Third Sunday after Pentecost – June 21, 2020 The Order of Worship at 11:00 am To mitigate spread of COVID-19 in our community, on-site activities—including worship services—have been cancelled. Many activities continue, but in different formats: ZOOM for interactive small groups and classes, to-go meals for the Food Ministry, and streaming worship services and music from the archives. Our gathering policies will continue to respond to changes in the best public health data available to us. Today we return to worship at Redeemer, with only worship leaders present. Throughout worship, participants will be masked even as they speak and sing, and each will remain in an area designated for them alone. Similar protections will probably be required when we are able gradually to open worship further, but for now we are glad return to the familiarity of Redeemer and the musical and technical options it provides us. Thanks to all of the lectors and musicians who have led us during the past weeks as we worshiped from home. Please use the links available on the viewing page to let us know that you are worshiping from home, to offer any prayer requests, to let us know if you need help or are available to help a neighbor, and to continue to give to support the ministries that continue, socially distant for the common good. As always, we pray that worship at Redeemer is a blessing for you, even as your participation blesses us, even though we are not together in person. As you are comfortable, we encourage you to sing the hymns and to sing or speak the congregational portions of the liturgy in bold type.
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PRELUDE
A Song Without Words Jonathan Fuller, cello
Craig Phillips
WELCOME
GATHERING The Holy Spirit gathers us in unity on the first day of the week, the day of Christ’s resurrection.
HYMN
We Know that Christ is Raised
CONFESSION In the name of the Father, and of the ☩ Son, and of the Holy Spirit. | Amen. With Job of old we cry out: Everywhere the innocent suffer. Our desires and efforts achieve us little. O God, are you good, yet do nothing to help us? 2
Our answers have holes, and we fall through. Hear us, O God | Hear us, O God. Revive us with hope | Revive us with hope. Give us your life | Give us your life. A time of silence is kept. The majesty of God the Father undergirds all that is. The mercy of God the Son accepts our despair. The comfort of God the Spirit embraces us in communities of care. Thanks be to God | Thanks be to God. Let us confess our sin in the presence of God. Most merciful God, | we confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves. 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. 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. In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for his sake God forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the ☊ Son, and of the Holy Spirit. | Amen. GREETING The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. | And also with you.
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KYRIE
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HYMN OF PRAISE
The Lord be with you. | And also with you.
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PRAYER OF THE DAY Teach us, good Lord God, to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for reward, except that of knowing that we do your will, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. Please use the Prayer Request link on the webpage to submit your requests.
WORD God speaks to us in scriptures read, sung and preached.
CHILDREN’S SERMON FIRST READING Jeremiah 20:7-13 Jeremiah accuses God of forcing him into a ministry that brings him only contempt and persecution. Yet Jeremiah is confident that God will be a strong protector against his enemies and commits his life into God’s hands. O LORD, you have enticed me, and I was enticed; you have overpowered me, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I must cry out, I must shout, “Violence and destruction!” For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. For I hear many whispering: “Terror is all around! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” All my close friends are watching for me to stumble. “Perhaps he can be enticed, and we can prevail against him, and take our revenge on him.” 6
But the LORD is with me like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten. O LORD of hosts, you test the righteous, you see the heart and the mind; let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause. Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers. PSALM 69:7-10, 16-18 Answer me, O LORD, for your love is kind. (Ps. 69:16) Surely, for your sake I have suf- | fered reproach, and shame has cov- | ered my face. I have become a stranger to | my own kindred, an alien to my | mother’s children. Zeal for your house has eat- | en me up; the scorn of those who scorn you has fall- | en upon me. I humbled my- | self with fasting, but that was turned to | my reproach. Answer me, O LORD, for your | love is kind; in your great compassion, | turn to me. Hide not your face | from your servant; be swift and answer me, for I am | in distress. Draw near to me | and redeem me; because of my enemies de- | liver me. SECOND READING Romans 6:1b-11 In baptism we were incorporated into the reality of Christ’s death and resurrection. We have been made new in Christ through his death and resurrection to live freed from sin. Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 7
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. GOSPEL Matthew 10:24-39 Jesus warns his disciples that their ministry in his name will meet with opposition. However, he assures them that they need not fear for the truth will come to light. Life is found in Christ. [Jesus said to the twelve:] “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! “So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. “Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” The Gospel of the Lord. | Praise to You O Christ. SERMON 8
Pastor Mark H. Larson
HYMN
O God, My Faithful God
APOSTLES’ CREED I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s 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 to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead. 9
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION Each petition concludes: Hear us, O God. | Your mercy is great. At the conclusion of the prayers: Amen PEACE The peace of Christ be with you always. | And also with you. Please let us know you worshiped with us today by using the I’m Worshiping link as you would the attendance pad at church.
