The Dance

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Sarnin. [00:00:28] Speaker B: Well, do you know what today is? It's Trinity Sunday, if you look at your bulletin cover. And again, another festival Sunday. We just keep lining them up here. In fact, next Sunday is another special Sunday. It was going to be Confirmation, the rite of Confirmation for our youth. I believe we have three of our youth being confirmed next Sunday. So, I mean, the fun just keeps coming right now. Trinity Sunday special. You know what? I heard it under somebody's breath. Was that you? The Athanasian Creed and somebody saying, oh, that was a Sunday I was supposed to miss. Last year, what we did was I suspended the Athanasian Creed, and we took every bit as much time to read and recite Luther's explanations to all three articles of the Apostles Creed. Remember that at early service, somebody said, yeah, I like that a lot better. But I have found another way to go through the Athanasian Creed, and it's responsory, and I think you're going to like it, so don't leave. It is a little long, but it's longer. But I made it longer. Yes, yes. Thank you for pointing that out. Somebody block the doors now. For sure. Right. You're on my list. At any rate, our whole service will be focused around the Trinity, and you'll see that in our readings and everything. Just watch and praise God for who he is. And with that, we'll begin our worship. Oh, let me just back up a minute. This opening paragraph kind of defines for us what we're doing. So during the sermon or some other time. You want to read that? That was a joke. Sorry. But when you get home today, read the explanation to the Athanas Creed. That's on the back of your bulletin as well. Or again, sometime during the sermon. With that, now we're going to begin with our opening hymn. Holy, holy, holy, let's rise and sing praise to our God, shall we? [00:03:18] Speaker A: Holy, holy, holy lord God almighty, Merciful and mighty. Sa. Holy, holy, holy. [00:06:23] Speaker B: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, therefore you are feared. And since we are gathered to hear God's word and call upon him in prayer and praise, and receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in the fellowship of this altar, let us first consider our unworthiness and confess before God and one another that we have sinned in thought, word and deed, and that we cannot free ourselves or from our sinful condition. Together as his people, let us take refuge in the infinite mercy of God, our Heavenly Father, seeking his grace for the sake of Christ and saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Almighty God, have mercy upon us, forgive our sins and lead us to everlasting life. Almighty God, merciful Father, in holy baptism you declared us to be your children and gathered us into your one holy church in which you daily and richly forgive us our sins and grant us new life through your spirit. Be in our midst, enliven our faith and graciously receive our prayer and praise through your son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Please be seated. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name. In all the earth. You have established strength because of your foes to still the enemy and the avenger. What is man that you are mindful of him, and the Son of Man, that you care for him. Yet you have made little lower. You have given him dominion over the work of your hands. You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the sea. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name. [00:09:10] Speaker A: Lord, have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord, have mercy to God Almighty Glory. Heaven proclaim Jesus. We praise and bless you, Father, your holy name. We sing, O thanks for your great glory. O God, our not wa to you. O Holy God the Father. Shall we pray? O Lamb of God, our Savior, you take our sins away. Have mercy on us. Jesus, receive our heart. Where you in power are seated, at God's right hand, alive. For you alone are only you, only are the Lord, Forever and forever [00:11:04] Speaker B: we worship. [00:11:06] Speaker A: And the Lord you with the Holy Spirit. [00:11:34] Speaker B: The Lord be with you. And also with you. Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, you have given us grace to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to worship the unity in the power of the Divine majesty. Keep us steadfast in this faith and defend us from all adversities. For you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit, live and reign one God, now and forever. [00:12:08] Speaker A: Amen. [00:12:26] Speaker C: Good morning. [00:12:28] Speaker B: Good morning. [00:12:29] Speaker C: Our first reading this morning is from Genesis. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void. And darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, let there be light. And there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And there was evening, and there was morning. The first day. And God said, let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters. And let it separate the waters from the waters. And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening, and there was morning. The second day. And God said, let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place and let the dry land appear. And it was so. God called the dry land earth. And the waters were gathered together he called seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit, which is in their seed according to each its kind on the earth. And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kind. And trees bearing fruits in which is in their seed according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. And