First Service
TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Love and Traditions
November 9, 2025
AS WE GATHER
We are not far from the “holiday season.” In the secular world, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s roll into one big celebration. It is typical to have holiday traditions around special times of the year. Traditions can serve to make some moments more memorable and meaningful. But sometimes traditions add stress to an already hectic calendar or distract us from the real reason for celebrating. Before jumping headlong into the holiday season, soak up this moment in worship. See how the Lord repeatedly meets us with His best. See how surrounding ourselves with His Word and sacramental gifts truly makes us ready to celebrate, for this season and forever!
+ PREPARATION +
HYMN God of Grace and God of Glory LSB 850
God of grace and God of glory, On Thy people pour Your pow’r.
Crown Thine ancient Church’s story, Bring its bud to glorious flow’r.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the facing of this hour, For the facing of this hour.
Lo! the hosts of evil ’round us, Scorn the Christ, assail His ways.
From the fears that long have bound us,
Free our hearts to faith and praise. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the living of these days, For the living of these days.
Cure Your children’s warring madness, Bend our pride to Thy control. Shame our wanton selfish gladness,
Rich in things and poor in soul. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal, Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal.
Save us from weak resignation, To the evils we deplore.
Let the gift of Your salvation, Be our glory evermore.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
Serving You Whom we adore, Serving You Whom we adore.
INVOCATION
Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
OPENING SENTENCES
Pastor: This is the day that the Lord has made;
People: let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Pastor: See what kind of love the Father has given to us,
People: that we should be called children of God; and so we are.
Pastor: Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
People: Let all that you do be done in love.
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION Colossians 1:13–14
Pastor: The Lord has delivered us from the domain of darkness
People: and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Pastor: Almighty God and Father,
People: we confess, as Your people, our need for Your merciful kindness. We are prisoners of our own wants, our own traditions, and our own inborn sinfulness. Our actions and interactions often fail as reflections of Your kingdom. Our thoughts and desires often reflect the domain of darkness You have delivered us from. We often act out of our love for ourselves, rather than our love for others or for You. Forgive us and free us, Lord, to love what You love and go where You lead, all by the grace of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Pastor: Almighty God, in His mercy, has given His Son, Jesus, to die for you, and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of the Word made flesh, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
+ WORD +
HYMN OF PRAISE I Love You, Lord CH 78
I love You, Lord, and I lift my voice To worship You, O my soul, rejoice!
Take joy, my King, in what You hear: May it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear. (Repeat)
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Pastor: Let us pray. Living God, Your almighty power is made known chiefly in showing mercy and pity. Grant us the fullness of Your grace to lay hold of Your promises and live forever in Your presence; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT READING Exodus 3:1–15 (The Lord announces His intention to deliver Israel from slavery and mobilizes Moses to bear His name.)
Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
EPISTLE 2 Thessalonians 2:1–8, 13–17 (Amid confusion and calamity, Paul exhorts believers to cling to his faithful teaching and the hope of Christ.)
Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14 To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
HOLY GOSPEL Luke 20:27–40 (Jesus silences the scribes and Sadducees by witnessing of the God of the living.)
27 There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, 28 and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. 30 And the second 31 and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. 32 Afterward the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”
34 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36 for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.” 39 Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” 40 For they no longer dared to ask him any question.
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE
HYMN I Know That My Redeemer Lives TLH 200 vs 1-3, 5, & 8
I know that my Redeemer lives! What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, He lives, who once was dead. He lives my ever-living Head.
He lives triumphant from the grave, He lives eternally to save,
He lives all glorious in the sky. He lives exalted there on high.
He lives to bless me with His love, He lives to plead for me above.
He lives my hungry soul to feed, He lives to help in time of need.
He lives to silence all my fears. He lives to wipe away my tears.
He lives to calm my troubled heart. He lives all blessings to impart.
He lives, all glory to His name! He lives, my Jesus, still the same.
Oh, the sweet joy this sentence gives, “I know that my Redeemer lives!”
SERMON
CATECHISM The Third Petition
Pastor: The Third Petition of the Lord’s Prayer:
People: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Pastor: What does this mean?
People: The good and gracious will of God is done even without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also.
Pastor: How is God’s will done?
People: God’s will is done when He breaks and hinders every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow God’s name or let His kingdom come; and when He strengthens and keeps us firm in His Word and faith until we die. This is His good and gracious will.
GREETING/ANNOUNCEMENTS
OFFERING
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
Pastor: Great I Am, who spoke from the burning bush on Sinai’s height, make Your people to know Your voice. Help us to hear Your clear and consistent Word, that we might love what You love and go where You lead. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Pastor: Great I Am, who heard the cries of Egypt’s slaves, shower Your mercy on the downtrodden, especially victims of oppression and violence. Be their strength and support and bring them comfort and deliverance through the Gospel. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Pastor: Great I Am, who mobilized Moses to bear Your name as a witness to Your ancient people, provide such servants for Your people today. Call pastors, missionaries, deaconesses, teachers, and ministers of Your Word, provide for their training and care, and preserve them in their callings from failure, fear, and burnout. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Pastor: Great I Am, who faced the Sadducees’ interrogation about marriage, strengthen and support all Christian marriages. Supply them Your holy wisdom, defend them from evil attacks, and hold them in Your faithful hand, that they might trust they never walk alone. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Pastor: Great I Am, who declared Yourself to be the God of the living, battle for our sakes the enemies of death, disease, and disability that threaten our earthly life. [Bring Your healing and comfort to . . .]. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Pastor: Great I Am, who revealed Your glory to the world through the Gospel, preserve us in the one true faith, established for every good work and word, that all who believe and belong to You would have the eternal comfort and good hope of grace that comes through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with Father and Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen.