16th Sunday After Trinity Service

appropriate for today. And so our service will continue. We'll open by singing hymn number 697,

Awake, O Sleeper, Rise from Death. And if you're here present, you may rise. To us on earth he came to bring from sin and fear release, to give the

Spirit's unity the very bond of peace.

Then walk in love as Christ has loved, who died that he might save.

With kind and gentle hearts forgive, as God in Christ forgave.

For us, Christ, he slept, for us he died as Christ.

Awake, arise, go forth in faith, and Christ shall give you life.

Divine Service Setting 3, 184 in the Lutheran Service Cookbook. In the name of the

Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 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. I said I will confess my transgressions unto the

Lord. Almighty God, our

Maker and Redeemer, we poor sinners confess unto you that we are by nature sinful and unclean, and that we have sinned against you by thought, word, and deed.

Wherefore, we flee for refuge to your infinite mercy, seeking and imploring your grace for the sake of our

Lord Jesus Christ. O most merciful God, who has given your

Only Begotten Son to die for us, have mercy upon us, and for his sake grant us remission of all our sins, and by your

Holy Spirit increase in us true knowledge of you and of your will, and true obedience to your word.

To the end that by your grace we may come to everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our

Lord. Amen. Almighty God, our Heavenly Father has had mercy upon us and has given his

Only Son to die for us, and for his sake forgives us all our sins. To those who believe on his name, he gives power to become the children of God, and has promised them his

Holy Spirit. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved. Grant this,

Lord, unto us all. Amen. We'll read responsibly the Intuit for the day in your bulletin insert.

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for you,

O Lord, are good and forgiving. Abiding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me. For I am poor and needy. In the day of my trouble

I call upon you. For you answer me. I give thanks to you, O Lord, my

God, with my whole heart. And I will glorify your name forever. For great is your steadfast love toward me.

You have delivered my soul from the devastation. 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. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for you,

O Lord, are good and forgiving. Abiding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

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.

Lord, have mercy upon us.

Christ, have mercy upon us.

Lord, have mercy upon us.

Glory be to God. We bless thee.

We bless thee upon us.

Thou that takest away the sin of the world, receive our prayer.

Thou that sittest at the right hand of God, upon him, have mercy upon us.

For thou only art holy. Let us pray.

O Lord, we pray that your grace may always go before and follow after us, that we may continually be given to all good works through Jesus Christ, your

Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, and the Holy Spirit, one

God, now and forever. Amen.

You may be seated. The Old Testament reading for this, the 16th

Sunday after Trinity, is found in 1 Kings 17 -24. After this, the son of a woman, the mistress of the house, became ill, and his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.

And she said to Elijah, What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son.

And he said to her, Give me your son. And he took him from her arms, and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed.

And he cried to the Lord, O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom

I sojourned by killing her son? Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried to the

Lord, O Lord my God, let this child's life come into him again.

And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child came into him again, and he revived.

And Elijah took the child, and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and delivered him to his mother.

And Elijah said, See, your son lives. And the woman said to Elijah, Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the

Lord is in your mouth. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

We'll read responsibly our gradual for the day, which is on your insert. Nations will fear the name of the

Lord, and all the kings of the earth will fear the Lord. For the Lord builds up Zion.

He appears in glory. The epistle text for this Sunday is upon Ephesians chapter 3, verses 13 through 21.

So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his

Spirit and in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Please rise for the

Alleluia and the Gospel. Alleluia.

The Gospel for this Sunday is found in Luke chapter 7 verses 11 through 17. Glory be to thee,

O Lord. Soon afterward

Jesus went to a town called Maine, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. And as he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.

And a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her,

Do not weep. Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bier stood still. And he said,

Young man, I say to you, arise. And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, A great prophet has arisen among us, and God has visited his people.

And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise be to thee,

O Christ. Father, let us confess the

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. Our sermon hymn is No. 758, following which the sermon will be given by Pastor Roseborough via pre -recording.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Death, yeah, we don't like talking about it. But whether we talk about it or not, death comes.

Death comes for all of us, unless Christ shows up. Maybe next Thursday would be a good time for him to show up, because then maybe we can avert death.

But alas, if Christ continues to tarry, we will all someday die.

And you'll note that throughout the Gospels, there are several instances, three to be exact, where Jesus raises the dead.

The first is Jairus' daughter, a young 12 -year -old girl. Then we have this fellow, the son of the widow of Nain.

And clearly he's a young man. So I would note here this fellow, by virtue of the fact that he's a young man, and the first person that Jesus raised from the dead was a girl, a little 12 -year -old girl, that death comes for us all.

