Take a moment to notice the * at the beginning of various portions of the order of service. The * indicates the place where it is inappropriate to enter or leave the sanctuary because it marks a time of prayer or respect for the Word of the Lord. Please be considerate of others around you by honoring these notations.
EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
In Life and Death, Christ Fulfills the Law of God
October 19, 2025
AS WE GATHER: The Pharisees ask a Law question. Jesus asks a Gospel question. The Pharisees seek to test Jesus in His own words. Jesus seeks to “test” them in the saving reality of who He is as the Messiah (Matt. 22:34-46). The Law requires you to “fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” and to “love the sojourner” (Deut. 10:12-21). Failure to keep the Law perfectly brings judgment. On the other hand, the Gospel brings the grace of God given by Jesus Christ, that you may be blameless in the day of His return (1 Cor. 1:1-9). Jesus is David’s Son yet David’s Lord, true God and true man. He is Love incarnate who fulfilled all the demands of God’s Law on our behalf, that we might be saved from the Law’s condemnation and sanctified in the Gospel’s forgiveness. Thereby we see that “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor. 1:9).
THE GIFT OF FLOWERS TO THE GLORY OF GOD:
Praise and Thanksgiving to God for helping our family
strengthen trust in His divine timetable. My niece and her
husband have been granted legal permission to begin the
adoption process of the child they’ve cared for since his birth,
October 19, 2023. – Marcia Bauer
PARTICIPATING:
Worship Leader/Preacher Pastor Justin D. Kane
Organist Mr. Ignatius Hasselbrook
Worship Elder Mr. Jon Champion
Lay Reader Mr. Jon Champion
Greeters Carol Gustafson/Alan Kleinendorst
Door Greeter Brian Williams
ORDER OF WORSHIP
Matins
Organ Prelude
Announcements
Opening Hymn LSB 913 “O Holy Spirit, Enter In”
*CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION:
Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
Pastor: 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.
Pastor: Our help is in the name of the Lord,
People: who made heaven and earth.
Pastor: I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord.
People: and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.
Pastor: O almighty God, merciful Father,
People: 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.
Pastor: 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.
People: Amen.
“O Lord, open my lips…” LSB 219
PSALMODY
Venite: LSB 220ff
READINGS
Old Testament: Deuteronomy 10:12-21 Pew Bible Page 290
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 Pew Bible Page 1771
*Holy Gospel: Matthew 22:34-46 Pew Bible Page 1535
*Common Responsory LSB 221
Office Hymn: LSB 694 “Thee Will I Love, My Strength, My Tower”
Sermon
Offertory LSB 956 “Create in Me”
*Canticle LSB 941 “We Praise You and Acknowledge You, O God”
PRAYER
*Kyrie: LSB 227
*Lord’s Prayer: LSB 227
*Prayer of the Church
Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.
Lord God of Israel, we give You thanks for Jesus Christ, David’s Son and Lord, on whom hangs all the Law and the Prophets. Reconciled to You by His righteousness, lead us as disciples to make a godly beginning in the love of You and of our neighbors. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, bless our congregations. Enrich young and old with the testimony about Christ. Confirm them with every spiritual gift, and sustain them in this fellowship to the end, guiltless in the day of the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Receive, O Lord, our thanks and praise for our sister churches who share with us in the Word and Sacraments of Christ. Enrich them by Your grace and prepare them for His coming, that we may all be found blameless in His sight. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Heavenly Father, Your Son is Bridegroom and Lord, faithful over Your house, the Church. Raise up the sons of our congregations to follow Your Word, and bless their families with godly lives. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Almighty God, graciously uphold our republic with its lawmakers and executives. By their actions, let the common good be served. Bring their justice into accord with Your good order and command. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Gracious Lord, Your Son is the Son of David and yet Lord of all. Send Your Spirit of healing to all who are ill or injured or troubled among us. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, heavenly Father, we gratefully remember the sufferings and death of Your dear Son, Jesus Christ, for our salvation. Rejoicing in His victorious resurrection from the dead, we draw strength from His ascension before You, where He ever stands for us as our own High Priest. Gather us together 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, for to You alone we give all glory, honor and worship, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
*Collect of the Day:
Pastor: O God,
People: because without You we are not able to please You, mercifully grant that Your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
*Collect for Grace: LSB 228
*Benedicamus/Benediction: LSB 228
Closing Hymn: LSB 919 “Abide, O Dearest Jesus”
EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
1024 West Eighth Street, Waterloo Iowa
319.235.6705