St. Mark Lutheran Church and Preschool
St. Mark Lutheran Church
Est. December 24, 1958
About Pew Connections
We are glad to have you worship with us today. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask anyone. The Pew Connections card, located at the end of each pew, helps us keep track of attendance and receive your notes. We invite you to take a moment to fill one out.
About the Service Online
We invite family, friends, and neighbors to view livestream services online HERE. We are a congregation of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. We are built on the Holy Scriptures; we proclaim Christ crucified and risen for the life of the world.
About The Lord’s Supper
As we celebrate The Lord’s Supper, we do so in the confession of the Christian faith that rejoices with glad confidence because our Lord gives us not only bread and wine but also His very body and blood for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:26-29). Furthermore, this act strengthens our union with Him and with one another. Our Lord invites to His table those who trust that the Lord's body and blood are given for the forgiveness of sins. We are warned in scripture that those who receive this Sacrament unworthily do so to their great harm (1 Corinthians 11:23-32), and because the Lord's Supper is a confession of the common faith which is confessed at this altar, anyone who is not yet instructed, who are in doubt, or who hold a confession differing from the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and yet desire to receive the Sacrament, are asked to first speak to the Pastor. Those who wish to receive grape juice, not wine, can do so by receiving the white grape juice distributed in trays.
About Giving
Christian giving is a joyful response to God’s grace in Jesus Christ. In thanksgiving for His gifts, we support the proclamation of God’s Word, the administration of the Sacraments, and works of mercy, trusting the Lord to use our offerings according to His will. To give joyfully, click on our Giving page. Or you can download the app from the Play Store or App Store.
About Fellowship
Join us for a time of food and fellowship immediately following the service. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we gather to share a meal, give thanks for God’s provision, and encourage one another in love. Family, friends, and neighbors are invited to bring something to share. We look forward to growing together. See you in the Fellowship Hall.
______________________________________________________________________________
ROOTED - WOVEN - GRAFTED INTO GOD'S STORY
+SUNDAY, AUGUST 30, 2026+
+FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST+
PRAYER
Pastor Father, thank You for bringing us together today. Quiet our hearts, open our ears, and let us receive everything You desire to give us through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
SCRIPTURE CALL TO WORSHIP Isaiah 55
“Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
3 Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
4 Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,
and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.
6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
7 let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
12 “For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
"Because we gather in the name given to us at Baptism..."
Pastor In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Congregation Amen
+ CONFESSION +
Pastor One of the beautiful things about the Church is that we don't have to pretend. We come just as we are because Jesus already knows us.
(Short silence)
Congregation Lord Jesus, We confess that we have sinned against You. We've failed to love You above everything. We've failed to love our neighbors. We've trusted ourselves instead of You. Forgive us because of Your cross. Restore us by Your grace. Renew us by Your Spirit. Amen.
Pastor Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Congregation Amen
WORSHIP SET
OLD TESTAMENT READING Jeremiah 15:15–21
15O Lord, you know;
remember me and visit me,
and take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance take me not away;
know that for your sake I bear reproach.
16Your words were found, and I ate them,
and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart,
for I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.
17I did not sit in the company of revelers,
nor did I rejoice;
I sat alone, because your hand was upon me,
for you had filled me with indignation.
18Why is my pain unceasing,
my wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
Will you be to me like a deceitful brook,
like waters that fail?
19Therefore thus says the Lord:
“If you return, I will restore you,
and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
you shall be as my mouth.
They shall turn to you,
but you shall not turn to them.
20And I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
but they shall not prevail over you,
for I am with you
to save you and deliver you,
declares the Lord.
21I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”
Assistant This is the Word of the Lord.
Congregation Thanks be to God.
EPISTLE Romans 12:9–21
9Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited. 17Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Assistant This is the Word of the Lord.
Congregation Thanks be to God.
HOLY GOSPEL Matthew 16:21–28
Pastor The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the sixteenth chapter.
Congregation Glory to You, O Lord.
21From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
24Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? 27For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. 28Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Pastor This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Congregation Praise to You, O Christ.
APOSTLES’ CREED
Congregation 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 fromthe 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.
(Sit)
SERMON
(Stand)
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
(Following the prayers, the people may greet one another in the name of the Lord, saying, “Peace be with you,” as a sign of reconciliation and of the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Matt. 5:22–24; Eph. 4:1–3).)
OFFERING
+COMMUNION+
Pastor "One of the things that makes us Lutheran is that we believe Jesus isn't merely remembered here. He comes. He gives. He forgives. Today Christ invites His baptized people to His table."
GREAT THANKSGIVING
Pastor "The Lord is here."
Congregation "He is with us."
Pastor "Lift up your hearts."
Congregation "We lift them to the Lord."
Pastor "Let us give thanks."
Congregation "It is right to give Him thanks and praise."
COMMUNION PRAYER
Pastor Father, we thank You for Your mercy. As Your Son commanded, we gather around His table to receive His true Body and Blood for the forgiveness of our sins. Keep us steadfast in faith until we join the feast that has no end. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
WORDS OF INSTITUTION
Pastor Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said: “Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me.”
In the same way also, He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying: “Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the New Testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
LORD’S PRAYER
Congregation 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.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Pastor Let us pray.
We give thanks to You, almighty God, that You have refreshed us through this salutary gift, and we implore You that of Your mercy You would strengthen us through the same 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.
Congregation Amen.
Pastor You have received Christ. Now go into your homes, your work, your schools, and your neighborhoods carrying His love.
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.
Congregation Amen.
"GO IN PEACE TO LOVE AND SERVE THE LORD."
We are a congregation of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.
Rooted in the Word of God, dwelling in Christ, and branching out for the sake of the world.
