Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost

August 23, 2015

Bethlehem Lutheran Church L.C.M.S.

P.O. Box 353 6012 S. Lake St.

Glen Arbor, MI 49636

Church Phone / Fax (231) 334-4180 Email blcga@centurytel.net

www.bethlehemglenarbor.com Rev. Dr. Charles Webb

Vicar Dan Dockery John DeKorne, Director of Music

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Prayer List Prayers for God’s People John Bennett - health issues Shirley Cheney Eric - Rosiek’s friend’s son in skiing accident Jeff - Rosiek’s neighbor’s son in car accident Pam Hargreaves - health issues Craig House - health issues – Friend of the Schultz’s Rob McWatt - health issues Ruth McWatt - heatlh issues Phillip Rosiek - son of Ken & Cindy Rosiek: recently diagnosed with MS Daniel Slessman - waiting on biopsy Charles Webb - health issues The Peppler Family - grieving on the passing of Steve Unceasing Prayers -Kathy Beights (Bates) - ongoing health issues – Sister I.L. of Doug & Sherry -Clara Bumgardner - aunt of Pat Bennett - with ongoing medical issues Carol Loeschke - serious health issues -Kristin Lauer - sister of Karin Olson -Nicholas Lauer - nephew of Karin Olson -Karin Olson - health issues -Shirley Winowiecki - mother of Dianna Sheridan – with health issues - Safe travel for residents and visitors - Safety and your guidance for all men and women serving our country - Prayers for all Pastor’s, Staff, Lay leaders and volunteers throughout the world in Christ’s church.

Please inform Chad of any changes of status

WELCOME! We’re so glad you joined us today. If you are visiting, please

fill out a Visitor’s Card in the pew rack and place it in the offering plate. Please also sign the guest book in the narthex and join us for fellowship

following the service. God’s blessings on your worship today as we receive the gifts of God’s Means of Grace together.

Large print worship folders are available to you and are located in the narthex. An usher will assist you. If you are in need of a nursery and/or nursery attendant before or during the worship service, an usher will be

happy to assist you. Immediately following the worship service we meet in the Fellowship Hall for conversation & refreshments.

Please join us for Fellowship, we’d really like to meet you!

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Near to God—Near to One Another August 23, 2015 As We Gather What a wonderful thing it is to have a close-knit family. What a blessing it is when fellow members in the Church are near and dear to one another. But sin separates us from God and from one another. When separation threatens, we tend to call on our traditions and family rules to bring us together. Human efforts alone cannot really bring us close. But as we draw near to God, God draws near to us. As God draws us near to Himself with His forgiving love, we find that at the same time He is drawing us closer to one another in Christian love.

T PREPARATION T

Prelude Adagio (from Organ Sonata No. 1) - Felix Mendelssohn Improvisation on “Abbot’s Leigh” (LSB 646) Please Be Seated Gathering Hymn Text: Fred Pratt Green, 1977 Tune: Cyril V. Taylor, 1941 (LSB 646) “Abbot’s Leigh”

God is here! As We Your People 1) God is here! As we your people meet to offer praise and prayer,

May we find in fuller measure what it is in Christ we share. Here, as in the world around us, all our varied skills and arts Wait the coming of the Spirit into open minds and hearts.

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2) Here are symbols to remind us of our lifelong need of grace; Here are table, font, and pulpit, here the cross has central place. Here in honesty of preaching, here in silence, as in speech, Here in newness and renewal, God the Spirit comes to each. 3) Here our children find a welcome in the shepherd's flock and fold; Here as bread and wine are taken, Christ sustains us as of old. Here the servants of the Servant seek in worship to explore What it means in daily living to believe and to adore. 4) Sovereign God, of earth and heaven, in an age of change and doubt, Keep us faithful to the gospel, help us work your purpose out. Here, in this day's dedication, all we have to give, receive; We, who cannot live without you, we adore you! We believe!

By All Your Saints in Warfare © 1979 Hope Publishing Co.

Please Stand Invocation

P In the name of our almighty and merciful God, C Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening Sentences Joshua 24:15; 18–19, 24

P As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. C We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.

P But you are not able to serve the Lord. C The Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey.

P Then let us return to the covenant of our Baptism.

Confession and Absolution P Let us draw near to God with repentance and faith, trusting His promise to

draw near to us with forgiveness and life. Gracious Father, You gather us together in Your family through faith in Jesus Christ.

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C We are Your children, Father, brothers and sisters in Christ. P Yet by our fallen sinful nature and by our own disobedience, we have in word

and actions turned away from You, our loving God, and turned our backs on our fellow members.

