St Ansgar Lutheran Church, London

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Sunday Morning

We invite you to join us for the following worship services:

Sundays
10:30 a.m. Worship service

Hand sanitizer will be available at the entrance and other locations in the church for
your use.

Washrooms will be available for use.

In the service: The service will be shown on the screen. The offering will not be gathered and presented, but there will be an offering plate at the back of the sanctuary where you can put your offering as you enter or leave. Pastor David distributes the communion wafers and an Assisting Minister distributes wine or grape juice in individual glasses.

We have coffee and fellowship time available again in Luther Hall after the service.

We will continue to evaluate our worship service procedures on a monthly basis.

FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY, FEBRUARY 8, 2026.

St. Ansgar Lutheran Church, Outline for Worship (with sermon)
Sunday, February 8, 2026 – Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
Based on ELW Setting Four

GATHERING

WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS

BRIEF ORDER FOR CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
P: Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God, the Creator of heaven and earth,
the Word who spoke life into being, the Wind stirring the waters.
C: Amen.

P: Let us turn in confession to the one who knows us completely.

Silence is kept for reflection.

P: Mighty God, lover of justice,
C: you call us to life in community, but we have served our own
interests at the expense of our neighbours.
We have sown deceit where honesty was needed.
We say the right words, but our hearts are far from you.
Turn us to seek your face.
Knit us together and give us the mind of Christ, that we may do justice,
love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God.
Amen.

P: The former things have passed away, and new things God now declares.
Like a spring of water that never fails, God covers you in the righteousness
of Christ, and forgives your sin in ☩ Jesus’ name.
May the Spirit give you strength to live for others, and bless you with
the gift of peace.
C: Amen.

ENTRANCE HYMN - Gather Us In (ELW #532)

GREETING
P: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion
of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
C: And also with you

KYRIE
A: In peace, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.

A: For the peace from above, and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.

A: For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the Church of God,
and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.

A: For this holy house, and for all who offer here their worship and praise,
let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.

A: Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.
C: Amen.

HYMN OF PRAISE (sung) (ELW p. 149)
P: This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia.
C: Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain,
whose blood set us free to be people of God.
Power and riches and wisdom and strength,
and honour and blessing and glory are his.
This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia.
Sing with all the people of God
and join in the hymn of all creation:
Blessing and honour and glory and might
be to God and the Lamb forever. Amen.
This is the feast of victory for our God,
for the Lamb who was slain has begun his reign.
Alleluia. Alleluia.

PRAYER OF THE DAY
P: Let us pray.
P: Lord God, with endless mercy you receive the prayers of all who
call upon you. By your Spirit show us the things we ought to do,
and give us the grace and power to do them, through Jesus Christ,
our Saviour and Lord.
Amen

WORD

FIRST READING: Isaiah 58:1-12
1 Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to
my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet day after
day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that
practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they
ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God. 3 "Why do
we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?"
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers.
4 Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high.
5 Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down
the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this
a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? 6 Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the
oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread
with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you
see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring
up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be
your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall
cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, 10 if you offer your food to
the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in
the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. 11 The LORD will guide
you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your
bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water,
whose waters never fail. 12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise
up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of
the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.

A: The word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.

PSALM 112: 1-10
1 Hallelujah! Happy are they who fear the Lord
and have great delight in God’s commandments!
2 Their descendants will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches will be in their house,
and their righteousness will last forever.
4 Light shines in the darkness for the upright;
the righteous are merciful and full of compassion.
5 It is good for them to be generous in lending
and to manage their affairs with justice.
6 For they will never be shaken;
the righteous will be kept in everlasting remembrance.
7 They will not be afraid of any evil rumours;
their heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
8 Their heart is established and will not shrink,
until they see their desire upon their enemies.
9 They have given freely to the poor, and their righteousness stands fast forever;
they will hold up their head with honour.
10 The wicked will see it and be angry, they will gnash their teeth and pine away,
the desires of the wicked will perish.

SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 2:1-16
1 When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming
the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know
nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I came to
you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. 4 My speech and my
proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration
of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom
but on the power of God. 6 Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom,
though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are
doomed to perish. 7 But we speak God's wisdom, secret and hidden,
which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of
this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the
Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who
love him" 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the
Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For what human
being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within?
So also no one comprehends what is truly God's except the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God,
so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. 13 And we
speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by
the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual. 14 Those who
are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God's Spirit, for they are foolishness
to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually
discerned. 15 Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are
themselves subject to no one else's scrutiny. 16 "For who has known the
mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

A: The word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
C: Alleluia. Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life. Alleluia.

GOSPEL
P: The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 5:13-20
C: Glory to you, O Lord.