We all are born already with one foot in the grave. And death is no respecter of persons.

Death doesn't sit there and go, oh, well, you're too young to die. No, no, no, no, death doesn't think this way.

Death sweeps us all away. Infant, unborn, older, younger, it doesn't matter.

And then the third of Jesus' raising people from the dead miracles is Lazarus, the one whom he loved.

And so we'll note that tragedy comes for us all. In our

Gospel text today, this is indeed tragedy. In fact, the tragedy is surpassed by the mercy of Christ.

So Jesus is traveling to a town called Nain, and as he drew near to the gate, there was a man who had died being carried out.

The only son of his mother. She was a widow. A considerable crowd from the town was with her.

And this woman, as a widow, I mean, she's facing abject poverty.

That's what's facing her. She doesn't have a son anymore. Her husband has passed.

What does her future look like? Bleak. And you're going to note something here. And that is that oftentimes tragedy visits us.

And we cry out to God and we say, why? And I am not authorized to say why because I do not know the mind of God.

However, I have noticed that there are times in people's lives when God sends tragedy.

Oftentimes, it is to make it so that the good things of this earth do not tempt us in ways that we put our trust in them, our heart's desires for them rather than for God.

You'll note that by faith, we despise all the things of this earth.

We do not cast our eyes on and trust in riches or wealth or youth or in the love of a spouse or the love of a mother or the love of a child.

If we love these things more than Christ, then we're not worthy of eternal life. We're still impenitent.

We're still dead in trespasses and sins. And so sometimes tragedy comes as a means by which

God strips away those things that would harm our faith. In this particular case, we're in the middle of this tragedy.

This kid has just died. And Christ, here, he has compassion. It says, the

Lord saw her and he had compassion on her. And he comes and offers words of consolation, saying to her, do not weep.

This isn't a prohibition as if somehow weeping is an anti -Christian thing to do. No, no, no. This has to do with the fact that he's saying, take comfort, take comfort.

Don't weep. I've got something for you. Then he came up, touched the beard, and the bearer stood still.

And he said, young man, I say to you, arise. Man, talk about compassion.

Third, three people Christ raises from the dead. The fourth is himself, by the way.

When Jesus was challenged regarding the things that he was doing, especially making a cord and a whip and driving out the money changers.

And when the Pharisees challenged Christ and said, show us a sign by what authority you do these things.

And Jesus said, tear down this temple and I'll build it again in three days. He said, I will build it. Jesus is

God of human flesh. So you'll note that the second person of the Trinity, the son of God, he also was instrumental in his own rising from the dead.

So that technically counts as the fourth. But what does this show us? What does this show us? You'll note that the reaction of the people of Nain, they immediately realized something huge has happened in their midst.

Let their fear speak to you. Fear sees them all. And they ended up glorifying

God, saying a great prophet has arisen among us. God has visited his people.

Good words. Good words. God has visited his people.

Indeed, he has. You see, God has visited his people because Christ is

God in human flesh. As Paul says in Colossians, in him, the whole fullness of the deity dwells bodily.

Or as John says in the Gospel of John chapter one, that God has tabernacled among us.

We have been visited by God. And note that although this visitation by God is 2 ,000 years ago, do not let the fact, that fact, keep you from seeing the truth.

God's word is living and active and sharper than a double -edged sword. The fact that Christ raised the widow's son from the dead is every bit as powerful and potent as it was 2 ,000 years ago.

God has visited his people. He's visited you. He's visited me. And he's come and demonstrated something by fulfilling one of the words of the prophets.

In the prophet Hosea, we read in chapter 13, verse 14,

Yahweh speaking, I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol.

Indeed, that's exactly what God did, what Yahweh did. By taking on human flesh,

Christ bleeding and dying for the sins of the world. Sheol now kind of being portrayed as a highwayman who's absconded with us and is holding us hostage, waiting for a ransom.

And that's what Christ does. By bleeding and dying for your sins, he has ransomed us from sin, death, the devil himself.

And so it says in Hosea, chapter 13, verse 14, Yahweh speaking, I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol.

I shall redeem them from death. And that's what

Jesus has done. You know, death, it's a terrible thing. There's just no way around it.

If you find yourself in mourning, it often feels like the whole world is passing you by, that you've been somehow shoved to the side of the road and just had something stripped from you that was so precious and so needful.

That's always what happens when death, right? But you know, God knows a thing or two about death.

God the Father watched on while his Son bled and died for your sins and mine.

