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.

BAPTISM OF OUR LORD, JANUARY 11, 2026.

St. Ansgar Lutheran Church, Outline for Worship (with sermon)
Sunday, January 11, 2026 – Baptism of Our Lord
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 - Songs of Thankfulness and Praise (ELW #310)

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: O God our Father, at the baptism of Jesus you proclaimed him your
beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit. Make all who are
baptized into Christ faithful to their calling to be your daughters and sons,
and empower us all with your Spirit, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour
and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and forever.
Amen

WORD

FIRST READING: Isaiah 42:1-9
1 Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my
soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice
to the nations. 2 He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard
in the street; 3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning
wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. 4 He will not
grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the
coastlands wait for his teaching. 5 Thus says God, the LORD, who created
the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what
comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who
walk in it: 6 I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken
you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the
prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.
8 I am the LORD, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise
to idols. 9 See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now
declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.

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

PSALM 29
1 Ascribe to the Lord, you gods,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due God’s name;
worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
3 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders;
the Lord is upon the mighty waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is a powerful voice;
the voice of the Lord is a voice of splendour.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedar trees;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon;
6 the Lord makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
and Mount Hermon like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord
bursts forth in lightning flashes.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord makes the oak trees writhe and strips the forests bare.
And in the temple of the Lord all are crying, “Glory!”
10 The Lord sits enthroned above the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king forevermore.
11 O Lord, give strength to your people;
give them, O Lord, the blessings of peace.

SECOND READING: Acts 10:34-43
34 Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand that God shows
no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is
right is acceptable to him. 36 You know the message he sent to the people
of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ--he is Lord of all. 37 That message
spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John
announced: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit
and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were
oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 We are witnesses to all that
he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him
on a tree; 40 but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear,
41 not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and
who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us
to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as
judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that
everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

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 3:13-17
C: Glory to you, O Lord.

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.
14 John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do
you come to me?" 15 But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for it is proper for
us in this way to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus
had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were
opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting
on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom
I am well pleased."

