Come hear the story of Abraham and Sarah! And how God always keeps promises and is with us everyday!

Prelude Fugue in B Minor - J.S. Bach

Josh Ehlebracht, Organ

  

We gather as we live our lives

in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Trusting in God’s promise of salvation,

let us confess our sin in the presence of God and one another.

Merciful God,

Hear the good news:

God is gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

God calls us beloved. God’s mercy never ends.

In the name of Jesus Christ,

you are forgiven.

Walk with love and grace!

               And also with you.

First Lesson  Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16

¹When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. ²And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.” ³Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, ⁴“As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. ⁵No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. ⁶I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. ⁷I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.”

 ¹⁵God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”

²³You who fear the Lord, give praise! All you of Jacob’s line, give glory.

Stand in awe of the Lord, all you offspring of Israel.

²⁴For the Lord does not despise nor abhor the poor in their poverty; neither is the Lord‘s face hidden from them;

but when they cry out, the Lord hears them.

²⁵From you comes my praise in the great assembly;

I will perform my vows in the sight of those who fear the Lord.

²⁶The poor shall eat and be satisfied,

Let those who seek the Lord give praise! May your hearts live forever! 

²⁷All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;

all the families of nations shall bow before God.

²⁸For dominion belongs to the Lord,

who rules over the nations.

²⁹Indeed, all who sleep in the earth shall bow down in worship;

all who go down to the dust, though they be dead, shall kneel before the Lord.

³⁰Their descendants shall serve the Lord,

whom they shall proclaim to generations to come.

³¹They shall proclaim God’s deliverance to a people yet unborn,

saying to them, “The Lord has acted!” 

Gospel   Mark 8:27-38

The Holy Gospel according to Mark.

               Glory to you, O Lord.

²⁷ Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” ²⁸ And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹ He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” ³⁰ And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

³¹ Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³² He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³ But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

³⁴ He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. ³⁶ For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? ³⁷ Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? ³⁸ Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

               Praise to you, O Christ.

 hear our prayer.

O God, receive this gift as you receive us: like a mother receives her child, with arms open wide. Nourish us anew in your tender care, and empower us in faithful service to tend to others with this same love, through Jesus Christ, our saving grace. Amen.

Pastor: Rev. Joanne Groman-Stewart

Director of Music Ministry: Josh Ehlebracht

Assisting Minister: Kathy Bannon

We worship together Sunday mornings at 9:00 via Zoom. Tune into Zoom to join with others as we worship together live for a service of the Word, Music, and Prayer. The service will also be recorded to view at a later time and will be posted on Immanuel's website and Facebook, as well as emailed on Sunday afternoon.

And you can make a morning of it! Following worship, remain on Zoom for a time of fellowship and the chance to greet one another. Then finish off the morning by joining the Adult Sunday School Class at 10:00. How wonderful it will be to see one another and gather together!

Meeting ID: 816 5822 3058

Passcode: 926425

You may also phone in:

    +1 929 205 6099 US (long distance charges may apply)

We will have 2 different midweek worship opportunities as we journey through the season of Lent. Pastors of the Genesee-Finger Lakes Conference of our synod will be leading a worship service on Zoom each Wednesday evening at 7:00, Created for Community, as we reflect on ways we are gathered together as God's people.

You may access the Wednesday evening Zoom worship at:

Or you may click the button below to take you directly to the Wednesday evening Zoom worship.

In addition to meeting in person on Zoom, the much-loved Holden Evening Prayer will be recorded by clergy of the conference and shared each Wednesday for you to watch on your own time.

You may read more about this year's midweek worship by clicking the link below. Links and Zoom information will be shared each Wednesday. Share the beauty and grace of this season by worship with our siblings from around the conference.

Join the conversation! We will be looking at Making Sense of Scripture by David Lose. We all know we should read the Bible, and maybe even have tried, but somehow we don’t find ourselves pulled into its pages the way we have been by other books. Tune into Zoom and dig more deeply into this wonderful book!

Meeting ID: 816 5822 3058

Passcode: 926425

In her book, Waking Up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race, Debby Irving shares her own story of naivety transformed to understanding, and poses an introspective, thought-provoking question with each chapter to challenge readers to consider their own situation and how that impacts their perspective of race and racism. Join in the discussion Tuesdays at 7pm on Zoom as we allow ourselves to be challenged and seek to grow in our own understandings of race and ethnicity. Waking Up White is available through the library system and in both paperback and on Kindle and Nook.

Meeting ID: 884 8060 0257

Passcode: 805281

Bible Study continues this Wednesday at 9:00 on Zoom as we look at the readings for the upcoming Sundays. It's a morning full of friendship, learning, and fun!

Log into Zoom:

Meeting ID: 837 9151 1254

Passcode: Bibles

Beginning Ash Wednesday, February 17, and throughout the season of Lent, join the virtual walk with Bishop Macholz and others throughout the synod while learning more about issues of hunger and what we can do to help.

3.    When you reach 40 miles click below to register your accomplishment and make your donation. All monies collected will be given to ELCA World Hunger. You may also send a check to the UNYS Synod and make sure to make note that it is for ELCA World Hunger.

Let Us Ever Walk with Jesus, Text  © 1978, Lutheran Book of Worship, admin Augsburg Fortress. Reprinted by permission under OneLicense #A-714459.