Worship and Devotions

Welcome visitors and old friends. Welcome regardless of belief, ethnic background, sexual orientation, gender, socio-economic status, marital status, age, abilities, or life situation. Welcome believers and doubters as well as doubting believers. Welcome to share the fullness of Christ's love for the world!(Adapted from The welcome message from the Thomas Community in Finland. "Celebrating milestone moments" by Rev. Jukka Joensuu. Canada Lutheran January/February 2024 Vol. 39 No. 1; chorus of ELW 523)

Sunday September 13, 2026

Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost

In today’s second reading Paul questions why we judge one another, since we all stand before the judgment of God. Yet we do sin against one another, and Jesus’ challenge that we forgive seventy-seven times reveals God’s boundless mercy. When we hear the words of forgiveness in worship and sign ourselves with the cross, we are renewed in baptism to be signs of reconciliation in the world.

In the beginning, the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. And God called them good.

Come Holy Spirit and cleanse the waters.

The prophet saw a river flowing from the Temple, and wherever the river flowed, everything lived.

Come Holy Spirit and renew the face of the Earth.

Jesus cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me… Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.”

Come, Holy Spirit and heal your people.

(Season of Creation Celebration Guide 2026 page 20 adapted.)

Music

Shall We Gather At The River

Shall We Gather at the River (Hymn Cover) With Lyrics | Country Gospel 🙏

Prayer of the Day

O Lord God, merciful judge, you are the inexhaustible fountain of forgiveness. Replace our hearts of stone with hearts that love and adore you, that we may delight in doing your will, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Music

Before The Waters Nourished Earth

Before the Waters Nourished Earth (with lyrics) - ELW/ACS 1049 - YouTube

Readings

First Reading - Genesis 50:15-21

Semicontinuous First Reading - Exodus 14:19-31

Semicontinuous Psalm - Exodus 15:1b-11, 20-21

Second Reading - Romans 14:1-12

This Christian community has significant struggles with diversity. Here Paul helps us understand that despite different practices in worship and personal piety, we do not judge one another. All Christians belong to the Lord Jesus Christ who died for all of us and will judge each of us.

¹ Welcome those who are weak in faith but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. ² Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. ³ Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat, for God has welcomed them. ⁴ Who are you to pass judgment on slaves of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand. ⁵ Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. ⁶ Those who observe the day, observe it for the Lord. Also those who eat, eat for the Lord, since they give thanks to God, while those who abstain, abstain for the Lord and give thanks to God. ⁷ For we do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. ⁸ If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹ For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. ¹⁰ Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. ¹¹ For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.”¹² So then, each one of us will be held accountable.

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Gospel Reading and Sermon

Prayers of Intercession

Reminded of God’s gracious and abundant love, we offer our prayers, confident that God hears us.

A brief silence.

Move your church throughout the world away from judging and despising others. Lead us to embody the forgiveness you have given us in Jesus. Grant to our leaders, lay and ordained, humility, patience and wisdom as they guide us. Hear us, O God, your mercy is great.

The endless beauty of your creation reminds us of your mercy. Protect those who care for farms and ranches. Guide those who lead us to wonder at your creation. Hear us, O God, your mercy is great.

Heal communities crying out after disaster especially Nepal and Tibet; Venezuela; the southern Okanagan and Fraser Canyon, and other communities ravaged by wildfires. Hear us, O God, your mercy is great.

We pray for all rivers dammed without the consent of the vulnerable; for farmers whose soil dries seasonal flood; for Indigenous peoples whose sacred waters are engineered for distant cities and data centres; for the suffering of communities whose livelihoods are stolen by corporate greed, and whose health is sacrificed for global consumption. Free what has been unjustly controlled. Let rivers flow again with dignity and life. Where water flows, Lord, let everything live, trees for food and leaves for healing. Hear us, O God, your mercy is great. (Season of Creation Celebration Guide 2026 pages 24-25 adapted.)

Calm the fears of all in need with your promises. Compassionately free the lives of any who feel bound by their failures. Remember all who are in need of comfort and healing. Hear us, O God, your mercy is great.

Ground this congregation in the welcome you show us in forgiving our sin. Inspire each of us to welcome others for your honour and glory. Hear us, O God. your mercy is great.

Here other intercessions may be offered.

With you is found the joy and promise of eternal life. Keep us in that joy as we remember all those who have gone before us. Hear us, O God. your mercy is great.

Grant the prayers we have offered, what we have forgotten to ask, and whatever else you see that we need. We ask this in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

Music

Ten Thousand Reasons

10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) - Matt Redman (Best Worship Song Ever) (with Lyrics) - YouTube

Praise My Soul The God Of Heaven

ELW 864 Praise, my soul, the God of heaven - Sammamish Hills & Mt. Si Lutheran Church - Virtual Hymn

Blessing

May the God who sprung water from a rock, quenching the thirst of those who wandered in fear, spare us from the drought of a senseless life. May the God who flows from the wells of salvation, and who is Living Water to the foreigner, the stranger, and the unknown, keep us in peace. May the God who rolls on like a river, changing the course of the world with streams of righteousness that guide the Church's vessel in this world, empower us to work for transformation. And may the blessing of our merciful God, the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit, keep us and preserve us in eternal life. Amen. (Season of Creation Celebration Guide 2026 Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil page 28 adapted.)