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.

St. Ansgar Lutheran Church, Outline for Worship (with sermon)

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, JUNE 22, 2025

St. Ansgar Lutheran Church, Outline for Worship (with sermon)
Sunday, June 22, 2025 Second Sunday after Pentecost
Based on ELW Setting Four

GATHERING

WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS

BRIEF ORDER FOR CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
P: In the name of the Father, and of the ☩ Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.

P: Baptized into Christ, let us confess our sin.

Silence is kept for reflection.

P: Merciful God,
C: you free us to love others, but we neglect our neighbours and follow
our own way.
You lead us by the Spirit of joy and peace, but we turn away from the
abundant life you offer.
You surround us with patience, kindness, and generosity, but we grow
weary in doing what is right.
In your mercy, forgive us. Do not give up on us.
Heal us, break our bonds, and show us the path of life.
Amen.

P: You belong to Christ Jesus and you are God’s children through faith.
In the cross of ☩ Christ, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, your sins are
forgiven. Clothed with Christ, you are a new creation.
C: Amen.

ENTRANCE HYMN - Rise, Shine, You People! (ELW #665)

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 a
bove, 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: O Lord God, we bring before you the cries of a sorrowing world.
In your mercy set us free from the chains that bind us, and defend us
from everything that is evil, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.
C: Amen

WORD

FIRST READING: Isaiah 65:1-9
1 I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by
those who did not seek me. I said, "Here I am, here I am," to a nation that
did not call on my name. 2 I held out my hands all day long to a rebellious
people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices;
3 a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens
and offering incense on bricks; 4 who sit inside tombs, and spend the night
in secret places; who eat swine's flesh, with broth of abominable things in
their vessels; 5 who say, "Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am
too holy for you." These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all
day long. 6 See, it is written before me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will indeed repay into their laps 7 their iniquities and their ancestors'
iniquities together, says the LORD; because they offered incense on the
mountains and reviled me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full
payment for their actions. 8 Thus says the LORD: As the wine is found
in the cluster, and they say, "Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,"
so I will do for my servants' sake, and not destroy them all. 9 I will bring
forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah inheritors of my mountains;
my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall settle there.

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

PSALM: 22: 19-28
19 But you, O Lord, be not far away;
O my help, hasten to my aid.
20 Deliver me from the sword,
my life from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the lion’s mouth!
From the horns of wild bulls you have rescued me.
22 I will declare your name to my people;
in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.
23 You who fear the Lord, give praise! All you of Jacob’s line, give glory.
Stand in awe of the Lord, all you offspring of Israel.
24 For the Lord does not despise nor abhor the poor in their poverty;
neither is the Lord’s face hidden from them;
but when they cry out, the Lord hears them.
25 From you comes my praise in the great assembly;
I will perform my vows in the sight of those who fear the Lord.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied.
Let those who seek the Lord give praise! May your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
all the families of nations shall bow before God.
28 For dominion belongs to the Lord,
who rules over the nations.

SECOND READING: Galatians 3:23-29
23 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law
until faith would be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our disciplinarian
until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that
faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, 26 for in Christ
Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 27 As many of you as were
baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is no
longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer
male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong
to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.

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 8:26-39
C: Glory to you, O Lord.

26 Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.
27 As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him.
For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in
the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at
the top of his voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most
High God? I beg you, do not torment me"-- 29 for Jesus had commanded
the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him;
he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would
break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) 30 Jesus then
asked him, "What is your name?" He said, "Legion"; for many demons had
entered him. 31 They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.
32 Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the
demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission.
33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd
rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. 34 When the
swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city
and in the country. 35 Then people came out to see what had happened,
and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons
had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they
were afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told them how the one who had
been possessed by demons had been healed. 37 Then all the people of
the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them;
for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.
38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be
with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 "Return to your home,
and declare how much God has done for you." So he went away,
proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

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

SERMON
Rev. Margaret Koizumi
Assistant to the Bishop of the Synod of Alberta and the Territories
Luke 8:26-39
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