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

SERMON
Matthew 3:13-17
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 baptism is a Holy moment. And as Matthew describes Jesus’ baptism,
this scene is about as dramatic as any in the Bible. When you think about it,
that is saying a lot. We see Jesus for the first time in Matthew at his baptism.
Until now, Jesus has appeared in Matthew only as a baby. Jesus has been in
the background while the focus has been on Herod, who wanted to kill him,
and the Magi who visited Jesus and his parents. Jesus’ very first act in the
Gospel of Matthew is to present himself for baptism.
The baptizer at the baptism is John, the rough-hewn preacher who stirred up
a spiritual fervour by announcing the impending arrival of a Messiah who will
execute end-time judgement. John’s preaching sets up a tension between
what John expects and what Jesus requests. John seems to expect that Jesus
will step onto the scene and will take charge. Instead, Jesus presents himself
for baptism. By submitting himself to John for baptism, Jesus acts in humility,
placing himself for baptism under the authority of John. John protests.
Jesus is the authority figure. Jesus does not need a baptism of repentance
for sins. Jesus insists on the baptism as an act of faith in the way God works
through baptism.
Up to this point, the scene would not be especially dramatic. Jesus steps into
the murky waters of the Jordan. John’s arm thrusts Jesus below the surface.
Jesus’ head splashes up from the river with water flying everywhere. Suddenly
something totally unexpected happens. Just as Jesus comes up from the water,
the heavens open. Now a common event becomes one of the most dramatic
scenes in the Bible. “Suddenly the heavens were opened to him, and he saw
the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.”
When Matthew tells us, “the heavens were opened” he alludes to Isaiah,
chapter 64, verse 1. There the prophet pleads with God, “O that you would
tear open the heavens and come down.” Could anyone pray a bolder prayer?
The prophet seems to want the same kind of thing that John expects.
Isaiah is written during a time of deep distress within the community that has
returned from exile, imploring God to act in power. The prophet wants fire to
kindle brushwood. He wants nations to tremble. He wants awesome deeds
and the quaking of mountains. He expects these kinds of things to happen
when God opens the heavens. When the heavens open, the prophet expects
judgement for sin and wrongdoing. John expected much the same thing when
the Messiah arrived. But when Matthew tells us that the heavens opened,
he sees the transformation of the event from the prophet’s call for judgement
to an act of grace.
In this scene of Jesus’ baptism, Matthew arranges a faith encounter for each
one of us. The late Canadian New Testament scholar Gary Yamasaki leads
us carefully through this passage to show how Matthew enables us to
experience this encounter. Imagine that this scene of Jesus’ baptism was
conducted on a stage. The characters have spotlights shining on them.
By careful use of language, Matthew empties the stage, so to speak, so that
the stage is set for our faith encounter.
We presume that when Jesus comes to John for baptism, he is only one such
candidate. The crowds who regularly came to John would have surrounded
John and Jesus. Matthew does not mention them in the scene, so they are in
the background. Matthew turns their spotlights off, so that by verse 13 they are
in the dark. The audience can only see John and Jesus. In describing Jesus’
actual baptism, Matthew uses the passive voice, “when Jesus had been baptized.”
That takes the spotlight off John. Only Jesus appears on stage after verse 16.
Matthew then uses a singular pronoun to indicate that only Jesus saw the Spirit
of God descending. Finally, a voice from heaven speaks about Jesus in the
third person, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.
Only Jesus had been on stage until this verse. If the voice had been speaking
only to Jesus, the voice would have said, “You are my Son.” By now, though,
the stage is dark. We, the readers of the Gospel, are alone with God’s voice.
Matthew allows us to experience what cannot be seen: the opening of the
heavens. He allows us to hear what cannot be heard: the voice of God.
A camera snapping away at Jesus’ baptism would not have picked up a giant
tear in the sky. A microphone would not have recorded the booming voice of
God declaring Jesus to be God’s Son. No one could have picked up a dove’s
feather to keep as a souvenir. God acts even if we do not see or hear anything
flashy around us. Even though everything may have looked ordinary to
bystanders at Jesus’ baptism, Matthew tells us that heaven and earth came
together that day. The divine realm touched the earth. God answered the
prophet’s prayer, reaching down into our world to bring hope, comfort,
and power. Our faith encounter in this text is trusting that God acted in
Jesus’ baptism, that God brought heaven near.
What was true for Jesus’ baptism is true for every baptism. Even if a baptism
looks ordinary, God comes near. In the water and the words of baptism, the
heavens open and the Holy Spirit descends. We cannot capture that on our
phone’s camera, or any camera, no matter how sophisticated it might be.
A camera can catch the physical details of the baptism, but not what really
happens as our world and God’s world come together.
Jesus needed the touch of God in his baptism. Right after his baptism, the Spirit
led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. Before the temptation, God claimed
Jesus, affirming their relationship. Matthew does not tell us this in so many words,
but likely Jesus’ baptism and the opening of heaven sustained Jesus in
the wilderness.
Perhaps we are now in the wilderness. The wilderness is a lonely and
frustrating place. The wilderness can dry up our spiritual resources. We feel
as though our faith is not being nourished in the wilderness. We know some
of the names these wilderness experiences can take: war, violence, hunger,
poverty, hatred, bigotry, grief. The wilderness has many names. As we look
at our own wilderness experience, or the experiences of the world, we may
ask where God is. We may ask why God does not act. We may ask with the
prophet why God does not tear open the heavens and fix the world.
God does tear open the heavens. God reaches into our world in grace and healing.
God tore open the heavens at our baptism. No camera caught it, but it happened
just the same. Only the eyes of faith can see the heavens open. Wherever we are,
whatever we see in our world, let us never give up in despair. Let us never
assume God has left us alone. Again and again, God tears open the heavens
and reaches down to touch us.
AMEN

Silence is kept for reflection.

HYMN OF THE DAY – Spirit of Gentleness (ELW #396)

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 Interim Pastor Paul Sodtke and the
people of Peace Christian Church, a Lutheran Fellowship in Chatham.
Merciful God,
C: receive our prayer.

A: Steadfast God, give courage to your servant church. Heal our divisions and
unite us in mission. Uphold our lay leaders, missionaries, pastors, and bishops,
and all who proclaim hope in a broken world. Merciful God,
C: receive our prayer.

A: Restoring God, cleanse the life-giving waters of rivers, seas, and springs.
Create in us an urgent desire to preserve the beauty and bounty of your good
creation. Merciful God,
C: receive our prayer.

A: Righteous God, you guide the nations. Reconcile warring enemies and end
cycles of violent retribution. Defend the rights of prisoners, detainees, and all
who flee from persecution. Sustain international aid workers and peacemakers.
Merciful God,
C: receive our prayer.

A: Compassionate God, you care for all in distress. Provide safety and support
for those seeking asylum or in need of shelter. Be near to the dying, and comfort
all who are grieving or ill. 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: Loving God, awaken the gifts of the Spirit in this congregation, that we may
serve Christ by loving one another, our neighbours, and our enemies. We pray
for travellers and those who are homebound. 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: Promising God, in baptism we die and rise with Christ. We give thanks for
those who have gone before us, and we trust that we will join them in your
everlasting peace. 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 – Wade in the Water (ELW #459)

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)