13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its
saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and
trampled under foot. 14 "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill
cannot be hid. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket,
but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way,
let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and
give glory to your Father in heaven. 17 "Do not think that I have come
to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter,
not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.
19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments,
and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven;
but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom
of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the
scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

P: The Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to you, O Christ.

SERMON
Matthew 5:13-20
Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the prayers of our hearts,
always be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our Strength, and our Redeemer.
AMEN

A movie was made during the Second World War entitled “Edge of Darkness.”
The movie is about the Norwegian resistance during the German occupation
of Norway. One scene stood out because it represents a moral dilemma faced
by Christians. A German soldier had been killed, so the Germans rounded up
several townspeople to be killed in retaliation. The condemned people were
marched to the graveyard, required to dig their own graves, and were about
to be shot when the Lutheran pastor of the village emerged from the church
tower with a machine gun and proceeded to kill the German soldiers. This met
with great approval at first, but later the conversation got around to the
actions of the pastor, who committed his life to teaching the Christian faith,
including the Commandment “Thou shall not kill.” Had he done the right
thing in killing others to save his townspeople?
How are we supposed to make moral choices? If we are Christians, do we
simply learn the Commandments and other rules of conduct and apply them
in the same way regardless of circumstance, or do we make exceptions?
By themselves, do the moral teachings of the Bible tell us automatically
what we should do in every situation?
In our Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus says that the commandments
must not be relaxed. But what about the times we have done what is right
according to the Bible, but something inside us says that it is not right?
Is there something more to consider than doing what the Commandments
call for? In our lesson this morning Jesus addresses this issue.
One of the things Jesus does in the lesson is to warn us about the weakness
of the conduct that is focused too much on rules and regulations. This is what
Jesus calls the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. The scribes
carefully studied the Scriptures, debated their meaning, and developed
regulations so that the devout people would know how to conduct themselves
in ways that would please God. The Pharisees apparently got their name
from a word meaning the “separated ones.” They separated themselves
from ordinary people and ordinary activities so that they could concentrate
on keeping the regulations the scribes had developed. To them, to keep the
rules was to serve God. But unfortunately, there are weaknesses in pursuing
a lifestyle that is based exclusively on keeping rules and regulations.
There is a temptation to insist on enforcement of the rules without considering
the circumstances. For such people, then and now, rules and regulations are
not guidelines to be considered when making a moral choice, but directives
from which there is no deviation. They are not concerned with the spirit of the law,
but only with enforcement of the law. To focus only on enforcing the rules can
leave out mercy.
When people focus on the rules and regulations, the rules multiply. The Judaism
of Jesus’ day became choked in a whole tradition of hairsplitting that killed
the concern for people. For example, one of the Commandments says that no
work is to be done on the Sabbath because the Sabbath is Holy. The scribes
went to work on that to help people answer questions about what was
permissible and what was not. They concluded that to carry a burden was
work and was not permissible. But what constituted a burden? Before the scribes
were done, their summary of the legal code was eight hundred pages long.
No wonder Jesus tried to bring back perspective by saying, “You have it
backwards: people do not exist to keep the Sabbath, the Sabbath exists
to give people rest.” The regulations had caused them to lose sight of
the principle. The tendency to multiply regulations is still with us today.
Someone did a tabulation that suggested that the religions of the world
had generated thirty-two million religious regulations from their relatively
few principles. An abundance of rules makes religion joyless and negative.
When people are focused on rules and regulations, the rules become more
important than people.
Religious rules can have a deadening, joy-sapping, shame-inducing effect.
It happened in Biblical times. Pious Jews in Jesus’ day were expected to
obey some 613 religious commandments. With so many impersonal rules,
people gradually lost touch with their personal God. Laws crowded out love.
What was done became more important than why it was done. There is
something beyond simple adherence to rules and regulations that must be
considered when making ethical choices. We need the guidance that is
offered by the Commandments and principles, but we need something more.
It is that something more that Jesus refers to when he calls us to
righteousness that goes beyond rules and regulations, beyond the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. For one thing, it recognizes
that conduct that is drawn out of a person is better than conduct that is
imposed on a person from outside.
We must take the Commandments and Biblical statements seriously,
but we should see them as guides and illustrations, rather than a basis
for judgement. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have
it abundantly.” The rules and the Commandments are the guidelines offered
to help us find that abundant life. The rules are generalizations, as though
to say, “All thing being equal, this is the kind of conduct that leads to the
abundant life.” But in actual practice we are almost never in a situation
where all things are equal, so we must adjust how we apply the teachings.
Take Jesus’ teaching about divorce. His words against it are very strong
because divorce can destroy the abundant life. All things equal, people who
marry should stay together. That is the way God intended marriage to be.
But unfortunately, sinful people marry, as do abusive people, faithless people,
and people with other serious flaws. All things are not equal. We know
God’s intention, which was also our intention when we married. But when
the marriage dies, love dies, and nobody is going to find an abundant life
in a marriage without love. But it is not the church’s job to make judgement
or pronounce a sentence. What people need when their lives are in a state
of chaos and confusion is not a reminder that they have broken God’s law,
but some assurance that they can be loved and accepted in spite of what
has happened.
It isn’t that the commandments are to be set aside or made unimportant.
Jesus said the law and the teachings of the prophets will endure. Jesus did not
come to abolish them or dismiss their importance as a pattern for us to follow.
In fact, Jesus said he came to fulfill them. That fulfillment comes about by
reducing all the commandments and rules and regulations to their most
basic expression, and that is the expression of love.
When Jesus was asked which is the greatest commandment, he responded,
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a
second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” The righteousness
that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees is not based on keeping the
rules, but on acting in love.
Jesus calls us to an ethic in which love takes precedence over rules. But Jesus
did not give us a code which can be applied to every situation without
considering the factors of life. We still must weigh in all the considerations
and then respond in love. Since there is no way of reducing the claims of
love to words, it is not possible for us to say in advance the way a Christian
must respond in every situation. Moral acts have to be improvised on the spot
and justified, not on their accuracy in conforming to a specific law, but by their
faithfulness to the claims of love. For Christians, each of us is called to respond
in love guided by the Commandments and the teaching of Jesus Christ.
AMEN

