TENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST— August , 2023

ZION EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH – LCMS   700 Main St.  P.O. Box 220   Clyman, WI  53016

The Message of God’s Grace which confronts sinners and forgives those who repent, is for all people!

 Pastor Dan 1-(920)-341-2025  shepherdatzion@gmail.com

 Bulletin Announcement email: zionclyman@gmail.com

AS WE GATHER – Without explaining Himself and to the surprise of those He chose, God decided to use the people who eventually became the nation of Israel to save all people.  Likewise, He has graciously invited us and all people to join them, solely because we trust His promises and believe in His Son.  Recognizing that faith, not physical descent, is the factor that includes everyone in God’s promises, Paul laments that most of his Jewish friends have rejected God’s Son, Jesus Christ.  To those who follow the Lord, the disciples learn in today’s Gospel, God’s grace even invites them to serve as His instruments in caring for the people around them.  Today we rejoice in God’s invitation to us, and we ask His blessings as we seek to extend His gracious invitation to those who do not yet know Christ as their Savior.

We thank Rev. Meier for leading us in worship and sharing God’s word with us today.  God’s richest blessings to him and his wife Bonnie.

Ringing of the Bell and Welcome

 Preparation

 Hymn  “Today Your Mercy Calls Us”                     LSB 915

Invocation In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.    Amen

 Prayer –   Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit that we may perfectly love You and worthily magnify Your holy name; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.

Confession and Absolution –   If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.    But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.    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.  Amen         Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins.  As an ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.     Amen.  Amen.  Thanks be to God!

Word 

Introit Psalm 136:1–9 –   Give thanks to the God of heaven, for His steadfast love endures forever.    Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.    Give thanks to the God of gods, for His steadfast love endures forever.    Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His steadfast love endures forever;      to Him who alone does great wonders, for His steadfast love endures forever; to Him who by His understanding made the heavens, for His steadfast love endures forever;     to Him who spread out the earth above the waters, for His steadfast love endures forever;      to Him who made the great lights, for His steadfast love endures forever;     the sun to rule over the day, for His steadfast love endures forever;     the moon and stars to rule over the night, for His steadfast love endures forever; All:  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.

Hymn of Praise  –  Gloria in Excelsis     LSB 170 –  Glory to God in the highest, and peace to His people on earth.     Lord God, heavenly king, almighty God and Father:  We worship You, we give You thanks, we praise You for Your glory.       Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God;      You take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us.     You are seated at the right hand of the Father; receive our prayer.     For You alone are the Holy One, You alone are the Lord, You alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father.  Amen

Salutation – The Lord be with you.     And with thy spirit.

 Prayer of the Day –  Almighty and everlasting God, give us an increase of faith, hope, and love, that as we receive what You have promised, we may love what You have commanded;   through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

Old Testament Reading   Isaiah 55:1–6       “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.  Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?  Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.  Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live.  I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.  See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples.  Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.”
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.

Epistle  Romans 9:1–8 –      I speak the truth in Christ–I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit–I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.  For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel.  Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises.  Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised!  Amen.  It is not as though God’s word had failed.  For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.  Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children.  On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”  In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.

Gradual and Verse       Romans 11:33, 36   –     Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!  For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.  To Him be glory forever. Amen.  

 Holy Gospel           Matthew 14:13–21        The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, fourteenth chapter.       Glory to You, O Lord.

 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.  Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.  When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.  As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late.  Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”  Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away.  You give them something to eat.”  “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.  “Bring them here to me,” he said.  And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.  Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.  They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.  The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.      This is the Gospel of the Lord.   Praise to You, O Christ.

 Hymn  “O Living Bread from Heaven”                 LSB 642

Sermon

Apostles’ Creed – I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.  And in Jesus Christ, His 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 into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

 Prayers of the Church

 We Gather our Tithes and Offerings

 Service of the Sacrament

Preface   2 Timothy 4:22 –   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 Him thanks and praise.