God said, let there be lights in the expanse and the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and seasons and for days and years. And let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth. And it was so. And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light to the earth. So to rule over the day and over the night. And to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening. And there was morning the fourth day. And God said, let the water swarm with the swarms of living creatures. And let birds fly above the earth to the expanse of the heavens. So God created the sea creatures and every living creature that moves which the waters swarm according to its kind. And every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters and the seas. And let birds multiply on the earth. And there was evening. There was morning the fifth day. And God said, let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kind, livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds. And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and livestock according to their kinds. And everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock of and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God. He created him male and female. He created them, and God blessed them. And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And God said, behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of the earth, and every tree with its seed and its fruit. You shall have them for food. And every beast of the earth and every bird of the heavens, and everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food. And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made. And behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the hosts of them. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done. And he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Our second reading is from Acts chapter two. Peter, standing with the 11, lifted up his voice and addressed them. Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst. As you yourselves know this Jesus delivered up according to the dependent plan and foreknowledge of God. You crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, losing the pangs of of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand, and I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced. My flesh also will dwell in hope, for you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life. You will make me full of gladness. With your patience, brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on the throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of Christ, that he was not to be abandoned to Hades, nor his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witness. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of Holy Spirit, he poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend to the heavens, but he himself says the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ. This Jesus whom you crucified. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Please stand for the alleluia and the verse Hallelujah. [00:20:09] Speaker A: Alleluia. Alleluia. These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Hallelujah. Alleluia. Alleluia. [00:20:46] Speaker B: The Holy gospel according to St. Matthew. The 28th chapter. Glory to you, O Lord. Now the 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him, they worshiped him. Some doubted, and Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. This is the Gospel of the Lord. [00:21:31] Speaker C: Praise to you, Lord. [00:21:34] Speaker B: And we now turn in our worship to confessing our Christian faith with the words of the Athanasian Creed. I'm going to invite you to be seated. I forgot to do that at early service. And in the very first line, there's going to be a word that. I don't want you to stumble. That word is Catholic. Do you see it there? Whoever desires to be saved must above all hold the Catholic faith. That Catholic word there is with a little C, not to be confused with the big C, which would represent the Catholic Church or the Roman Catholic Church. But this is the small C, whatever Catholic, which means universal or all Christians on earth. The Holy. What would you call it? The una sancta, the gathering of all faithful. All the faithful in Jesus name in his kingdom and in His Church. So that's what that Catholic means. I bring it to your attention right now because you're going to encounter it about four more times. You ready? Here we go. Whoever desires to be saved must above all hold the Catholic faith. And the Catholic faith is that we worship one God in. For the Father is one person and the Holy Spirit is another. [00:23:40] Speaker A: Father, most Holy, merciful and tender Jesus our Savior, with the Father reigning, Spirit of comfort, Advocate, Defender, Light, never weigh me. [00:24:19] Speaker B: Such as the Father is and such is the Holy Spirit. The Father uncreated. The Holy Spirit uncreated, the Father Infinite. The Holy Spirit infinite. The Father Eternal. The Holy Spirit eternal. And yet there are not three eternals, but one Eternal. [00:25:04] Speaker A: Unity, unshaken, goodness unbounded, very God of Heaven, light of the angels, joy of those forsaken, Hope of holy. [00:25:40] Speaker B: In the same way the Father is Almighty, the Holy Spirit Almighty. So the father is God, the holy spirit is God. And yet there are not three gods, but one God. So the father is lord, the son is lord, the holy spirit is lord. Just as we are compelled by the Christian truth to acknowledge each distinct person as God and Lord, so also. [00:26:33] Speaker A: Maker of all things, all thine creatures praise thee all for thy worship were and are created. Now, as we also worship Thee devoutly, hear thou our voices. [00:27:13] Speaker B: The Father is not made, nor created, nor begotten by anyone. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, neither made nor created nor begotten, but proceeding thus. There is one Father, not three Fathers, one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. And in this Trinity none is before or after another, But the whole three persons are co eternal with each other and co equal, so that in all things, as has been stated above, the Trinity in unity. Therefore, whoever desires to be saved must think thus about the Trinity. [00:28:19] Speaker A: Lord God Almighty. Unto Thee be glory, one in three Persons over all exalted glory we offer, praise thee and adore Thee now and forever. [00:29:00] Speaker B: But it is also necessary for everlasting salvation that one faithfully believe. Therefore it is the right faith that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is at the same time both God and He is God begotten from the substance of the Father before all ages. And he is man born from the substance of his Mother. In this age perfect God and perfect man, composed of a rational soul and human flesh. [00:29:58] Speaker A: Of the Father's love begotten ere the world began to be. He is Alpha and Omega, he the Source, the ending, he of the things that are, that have been and that future you shall see evermore and evermore. [00:30:38] Speaker B: Although he is God and man, he is not 2. 1. However, not by the conversion of the divinity into flesh. One altogether, not by confusion of substance. [00:31:06] Speaker A: O that birth forever blessed when the Virgin full of grace by the Holy Spirit he conceived o' er the frame of our race. And thou, Babe, the world's Redeemer, first revealed his sacred Evermore and evermore. [00:31:46] Speaker B: For as the rational soul and flesh is one man, Whoever suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead, and is seated at the right hand of the Father God Almighty, from whence he will come to judge the living and the dead. At his coming, all people will rise again with their bodies and give an account concerning their own deeds. And those who have done good will enter into eternal life. [00:32:31] Speaker A: O ye heights of heav' n adore ye angel Host his praises sing power's dominions Bow before him and extol our God and King Let no tongue on earth be silent Every voice in concert ring evermore and evermore. [00:33:09] Speaker B: This is the Catholic faith. Whoever does not believe faithfully comes to sin. [00:33:20] Speaker A: Christ to thee with God the Father and O Holy Ghost to Thee him and chant and high thanksgiving and unending praises be Honor, glory and dominion and eternal victory. [00:34:01] Speaker B: Well, as has already been pointed out, leave it to me to make the Athanasian Creed even longer than it needs to be. There you have it. But it is. It's Trinity Sunday. And it's an important observation for us to acknowledge. Not just the creeds that have been presented to us over the centuries, the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, all with their own historical backgrounds, but also this, the Athanasian Creed, which, well, it's definitely worthy of our study. Trinity Sunday. You know, it's the only Sunday in the entire church year that doesn't celebrate a person or, you know, like saints or an event like Christmas or Easter. Like last Sunday, you know, we celebrated Pentecost. But instead we celebrate today a doctrine, the doctrine of. Of the Trinity. Now, the word doctrine is. Well, just means the teaching that we embrace about a particular theological issue. So today, the doctrine of the Trinity. So we're going to look at it as if we haven't already with that extensive treatise that we just read. You see, what we know about God, we know because, well, his general revelation we look as we heard in our Old Testament lesson today. The creation of the world, all that we see, all that we have around us, well, really both seen and unseen, is part of God's general revelation. But then he has a special revelation for us in his holy word. And so we know what we know about God in detail about God because of the Bible. Now in Old Testament times, it's exposed to us in the Bible that there were many gods, the world had many gods, and that's explained through the lives of people besides God's people there in the Old Testament. But what do we have? Abraham, who is called upon by the one true God to set forth from Ur of the Chaldees and go into an unknown future with a new kind of faith, a faith in one God who could no more be carved into stone or cast into metal, then the sun can be bottled up in some sort of a portable container. No, this was a novel idea in those days, in a world where deities of all types abounded in great mythical pantheons, deities more often than not at odds with one another. I mean, just think back in your own study of the mythology in the world. And the first ones that come to my mind are Zeus with his lightning bolt in his hand, throwing it at Mars, who fends it off with his trident, or any of the other mythological tales that you might have studied once upon a time. The point is, the pantheons, the deities were abundant, okay? But one God, Abraham declares it one God. Moses proclaims it one God, Isaiah announces it. And this God was holy, holy, holy, as we sang in our opening hymn this morning. Holy and set apart beyond all human attempts to package God or to control God. And then along come these Christians, Christians who say, blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Wait a minute, what's going on here? Still a unity of being, but now a trinity of persons. Well, this is a concept that confusing, I