October 5, 2025 – St. John's Lutheran Church

October 5, 2025 11 A.M.

Welcome!

Introduction

A little faith goes a long way is Jesus’ point in the gospel. A mustard seed’s-worth of faith has miraculous potential. The patience, tenacity, and endurance required for the life of faith are the blessings received in holy baptism, holy communion, and the word read and proclaimed in this assembly. Anticipate them. Receive them with thanksgiving.

(please stand for our opening song)

Opening Hymn: God is Here ELW 528

Confession and Forgiveness

Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God, our maker, our helper, and our keeper.

Amen.

Trusting in God’s mercy, let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.

Silence is kept for reflection.

Merciful and loving God,

we are your stiff-necked people. We trample on the needy. We grumble about your grace to others. We turn away from the poor. Have mercy on us and forgive our sins. Rejoice over us as ones who were lost and have been found. Amen.

Even when we are faithless, God remains faithful. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. You who were lost have been found. In the name of ☩ Jesus, your sins are forgiven!

Amen.

Prayer of the Day

Benevolent, merciful God: When we are empty, fill us. When we are weak in faith, strengthen us. When we are cold in love, warm us, that with fervor we may love our neighbors and serve them for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

(Please be seated for the readings)

First Reading: Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

Injustice and violence in the time leading up to the Babylonian exile move this prophet to lament: How can a good and all-powerful God see evil in the world and seemingly remain indifferent? God answers by proclaiming that the righteous will live by faith.

R: ¹ The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw.
² O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? ³ Why do you make me see wrongdoing
and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. ⁴ So the law becomes slack, and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous; therefore, judgment comes forth perverted.
^2:1I will stand at my watch post and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me and what he will answer concerning my complaint. ² Then the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. ³ For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. ⁴ Look at the proud! Their spirit is not right in them, but the righteous live by their faithfulness.

…This is the Word of the Lord

C: Thanks be to God

Psalmody: Psalm 37:1-9

Commit your way to the Lord; put your trust in the Lord. (Ps. 37:5)

¹ Do not be provoked by evildoers; do not be jealous of those who do wrong.
² For they shall soon wither like the grass, and like the green grass fade away.
³ Put your trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and find safe pasture.
⁴ Take delight in the Lord, who shall give you your heart’s desire.
⁵ Commit your way to the Lord; put your trust in the Lord, and see what God will do.
⁶ The Lord will make your vindication as clear as the light and the justice of your case like the noonday sun.
⁷ Be still before the Lord and wait patiently. Do not be provoked by the one who prospers, the one who succeeds in evil schemes.
⁸ Refrain from anger, leave rage alone; do not be provoked; it leads only to evil.
⁹ For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord shall possess the land.

Second Reading: 2 Timothy 1:1-14

This letter written to Timothy is a personal message of encouragement. In the face of hardship and persecution, Timothy is reminded that his faith is a gift of God. He is encouraged to exercise that faith with the help of the Holy Spirit.

R: ¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
² To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
³ I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. ⁴ Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵ I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. ⁶ For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands, ⁷ for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
⁸ Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, in the power of God, ⁹ who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace, and this grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, ¹⁰ but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. ¹¹ For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, ¹² and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day the deposit I have entrusted to him. ¹³ Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴ Guard the good deposit entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

…This is the Word of the Lord

C: Thanks be to God

(please stand)

Gospel: Luke 17:5-10

C: <sung>

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus instructs his followers about the power of faith and the duties of discipleship. He calls his disciples to adopt the attitude of servants whose actions are responses to their identity rather than works seeking reward.

D: ⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶ The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
⁷ “Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? ⁸ Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me; put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? ⁹ Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? ¹⁰ So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’ ”

…This is the Gospel of the Lord

C: Praise to you, oh Christ

We Sing: God of the Fertile Fields ACS 1063

SERMON With Jerry leFeber

(please stand for the Apostles’ Creed)

Apostles’ Creed

C: 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. On 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 prayer)

Prayers of Intercession

Renewed in God’s everlasting grace, let us pray for the church, the world, and all creation.

A brief silence.

O God of the church, you give the church a treasure in Jesus Christ. Draw us into the gift of faith passed down from generation to generation. Remind your people that faith the size of a mustard seed is enough. God of grace,

receive our prayer.

O God of creation, you nourish the earth with grace and mercy. Bring favorable weather during the harvest season and sustain all creation along with all who labor in the field. Ensure the welfare of animal companions whose presence offers comfort, safety, and joy. God of grace,

receive our prayer.

O God of nations and communities, you govern and guard the world. Give leaders and people in authority a spirit of making just and righteous laws. Bring peace to countries affected by war and violence. God of grace,

receive our prayer.

O God of those in need, you care for those who are sick, oppressed, bereaved, lonely, and poor. Come to the help of all in need (especially). Help us to trust that you will come to us at the right time. God of grace,

receive our prayer.

O God of this congregation, you nurture our faith. Thank you for those of all ages who teach, lead, and learn in this congregation and beyond. Give growth to the seeds of faith watered by faithful examples of baptismal living. God of grace,

receive our prayer.

O God of ages past, thank you for the witness of those who have died in faith. May the faith of those who now rest in your merciful arms, like Lois and Eunice, shape our faith in your Son, Jesus Christ. God of grace,

receive our prayer.

We offer our prayers, O God, trusting in your everlasting grace and mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

(please 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

We Sing: How Firm a Foundation ELW 796

Offering Prayer

P: Lord of the harvest, we return to you a portion of what you have given to us. Turn us to set our hope not on the uncertainty of riches, but on you, who richly provides for us. Multiply what we have gathered to bless all who are suffering and in need, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

C: Amen.

Communion

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

P: Rejoice before your Lord. C: We lift them to the Lord.

P: Let us give thanks to our God. C: It is right to give our 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:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

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: O God of resurrection and new life: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us and on these gifts of bread and wine. Bless this feast. Grace our table with your presence.

C: Come, Holy Spirit.

P: We 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

The kingdom of God is set before you. Eat and rejoice.

(sit)

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Prayer after Communion

O God, through this meal you have strengthened us and appointed us to be your servants. Send us to do good and to share our possessions with all in need. We ask this in Jesus’ name.

Amen.