Proper Preface    It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who on this day overcame death and the grave and by His glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life. Therefore, with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You and singing:

Sanctus                                                                           LSB 178

Prayer of Thanksgiving –    Blessed are You, Lord of heaven and earth, for You have had mercy on those whom You created and sent Your only-begotten Son into our flesh to bear our sin and be our Savior.  With repentant joy we receive the salvation accomplished for us by the all-availing sacrifice of His body and His blood on the cross.       Gathered in the name and the remembrance of Jesus, we beg You, O Lord, to forgive, renew, and strengthen us with Your Word and Spirit.  Grant us faithfully to eat His body and drink His blood as He bids us do in His own testament.  Gather us together, we pray, from the ends of the earth to celebrate with all the faithful the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom, which has no end.  Graciously receive our prayers; deliver and preserve us.  To You alone, O Father, be all glory, honor, and worship, with the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.    Amen

The Words of Our Lord – Consecration of the Elements

Proclamation of Christ     1 Corinthians 11:26; Revelation 22:20 –   As often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.        Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.  Remember us in Your kingdom and teach us to pray:

The 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.

 Pax Domini    LSB 180 – P:  The peace of the Lord be with you always.

Agnus Dei        LSB 180

We Celebrate our Lord’s Supper   Distribution Hymns:  “What Is This Bread”   LSB 629                          “Praise and Thanksgiving”  LSB 789    “The Gifts Christ Freely Gives”  LSB 602

Post-Communion Canticle –    Thank the Lord  LSB 181

Post-Communion Thanksgiving –    We give thanks to You, almighty God, that You have refreshed us through this gracious gift,    and we ask that You would strengthen us through it in faith toward You and in fervent love toward one another;    through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.          Amen.

Benediction      Numbers 6:24–26 –    The blessing of almighty God—The Father, X Son, and Holy Spirit—be with you now and forever.    Amen.

Hymn:  “Feed Thy Children, God Most Holy”    LSB 774

Dismissal –   Go in peace as you serve the Lord.    Thanks be to God.

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 *Announcements*

From the Board of Stewardship and Evangelism:   Matthew 14:17–18 – “They said to him, ‘We have only five loaves here and two fish.’ And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’” The five loaves and two fish were all that the disciples had. But when they handed them over to the Lord, the multitudes were fed. Apart from Jesus, all we do and all we have comes to nothing. But in Jesus, the Lord blesses all we do and all we have for His gracious work.

 The Pewpoint – THEME OF THE DAY – Christ Jesus, the Living Bread from Heaven, Feeds the Children of God  –    By the Gospel of “the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever” (Rom. 9:5), we are “the children of God” (Rom. 9:8), “not because of works but because of him who calls” (Rom. 9:11). Therefore, “listen diligently” and “hear, that your soul may live.” By His sacrificial death in His flesh and blood, He has made “an everlasting covenant” for us. Since He now calls us to Himself, we come to Him “and eat what is good, and delight … in rich food” (Is. 55:2–3). He has come with divine compassion to save us from sin and death and to feed us with Himself. As our Lord Jesus once took bread, “said a blessing,” broke the loaves, “and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds” (Matt. 14:18–19), He also now takes bread, blesses it by His Word to be His very body, and distributes it to His Church by the hand of His called and ordained servants. Just as “they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces,” there is more than enough for His whole Church to eat and to be satisfied (Matt. 14:20).

YES IN CHRIST  —  Saying Yes With Our Treasures      Needed per week to make budget: $3,072

Sunday Envelopes $1,415   Plate $45    Pew Fund Memorial: Eli Dornfeld $50      Carleen Rettschlag $25              General Memorial:  Carleen Rettschlag $1,200  Music Fund: Carleen Rettschlag$ 35  Cemetery Fund: Carleen R. $75

Attendance:  Sunday Service: 49  Communed:   42      Mid-Week Service: 13   Communed:   12

 Brothers and sisters in Christ to lift up in prayer!   RAIN, RAIN, RAIN – thank you God

• Those in our congregation who are facing health challenges and are in need of God’s strength, healing and presence.
• Lana Sterwald, Phyliss sister of Felix and Janet Ortega, Sharon niece of Felix & Janet Ortega as they are healing after surgeries.

A BLESSED BIRTHDAY TO THESE MEMBERS!

A Very Happy and Blessed Anniversary to these Couples!

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY!   The Gathering Source is collecting school supplies. We have a bin on the altar and a listing of the supplies needed are in the back or on Zion’s Facebook page. . You also can put in money towards the supplies if you want by making out a check to The Gathering Source and putting in the subject that it is for school supplies.. All supplies will be delivered to The Gathering Source on Monday August 7^th.      Please consider buying supplies for the kids or just supplying the money. Anything is welcome…..