think, to those who had dispensed with multiple deities and had fully embraced the notion of one God. I mean, this was God's people, the Jewish people, fully embracing one God, willing to go to their deaths, willing to die for that truth of one God. And they wanted to keep things plain and simple. Can we blame them? No. Why complicate things? They may have thought so. Throughout the centuries, Christian scholars, theologians in the church have tried to explain the Trinity. It's like the sun, they said, energy, a big ball of energy, but also a beam of light that streams down upon us. And it also gives us heat to warm us when we're cold. Or St. Patrick, remember, he uses the shamrock. Three leaves but one plant. I've also heard the human being, body, soul and spirit, but one person or an egg. It's one egg. But it's shell and whites and yolk or an apple. It's skin and meat and core or water, solid, liquid, gas. Or a finger. We're not going to talk about fingers today. [00:40:22] Speaker C: All of those. [00:40:27] Speaker B: Fail one way or another. They don't describe with accuracy or fullness what we know to be true about the Trinity. Our own Augsburg Confession, the doctrinal Confessions of our Lutheran Church say this. All comparisons, all images, all illustrations by which men have tried to represent the doctrine of three persons in one Godhead, fail to illustrate, much less explain, the Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity is beyond all power of conception. The difficulty does not lie in numeric terminology, but in the relationship of the three persons to each other and the way that they are united in one Godhead without being only parts of it. Now, there's all manner of theology and writing that that picks what I just said to you absolutely apart. Here's what I think is the takeaway from celebrating Trinity Sunday. It's forcing us to study the Word of God for ourselves instead of relying upon artificial definitions. So let's study the Word of God. And I would commend to you John 16, for example, starting at verse 12, where it says, jesus is talking. Jesus, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them. Now when the Spirit of truth, Holy Spirit comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak. And he will declare to you the things that are to come. And he will glorify me. Jesus says, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. And then Jesus says this, all that the Father has is mine. Therefore I said, he will take what is mine and declare it to you. So, right there Jesus in John 16 is identifying the Trinity. Or take Jesus baptism at the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew, for example. There we find Jesus in the waters of the Jordan river, the Spirit descending in the form of a dove, and the Father speaking from the heavens. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. So there you have the Trinity. Do you see it? Do you hear it? Of course we do. We have Jesus, the Spirit, who is glorifying the Son, and both in unity with the Father. There it is, the triune Godhead, the Trinity. And here's God's three distinct persons in perfect harmony, all saying the same thing, all working toward the same goal, each from a different outlook or task. What a concept. Are you with me? What a concept. Unity, harmony, oneness of Purpose in three non competing personalities. And there I just better stop or I myself will cross over into some heresy. Because it's so easy to do. Because we dare not put ourselves over God if we can explain God. What just happened? We just became, right, we just became God. No, our calling is to understand His Word, which means to stand under, which means to look up, which means to trust the one who is above us. Now here's the thing. It's not that trinitarian theology, or a trinitarian God for that matter, is too complicated to understand. It's finally that God is beyond our understanding, beyond which is to kind of put us into sort of a dance with God. That's right, I said dance. So let's talk about dancing. The early Christian theologians used a Greek word, parichoresis, meaning all around, and koresis, which means to dance. So parichoresis, according to these early theologians using this Greek word parakarasis, is the infinite dance with the Godhead in which we all, we all join hands in one great circle. And as we dance, we dance closer and closer to the center of life where God is, and in the process move closer and closer to one another. The love of God, the love that is God, is like a divine dance, a dynamic and graceful and, and deeply intimate set of steps and movements. And in this movement, the God who is the I am God is not alone. He's never alone. For the very essence of God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit is relationship. Now that's far different from the mythological deities of old who are always fighting with one another and always going out of their way to annoy one another. No, what we see in the Trinity is a dance of persons who are mutually affirming, mutually caring, mutually loving. For the very essence of God is relationship, community, unconditional love. It's this God who is, well, quite surprisingly willing to dance with you. Doesn't have to, does he? He doesn't have to dance with you. It's like being at some high school dance and oh, remember those days? And you're just waiting for someone to come over and ask you to come out onto the dance floor. Or conversely, hoping that nobody comes over to ask you out onto the dance floor. That would be me. My point is, look, God has other options. But it's you that God steps up to. It's you he holds out his hand to. It's you that he says, come dance with me. He doesn't owe you that yet. There's his hand, there's his offer. Will you dance with me? He wants to dance with you because he loves you. So what would it mean to you to see God step up to you with his hand out, inviting you out onto the dance floor? The dance floor that I would say is your life, which, by the way, would necessarily include God being present in the most fractured places of your life. