June 7, 2026 11:15 A.M.
Welcome!
Introduction
Though Jesus was a devout Jew who practiced his faith, he was criticized for eating with tax collectors and sinners—the religiously nonobservant. Jesus criticizes the self-righteous and reminds us that mercy is to be at the heart of our religious practices. God continues to be made known in those on the margins of society, like Matthew the tax collector and the hemorrhaging woman. As we gather each Lord’s day we receive the healing that makes us well and sends us forth to be signs of God’s mercy for the world.
(please stand for our opening song)
Hymn: Morning Has Broken ELW 556
Confession and Forgiveness
P: Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God, whose compassion endures forever.
C: Amen.
P: Let us confess our sin to God.
Silence is kept for reflection.
P: Compassionate God,
C: we confess to you all our sins. Our burden is heavy, and we cannot free ourselves. In your mercy, call us back to you. Your yoke is easy and your burden is light. Restore us to dwell in your peace. In Christ’s name we pray,
Amen.
P: Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” In the name of God, Father, ☩ Son, and Holy Spirit, your sins are forgiven. Rest in God’s love. Amen.
Prayer of the Day
O God, you are the source of life and the ground of our being. By the power of your Spirit bring healing to this wounded world, and raise us to the new life of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
(Please be seated for the readings)
First Reading: Hosea 5:15—6:6
Because the people have trusted in military powers and not God, God decides to withdraw from the scene until Israel acknowledges its guilt and seeks God’s face. The response of the people does not acknowledge this guilt and is as fickle as fog or dew burned away quickly by the sun. God desires loyalty rather than words or meaningless deeds.
R: 15 I will return again to my place
until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face.
In their distress they will beg my favor:
6:1 “Come, let us return to the Lord,
for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us;
he has struck down, and he will bind us up.
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
3 Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord;
his appearing is as sure as the dawn;
he will come to us like the showers,
like the spring rains that water the earth.”
4 What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes away early.
5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
I have killed them by the words of my mouth,
and my judgment goes forth as the light.
6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
…This is the Word of the Lord
C: Thanks be to God
Psalmody: Psalm 50:7-15
Call upon me in the day of trouble, says your God. (Ps. 50:15)
7 “Listen, my people, and I will speak: Israel, I will bear witness against you;
for I am God, your God.
8 I do not accuse you because of your sacrifices; your burnt offerings are always before me.
9 I will not accept a calf from your stalls, nor goats from your pens;
10 for all the wild animals of the forest are mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird of the mountains, and the creatures of the fields are mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the whole world is mine and all that is in it.
13 Do you think I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and make good your vows to the Most High.
15 Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall honor me.
Second Reading: Romans 4:13-25
Paul presents Abraham as a living model of right relationships. For Abraham and for us, a right relationship with God involves trusting that God’s promises will be fulfilled because God makes the dead alive and calls into existence what otherwise does not exist.
R: 13 The promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law, neither is there transgression.
16 For this reason the promise depends on faith, in order that it may rest on grace, so that it may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (who is the father of all of us, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”), in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So shall your descendants be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), and the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 Therefore “it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 23 Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone 24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was handed over for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
…This is the Word of the Lord
C: Thanks be to God
Gospel: Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
Jesus demonstrates God’s mercy and power, accepting the unacceptable and curing the incurable. Even the dead receive new life
R: 9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
10 And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
18 While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. 20 Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, 21 for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that moment. 23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. 26 And the report of this spread through all of that district.
…This is the Gospel of the Lord
C: Praise to you, oh Christ
Hymn: Praise to the Lord, the Almighty ELW 858, vs. 1 & 2
w/ Pastor John Kearns
(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 everlasting. Amen.
(please be seated for prayers)
Prayers of Intercession
Gathered together by the Holy Spirit, let us pray for the church and the needs of the world.
A brief silence.
God of mercy, you call us to a life filled with acts of mercy. Ground us in following Christ, that we might extend the mercy we receive. God of grace,
hear our prayer.
God of creation, all you have made is yours. Revive lands in need of healing and make us wise stewards of all you have given us to tend. God of grace,
hear our prayer.
God of the nations, you promise to deliver those who call on you. Bring an end to conflict, bigotry, and injustice in all their forms wherever they are found. God of grace,
hear our prayer.
God of comfort, you provide for those in need. Bring an end to addiction. Comfort people as they mourn. Provide tenderly for those in need (especially). God of grace,
hear our prayer.
God of blessings, you send the Holy Spirit to provide varieties of gifts in the body of Christ. Accompany those who travel this summer, make our gatherings joyous, and grant us a spirit of hospitality and togetherness. God of grace,
hear our prayer.
God of life, we give you thanks for saints whose lives revealed your faithfulness. May remembering their faithfulness strengthen our own. God of grace,
hear our prayer.
Trusting you receive all our prayers, we commend our spoken and unspoken prayers to you, O God, through Jesus our Savior.
Amen.
(stand)
The Sharing of the Peace:
P: The peace of the Lord be with you always.
C: And also with you.
P: We Greet one another with the Peace of Christ
Hymn: We Come to You for Healing, Lord ELW 617
Communion
P: Loving God, we offer at your table the gifts of our hearts. Help us take heart in you and share freely of your love, so that all creation can taste your abundance. We ask this in the name of Jesus, through the Spirit abiding with us now and forever.
C: Amen.
P: The Lord be with you. C: And also with you.
P: Lift up your hearts C: We lift them to the Lord.
P: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. C: It is right to give Him thanks and praise.
P: It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places
give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God. You reveal your glory as the glory of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: equal in majesty, undivided in splendor, one Lord, one God, ever to be adored in your eternal glory. And so, with all the choirs of angels, with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
P: In the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks; broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.
P: Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying: This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me.
P: For as often as we eat of this bread and drink from this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
C: Christ has died: Christ is risen: Christ will come again.
P: To you, O God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory in your holy church, now and forever.
C: Amen.
P: Let us pray as Jesus taught us:
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.
Invitation to Communion
P: Heaven has come near. Come, share in the feast!
(sit)
Distribution & video
Post-Communion Prayer
P: Compassionate God, through the gifts of bread and wine our hearts are filled with the abundance of your love. Strengthen us that we, through this holy meal, may share your love freely, as you have shared with us. We ask this in the name of Jesus, through the Spirit nourishing us now and forever. C: Amen.
Blessing
P: Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, ☩ one God, bless, heal, and hold you today and always. C: Amen.
Announcements
| Birthdays June 8 – Kimberly Stebbins 10 – Caroline Schreiber 13 – Shawn Hannon | Weekly Calendar Wednesday 10am – Bible Study at Immanuel 5:30 – Council Meeting 6 pm – prayer gathering Thursday 9 am – Quilting Next Sunday – Luncheon |
CLOSING HYMN: Will You Come and Follow Me ELW 798, vs. 1 & 5
Dismissal
P: Heaven has come near. Go, share the good news!
C: Thanks be to God.