Today at Immanuel...

Join in the conversation about the prophets and their powerful witness for us! Join in the discussion on Zoom every Sunday morning!

Meeting ID: 826 1847 1655

Passcode: 897427

~ Gathering ~

Prelude - Berceuse from 24 Pieces in a Free Style - Louis Vierne

We gather as we live our lives in the name of the Father, and of the ☩ Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

The psalmist sings, “The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is upon the mighty waters. O Lord, give strength to your people; give them, O Lord, the blessings of peace.”

Joined to Christ in the waters of baptism, we are clothed with God’s mercy and forgiveness. Let us give thanks for the gift of baptism.

Holy God, you are the river of life. You are the everlasting wellspring. You are the fire of rebirth.

Your waters are below us, around us, above us: our life is born in you.

You are the fountain of resurrection.

Praise to you for your saving waters.

Noah and the animals survive the flood, Hagar discovers your well. The Israelites escape through the sea, and they drink from your gushing rock. Naaman washes his leprosy away, and the Samaritan woman will never be thirsty again.

Breathe your Spirit into all who are gathered here and into all creation. Illumine our days. Enliven our bones. Dry our tears. Wash away the sin within us, and drown the evil around us.

~ Word ~

First Reading Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24

¹¹Thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. ¹²As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. ¹³I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. ¹⁴I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. ¹⁶I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.

 ²⁰Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. ²¹Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, ²²I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

 ²³I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.

Word of God. Word of life.

¹Come, let us sing to the Lord;

let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation.

²Let us come before God’s presence with thanksgiving

³For you, Lord, are a great God,

and a great ruler above all gods.

⁴In your hand are the caverns of the earth;

⁵The sea is yours, for you made it,

and your hands have molded the dry land.

⁶Come, let us worship and bow down,

^7aFor the Lord is our God,

and we are the people of God’s pasture and the sheep of God’s hand.

Second Lesson Ephesians 1:15-23

¹⁵I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason ¹⁶I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. ¹⁷I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, ¹⁸so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, ¹⁹and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. ²⁰God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. ²²And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, ²³which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Word of God. Word of life.

Gospel Matthew 25:31-46

[Jesus said to the disciples:] ³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ³³and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. ³⁴Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ ³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ ⁴⁰And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family you did it to me.’ ⁴¹Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴²for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Bless us, O God, to be your hands in the world. Bless us to work for justice and righteousness. Bless us so that we may share your hope, your compassion, and your love in everything we do. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

God of love,

the power, and the glory,

Postlude -  Fugure in G Minor from 8 Short Preludes and Fugues - J.S. Bach

Log into Zoom Wednesday evenings for a discussion of the podcast series, Who We Are, a 6-episode series on race in America.

Join in online for a celebration of Thanksgiving, Wednesday, November 27. The service will be emailed and available on Immanuel’s website and on Facebook. We will join with the folks of Incarnate Word as Pastors Doug and Joanne, and directors of music Josh Ehlebracht and Thatcher Lyman lead us in a festive worship service. God’s abundance overflows! Let us come together and give thanks for all of God’s blessings!

We're taking off for the Thanksgiving holiday, but Bible Study will return Wednesday, December 2 at 9:00. During the month of November, we will be digging into the story of Jesus' birth in Luke, seeing how through Jesus God breaks into the world in a new and radical way. Tune in for fun and lively conversation!

December 2   Signs and Wonders: Luke 1:1-56

December 9   Prepare the Royal Highway: Luke1:57-80

December 16    Unexpected and Mysterious: Luke 2:1-20

December 23    Rejoice, Rejoice, Believers: Luke 2:21-52

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Soon and Very Soon, Text and Music © 1999 Bad John Songs Inc./Crouch Music, admin. EMI Christian Music Publishing., Reprinted by permission under CCLI #2246843