Description
Luke 8:26-39
How like God. The demon-possessed man from the area of the Gerasenes was healed. The demons who possessed him – Legion – were cast into pigs. The man who had been tormented was saved. He wanted to follow Jesus. Of course he did. But Jesus told the man to stay home and tell what God had done among his town folk. He was to love and serve the very people who had chained him. He was to share the sweet message of the Gospel with the very people who wanted nothing to do with him. They had pushed him away, fearful for their safety, probably ridiculing him. And now his mission was to reach the very people who wanted nothing to do with him. How like God. He sends us to the very people who want nothing to do with us. And isn’t that why He came? Because we wanted nothing to do with Him.
We Lift Our Hearts in Worship
[Preservice options include videos (countdowns, worship music, welcomes), worship music CD, or live music by worship band.]
Time of Praise and Worship
Christ Is Risen
Matt Maher & Mia Fieldes, © Thankyou Music | spiritandsong.com | Unknown (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) | (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
Here I Am To Worship
Tim Hughes, ©2001 Kingsway’s Thankyou Music
(*consider altering text from “gladly choose You now” to “gladly serve You now”)
Redeemed
Benji Cowart & Michael Weaver, ©2011 Word Music, LLC (a div. of Word Music Group, Inc.) Weave Country (Admin. by Word Music Group, Inc.)
[Traditional Options]
Lord of All Hopefulness
EH 482; ELW 765; HS 98 886; LBW 469; LSB 738; TFWS 2197; WC 369; WAR 489
O Holy Spirit, Enter In
ELW 786; LBW 459; LSB 913; LW 160
With The Lord Begin Your Task
LBW 444; LSB 869; LW 483
I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light
EH 490; ELW 815; LSB 411; RS 651; WC 539; UMH 206; WOV 649; WAR 249
Invocation and Introduction of Today’s Theme
Pastor: We begin in the name of the Father,
ALL Who sent His Son to be our Savior
Pastor We begin in the name of the Son, Jesus Christ
ALL Who has released us from bondage to our sins
Pastor We begin in the name of the Holy Spirit,
ALL Who sends us forth to serve and love the world. Amen.
Opening Prayer
Pastor Almighty Father, how wonderful You are. You redeem us from our sins; release us from all that possesses us; claim us as Your own. And You send us to the world, to proclaim Who You are. We gather as Your children, in this place, on this day, to again be refreshed for that which lies before us, and to hear again the great message of our salvation. In Jesus’ name, and in the power of His Spirit, we pray.
ALL Amen.
Time of Greeting
Time of Confession and Forgiveness
[Alternate location: following Message]
Pastor Forgiven, we take this opportunity to acknowledge we yet fall short of what God has redeemed us to be
(a time of silence)
Father…
ALL We prefer the easy way. We would rather not love and serve those who want nothing to do with us. It’s so much safer in the sanctuary, where we can sing hymns and be with those like us.
Pastor You call us to the very thing we least want to do – to reach for those we know will reject us. You have redeemed us not to have for Yourself people who will praise You, but to send us as broken bread and poured out wine to those closest to us – to the ones who know who we really are. And we don’t want to go. We don’t want to be vulnerable. It’s easier to hide behind doctrines and creeds.
ALL Forgive us, Lord. Release us from the demons of fear and selfishness.
Pastor Here is the Good News. In our isolation, chained by our sins, God reaches for us. He sent His Son to be our redeemer; to die and rise again that we might be released. In the cross of Jesus, our chains fall away; our eyes are opened; our maniacal strivings cease. We find peace.
ALL Fill us with the power of Your Spirit, Father, and send us as Your missionaries to those around us. Amen.
We Hear God’s Word
[Read aloud both the introduction and Scripture]
First Reading: Isaiah 65:1-9
In His Grace, God seeks to redeem the world that otherwise deserves nothing but judgment
1 The Lord says, “I made myself known to those who were not asking for me. I was found by those who were not trying to find me. I spoke to a nation that did not pray to me. ‘Here I am,’ I said. ‘Here I am.’ 2 All day long I have held out my hands to welcome a stubborn nation. They lead sinful lives. They go where their evil thoughts take them. 3 They are always making me very angry. They do it right in front of me. They offer sacrifices in the gardens of other gods. They burn incense on altars that are made out of bricks. 4 They sit among the graves. They spend their nights talking to the spirits of the dead. They eat the meat of pigs. Their cooking pots hold soup that has ‘unclean’ meat in it. 5 They say, ‘Keep away! Don’t come near us! We are too sacred for you!’ Those people are like smoke in my nose. They are like a fire that keeps burning all day. 6 “I will judge them. I have even written it down. I will not keep silent. Instead, I will pay them back for all of their sins. 7 I will punish them for their sins and the sins of their people before them,” says the Lord. “They burned sacrifices on the mountains. They disobeyed me by worshiping other gods on the hills. So I will really punish them for all of the sins they have committed.” 8 The Lord says, “Sometimes juice is still left in grapes that have been crushed. So people say, ‘Don’t destroy them. Some good juice is still left in them.’ That is what I will do for the good of those who serve me. I will not destroy all of my people. 9 I will give children to the families of Jacob and Judah. They will possess my entire land.
My chosen people will be given all of it. Those who serve me will live there.
