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.

THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, SEPTEMBER 7, 2025

St. Ansgar Lutheran Church, Outline for Worship (with sermon)
Sunday, September 7, 2025 Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Based on ELW Setting Four

GATHERING

WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS

BRIEF ORDER FOR CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
P: Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God, our maker, our helper,
and our keeper.
C: Amen.

P: Trusting in God’s mercy, let us confess our sin in the presence
of God and of one another.

Silence is kept for reflection.

P: Merciful and loving God,
C: we are your stiff-necked people. We trample on the needy.
We grumble about your grace to others. We turn away from the poor.
Have mercy on us and forgive our sins.
Rejoice over us as ones who were lost and have been found.
Amen.

P: Even when we are faithless, God remains faithful. Jesus Christ came
into the world to save sinners. You who were lost have been found.
In the name of ☩ Jesus, your sins are forgiven!
C: Amen.

ENTRANCE HYMN - Lift High the Cross (ELW #660)

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 (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: Direct us, O Lord God, in all our doings with your continual help,
that in all our works, begun, continued, and ended in you, we may glorify
your holy name; and finally, by your mercy, bring us to everlasting life,
through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.
C: Amen

WORD

FIRST READING: Deuteronomy 30:15-20
15 See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.
16 If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am
commanding you today, by loving the LORD your God, walking in his ways,
and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you
shall live and become numerous, and the LORD your God will bless you
in the land that you are entering to possess. 17 But if your heart turns
away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods
and serve them, 18 I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not
live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set
before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you
and your descendants may live, 20 loving the LORD your God, obeying him,
and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days,
so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to
your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

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

PSALM: 1
1 Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked,
nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful.
2 Their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and they meditate on God’s teaching day and night.
3 They are like trees planted by streams of water,
bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither;
everything they do shall prosper.
4 It is not so with the wicked;
they are like chaff which the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgement comes,
nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked shall be destroyed.

SECOND READING: Philemon 1-21
1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our
dear friend and co-worker, 2 to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier,
and to the church in your house: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 When I remember you in my prayers, I always
thank my God 5 because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith
toward the Lord Jesus. 6 I pray that the sharing of your faith may become
effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ. 7 I have
indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the
hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother. 8 For this
reason, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty,
9 yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love--and I, Paul, do this as
an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. 10 I am appealing to
you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment.
11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you
and to me. 12 I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. 13 I wanted
to keep him with me, so that he might be of service to me in your place during
my imprisonment for the gospel; 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your
consent, in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something
forced. 15 Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while,
so that you might have him back forever, 16 no longer as a slave but more
than a slave, a beloved brother--especially to me but how much more to you,
both in the flesh and in the Lord. 17 So if you consider me your partner,
welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 If he has wronged you in any way,
or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 I, Paul, am writing this
with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even
your own self. 20 Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord!
Refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Confident of your obedience, I am writing
to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.

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 Luke 14:25-33
C: Glory to you, O Lord.

25 Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them,
26 "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and
children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.
27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down
and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?
29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish,
all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, 'This fellow began to build
and was not able to finish.' 31 Or what king, going out to wage war against
another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten
thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand?
32 If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation
and asks for the terms of peace. 33 So therefore, none of you can become
my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

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

SERMON
Bishop Jason Zinko
Bishop of the Manitoba/Northwestern Ontario Synod of the ELCIC
Luke 14:25-33
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