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine God present in both the high and the low, The good and the bad, The plenty and the lean? Is that a dance you're willing to risk? What would it mean to discover God in the abandoned and the forgotten and the most broken places in our lives and realize it's the overwhelming mystery of the Trinity in the unity and the unity in the Trinity of God? Or, let me say it more clearly. What would it mean for us to discover God in the midst of our mistakes, our pain, our depression, our illness or our deaths? Or in the greatest of triumphs, for that matter? Perhaps we would find a God who is close, who wants to walk with us. No, wants to dance with us. Is dancing with us instead of a God who, according to this world, is distant and wooden and judgmental. I mean, what we see in the Trinity. What we see in the Trinity is an intentional dance of persons who are mutually affirming and mutually caring and mutually loving. And the love of God, the love that is God, is like a divine, divine dance. A dynamic and graceful and deeply intimate movement. Also ours, by the way, as we dance with him, intentionally coming before him and actually worshiping him in songs and hymns and spiritual songs and intentionally praying to him and intentionally making confession of our sins and a confession of our faith as well. And intentionally listening to His Word and intentionally loving His Word. That's dancing with him instead of intentionally making fun or mocking or tuning out or finding fault. That's not God's model with us. What makes us think that we can use that model with other people? Now it's even more remarkable then that God, who in this dance needs no other partner, chooses to create and redeem a people. No, even more, choose and create and redeem you and me through his death on the cross and his glorious resurrection. So. So that we might join in the dance. The invitations, you know, the invitations are out. No spectators on this dance floor. No outcasts, no wallflowers, no outsiders. All dance steps, good or bad, acceptable. We are called by God to see ourselves as God sees us and thus discover ourselves. To be in a dance with him, the three persons of the Trinity. And if you can see the Trinity in a dance and yourself in that Dance. You will begin to see others stepping out in that same dance. And soon be able to see them in a dance with you and with them. The prophet Isaiah, he said it. Well, he says, do not fear. I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. See, that's no anonymous form letter that invites us to participate in. In the divine dance. It's God, very overtly, particularly walking up to you and saying, I've called you by name. You are mine by name. Well, my undergraduate work started at St. John's College in Winfield campus. Who's ever heard of that? Just a couple hands. Okay. Well, it's closed now, so I didn't close it right. Who said that? There I was as an undergraduate, minding my own business, trouncing off to some next class when I found out Paul Harvey was on campus. Now, many of you will remember Paul Harvey, but for those of you who don't, Paul Harvey was renowned back in the day as a radio personality. I listened to Paul Harvey religiously. Anybody else? Yeah, lots of people know Paul Harvey. Well. Well, I was beyond eager to meet this guy. I mean, he's on campus for heaven's sakes. I went running up to him and I wanted to meet him. And I was put off by one of his associates. Mr. Harvey is busy, I was told. Well, I turned away and kind of dragging my chin on the ground, walking away. Felt rejected. All. All of a sudden I heard this golden throated voice from behind me. Just a minute there, young man, I heard. And I turned and looked and here he was coming toward me with his hand outstretched. He wanted to shake my hand. And. For 10 minutes I had his undivided attention. Tell me about yourself, he said. Tell me about yourself. So I said, well, you know. He wanted to know where I was from and more importantly where I was going, what my career plans were. I'm telling you full attention. And for that 10 minutes, I felt like gold. He encouraged me. Me, dumb old two left feet Pete, you know, and putting it in the dance parlance, I was mesmerizing on the dance floor because of that visit. Why? Well, because I felt valued. I felt special. This triune God that we worship treats us this same way. Just a minute, young man. Just a minute, young lady. Special. I've called you by name. You are mine. Special, Valued, beloved. God's beloved. Part of the dance. Amen. And having heard the word of God, let us pray for the whole church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs. Special prayers. Today requested on behalf of Andrew Camp, son of Bruce Camp, who's hospitalized in San Diego with severe intestinal infection. And also prayers for the family of Corey Schwartz, who passed away last week. And by the way, the memorial service preparations are for this coming Wednesday at 11 o' clock here at Trinity, we pray. Holy, holy, holy. Lord God of Sabaoth, we bless your name. You call us out of darkness into your marvelous light. Now guard your church, purchased with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and keep her in the true faith without error, without schism or compromise, until that day when you welcome her home as your spotless bride. Lord, in your mercy, Creator