C Forgive us, Father, for Jesus, our Brother, has paid for our sins. P Gracious Father, You gather us together in families as mothers, fathers,

sons, and daughters. C You have placed us in our families to be loved and cared for and to love

and care for one another. P Yet by our fallen sinful nature and by our own disobedience, we have in word

and actions failed to love our own family members as You have loved us. C Forgive us, Father, for Jesus, our Brother, has paid for our sins.

P Children of God, loved by the Lord, Jesus Christ has indeed taken Your sins

to the cross and paid for every one. By His resurrection from the dead He raises you from death in your sins to life in His forgiveness. By the power of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, your sins are forgiven. God strengthen you in His love and forgiveness that you may share those blessings in your family and in the family of God.

C Amen.

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Please Be Seated Hymn of Praise LSB 803 Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee

Public domain

Please Stand Salutation

P The Lord be with you. C And also with you.

Please Stand and share the Peace of the Lord with each other, by saying: “The peace of the Lord be with you.”

Please Stay Standing for the Prayer of the Day

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Prayer of the Day P Let us pray.

Merciful Father, You draw us close to Yourself through the gift of Your own Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior. We are Your forgiven children. Draw us, in like manner, close to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, forgiven and forgiving, loved and loving, in all our ways.

C Amen.

T WORD T

Please Be Seated Old Testament Reading Isaiah 29:11–19

Honored with lips but not hearts 11And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed.

When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”

13And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth

and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me,

and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, 14therefore, behold, I will again

do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder;

and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”

15Ah, you who hide deep from the LORD your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”

16You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker,

“He did not make me”; or the thing formed say of him who formed it,

“He has no understanding”?

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17Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?

18In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book,

and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.

19The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD,

and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.

L This is the Word of the Lord. C Thanks be to God.

Psalm Psalm 14, paraphrased

! Men: “There is no God,” the foolish hearts demand. @ Women: Not one of them does good throughout the land. ! Men: The Lord looks down. Do any understand? @ Women: Not one of them obeys the Lord’s command. ! Men: They all have turned aside and do no good. @ Women: They do not know the Lord as they all should. ! Men: They do not call on God as well they could. @ Women: They shame God’s people as their livelihood. ! Men: But God is with the righteous in their cause, @ Women: All those who trust in God and heed His laws. ! Men: He is their refuge. All the meek He draws @ Women: Restoring fortunes, cleansing all their flaws. ! Men: Salvation comes! A Savior! Zion’s choice! @ Women: Let all God’s people lift their voice! Rejoice!

Epistle Ephesians 5:22–33

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head

of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

25Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

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26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30because we are members of his body. 31“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

L This is the Word of the Lord. C Thanks be to God.

Choir Anthem “The Gift of Love” (I Cor. 13) - English folk tune arr. Hopson

Though I may speak with bravest fire, and have the gift to all inspire.

and have not love, my words are vain, as sounding brass, and hopeless gain.

Though I may give all I possess, and striving so my love profess, but not be giv’n by love within,

the profit soon turns strangely thin.

Come, Spirit, come, our hearts control. our spirits long to be made whole. Let inward love guide every deed;

by this we worship and are freed. Amen. Children’s Sermon -Vicar Dan Dockery Please Stand Holy Gospel Mark 7:1–13

P The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark, the seventh chapter. C Glory to You, O Lord.

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Jesus rebukes the scribes and Pharisees. 1 When the Pharisees gathered to [Jesus], with some of the scribes who had come

from Jerusalem, 2they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) 5And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

“‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;

7in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

8You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” 9And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in

order to establish your tradition! 10For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban’ (that is, given to God)— 12then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

P This is the Gospel of the Lord. C Praise to You, O Christ.

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Please Be Seated Sermon Hymn

LSB 802 Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise

Public domain

Sermon - Vicar Dan Dockery

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Please Stand Apostles’ Creed

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 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 sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence 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 T everlasting. Amen.

Please Be Seated Offering

Offertory Hymn LSB 772 In Holy Conversation

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© 2004 Gregory J. Wismar. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License .NET, no. 100011260.

Public domain

Please Stand Prayer of the Church

P O Lord, turn us away from the foolish traditions of men that say there is no God.