Over the last little while I’ve been looking into improving my communication.
It’s a skill I need to improve in general, and it’s something that the Synod Office
needs to improve so that we can be better connected to our congregations.
Communication can be all kinds of things. It can mean how we get our ideas
across to another person. It can mean how effectively we share information.
It can also be how we try to attract people to something that we find meaningful –
like advertising and social media.
And you know what I realized about communication after reading today’s gospel?
Jesus really needs to work on his communication too.
From this reading, it almost seems like Jesus never really wanted any followers.
I mean really... if you and I wanted to get people to listen to us, to understand us,
and to follow us, we would say something nice, wouldn’t we? We would give
people encouraging words. We would try to convince people that it would be
fun and worth their while to be on our team.
But not Jesus. He sounds a bit like he’s trying to scare people away. There are
no nice, comforting words here. He’s about as far away from that as you can get.
I don’t think he could have made being a disciple sound much harder.
Hate your father and mother? That sounds harsh to us. But I don’t think we can
even imagine how absurd, or even offensive, this would have been to the crowd
following him.
In Jesus’ day, family was everything. Families needed to band together so that
they could survive. Inheritances of land and cattle were essential for people
to have a good start. Extended families often lived together so that they could
produce more than what a single family could on their own. Sure, families had
squabbles and disagreements, and some were dysfunctional, but hate?
That seems to be going a bit far.
But Jesus wasn’t done. Not only does it sound like he’s trying to split up families,
but he also hints that people would have to willingly march toward a torturous
death. By that time, people would have known what carrying a cross meant.
It meant that the Roman occupying army was making you carry your own
instrument of death through the streets. It was a public reminder to everyone
that the Romans were in control, so you better behave yourself. Who would
still want to follow Jesus when he says to get ready to die?
I imagine that more than a few of the people in the crowd following Jesus had
already decided to stop walking with this teacher and had begun walking away.
So, just in case there was anyone left following, Jesus adds in the part about
giving up all your possessions. Great... in order to follow Jesus, we have to
turn our backs on our families, prepare ourselves to die AND give up any sort
of security that would ensure we had food, clothes, and a place to stay.
No wonder there were only 12 disciples.
These are strong words from Jesus.
So before we start making our way to the door, it’s important to know that
Jesus often uses strong language to make a point. Like how we talk about
driving “a million miles an hour” when we mean going fast, or when we say
we’re “starving to death” when we skipped a single meal.
Do I think Jesus actually meant for people to hate their relatives and literally
get ready to walk in a procession to die? Do I think Jesus meant to give up
absolutely everything and risk starving to death? No, I don’t. Jesus wouldn’t
teach people to hate or ask everyone to be beggars on the street. In fact,
throughout Luke’s gospel he teaches the opposite. He says “You shall love
the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your
strength, and with all your mind and your neighbour as yourself” (Luke 10:27).
He tells people to love their enemies and pray for people who hate you
(Luke 6:27). He constantly shows grace and heals those who are looked
down on by society. He weeps over Jerusalem and the destruction he
sees coming (Luke 19:41-44).
So, the language of hate, death, and complete poverty in this story is an
exaggeration so people don’t miss that he is saying something really,
really important.
Jesus is talking about how important it is to keep our faith central in all that we do,
in all areas of life. Following Jesus is an invitation to learn each day at Jesus feet –
to hear his teaching, to connect with God in prayer, to witness the work of the
Holy Spirit in us and through others. Being a disciple means to be a student –
a learner – for our whole lives, trusting that God can form us in our faith as we
continue to see Jesus’ action and hear Jesus’ words each day.
This is the heart of being the church. The church is not programs or traditions
or buildings or style of worship or anything else. The church is about inviting
people to see and hear the grace of God, and then inviting them to be disciples.
While God does the heavy lifting, this is also our work to carry on. It is only as
we grow in our own faith that we can believe and trust in God’s promises and
see the new life that Christ has already prepared for us.
I think that for too long, and in too many places, we have forgotten that being
disciples is the central work of the church. Everything else we do flows from
being disciples. All of our plans, ideas, dreams, and ministries will come to
nothing if they are not built first on following Jesus.
If you have been following the news from the National Church, then you know
that the convention approved a plan to move forward with “Facing Today –
Dreaming for the Future”, a three-year church engagement project that will
explore what it means to be the church in the years ahead. It is likely going
to make for some significant changes in how we are the church together.
But all of it is meant to help us become better disciples and create better
structures to allow us to do that.
This process will give us a chance to refocus on the central things and shape a
church that lives out our faith in ways that speak to our communities more clearly.
We have the chance to change our culture so that church is no longer a
destination for an hour a week, but a gathering of faith communities in which
we practise our faith. We hope to engage with people that we never have
before and listen to voices that have been on the margins for too long. It is a
chance for all of us to help shape the church of today and tomorrow into a
place that meaningfully helps us grow in faith and in our ability to follow Jesus.
I think it’s exciting and hopeful.
I also think that it’s scary.
Because we don’t know what exactly it will look like. We don’t know what it will
cost us, to use the language in today’s reading. And make no mistake, it will
cost us. It will cost us more than money if we are serious about following Jesus.
It’s never easy to be creative or to change our assumptions or habits or cultures.
It’s never easy to challenge the established traditions or to let new people take
leading roles. It’s never easy to build, and certainly never easy to take a chance
on something that we can’t understand.
We worry about looking foolish – about not finishing. We would do almost
anything to avoid being embarrassed. We would probably just want to do
the easy thing and go back to everything just as it was in the “good ol’ days”
even if it wasn’t particularly useful or successful.
But Jesus calls us to something more than the same old story. Jesus calls us
into learning who we are, who God is, where God calls us, and how God walks
with us. Jesus asks us to follow even if we don’t know the way or what we may
find at the end of the road. Jesus calls us into a faith that matters and challenges
us to be a community of believers who are constantly looking to grow in faith.
In fact, I believe so strongly that this is the most important thing we can pay
attention to as a church that most of the MNO Synod’s programs and ministries
are geared toward the goal of understanding our purpose as the church, and
forming people in faith – either through leading our own programs or supporting
congregations in that work.
I hope that as we head back to our normal routines of work, school, and church,
we will take Jesus’ invitation to further our discipleship. As people of faith, it is so
important to have a foundation in faith so that we can live out our baptismal calling
each day around our classmates, coworkers, friends, family, and neighbours.
I want to close with something that German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer
wrote in his book, The Cost of Discipleship. He says, “And if we answer the call
to discipleship, where will it lead us? What decisions and partings will it demand?
To answer this question, we shall have to go to him, for only he knows the
answer. Only Jesus Christ, who bids us follow him, knows the journey’s end.
But we do know that it will be a road of boundless mercy. Discipleship means joy.”
AMEN

