Welcome!
Click Here for a printable order of worship, including readings, song lyrics, and more.
Full Service
Welcome, Invocation
Confession and Absolution
P Trusting God’s promise of forgiveness, let us not avoid Him out of fear of condemnation,
but rather confess our sin, believe His forgiveness, and walk in newness of life.
Kneel Silence is kept for reflection and self-examination –
P Eternal Father, all seeing and loving God,
C Your laws are just and good, but we have trespassed their bounds.
Look upon us, Your children, with mercy, for we have sinned.
Forgive us our offenses, cleanse us from inner arrogance and vain desires,
and by Your grace, draw us near to live in You.
P Jesus Christ, uniquely, is the One Person who never transgressed, the faithful One
who lived and died for mankind’s salvation. Peace with God is by faith in Him,
and God pours His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us for Christ’s sake. Then have faith and receive this:
All your sins are forgiven, in the Name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit
C Amen.
Holy Gospel Reading: Mark 4:35–41
Holy Gospel Mark 4:35–41
P The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark, the fourth chapter.
C Glory to You, O Lord.
35On that day, when evening had come, [Jesus] said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?”
P This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C Praise to You, O Christ.
Prayer of the Day
L Your people are tossed, O God—
C tossed like boats on stormy seas. The thunderous rumbles of this world’s dangers swell our fear. Cloud banks of doubt roll in. Waves of despair wash over us.
L Your people are tossed, O God—
C tossed like boats on stormy seas.
L Give us the wisdom of the disciples:
C “they took Him with them in the boat, just as He was.”
L Sail with us, O great Defender. When it is within Your design,
C calm our stormy seas.
L When it is not,
C captain us, O God.
L Through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord. He lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now,
C and forever. Amen.
Readings: Old Testament 1 Samuel 15:10–23
(Samuel became a priest and prophet, and anointed Saul as the first (human) King of Israel. But Saul didn’t work out so good…)
10The word of the LORD came to Samuel: 11“I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the LORD all night. 12And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the
morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” 13And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the LORD. I have performed the commandment of the LORD.” 14And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” 15Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” 16Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”
17And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. 18And the LORD sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?” 20And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 21But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.” 22And Samuel said,
“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. 23For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.”
A This is the Word of the Lord.
C Thanks be to God
Sermon: The Disobedience of Saul
Response to God’s Word:
P These are the Ten Commandments God gave to His people:
C You shall have no other gods.
You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Honor your father and your mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
P Dear Lord, grant us the gift of a true and deep repentance,
C and incline our hearts to keep Your Laws. Amen.
Prayer of the Church
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.
Offering
L Merciful Father,
C we offer with joy and thanksgiving what You have first given us-
our selves, our time, and our possessions, signs of Your gracious love.
Receive them for the sake of Him Who offered Himself for us,
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
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St. James Lutheran Church
230 2nd Ave
St. James, NY 11780
Holy Communion
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Thank you so much for joining us! God bless you!
I am committed to serve god.
We are going to miss you Rayan and Caitlyn. Hope you enjoy your new church.
Happy Easter.
Great service.
Congratulations Ryan
Good luck to you, and your family in your future Ministry in Texas.
You will be missed greatly here in the St. James community
With our love,
Paul and Linda Crocitto
It’s such a wonderful feeling that I know I have worship every week online so I don’t feel like I am not included. Looking forward to the next week of the BEING challenge. Looking forward to the day we are all back together again. God bless our church family.
You cant believe in something if you don’t read there work.
I like pastor comparison to looking through a microscope and how the disciples looked that way to find Jesus.
It was nice to see Pastor feeling better and preaching.
You are one amazing pastor! Praying for you continued success on getting well and being with us all in person again! Prayers for Carol too!
Thank you God for this worship service, and for Pastor’s continued strength. Far away in body but close with you in mind. Thank you again,
Very uplifting service and good sermon. It touched our family this day thinking of God’s extravagant grace and mercy. We have seen this in Pastor’s continued healing and those for whom we pray.
Very uplifting service and good sermon. It touched our family this day thinking of God’s extravagant grace and mercy. We have seen this in Pastor’s continued healing and those for whom we pray.
Glad to see pastor is feeling better.
Pastor, Thank you for yet another moving sermon; and Lord, thank You for allowing Pastor to be here to continue to teach us and spread Your Word!
From your fireplace to ours we enjoyed your sermon. Oh the wonderful mercy and grace you shed upon us each day sweet Jesus. Let us never take that for granted. Sounding better Pastor Neil! Continued prayers.
Great to see Pastor preach again! God Bless all!
The parallels in your sermon today were quite powerful . Sharing your experience quieted the mind and made for deep reflection . Thank you . Continued healing and prayers to you, Pastor.
So glad Pr. Neil is doing so well!
Today’s service was very different for me. In the last weeks 14 of my family and friends have contacted Covid. I needed Pastors words more than ever before. I continue to pray for all our church family, for all touched by Covid, cancer and pray for all of us to regain our strength, courage and faith to get through this time. I’m not sure what I would have done with out my church family. God Bless you Pastor. I didn’t want your fireside sermon to end today.
We’re all saying continued prayers for Pastor and Carol to get well .
Bob and Linda Pennington
Haley was here to do the sermon. My family and I are hoping pastor get’s better.
Thank you for the beautiful service. And thanks, too, for the Wednesday Christmas Walk Around. It was perfect.
Thank you Ryan for a wonderful sermon. Praying for Pastor Neil and Carol. Thank you for asking about the family too.
Linda and Bob Pennington
God please our Pastor.
Thank you, Jim, Ryan and Owen for your never ending faithfulness to our church and to us
while taking over church services. Even though my health has prevented me from being present I have been enjoying virtual services I clouding wonderful Advent services. You have all done a wonderful job of bringing us the “Good news” and you are appreciated.
Prayers continue for Pastor and Carol.
Thank you for a meaningful service. Wonderful message…
Thank you for bringing GOD’S Word to me this day. May the words inspire me to live according to GOD’S Will and enable me to follow in HIS foot steps.
Thank you for a good job, Ryan.