C We are Your children, Lord. We believe and trust in You. P O Lord, turn us away from following the corrupt and evil ways of the world. C We call on You, Lord, to strengthen our faith and our resolve to follow

You. P O Lord, turn our hearts to You. Draw us near in Your love and forgiveness. C Draw us near to one another in our families and in Your Church. P O Lord, turn our hearts to the needs of the poor and needy who long for

relief. C Save them, O Lord, from hopelessness and shame, for You are our

refuge. P O Lord, look with kindness on the people of every land. Bless them with

peace. C Dispel every terror, Lord, and let Your salvation go out into all the

world. P O Lord, give healing to the sick, comfort to the distressed, and hope to all

who are discouraged, especially for: Carol, Charles, Clara, Craig, Daniel, Don, John, Karin, Kathy, Kristin, Nicholas, Pam, Phillip, Rob, Ruth, Shirley and the Peppler Family, oh Lord, please remember those in our hearts not mentioned today.

C Lift us up, O Lord, with Your eternal promises and Your present help in every trouble.

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P O Lord, we rejoice in Your salvation. Your every blessing makes us glad. C We bring our offerings, O Lord, in thankfulness to you. We give our

lives in loving service. P O Lord, give us sincerely repentant and joyful hearts when we come to Your

Communion Table. C Fill us, Lord Jesus, with Your body and blood, Your forgiveness, and

Your strength to turn away from sin and live our lives for You. P O Lord, we thank You for hearing our prayers. C Grant us all things, O Lord, according to Your steadfast love for us.

Amen.

Lord's Prayer

C 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.

Benediction

P The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you with favor and T give you peace.

C Amen.

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Please Be Seated

LSB 923 Almighty Father, Bless the Word

Public domain

Creative Worship for the Lutheran Parish, Series B, Part 3. Copyright © 2015 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Acknowledgments

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2006 Concordia Publishing House.

Announcements & Fellowship

We Serve… Elder: Jim Kraatz Altar Guild: Pat Bennett Laurel Peterson Sunday School: Laurel Peterson Fellowship: Potluck for everyone

At Bethlehem At Bethlehem… 40 were in attendance on August 16, 2015

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Today 8:45-9:15 Choir Practice 9:30 Worship Service 10:30 Fellowship Voters Meeting Following Fellowship Sunday, August 30 8:45-9:15 Choir Practice 9:30 Worship Service

10:30 Fellowship

Milestones

John Bennett….You stand alone this

week as the only member having a birthday. Happy Birthday to you on Friday. Have a great day as you get one year wiser and the best is yet to arrive.

Don’t run off!

Don’t run off!

Did you remember your dish to pass? If not, please

don’t leave, enjoy all the other dishes that were

probably better than yours anyway! PLUS we need

your input at the voters meeting, which is probably

better than everyone else’s!

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There’s a voters meeting,

it’ll be great ‘cause there’s

food too! Even if you are a

visitor, please come eat

and then you don’t have to

stay for the meeting.

That’s about as close to

perfect as it gets!

Janet Peppler’s son entered Heaven last Monday. This is the latest information from Vicar Dan: Stephen T. Peppler, born in Michigan, passed away August 17, 2015 at his residence in Temecula, CA. He is survived by his wife, one daughter, two step daughters, one grandchild, extended family and friends.

General Information

Full Name Stephen Thomas Peppler

Date of Birth

Monday, August 8th, 1949

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Date of Death

Monday, August 17th, 2015

Service Information

When

Saturday, August 22nd, 2015, 1:00pm

Location

Christ The Vine Lutheran

Address

29581 N. General Kearny Rd

Temecula, CA

92591

Some Sad News… Kurt and Gail Schultz are moving out of this area to live year round in Arizona. I know, we all wish them well, but Gail and Kurt, just know we

will miss you deeply and thank you for being a part of Bethlehem! Rip some siding off the church or take a pine cone from the front tree as a reminder that

we love you and wish the best for you both.

Automated External Defibrillator

That’ a fancy name for a machine that gets your heart ticking, if it decides it needs to stop. It’s also called an AED. Your church

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council wants to buy one with YOUR help.

It’s That Time Again to…

“Practice Your

Penmanship!” Wow, what an opportunity and such a variety of ways to

practice your cursive. Only in church could such an opportunity arise! Bethlehem needs you to sign your name on the clip boards for

Please, don’t forget the SOX BOX. Sox & reusable bags and other durable usable goods. Thanks!!

It’s Fort Wayne Seminarian Student

Collection Time!

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Start collecting for the Sem. Students now!

All items need to be in good condition. Items may be brought to church in August.

A representative from Trinity will pick up items in September.

Laundry soap, TP, soap, baby diapers,

toothpaste, etc. Good used clothing (no polyester suits) Dishes, toaster ovens, household items

Toys Christmas decorations

Our Mission Statement Our mission is to share the Good News of Jesus Christ…God’s Love and Forgiveness…by reaching out to all people.

Our Core Values

What we value the most…Truth of God’s Word – Worship – Prayer – Evangelism – Godly Leadership