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Redemption Lutheran Church & School 20120 24th Ave West Lynnwood, WA 98036

November 24, 2019 ~ www. RedemptionCLC.com

PART 1. WE PREPARE TO MEET OUR LORD

Our worship begins by preparing our minds and hearts for

what we are about to do. This begins the night before our

worship service, ensuring that we are well-rested and alert

on Sunday morning so that we can concentrate.

Upon arrival, it is certainly proper to greet one another as fel-

low Christians. However, the five to ten minutes before the

start of the service is for prayer and preparation. A preparato-

ry Bible verse that fits the theme of the day is included in the

bulletin. This is the time to conclude any further visiting and

begin reflection, also respecting that others are trying to pre-

pare themselves. In our preparatory section we also include

the theme of the Sunday, hymns, and a welcome to visitors.

A Liturgical Narrative Service

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Prepare: John 18:37

Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Je-

sus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this

cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the

world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone

who is of the truth hears My voice."

Today’s Theme: Christ the King

Hymns: 330 | 341 | 738 | 52

To our Guests and Visitors: Thank you for joining us to-

day, we are very glad to have you here! The structure of our ser-

vice is responsive and we invite you to follow along and partici-

pate. If you have questions about today’s service, please ask an

usher. Restrooms and a nursery (with service audio) are down

the stairs at the back of the church.

Order of Divine Worship

OPENING PRAYER

HYMN 330 “I Come to Thee, O Blessed Lord”

Narrator: After the opening hymn we continue with the Trinitarian Invocation. By this we confess that we are worshiping the true Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. At the same time we ask the Triune God to be with us and to bless us as we carry on our worship. Before we can draw near to worship our holy God we must first cast off all our sins. As the psalmist reminds us, “Who may stand in His holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart (Psalm 24:3-4).” So we come with penitent hearts and faith we make confession of our sin and unworthiness. Then we hear the pastor, as God’s representative, speaking to us the words of comfort and forgiveness through our Savior, Jesus Christ. This is called the Absolution. This assurance is given to us in the name

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Pastor: Mark Tiefel Cell: 425-775-2145

pastor.redemption@gmail.com

Organists: Tom Caulton & Sue Isely

K-8 Teacher: Quinn Sprengeler Cell: 425-582-1381

quinnsprengeler@frontier.com

K-2 Teacher: Katy Penwell

Welcome to Redemption!

God’s peace is ours through the perfect life and sacrificial death of Jesus our Lord, in whom we trust and for whom we live. With a parting hymn, and a moment of silent prayer, our wor-ship concludes. This morning we will be singing hymn 52, which asks the Lord to bless us through the Word we have received today. This is also a reminder of why we want to re-turn to God’s house in the future. We continue to need His blessings of mercy and forgiveness through Christ, our Savior. With God’s blessing upon us and His strengthening presence with us, we are ready to depart in peace. But our liturgy is not really over. For the word liturgy means “service.” Your entire life as a Christian is to be your service (your “liturgy”) to God. You are now ready to move out of the church into the liturgy of your daily life, strengthened by your visit with God to be His witnesses and to do His will in your life. In this way may His name be hallowed and His kingdom come, also through you! For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

BENEDICTION

P: The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His

face shine upon you and be gracious unto you; The LORD

lift up His countenance upon you and give you His peace.

C: Amen, amen, a – men. (sung)

HYMN 52 “Almighty Father, Bless the Word”

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at our church, but they are also tangible expressions of wor-shipping God in faith. Once the offering is placed upon the altar, we turn our focus to prayer. In addition to the General Prayer of the day, which echoes the theme of the service, the pastor receives personal prayer requests and the congregation joins in the Lord’s Pray-er. Prayer is more than just asking God for blessings. It also includes praising and thanking Him and confessing His truth. We also plead for God’s grace and mercy for the needs of others, including fellow Christians in our synod, the entire Church around the world, the sick and distraught, civil lead-ers, those who do not believe in God.

OFFERING AND PRAYER

P: “… and in His name we join to pray…”

C: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy

name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as

it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and for-

give 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.

