Thanksgiving Worship - November 20, 2022 at 7 pm

Thanksgiving

November 20, 2022

7:00 pm

Click here to go to Thanksgiving worship

You may access the Sunday worship livestream by clicking the link above.

Now thank we all our God!

With hearts and hands and voices!

Welcome to worship!

Join St. Martin, Bethlehem, and Immanuel Lutheran Churches

as we gather to give thanks and celebrate God's blessings.

Masks are optional in our building for worship and all activities. Masks will still be available at our entrance, and anyone who is more comfortable wearing a mask is encouraged to do so.

We are livestreaming worship this evening, and the service is available to view anytime afterwards. You may access the link to Sunday Worship in a variety of ways:

A link is posted on Immanuel's website, www.immanuelwebster.org or by clicking the link at the top of this email.
Go to www.YouTube.com and search Immanuel Webster. You will find all of our past worship services there as well.

- Gathering -

Prelude

Thanksgiving for Baptism

God gathers us and names us beloved saints. God surrounds us with love, and through the waters of baptism, clothes us with mercy and forgiveness, let us give thanks for the gift of baptism.

The baptismal candle is lit and water is poured into the font.

Holy God, fountain of living water, source of mercy, tender and mighty, you are clothed with majesty and splendor.

Your steadfast love fills the earth.

Your love flows through water, satisfying the thirst of all living things, sustaining life in this community, nourishing and delighting us. We bless you for these gifts of water: The Great Lakes and Finger Lakes, the Erie Canal and, the Genesee River, the small ponds and creeks that water our earth.

Your steadfast love fills the earth.

Your love flows through water, a sign of your saving power: 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.

Your steadfast love fills the earth.

Your love flows through the water of baptism joined to your life-giving Word: your well of mercy and cleansing flood, your sea of deliverance from death into life, your healing river washing sin away, your living water springing up to eternal life.

Your steadfast love fills the earth.

Shower us with your Holy Spirit. Fill us with your love. Clothe us and all your people with grace. Embolden us to do justice. Bless us to love mercy. Guide us to walk humbly with you, whom we thank and praise, through Jesus Christ,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, now and forever

Amen.

Gathering Hymn

Greeting

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

And also with you.

Hymn of Praise

Prayer of the Day

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Almighty God our Father, your generous goodness comes to us new every day. By the work of your Spirit lead us to acknowledge your goodness, give thanks for your benefits, and serve you in willing obedience, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

- Word -

First Reading Deuteronomy 26:1-11

When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, ²you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. ³You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, ‘Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.’ ⁴When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, ⁵you shall make this response before the Lord your God: ‘A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. ⁶When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labour on us, ⁷we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. ⁸The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; ⁹and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁰So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.’ You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. ¹¹Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.

Word of God. Word of life.

Thanks be to God.

Psalm 100 Sung responsively by whole verse

¹Make a joyful noise to the Lord, ^| all you lands!

²Serve the Lord with gladness; come into God’s presence ^| with a song.

³Know that the Lord is God, our maker to whom ^| we belong;

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

⁴Enter the gates of the Lord with thanksgiving and the ^| courts with praise;

give thanks and bless God’s ^| holy name.

⁵Good indeed is the Lord, whose steadfast love is ^| everlasting,

whose faithfulness endures from ^| age to age.

Second Reading Philippians 4:4-9

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. ⁵Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

Word of God. Word of life.

Thanks be to God.

Gospel John 6:25-35

The Holy Gospel according to John.

Glory to you, O Lord.

^{When they found [Jesus] on the other side of the lake, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.’ Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ So they said to him, ‘What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” ’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’}

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

Apostles' Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s 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 to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Prayers of Intercession

Each petition ends:

God of grace,

hear our prayer.

Peace

The peace of Christ be with you always.

And also with you.

- Meal -

Offertory Prayer

God of life,

You give us these gifts of the earth, these resources of our life and our labor. Take them, offered in great thanksgiving, and use them to set a table that will heal the whole creation; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Light. Amen.

Great Thanksgiving

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Holy God, mighty Lord, gracious Father: Endless is your mercy and eternal your reign…

For as often as we eat of this bread and drink from this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Christ has died.

Christ is risen.

Christ will come again.

Therefore, O God, with this bread and cup we remember the life our Lord offered for us. And, believing the witness of his resurrection, we await his coming in power to share with us the great and promised feast.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Send now, we pray, your Holy Spirit, that we who share in Christ’s body and blood may live to the praise of your glory and receive our inheritance with all your saints in light.

Amen. Come, Holy Spirit.

Join our prayers with those of your servants…

all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father, now and forever.

Amen.

Lord’s Prayer

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.

Communion

All are invited to share in this meal of grace and love and may come forward at the direction of the usher, then return by way of the side aisles. Wine is shared by pouring chalice. Pre-filled cups of grape juice and gluten-free communion wafers are also available.

Post Communion Blessing and Prayer

The body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen you and keep you in his grace.

Amen.

Holy and compassionate God, in bread and wine you give us gifts that form us to be humble and courageous. May your words come to life in our serving and in our witness, that we might speak a living voice of healing and justice to all the world, through Jesus Christ, our rock and our redeemer.

Amen.

Blessing

Sending Hymn

Dismissal

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

Thanks be to God!

Postlude

Welcome...

What a joy it is to gather together with St. Martin, Bethlehem, and Immanuel Lutheran Churches for this service of thanksgiving and praise. Following our worship this evening, you are invited to gather in the Fellowship Hall on the lower level for a good old-fashioned pie social as we continue to share together as God's beloved people!

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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