Worship Service for New Year’s Eve 2020
Rev. Gregory Mech | December 31, 2020 | New Year’s Eve 2020 Worship Service with Holy Communion | Immanuel Lutheran Church ONLINE and IN-PERSON – Joplin, Missouri | 7:00 pm
Thank you for supporting Immanuel Lutheran financially. Learn more at immanueljoplin.com/GIVE.
Special thanks to all who helped to make this broadcast possible today:
Rev. Gregory Mech, DCE Jason Glaskey, organist Betty Lingenfelter, the Immanuel Brass Choir, soloist Clare Davis, the COVID Committee, Altar Guild and Board of Elders.
New Year’s Eve 2020
Worship with Holy Communion — December 31, 2020 — 7:00 pm
INVOCATION, CONFESSION & PROCLAMATION
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Psalm 100
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, ׀ all the earth!*
Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into His presence with ׀ singing!
Know that the Lord, ׀ He is God!*
It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of ׀ His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His ׀ courts with praise!*
Give thanks to Him; ׀ bless His name!
For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures for- ׀ ever,*
and His faithfulness to all gener- ׀ ations.
Psalm 90:1–4, 10-14
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.
The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?
So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on Your servants!
Satisfy us in the morning with Your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Let us then confess our sins to God our Father.
Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment. For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us. Renew us and lead us, so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways, to the glory of Your holy name.
In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us. For His sake, God forgives us all our sins. To those who believe on His name He gives power to become the children of God and bestows on them the Holy Spirit. May the Lord, who has begun this good work in us, bring it to completion in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
COLLECT OF THE DAY
Let us pray. Eternal God, we commit to Your mercy and forgiveness the year now ending and commend to Your blessing and love the times yet to come. In the new year, abide among us with Your Holy Spirit that we may always trust in the saving name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
HYMN 656 “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”
A mighty fortress is our God,
A trusty shield and weapon;
He helps us free from every need
That hath us now o’ertaken.
The old evil foe
Now means deadly woe;
Deep guile and great might
Are his dread arms in fight;
On earth is not his equal.
With might of ours could naught be done,
Soon were our loss effected;
But for us fights the valiant One
Whom God Himself elected.
Ask ye, Who is this?
Jesus Christ it is,
Of Sabaoth Lord,
And there’s none other God;
He holds the field forever.
Though devils all the world should fill,
All eager to devour us,
We tremble not, we fear no ill;
They shall not overpower us.
This world’s prince may still
Scowl fierce as he will,
He can harm us none.
He’s judged; the deed is done;
One little word can fell him.
The Word they still shall let remain
Nor any thanks have for it;
He’s by our side upon the plain
With His good gifts and Spirit.
And take they our life,
Goods, fame, child and wife,
Though these all be gone,
Our victory has been won;
The Kingdom ours remaineth.
Psalm 46:1-11
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT Isaiah 30:1, 10-15
“Ah, stubborn children,” declares the Lord,
“who carry out a plan, but not mine,
and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit,
that they may add sin to sin;
who say to the seers, “Do not see,”
and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions,
leave the way, turn aside from the path,
let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”
Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,
“Because you despise this word
and trust in oppression and perverseness and rely on them,
therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach in a high wall,
bulging out and about to collapse, whose breaking comes suddenly,
in an instant; and its breaking is like that of a potter’s vessel
that is smashed so ruthlessly that among its fragments not a shard is found
with which to take fire from the hearth,
or to dip up water out of the cistern.”
For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
But you were unwilling,
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
EPISTLE Romans 8:31b–39
If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
HOLY GOSPEL Luke 12:35–40
The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the twelfth chapter.
Glory to You, O Lord.
[Jesus said:] “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to You, O Christ.
HYMN 707 “Oh, That the Lord Would Guide My Ways”
Oh, that the Lord would guide my ways
To keep His statutes still!
Oh, that my God would grant me grace
To know and do His will!
Order my footsteps by Thy Word
And make my heart sincere;
Let sin have no dominion, Lord,
But keep my conscience clear.
Assist my soul, too apt to stray,
A stricter watch to keep;
And should I e’er forget Thy way,
Restore Thy wandering sheep.
Make me to walk in Thy commands—
Tis a delightful road—
Nor let my head or heart or hands
Offend against my God.
SERMON
HYMNIC PRAYER “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” LSB 733: 1,2,6
O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home:
Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defense is sure.
O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.
Psalm 107:1-9
Oh give thanks to the Lord,
for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in;
hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!
For He satisfies the hungry soul,
And the hungry soul He fills with good things.
HYMN 712 “Seek Ye First”
Seek ye first the kingdom of God
And His righteousness,
And all these things will be added unto You!
Allelu, alleluia!
Ask and it shall be given unto you,
Seek and ye shall find,
Knock and the door shall be opened unto you,
Allelu, alleluia!
Man does not live by bread alone,
But by every word
That proceeds from the mouth of the Lord,
Allelu, alleluia!
PSALM FOR TRAVELERS Psalm 121
I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
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.
THE WORDS OF OUR LORD
Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said: “Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me.”
In the same way also He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying: “Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
♫ DISTRIBUTION HYMN “It Came upon the Midnight Clear” LSB366
It came upon a midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their harps of gold:
“Peace on the earth, good will to all,
From heaven’s all gracious king.”
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.
Still through the cloven skies they come
With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats
Over all the weary world.
Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever over its babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.
All you, beneath your weary load,
By care and guilt bent low,
Who toil along a dreary way
With painful steps and slow,
Look up, for golden is the hour,
Come swiftly on the wing,
The Prince was born to bring you peace;
Of Him the angels sing.
For lo, the days have come to pass
By prophets seen of old,
When down into the circling years
Came Christ as was foretold.
His word of peace shall to the earth
God’s ancient promise bring,
And all who take this gift will hear
The song the angels sing.
IMMANUEL’S MISSION PRAYER
Heavenly Father, We pray to see the future as You see it, so we may live the present as You will it. We pray we may be grounded in Christ as a Lutheran congregation, and guided by Your grace as we walk in forgiveness. We pray we are growing continually in faith as servants in Christ’s Kingdom proclaiming the Gospel. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
From Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2006 Concordia Publishing House.
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