Silence is kept for reflection.

HYMN OF THE DAY – This Little Light of Mine (ELW #677)

APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s 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 to the dead.*
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
A: As God’s beloved children united in Christ, let us pray for the church,
the whole human community, and the well-being of the earth, our home.
A: God of our church, send forth your Spirit as we pray for our Bishops Larry
and Carla. Empower them with your wisdom to lead the church. We also
pray for the Thames Ministry area, especially retired Pastors Jack Dressler,
Jim Garey, John Goldsworthy, Tom Ristine, Glen Sellick, and Bob Zimmerman.
Merciful God,
C: receive our prayer.

A: Your church does ministry in many and various ways. Keep the baptized true
to the mind of Christ, that our works and witness bring hope to a troubled world.
Merciful God,
C: receive our prayer.

A: Your marvelous creation cries out to you. Restore polluted air, soil,
and water sources to wholeness. Guard honeybees, elephants, great whales,
and songbirds from harm, and renew the face of the earth. Merciful God,
C: receive our prayer.

A: Your people in every nation suffer injustice, poverty, and the threat
of violence. Guide those in authority to govern with compassion, and bring
peace to war zones. We pray for our enemies. Merciful God,
C: receive our prayer.

A: Your blessings are poured out for all in need. Help and heal any who
experience trauma, discrimination, disease, hunger, abuse, or persecution.
Comfort those who are sick or grieving. We pray especially for Beth, Jean,
Mary Margaret, Kristine, Karen, Emma, Cathy, Lene, Grethe, Lyra, Bud,
and those others who are in our hearts. Merciful God,
C: receive our prayer.

A: Your wisdom guides this congregation and its ministries. Sustain our pastor,
staff, lay leaders, and volunteers. Form us to be salt and light for the
neighbours we serve, following the example of Christ. Merciful God,
C: receive our prayer.

A: Merciful God, we pray for peace as war continues to rage in Ukraine
and in Israel and Gaza. Shelter all living in fear; protect those seeking
refuge in neighbouring countries; sustain families separated by the horrors
of war; tend to those who are injured; comfort all who mourn their dead.
Direct your people into the way of peace. Merciful God,
C: receive our prayer.

A: Your saints rejoice at your heavenly banquet. We give thanks for their
lives of faith, trusting that we also will be embraced by your eternal love.
Merciful God,
C: receive our prayer.

A: Confident that the Holy Spirit receives our prayers and answers us,
we commend all for whom we pray to God’s loving-kindness made
known to us in Christ Jesus our Saviour.
C: Amen.

PEACE
P: The peace of Christ be with you always.
C: And also with you.

LORD’S PRAYER
P: Lord, remember us in your kingdom and teach us to pray.
C: 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.

SENDING

BLESSING
P: May the triune God, who has put a new song in your mouth and tuned your
heart for praise + bless you now and forever.
C: Amen.

SENDING HYMN – Rise, Shine, You People! (ELW #665)

DISMISSAL
A: Go in peace. Do justice. Love mercy.
C: Thanks be to God.

DISMISSAL HYMN – The Lord Now Sends Us Forth (ELW #538)
Verse 1
The Lord now sends us forth
with hands to serve and give,
to make of all the earth
a better place to live. Repeat (2X)

Verse 2
The angels are not sent
into our world of pain
to do what we were meant
to do in Jesus' name;
that falls to you and me
and all who are made free.
Help us, O Lord, we pray,
to do your will today. Repeat (2X)