by Jakob Heller and is named after him. It is posited that that sketch is actually modeled after the artist’s own hands. Similar hands are featured in other of Durer’s artworks.
It is also theorized that there is a deeper story connected to “Praying Hands.” A heartwarming story of familial love, sacrifice, and homage.
A Story of Familial Love
The following account is not attributed to an author. However, there is a copyright filed in 1933 by J. Greenwald called “The Legend of the Praying Hands by Albrecht Durer.”
Back in the 16th century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with 18 children. In order to keep food on the table for his brood, Albrecht Durer the Elder, the father and head of the household, was a goldsmith by profession and worked almost 18 hours a day at his trade and any other paying chore he could find in the neighborhood
Despite the family strain, two of Durer’s male children, Albrecht the Younger and Albert, had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew that their father would never be financially able to send either of them to Nuremberg to study at the academy there.
After many long discussions at night in their crowded bed, the two boys finally worked out a pact. They would toss a coin. The loser would go to work in the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother while he attended the academy. Then, in four years, when that brother who won the toss completed his studies, he would support the other brother at the academy, either with sales of his artwork or, if necessary, also by laboring in the mines.
They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church. Albrecht the Younger won the toss and went off to Nuremberg. Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, financed his brother, whose work at the academy was almost an immediate sensation. Albrecht’s etchings, his woodcuts and his oils were far better than those of most of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works.
When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrecht’s triumphant homecoming. After a long and memorable meal, punctuated with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition. His closing words were, “And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of you.”
All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table where Albert sat, tears streaming down his pale face, shaking his lowered head from side to side while he sobbed and repeated, over and over, “No.”
Finally, Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and then, holding his hands close to his right cheek, he said softly, “No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg. It is too late for me. Look what four years in the mines have done to my hands! The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No, brother, for me it is too late.”
More than 450 years have passed. By now, Albrecht Durer’s hundreds of masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches, watercolors, charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great museum in the world, but the odds are great that you, like most people, are familiar with Albrecht Durer’s most famous work, “Praying Hands.”
Some believe that Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother’s abused hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward in honor of his brother Albert. He called his powerful drawing simply “Hands,” but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love, “Praying Hands.”
Let this work be your reminder, that no one ever makes it alone!
(by Desy, Phylameana lila. “History or Fable of the Praying Hands Masterpiece.” Learn Religions, Feb. 11, 2020, learnreligions.com/praying-hands-1725186)
Our Relationship With God Depends
On His Good Pleasure
The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost – A
God’s Word for Today
How do you strike up friendships or relationships with other people? Most people attempt to find something that they have in common with another person, and they try to develop a friendship based on those common interests. But how do we strike up a relationship with God. We don’t. Our relationship with God depends on his good pleasure. God is “out of our league” and really shouldn’t have anything to do with us. But miraculously he does! Amazingly he loves us and cares for us. He desires to be our dearest friend! But he always makes “the first move” through the gospel.
First Lesson (Exodus 33:12-23)
- What condition did Moses put upon his leading God’s Old Testament people?
- How did Moses want God to “seal the deal”?
Second Lesson (Romans 7:15-25a)
- What struggle does Paul outline in these verses?
- How are we able to overcome our sinful nature?
Gospel (Matthew 11:25-30)
- True or false: We make the choice to enter into a relationship with God.
- To whom does God choose to reveal the truths of the Gospel?
Answers:
- God must go with his people, otherwise Moses was not willing to lead them. Moses recognized the importance of having a close relationship with the Lord and that such a relationship depended on God’s good pleasure.
- He wanted the Lord to show him his glory as a seal of God’s presence. The Lord conceded to show Moses his “back side” and proclaim his name (Ex 34:5-7).
- The struggle that every Christian has between the sinful flesh and the new person, who is guided by the Holy Spirit. Only the Christian has this struggle.
- We aren’t able to overcome the sinful flesh by ourselves. We must rely upon the working of the Holy Spirit through the gospel. This is our Christian life of sanctification. God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
- False. By nature, we are enemies of God and objects of his wrath (Eph 2:3). God is the one who wins us over to friendship with his wonderful promises. He’s the one who makes us alive with Christ (Eph 2:5). Our relationship with God depends on his good pleasure.
- Jesus says that God reveals the truths of the gospel, not to the “wise and learned,” but to “little children.” In other words, to those who do not persistently reject the working of the Holy Spirit through the gospel. God is the one who wins us to faith. We have no power to choose God as our friend; it’s all God’s doing (Luther’s Small Catechism, Explanation to the Third Article of the Creed).
| Attendance | Emmanuel | St. John’s |
| 7-12 7-15 | 31 | 54 4 |
| St. John’s Altar CommitteeJuly 2020 | Elaine Kelm&Carolyn Rosenthal |