PART 5. GOD DISMISSES US WITH HIS BLESSING

Narrator: We are now ready for the conclusion of the service. The Benediction is a blessing which God Himself commanded to be spoken upon His people at the time of Moses, and has been used in the Church ever since. In the benediction the pastor is not merely wishing God’s blessings for the congre-gation – The LORD, our Triune God, promises to give His blessing through these words. The benediction and our service close with one final word: “Peace.” With the sign of the cross, we are reminded that

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of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The pastor stands at the altar area during the confession and absolution to indicate that we approach God through the atonement of Jesus. In the Old Testa-ment, the altar was the place where sacrifices were made before God. We retain the altar today to help us remember that we are forgiven and redeemed through the sacrifice of Jesus, and that only through Him can we approach God.

P: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy

Spirit.

C: Amen.

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

P: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the

truth is not in us.

C: But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just,

will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteous-

ness.

P: Let us then confess our sins to God our Father.

C: Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature

sinful and unclean. 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 our-

selves. We justly deserve Your present and eternal pun-

ishment. For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have

mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we

may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the

glory of Your holy name. 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 or-

dained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore for-

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give you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the

Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen.

PART 2. WE WELCOME OUR LORD

Narrator: Now we are prepared to enter into the Holy Place of God’s presence, which is what we do in the next section of the service. We begin with a responsive reading from the Psalms, sometimes referred to as the Introit. This point marks the in-troduction of God’s Word into the service. The introit is select-ed to lift our hearts to worship and bring out the theme of our service. This morning our responsive reading is taken from Psalm 145, which declares the true God, Yahweh - the LORD - as King of heaven and earth. God’s glory and faithfulness, es-pecially His mercy shown in Jesus, cause us to meditate on His Word and proclaim His praise.

INTROIT Psalm 145:1-6

P: I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name

forever and ever.

C: Every day I will bless you and praise your name forev-

er and ever.

P: Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his great-

ness is unsearchable.

C: One generation shall commend your works to anoth-

er, and shall declare your mighty acts.

P: On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your

wondrous works, I will meditate.

C: They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,

and I will declare your greatness.

Narrator: After the Introit, we join in the Gloria Patri, or “Glory to the Father.” It is a song of praise indicating God’s trinitarian

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thoughts of the sermon and helps us to reflect on the truths we have just heard. This morning we will be singing hymn 738 in which we praise Jesus’ name with the ancient Hebrew word, “Alleluia,” meaning “Praise the LORD.” This was the same word the crowds used to praise Jesus as King on Palm Sunday.

OFFERTORY

HYMN 738 “Alleluia, Sing to Jesus”

Narrator: After the hymn we bring our offerings of thankful-ness to the LORD. When the offering is gathered the ushers bring it to the LORD’s altar, symbolizing the sacrifices that were brought to the place of atonement in the Old Testa-ment. God desires that our offerings be given cheerfully and willingly as fruits of faith, not as a means to justify ourselves in His sight. Our offerings go to support the work of ministry

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THE SERMON ~ Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the mountains. Where does my help

come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of

heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot stumble. He who watches over you

will not slumber. 4 Yes, he who watches over Israel will not

slumber. He will not sleep. 5 The Lord watches over you.

The Lord is your shade at your right hand. 6 The sun will not

strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will

watch to keep you from all harm. He will watch over your

life. 8 The Lord will watch over your going and your coming from

now to eternity.

There is no one like your King 1. When you need help

2. When you need protection 3. When you consider eternity

VOTUM

P: The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will

keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

PART 4. WE OFFER OURSELVES TO THE LORD

Narrator: We have listened to God’s Word as it was read and preached. He has spoken to us in mercy and blessing. Now we offer to Him our hearts and lives that He might make us eager and strong to do His will in thought, word, and deed. In the Offertory, taken from Psalm 51, we pray that God will use His Word to create a clean heart and right spirit within us; a heart that willingly and freely gives ourselves to God. Fol-lowing the offertory we sing a hymn that reinforces the

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nature as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Next, having been forgiven our sins, we join in a heartfelt prayer for mercy. The Kyrie Eleison, which means “Lord, have mercy,” is not another confession of sins but an expression of our emptiness without God and of our need to have Him come and fill us with His grace. We pray for God’s mercy to fill all our needs in life. The response to the “Lord, have mercy,” is the Gloria in Excel-sis that is, “Glory to God in the Highest.” God has had mercy upon us – He has sent His Son to meet all our needs. There-fore we join in singing this great song of praise to God, like the angels sang when Jesus was born, “Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” The words of this hymn are very precious as they praise God the Father for sending His Son, “Who has mankind befriended.” Through this gift of His Son, the division that separates us from God - our sin - has been taken away, and peace is restored. We lift up our hearts and our voices, with the chorus of saints through the ages, as we praise our Triune God for His mercy and faithfulness!