THANKSGIVING GATHERING OF GIFTS Please use the Help and Give links to support the ministry of Redeemer. MUSIC
Meditation Jonathan Fuller, cello
Frank Bridge
THANKSGIVING FOR THE WORD Let us pray. Praise and thanks to you, holy God, for by your Word you made all things: you spoke light into darkness, called forth beauty from chaos, and brought life into being. For your Word of life, O God, | we give you thanks and praise. By your Word you called your people Israel to tell of your wonderful gifts: freedom from captivity, water on the desert journey, a pathway home from exile, wisdom for life with you. For your Word of life, O God, | we give you thanks and praise. Through Jesus, your Word made flesh, you speak to us and call us to witness: forgiveness through the cross, life to those entombed by death, the way of your selfgiving love. For your Word of life, O God, | we give you thanks and praise. Send your Spirit of truth, O God; rekindle your gifts within us: renew our faith, increase our hope, and deepen our love, for the sake of a world in need. Faithful to your Word, O God, draw near to all who call on you; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory forever. | Amen. 10
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.
SENDING God blesses us and sends us in mission to the world.
A PRAYER FOR THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT AMONG THE PEOPLE OF GOD. God of all power and love, we give thanks for your unfailing presence and the hope you provide in times of uncertainty and loss. Send your Holy Spirit to enkindle in us your holy fire. Revive us to live as Christ’s body in the world: a people who pray, worship, learn, break bread, share life, heal neighbors, bear good news, seek justice, rest and grow in the Spirit. Wherever and however we gather, unite us in common prayer and send us in common mission, that we and the whole creation might be restored and renewed, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. BLESSING Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. God, the creator, ☩ Jesus, the Christ, and the Holy Spirit, the comforter, bless you and keep you in eternal love. Amen. 11
SENDING Go in peace. Christ is with you. | Thanks be to God. POSTLUDE
A Trumpet Minuet
Alfred Hollins
Liturgy from Sundays and Seasons.com. Copyright 2013 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #21979.
LAST WEEK AT REDEEMER Worship attendance for June 14: Livestream 491, Facebook Live 100 WEDNESDAY EVENING Pastor Mark’s Class | Zoom | 6 pm Worship | Livestream | 7:15 pm NEXT WEEK AT REDEEMER Fourth Sunday after Pentecost Jeremiah 28:5-9, Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18, Romans 6:12-23, Matthew 10:40-42
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THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER 731 Peachtree Street, NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30308 www.redeemer.org | 404.874.8664 | Emergency Line: 404.874.9759 The Rev. Mark H. Larson ...................................................................... Senior Pastor, ext. 201 The Rev. Ronald Bonner ................................... Pastor for Community Engagement, ext. 203 The Rev. Jonathan Trapp ................................................. Pastor for Faith Formation, ext. 233 The Rev. Jenny McLellan.................................................... Pastor for Member Care, ext. 224 STAFF Martha Barth ........................................................................................ Organ Scholar, ext. 234 Bob Boyd ........................................................... Director of Operations and Finance, ext. 232 Seth Brown................................................................... Facilities and Media Director, ext. 218 Robin Durdin ............................................................ Office Administration Director, ext. 204 Kate Elkins .................................................................................... Preschool Director, ext. 252 David Hansen ........................................................................... Adult Choral Director, ext. 236 Sarah Hawbecker ...........................................Organist & Children’s Music Director, ext. 206 Deacon Mary Houck .....................................Children & Family Ministries Director, ext. 227 Jennifer Isaacson ........................................................Financial Information Director, ext. 237 Karen Medford ............................Parish Nurse, and Adult Faith Formation Director, ext. 230 Hillary Nelson ............................................................ Youth Director, hnelson@redeemer.org Tawanda Searcy ................................................ Receptionist and Wedding Director, ext. 200 Maria Welsh .......................................................... Kitchen and Hospitality Manager, ext. 210 Stacey Williams .............................................................................................. Head of Security
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