Silence is kept for reflection.

HYMN OF THE DAY – Will You Come and Follow Me (ELW #798)

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: Gracious God, we come to you in prayer for the church, the world,
and all in need.
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 Pastor Sylvia
Swiatoschik and the people of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Leamington.
God of grace.
C: receive our prayer.

A: We pray for the church to follow in your ways, that it may be a witness
to your love for all people. Help us choose all that is life-giving and confront
the forces of death. God of grace,
C: receive our prayer.

A: We pray for creation, that it may be cherished and nurtured.
Sustain farmlands, animals, and waters; restore places affected
by calamities; and shield coastlands from rising seas. God of grace,
C: receive our prayer.

A: We pray for those in authority. Grant them wisdom to govern justly
and compassion to care for the marginalized. Equip them for actions
that further the common good. God of grace,
C: receive our prayer.

A: We pray for those who are sick, hungry, unhoused, or lonely.
We pray especially for Beth, Jean, Mary Margaret, Kristine, Karen,
Emma, Cathy, Lene, Heather, Grethe, Lyra, Donna, and those others
who are in our hearts. May they find healing through your love and the
care of those around them. Lead us to be your hands and feet in the world.
God of grace,
C: receive our prayer.

A: We pray for this congregation, that we may be united in love and faith.
Refresh our hearts in Christ, and deepen our support of one another.
We pray that our sharing of faith may transform lives. God of grace,
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. God of grace,
C: receive our prayer.

A: We thank you for those who have died and now dwell with the saints.
Surround them with your divine mercy, that they find peace and rest in
your loving embrace. God of grace,
C: receive our prayer.

A: We entrust these prayers to you, O God, in the name of Jesus Christ,
our redeemer and friend.
C: Amen.

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

OFFERING PRAYER
A: Lord of the harvest, we return to you a portion of what you have given to us.
Turn us to set our hope not on the uncertainty of riches, but on you, who richly
provides for us. Multiply what we have gathered to bless all who are suffering
and in need, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
C: Amen.

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: The God of righteousness, who gives justice to the oppressed, who gives
food to the hungry, who sets the prisoners free, ☩ bless you now and forever.
C: Amen.

SENDING HYMN – Canticle of the Turning (ELW #723)

DISMISSAL
A: Go in peace. Do not lose heart.
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)