Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
October 18, 2020, 11:00 am
Live Stream via Zoom, 11:00
Meeting ID: 545 143 2841
† Call to Worship & Procession
Minister: Arise now and ascend to the heavenly City in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!
Congregation: Amen.
†Processional Hymn - I Will Sing My Maker's Praises, vv. 1-3 (p. 308) (MP3, PDF)
Minister: The grace and peace of the Lord Jesus Chrit be with you!
Congregation: And also with you!
Minister: Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
Congregation: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sin Offering: Confession The congregation is invited to kneel.
Unison: Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.(silent confession)
Minister: Therefore, I declare that your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Congregation: Thanks be to God. Our sins are forgiven in Jesus’ name. Amen.
†Ascension Hymn - I Will Sing My Maker's Praises, vv. 4-6 (p. 308) (MP3, PDF)
†Collect for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
Unison: Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Consecration: Scripture & Teaching
The Lesson - Exodus 33:12-23
Leader: The Word of the Lord. Congregation: Thanks be to God.
The Psalm - God the Lord is King, Psalm 99, vv. 1-3 (p. 138) (MP3, PDF)
Congregation: Amen! (following the Psalm)
The Epistle - 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Reader: . . . The Word of the Lord. Congregation: Thanks be to God.
The Psalm - God the Lord is King, Psalm 99, vv. 4-6 (p. 138) (MP3, PDF)
Congregation: Amen! (following the Psalm)
The Gospel - Matthew 22:15-22
Reader: . . . The Gospel of Christ! Congregation: Praise be to You, O Christ!
†The Creed (Apostles’)
Unison: 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 Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen
†Gloria Patri (p. 436) (MP3, PDF)
Sermon - The Land and the Cleft (Exodus 33:12-23). Pastor Gregg Strawbridge
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The Mission of the Land
In the context, Moses needed reassurance of God’s presence with Israel (Exodus 33:3,5). In light of the mission to bring the people into the land of promise, Moses requests to know the ways of YHWH so that he may know YHWH (v. 13). Since this nation is “Your” people, the LORD should reveal Himself. YHWH’s answer is that “My presence shall go with you [Moses]” (singular, v. 14). Moses continues to implore that if His presence is not with them (plural, v. 15), Israel will not be distinct from other nations (v. 16). Then, YHWH responds to Moses’ prayer of trust and confirms His presence with His people, saying, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name” (v. 17). Thus, Moses’ mediatorial role succeeds once again. The Covenant LORD intimately knows Moses’ character, i.e., “knows his name.” Problem: we confess that God knows all things; yet in this sense of Him “knowing” Moses, the sense is different. Does the Covenant LORD know you?
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The Mystery of Seeing the LORD
Moses’ request does not stop with imploring God for the resources of the mission (to bring Isreal into the Land). “Then” Moses asks for more: he desires to see YHWH’s glory (v. 18). Remember, Moses has undergone a transformation. At first he was “afraid to look at God” (Exodus 3:6). Now He wants to see His full glory. The LORD also answers this request. “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you” (v. 19). YHWH “equates his glory with all my goodness” (NB Comm.). YHWH’s name includes His sovereign, merciful character: “and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion” (19). The answer to Moses’ request comes with a condition, “you cannot see My face.” There is a reason for this: God’s unmitigated presence would kill Moses (see John 1:18 and 6:46; 1 Timothy 1:17; 1 John 4:12). So the LORD covers Moses with His “hand” in the “cleft” of the rock and permits him to see His “back.”“‘Hand’ and ‘back’ are anthropomorphisms (i.e., descriptions of the reality of God in terms or analogies understandable to men)” (Kaiser, EBC). “While people truly can know God, they can never know Him exhaustively” (Hannah, BKC). To know God as He is in Himself is the greatest thing; this is the beatific vision which will continue expanding throughout eternity for the blessed. To know one’s self as you are apart from the blessed Triune God is truly the miserific horror; it is that which all the horror films ever produced can hardly lisp. In order to know the beatific vision, we need the Rock of Ages to cleft for us, the one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5).
Prayers of the People Selected Men to Lead
Leader: Lord in your mercy….
Congregation:… Hear our prayers
†The Lord’s Prayer, Sung, lifting up holy hands, I Tim. 2:8. (sung, p. 411) (MP3, PDF)
†Tribute Offering - Psalm 121 Adult Choir
We offer ourselves through tithes and offerings.
The Peace Offering: Eucharist
The Sursum Corda
Minister: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them up unto the Lord.
Minister: Let us give thanks unto our Lord God.
People: It is good and right so to do.
Minister: It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times . . . Therefore with Angels and Archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious Name; evermore praising thee, and saying,
People: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory: Glory be to thee, O Lord most High. Amen.
The Sign of Peace - The peace of Christ to you.
The Bread and the Wine
All Saints Church welcomes all baptized Christians to the Table. Gluten free bread is available.
Eucharist Hymns - Cantus Christi red hymnal under pew
At the Lamb's High Feast We Sing (p. 204) (MP3, PDF)
O Bread of Life from Heaven (p. 212) (MP3, PDF)
Soul, Adorn Thyself with Gladness (p. 214) (MP3, PDF)
My Song is Love Unknown (p. 366) (MP3, PDF)
† The Commission and Benediction
Minister: Go in peace to love and serve the risen and reigning Lord Jesus Christ.
Congregation: Thanks be to God!
† Hymn - Behold the Glories of the Lamb (p. 296) (MP3, PDF)