God, you ordered this world according to your good and gracious will, crowning your creation with mankind. Give us faith to cherish this holy estate of marriage, its union of husband and wife, your call to be fruitful, and the promise that you will bless what you have made. Lord, in your mercy and almighty God, you are over all things. We pray for nations and governments, for leaders and civil servants, and for peace and justice here in our own land and throughout the world. Lord, in your mercy, loving Lord, you promise to be with your people always. To the end of the age, comfort those afflicted in body or mind, soul or spirit, especially Paul, Mary, Vern, Rachel, Bob, Carolyn, Aaron, Daniel, Ellen, Bill, Marlo, Teresa, Ron, Virtus, Linda, Christy, Laureen, Gordon, Allen, Jim, Karen, Dick, Bruce, Les, Andrew, the family of Corey Schwartz, and all that we name before you in our hearts. Oh, Father, give them grace to entrust themselves into your son's loving hands and await the relief according to your good and gracious will. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Father, in the Blessed Sacrament, your son gives his body as the bread of heaven and his blood as the cup of salvation. Help us to receive this blessed Sacrament with faith and show forth the fruits of the Spirit in lives of faith and repentance and goodness. Lord, in your mercy, Lord God, heavenly Father, your blessed son, prayed for his disciples that they might be one as you are one. Grant that your church, being caught up together in the dance of love and obedience to you, may be united in one body by the one Spirit, that the world may believe in him whom you have sent, your son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit as one God, now and forever. Amen. And we take opportunity at this time to receive our tithes and offerings. [01:01:25] Speaker A: It. Sa. [01:02:16] Speaker B: It, Please rise. The Lord be with you. Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is truly good, right and salutary. That at all times and in all places we give thanks to you, O Lord, holy Father, almighty and everlasting God, for the countless blessings you so freely bestow on us and all creation. Above all, we give thanks for your boundless love shown to us when you sent your only begotten son, Jesus Christ into our flesh and laid on him our sin, giving him into death that that we might not die eternally. Because he is now risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity. All who believe in him will overcome sin and death and will rise again to new life. Therefore, with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify your glorious name evermore. Praising you and singing Holy, holy, holy Lord. Hear us, Father, as we pray in the name of Jesus and as he has taught us. 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. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. [01:05:03] Speaker A: Amen. [01:05:05] Speaker B: Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, take and eat. This is my body which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me. And in the same way also he took the cup after supper. And when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, drink of it all of you. This cup is the new covenant in my blood shed for you for the forgiveness of all of your sins. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. The peace of the Lord be with you always. [01:06:41] Speaker A: Jesus christ. [01:07:01] Speaker B: Welcome. Welcome to the Lord's table. Kim. Take and eat the body of Christ. Steve. The body of Christ given for you. And now receive and drink the blood of Christ shed for you for the forgiveness of our sins. May this the body and blood of our Lord, Lord Jesus Christ, keep you in true faith, both body and soul unto life everlasting. Depart now in his peace and joy. Amen. Welcome to the Lord's table. Now take indeed the body of Christ given for you, the true body of our Lord. [01:08:01] Speaker C: Take and drink. [01:08:19] Speaker A: Sh. You. [01:08:53] Speaker B: So now may this body and blood strengthen and preserve you both body and soul into life everlasting. Part now with his peace and trouble. [01:09:10] Speaker A: Sa. It. [01:10:12] Speaker B: Welcome to the Lord's table. Now take and eat the body of Christ. The body of Christ given for you for the forgiveness of our sins and for the Spirit in the army. Lord Jesus love you and bless you always according to. So now may this body and blood strengthen and preserve your body of body and soul into life everlasting. Depart now his peace and joy. Welcome to the Lord's day. [01:11:44] Speaker A: Raising. Foreign. [01:12:37] Speaker B: Ra. [01:13:06] Speaker A: Sa. [01:13:45] Speaker B: Please rise, [01:13:59] Speaker A: O lord. All glory to the Sa. [01:15:29] Speaker B: Let us pray. We give thanks to you, Almighty God, that you have refreshed us through this salutary gift. And we implore you that of your mercy you would strengthen us through the same in faith toward you and in fervent love toward one another. Through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Let us bless the Lord. Thanks be to God and the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord look upon you with his favor and grant you his peace. Amen. [01:16:24] Speaker A: Glory be to God the father. Glory be to the son. [01:16:34] Speaker C: Glory to. [01:16:59] Speaker A: Heaven. Glory to the Glory to the. Nation. Glory, glory. [01:18:27] Speaker B: Glory. Well, I don't think there's any announcements, so I'm going to make one up too. I think that Trinity would be a great name for a church, don't you? [01:18:51] Speaker A: You. [01:18:55] Speaker B: And second, go in peace and serve the Lord. [01:19:16] Speaker A: It. Sam.