And what was he doing on the cross? Redeeming us. Redeeming us so that we can be set free once and for all from death.

Is it any wonder then that Hosea then goes on to say, oh, death, where's your plagues?

Where are your plagues, death? You seem to be a toothless wonder. You guys remember Rudolf the red -nosed reindeer and the abominable snowman?

How did they conquer the abominable snowman? Well, Herne, the dentist, takes all of his teeth out.

And see, that's what Jesus did. By him being swallowed up by death, on the third day,

Christ rose victorious from the grave and he has totally taken away death's power.

Death has no power over you as a Christian. Death has no power over me as a

Christian. When we die and our eyes close in this lifetime, we are awakened to the joys of eternal life in the presence of Christ forever.

Death is not something that is a horrible experience for a believer. Indeed, it's the exact opposite.

So, oh, death, where are your plagues? Oh, Sheol, where is your sting?

The answer to the question is, it's nowhere to be found. Jesus puts it this way, in the

Gospel of John, chapter 5. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the

Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the

Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. So whoever does not honor the

Son does not honor the Father who sent him. So truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my words and believes him who sent me has, present tense, now, eternal life.

And that's you. You are in Christ. You've heard the Gospel. You've heard

His words. You're hearing His words right now. Because the words that I'm speaking, they're not my own, they're His. And you trust in Him.

And you believe in Him. And you already have eternal life. Oh, death, where's your sting, man?

I already have eternal life. And so do you. He does not come into judgment.

And neither will you. But it's already passed from death to life. Truly, truly,

I say to you, Jesus says, an hour is coming and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the

Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the

Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. You know, by Jesus raising these three people from the dead, including the son of the widow of Nain, He's demonstrated that He is the one who is the

Lord of life and death. And He is the one who's ravaging death.

And He's the one who's taken the teeth out of death. And taken its sting away. So we already have eternal life.

And you, oh, brother, sister, you're going to hear the voice of the

Son of God when He returns in glory to judge the living and dead. Because the dead will hear, He says.

You know, the dead don't seem to respond to anything. You know, hey, are you there? Wake up, wake up. No, they don't respond to nothing, right?

But they do respond to the voice of Jesus on the day that He returns in glory to judge the living and the dead.

The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear, they will live.

For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. He's given

Him authority to execute judgment because He is the Son of Man. So do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear

His voice and they will come out. You see, that widow's son,

Jesus said, young man, I say to you, arise. Well, Jesus, when He returns, He will say to you, arise, call you by name, arise, you'll come out.

And those who've done good by trusting in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins, who've already passed from death to life, who will not come into judgment, they will go to the resurrection of life.

But those who persist in sin and unbelief, well, foolishly they'll head to the resurrection of judgment.

Paul says it this way in 1 Corinthians 15, starting at verse 35. Some will ask, well, how are the dead raised?

With what kind of body do they come? You foolish person, what you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.

But God gives it a body as He has chosen to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, and another for birds and another for fish.

There are heavenly bodies, and there are earthly bodies. But the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, the glory of the earthly is of another.

There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, for stars differ from star and glory.

So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable. What is raised is imperishable.

It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness.

It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, and it is raised a spiritual body.

Now, if there is a natural body, there's also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living being, and the last man became a life -giving spirit.

But it's not the spiritual that is first. It is the natural, then the spiritual.

The first man was from the earth, a man of dust. The second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so are also those of the dust.

And as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

So I tell you this, brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Our mortal flesh cannot.

It is required that we take off this sinful flesh.

We do so naturally by dying, and then being raised from the dead.

So I tell you, brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

So behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. There will be

Christians when Jesus returns. But we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, and we just read it, death is swallowed up in victory.

Oh, death, where is your victory? Oh, death, where is your sting? Right? The sting of death is sin.

The power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable in your faith in Jesus, always abounding in the work of the

Lord, knowing that the Lord, in the Lord, is your labor. None of it is in vain.

So brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ truly is the Lord of life. He's ravaged death for you.

He suffered death in your place so that you would never have to die. And we know this theme of death and resurrection, it's not a theme as if somehow it's a mythology.

It's a fact. You are already alive in Christ. You've been buried with Christ in the waters of your baptism.

You've been raised with Christ in the waters of your baptism. God has already seated you in heavenly places with Christ.

And when he comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead, he will bring you back with him if you perish now.

And he will raise you from the dead to live forever.

There's a day coming when mothers will never again be taken away from their children.

Fathers the same. Nor will any children die and be taken from their parents.

