ST

ST. PAUL'S LUTHERAN CHURCH

460 McBride Street, Prince Rupert, B.C

Office Phone: 624-4164 Email: stpauls@citywest.ca

Church Website: stpaulsprincerupert.com

Pastor: Diana S. Edis Home: 250 622-2725

Pastor’s email: pastor2stp@gmail.com

E-transfer email: offering2stpauls@citywest.ca

12th Sunday after Pentecost August 23, 2020

Facebook Live Stream Worship 11:00 A.M.

Presiding Minister

Rev. Diana Edis

Worship Leader

Herman Seidemann

Musician

Larissa Goruk

Our worship will be live streamed on our Facebook page: St. Paul’s Lutheran, Prince Rupert. You do not have to have a Facebook account to access that worship.

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Welcome to Worship with St. Paul's Lutheran Church. In Isaiah the people are advised to look to their spiritual ancestors as the rock from which they were hewn. Jesus declares that the church will be built on the rock of Peter’s bold confession of faith. God’s word of reconciliation and God’s mercy are keys to the church’s mission. Paul urges us to not be conformed to this world but to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, using our individual gifts to build up the body of Christ. From the table we go forth to offer our spiritual worship through word and deed.

Weekly Prayer Petitions

Local: Cornerstone Mennonite Brethren Church, Prince Rupert

Synod Parishes: Ascension Lutheran, Nelson and Mount Zion Lutheran, New Westminster

Anglican-Lutheran Prayers: Bishops, clergy and people of the Diocese of Saskatchewan

Dean, council, and congregations of Southwest Area of Synod of Alb. and the Territories

Information and Discipleship Opportunities

1. Pastor Diana continues on holidays through September 2. There will be no Pastor is Public until September 9.

2. Our book study based on the book White Fragility: Why It’s so Hard for White People to Talk about Racism by Robin J. DiAngelo has begun! We are so excited to see the impact of this group. It’s not too late to join. Please share this information with those who may be interested. This group is held on Zoom and will last through Thanksgiving (if things get interesting or move slowly the group can vote to extend). Here is the Zoom invitation.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89370445799?pwd=bWJMdXZEQmhLc2tTK2hXUGttNVpKUT09Meeting ID: 893 7044 5799

Password: 609454

3. Our Church Council has decided that for the time being it is neither healthy nor practical to gather in the building. We are looking to convene a 3 person team to assist Pastor with decisions on planning and compliance with PHO requirements. As the majority of our members are in the “at risk” category this must be done with utmost care and will entail some changes to our standard practice. We will continue online worship for the foreseeable future for our friends near and far who appreciate it. Until we have a team in place we will not begin to consider in-person worship. Please contact the office if you are interested in this ministry.

* All Hymns and liturgical text reprinted under license from One License: license number A-731124 and Augsburg Fortress: license number SB157842

* Our Bible readings are taken from the New Revised Standard Version and are also covered under AF license number SB157842.

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Announcements

Confession and Forgiveness

L: Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God,

whose steadfast love is everlasting,

whose faithfulness endures from generation to generation.

Amen.

Trusting in the mercy of God, let us confess our sin.

We remain silent for a moment to search our hearts.

Reconciling God,

we confess that we do not trust your abundance,

and we deny your presence in our lives.

We place our hope in ourselves and rely on our own efforts.

We fail to believe that you provide enough for all.

We abuse your good creation for our own benefit.

We fear difference and do not welcome others as you have welcomed us.

We sin in thought, word, and deed.

By your grace, forgive us;

through your love, renew us;

and in your Spirit, lead us;

so that we may live and serve you in newness of life. Amen.

Beloved of God,

by the radical abundance of divine mercy

we have peace with God through ☩ Christ Jesus,

through whom we have obtained grace upon grace.

Our sins are forgiven.

Let us live now in hope. For hope does not disappoint,

because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Gathering Hymn

There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy

No. 588

L: 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.

Kyrie

No. 154

Prayer of the Day

L: Let us pray,

O God, with all your faithful followers of every age, we praise you, the rock of our life. Be our strong foundation and form us into the body of your Son, that we may gladly minister to all the world, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.Amen.

Our first reading is from the book of Isaiah, beginning at the 51st chapter.

51:1-6

 Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness, you that seek the Lord.Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.   Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you;  for he was but one when I called him, but I blessed him and made him many.   For the Lord will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places, and will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord;joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.  

 Listen to me, my people, and give heed to me, my nation;  for a teaching will go out from me, and my justice for a light to the peoples.   I will bring near my deliverance swiftly,my salvation has gone out and my arms will rule the peoples;  the coastlands wait for me, and for my arm they hope.   Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath;  for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and those who live on it will die like gnats;  but my salvation will be forever, and my deliverance will never be ended.  

L: The word of the Lord,

Thanks be to God

Our second reading is from the book of Romans, beginning at the 12th chapter.

12:1-8

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.  For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

L: The word of the Lord,

Thanks be to God

We sing our gospel acclamation, found on page 216 in your ELW.

The holy gospel according to Matthew, beginning at the 16th chapter

16:13-20

Glory to you, O Lord

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

L: The gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

“Peter’s Declaration”

Written by: Bishop Jason Zinko

Manitoba, Northern Ontario Synod

Preached by: Herman Seidemann

Hymn of the Day

We All Are One in Mission

No. 576

Confession of Faith

Apostles’ Creed

Pg 105

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 power of 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.

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: (petition ends: Lord, in your mercy.

(petition response: Hear our prayer.)

L: The peace of Christ be with you always.

And also with you.

Offering

Offerings may be mailed to the church or placed in our mailbox. You can send e-transfers to offering2stpauls@citywest.ca. You may also give electronically to us through CanadaHelps.

We can be found there at St.Paul’s Lutheran, Prince Rupert.

Offering Prayer

Let us pray,

God of goodness and growth, all creation is yours, and your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.

Water and word, wine and bread: these are signs of your abundant grace. Nourish us through these gifts, that we might proclaim your steadfast love in our communities and in the world, through Jesus Christ, our strength and our song.

Amen.

Lord’s Prayer

L: Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit across time and space, let us pray as Jesus taught us, using whatever version of that prayer comforts you. Using the language of our hearts, we pray…

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,

now and forever. Amen.

Benediction

L: 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.

Sending Hymn

Take My Life, That I May Be

No. 583

Go in peace. Christ is with you.

Thanks be to God.

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