GLORIA PATRI

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KYRIE ELEISON

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS

Narrator: The Collect, or Prayer of the Day, is a short prayer which gathers or “collects” the thoughts of the church as they apply to the theme of the day.

COLLECT

P: Let us pray. … with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now

and forever.

C: Amen.

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the historic Apostles’ Creed as our confession of faith. Follow-ing the creed, we sing another hymn, usually expressing in song the thoughts of the Scripture readings and sermon. This morning we will be singing hymn 341 which speaks of the many blessings we have through our King, Jesus.

CONFESSION OF FAITH

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 Fa-

ther 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.

HYMN 341 “Crown Him with Many Crowns”

Narrator: Through the Sermon God speaks to us through His called servant. The pastor’s sermon is not just a number of offhand remarks, or a subjective message based on how the pastor feels about the text. Rather, the sermon is a prayerfully prepared message of law and gospel from God’s Word. The sermon leads the hearer in repentance, salvation, and growth in faith. At the conclusion of the sermon the pastor speaks the Votum, meaning “promise.” The wording of the votum is taken directly from Philippians 4:7 through which the pastor extends the blessings of God’s peace upon all who have re-ceived His Word.

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their hands. 23 They will not labor only to receive nothing,

and they will not give birth to children doomed to disaster,

for they will be offspring who are blessed by the Lord, and

their descendants will be with them. 24 Then even before

they call, I will answer. While they are still speaking, I will

hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and lions

will eat straw like cattle, but the serpent will eat dust as its

food. They will not harm or destroy anywhere on my holy

mountain, says the Lord.

Epistle Reading: Colossians 1:13-20

The Father rescued us from the domain of darkness and

transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in

whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is

the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all crea-

tion, 16 for in him all things were created, in heaven and on

earth, things seen and unseen, whether thrones or domin-

ions or rulers or authorities; all things have been created

through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and all

things hold together in him. 18 He is also the head of the

body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from

the dead, so that in all things he might have the highest

rank. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in

him, 20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself

(whether things on earth or in heaven) by making peace

through the blood of his cross.

Narrator: We have heard God’s Word. Now we respond by confessing a Creed, or statement of faith. By doing this we show that we believe what God has told us in His Word and we are ready to publicly declare it in our lives. Today, we use

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PART 3. OUR LORD SPEAKS TO US

Narrator: Up to this point in the service we have opened our lips in prayer and praise to our Triune God. Now we fall silent, for our Lord Himself will now speak to us. He will reveal Him-self and His will to us in the reading and preaching of His Word. This is the source of all that we believe and teach. Without the Word of God, our worship, as well as our faith, would wither and die. This morning we listen to God speak to us in two separate readings. The first selection is from the Old Testament, the second is from an Epistle, or letter, of the New Testament. Both readings focus on the specific theme for the day, which the pastor usually summarizes before reading.

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 65:17-25

Watch this! I am about to create new heavens and a new

earth. The former things will not be remembered. They will

not come to mind. 18 Instead, rejoice and celebrate forever,

because of what I am creating. Watch this! I am about to

create Jerusalem to be a source of gladness, and her people

will be a source of joy. 19 I also will be glad because of Jerusa-

lem, and I will rejoice over my people. The sound of weep-

ing will not be heard in her again, nor will the sound of cry-

ing. 20 There will never again be an infant there who lives

for only a few days, or an elderly man who does not fill out

all his days, for one who dies at a hundred will be consid-

ered a young man, and one who fails to attain the age of one

hundred will be regarded as cursed. 21 Then they will build

houses and live in them. They will plant vineyards and eat

their fruit. 22 They will not build a house and have another

person live in it. They will not plant and have another per-

son eat the crop, for the days of my people will be like the

days of a tree, and my chosen ones will enjoy all the work of