But we will all enjoy our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, face to face on into eternity and enjoy each other in a world without end.

Christ has conquered death. He's risen. He is risen indeed. And so will you.

In the name of Jesus. Amen. We'll rise for our operatory.

The prayer plates are in the back.

And for those of you joining us live stream, the QR code if you wish to contribute and support the ministry of Congregational Lutheran Church, we do so.

This time we'll have the prayers of the church. Your response will be hear our prayer.

Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.

Almighty God, you sent your Son into the world to put an end to death, keep us from losing heart in the face of sorrow, strengthen us with power through your

Holy Spirit, and help us to know the love of Christ that through him we will no longer weep.

Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer. Gracious Lord, preserve your holy church here and scattered throughout the world.

Give steadfast faith to all Christians by the preaching of your word and through the holy sacraments and send laborers into your harvest.

Enliven the love of your saints to bear one another's burdens and to show mercy toward those outside of the church.

Quicken us in the hope of eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. In your mercy. Hear our prayer.

O God, our Father, giver of all good gifts, look upon the households of your people. Provide companionship for those who are alone, strengthen the bonds of marriage and equip parents to raise their children in love and faith.

Grant that our homes may be places of joy, reasonableness, peace, and prayer. Lord, in your mercy.

Hear our prayer. Almighty God, uphold Joseph our president, our governors, and all our leaders.

Direct their work toward the common good of all people which is found in God's law written on our hearts and in your righteous decrees, especially for the protection of the onboard and those who cannot speak for themselves.

Lord, in your mercy. Hear our prayer. Merciful Father, in his compassion, your son responded to the need of the widow of Nain and raised her son from death to life.

Have mercy on all who are ill or receive treatments. Especially this morning, we think of Natalie, Deb, Taryn, the

Jennings family, Dave Peterson, Candy, Todd, Bonnie, Brent, Cynthia, Roger, Kevin, Mark, Jeff, Joan, the

Knotts family, Sarah, Jessica, Josh, Ryan, Tim, Lori, Mike, Shirley, and Carol.

And for those who are undergoing or recovering from surgery, that we may have in our thoughts and prayers.

And for those dealing with cancer, Charmaine, Robin, Colin, Bill, Colleen, Heather, Rich, and Jean.

And also remember this morning, Robin, Hendrickson, Charlie, Tim, Cam, Cindy, Barbara, Gloria, Reuben, the

Leslie family, Margarita, Karen, Tara, Robert, Linda, Rebecca, Sherita, Robin, Lucille, Louis, Patty, Jeff, Marco, Selina, Rachel, Kidron, Mason, Aaron, Ashley, Elizabeth, Sane, Lou, and Robin.

And for those who mourn, the Bennett family and the Lynn family. We pray for all believers, for those who are spiritually deceived, may your

Holy Spirit speak to them, touch their hearts, and set them on the right track according to your word.

Relieve them of their discomfort and grant them healing and recovery according to your will, that they may glorify you in all things.

Lord, in your mercy. God of comfort, grant joy to those who come to your altar today in the eating and drinking of Christ's body and blood for the forgiveness of their sins.

Lord, in your mercy. Gracious God, those who die in Christ rest in him.

With them we await the day when we are received into your everlasting presence to the life and death that death cannot end.

Receive our thanks for the mighty saints of old and for their witness preserved through the ages. Keep us in Christ that we may be reunited with all who have gone before us.

Lord, in your mercy. To your grace, O Lord, we commend all entrusted to us.

Grant that we may live in your fear, die in your mercy, rest in your peace, rise through your power, and inherit eternal life.

We ask all this through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, to whom with you and the

Holy Spirit be all praise and honor, glory and majesty, now and forever. Amen.

This time we'll have our hymn, which is number 713.

You may be seated. 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, the power, and the glory, forever and ever.

Amen. O God, the Father, the fountain and source of all goodness, who in loving kindness sent your only begotten

Son into the flesh, we thank you for his sake. You have given us pardon and peace in this sacrament, and we ask you not to forsake your children, but always to rule our hearts and minds by your

Holy Spirit, that we may be enabled constantly to serve you through Jesus Christ, your Son, our

Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Lord be with you. And with thy spirit. Bless we the

Lord. The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Our closing hymn is number 818.

818. You may be seated for a moment.

The news and happenings of the week. Again, Pastor and Barb are on travel. Apparently they're coming back

Friday night. The way the schedule looks, there's no weekly activities until Saturday morning.

Saturday morning men's and women's Bible study, and I believe that's the correct information. Otherwise, there's no catechism classes or Greek classes this week.