https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofaf1Oqc5n8&t=3s

SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST— July 16, 2023

The Sower sows good seed for all 

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

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

 Bulletin Announcement email: zionclyman@gmail.com

AS WE GATHER  Though you may be familiar with Jesus’ parable of the Sower, you may be surprised to hear that you do not really know it! That is because on the one hand, the Word of God does not change. Yet on the other hand, we need to keep hearing it again and again, because our circumstances are constantly changing. The parable of the Sower shares this truth. The seed is God’s Word, God’s work of planting repentance and faith in ears who hear and hearts to grow.  We may think of the various kinds of soil Jesus mentions to be various sorts of people. Actually, He is describing each individual in their changing circumstances.  There are times when we are “good soil,” that is, we understand God’s Word and take comfort in it.  There are other times, when we either cannot or will not hear it, and at times we become hard paths, rocky or distracted by worries or fears.  For this reason, God never ceases planting, speaking, and growing faith in the heart, and we return repeatedly to continue hearing, reading, learning, and receiving God’s Word because He never gives up on you.

Ringing of the Bell and Welcome

 Hymn  “Word of God, Come Down on Earth”         LSB 545

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

 Opening Sentences   Titus 3:3–7 –    For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.   But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

 Confession and Absolution –   Beloved in the Lord!  Let us draw near with a true heart and confess our sins unto God our Father, beseeching Him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to grant us forgiveness.  Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.  I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord,  and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.     O Almighty God, merciful Father, I a poor miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You and justly deserved Your temporal and eternal punishment.  But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them, and I pray You of Your boundless mercy and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor, sinful being.  Upon this your confession, I, by virtue of my office, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God unto all of you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.     Amen

Psalm  Psalm 65:9-13   antiphon vs4  –   Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts!  We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.  You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior,    Pulpit:  You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly.  Lectern: The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it.  You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops.  You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.  Pulpit: The grasslands of the desert overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness.  Lectern:  The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.   Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts!  We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.  You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior!  Alleluia!  Amen

 Kyrie  LSB 186

 Hymn of Praise –   Gloria in Excelsis  LSB 187

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

 Prayer of the Day – Blessed Lord, since You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning, grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and take them to heart, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life; 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 55:10–13 – (God’s powerful Word for all)

 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.  You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.  Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.”

 Epistle     Romans 8:12–17   (Life through the Spirit) – Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation–but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.  For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.  And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.  Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Gradual and Verse       Romans 11:33, 36; Isaiah 40:8 

 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.    Alleluia.  The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.  Alleluia

Holy Gospel   Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23 (The parable of the sower) – 

The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the thirteenth chapter.  Glory to You, O Lord.

 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake.  Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore.  Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.  As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.  Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil.  It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow.  But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.  Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.  Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop–a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.  He who has ears, let him hear.”  Vs18-23-  “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.  This is the seed sown along the path.  The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.  But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time.  When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.  The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.  But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”       This is the Gospel of the Lord.   Praise to You, O Christ.

 Nicene Creed –  I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.    And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.  And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church, I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life X of the world to come.    Amen.

 Hymn  “Almighty God, Your Word Is Cast”             LSB 577

Sermon

Prayers of the Church

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.

We Gather our Tithes and Offerings

Offertory                                                                       LSB 192

 Service of the Sacrament  

Preface   2 Timothy 4:22 –   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, for the glorious resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ, the Lamb who was sacrificed for us and bore the sins of the world.  By His dying He has destroyed death, and by His rising again He has restored to us everlasting life.  Therefore, with the angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You and singing:

Sanctus   LSB 195

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.   

Pax Domini  LSB 197 –  The peace of the Lord be with you always.   Amen

Agnus Dei        LSB 198

We Celebrate our Lord’s Supper

Distribution Hymns:  “For the Fruits of His Creation”  LSB 894                                                                             “Come Thou Fount of Ever Blessing”   LSB 686      “Open Now Thy Gates of Beauty”   LSB 901

Post-Communion Canticle –  Nunc Dimittis  LSB 199

Post-Communion Thanksgiving –   Gracious God, our heavenly Father, You have given us a foretaste of the feast to come in the Holy Supper of Your Son’s body and blood.  Keep us firm in the true faith throughout our days of pilgrimage that, on the day of His coming, we may, be found faithful through the working of God the Holy Spirit and welcomed into our heavenly home prepared for us 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 Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you with favor and + give you peace.          Amen.

Hymn:  Almighty Father, Bless the Word”             LSB 923

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 *Announcements*

From the Board of Stewardship and Evangelism:  Romans 8:12 – “So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.” We owe the flesh, the world and the devil nothing at all. We are not debtors to these enemies; we are freed by the blood of Christ. We are joyful servants in Christ’s kingdom — servants that He calls friends. We share our Lord’s plans and purposes, and this gives direction and purpose to our lives.

The Pewpoint – THEME OF THE DAY –  The Preaching of the Word of Christ Bears the Good Fruits of Faith and Love –    As “the rain and the snow come down from heaven” and “water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout” (Is. 55:10), so the Word of God accomplishes the purpose for which He speaks it, granting joy and peace through the forgiveness of sins and producing the fruits of faith and love in those who are called by His name. Christ Jesus, the incarnate Word, has established the name of the Lord as “an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off” (Is. 55:13). He opens our ears to hear, our minds to understand and our hearts to believe His Word, lest the evil one come and snatch it away. He thus transforms our rocky hearts into good soil, which clings to the Gospel and “indeed bears fruit” (Matt. 13:23). He is Himself the firstfruits of all who “have received the Spirit of adoption as sons” (Rom. 8:15). Thus being “led by the Spirit of God,” we are not afraid, but we cry out in faith to our Father in heaven (Rom. 8:14–15). For as we suffer with Christ, the beloved Son, so shall we “also be glorified with him” (Rom. 8:17).

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

Sunday Envelopes $2,910  Plate $5     Pew Fund Memorial: Eli Dornfeld $50

Attendance:  Sunday Service: 41   Communed: 36       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.
• Joan, sister of Ron and DeeDee Wille who is dealing with her treatments better.
• We pray for the family of Carleen Rettschlag as she was given her crown of life on Monday July 10^th.

These members are celebrating a birthday!

Serena K	7/21
Dan R	7/23
Gordy K	7/24
Kai K	7/27
Alissa M	7/28

Wish Doug and Karen Congrats on their 45th Anniversary!  July 22nd!

We received another letter from Cindy Zirbel – copies are in the back of church and in the narthex for you to pick up.