Yesterday was June 21, a day that is observed in Canada as National Indigenous
Peoples Day, a day that is meant to honour the histories, cultures, and vibrant
traditions of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. In this context, our reading from
Luke on this Second Sunday after Pentecost is a hard one. Here we are with a text
that has too often been used - - twisted really - - as justification for forced
conversion, cultural erasure, and sanctified violence of assimilation.
I can’t help but name how many times texts like these have been held up to say,
“Look! See? Even Jesus cast out the demons from the outsider. Even Jesus
healed the ‘other’ so he could be made right, made the same.” I’ve seen this,
not just in old books or history classes, but also in conversations with Japanese
Canadian Christians whom I grew up with, who speak of temples they won’t enter
or objects they won’t touch, because they were once told “those” things were filled
with demons. Because someone, somewhere, decided what counted as “holy”
and what didn’t.
We’ve drawn these lines between good and evil, sacred and profane, and we’ve
been taught to trust that we know where they fall. But when I look at Jesus in our
Gospel today, I don’t see someone trying to make people the same. I see Jesus
as one who leads with compassion, and not with doctrine, not with conversion,
but with care.
Jesus walks into Gentile territory. Into Gerasene land, which is Roman soil.
He walks among pigs, a scandal for any Jewish person of his time, and he meets
a man who is suffering. A man whose life would have placed him far outside any
boundary of belonging. And Jesus doesn’t tell him to get his theology straight.
Doesn’t even demand a statement of belief. He simply heals him.
And when the man, healed and whole, wants to follow, Jesus says something
unexpected. “No. Go home.” Not as a rejection, but as a radical affirmation:
You are already whole. As you are. Where you are. Jesus doesn’t need this
man to become Jewish. He doesn’t need him to become more like him.
Because for Jesus, love matters more than likeness.
This challenges me deeply. Especially when I think about the ways we,
as the Church, have too often confused uniformity with unity. How we’ve
expected sameness in thought, worship, even sound, as if one kind of drum,
one kind of prayer, one kind of skin, were the only doorway to the Divine.
I remember being in church as a young person, sitting with my parents during a
children’s time. I must have been too old to be up with the little ones, but a guest
preacher pulled out a singing bowl, a Buddhist standing bell (it’s a big bowl with a
wooden stick used to hit the edge and you swirl it around the bowl to make it sing).
I don’t remember what was said, but I’ll never forget my mom’s reaction.
She was furious. A Buddhist instrument? In church? Unacceptable. And yet we
had guitars. And drums. And even an accordion! All fine. But the singing bowl?
Somehow that crossed a line.
I remember asking myself, Why? Why is one sound holy and another not?
Who gets to decide that? Even smells - - why is certain incense like frankincense
ok but not sweetgrass? I know we’ve had these battles before. Churches divided
over organs versus pianos. Hymns versus praise bands. And behind it all,
this deeper question, “What are we afraid of?”
In our Gospel, Jesus is not afraid of difference. In fact, he embraces it. He crosses
every line we draw, not to erase others, but to remind us of the belovedness of all
peoples, all nations! And Paul echoes this when he says, “There is neither Jew
nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female....” When one first hears this, it can
sound like an erasing of these identities, but this is not the case - - better translations
would be more like this:
There is neither only this nor only that.
Neither only left nor only right.
Neither only urban nor only rural.
Neither only traditional nor only contemporary.
Neither only Indigenous nor only settler.
In Christ, we are one, not because we are all the same, but because we are all
held in the same love.
Disagreements do not have to be dangerous. We do not need to shut down or
dismiss those we do not see eye-to-eye with. But when these disagreements are
grounded in curiosity and care, it can be holy. It means we’re awake. It means we
are listening. I think of how often I have shut down any discussion or relationship-
building with my son when I react negatively to an opinion or viewpoint he holds
that is different from mine. Like the tightly pulled skin of a drum, he encounters
my harshness like a trampoline and this ricochets him further away from me - -
which is the opposite of what I long for. I want to be close, I want to have a
more genuine relationship, I want him to feel safe and free to be himself.
So let us not be afraid of the wild heart of God, the one who meets us in
the unfamiliar, the other, the in-between spaces. The one who says, Go home.
Be yourself. That is enough.
And maybe for some of us, that self will hold a singing bowl. Or play a drum
rooted in the stories of this land. Or lift a hymn through an organ pipe. It's not
about the instrument. It's about the healing. About the joy. About a Jesus who
does not need us to agree, only to love.
Thanks be to God.
AMEN

Silence is kept for reflection.

HYMN OF THE DAY – I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say (ELW #611)

NICENE CREED
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God, begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary
and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
A: Drawn into the embrace of the holy Trinity, we lift our prayers for the
wholeness of the church, the world, and all creation.
A: God of our church, send forth your Spirit as we pray for our Bishops Susan
and Carla. Empower them with your wisdom to lead the church. We also pray
for the Thames Ministry area, especially Pastor Nadine Schroeder-Kranz and
the people of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Zurich. God of grace,
C: hear our prayer.

A: We pray for the church. Clothe us in Christ, shower us in mercy, send us
in love. Strengthen the faith and witness of Christians across the planet and
Christians in our community. God of grace,
C: hear our prayer.

A: We pray for creation. Deliver the earth from disaster, bring forth life
amid uncertainty, inspire wonder at all you have made. Sustain all people
who delight in the well-being of your creation: farmers, agricultural workers,
gardeners, birdwatchers, conservationists, scientists, advocates,
and policy makers. God of grace,
C: hear our prayer.

A: We pray for the nations. Pave a way to justice, drown the forces
of oppression, bring peace on earth. Give leaders the will to turn from war
and violence. When people must flee their homes, guide them to safety.
God of grace,
C: hear our prayer.

A: We pray for people in need. Satisfy all who are poor, soothe those in pain,
accompany all who are sick, especially Beth, Jean, Mary Margaret, Kristine,
Karen, Emma, Cathy, Lene, and those others who are in our hearts.
Give perseverance to each of us living with mental illness, and shield us from
discrimination due to race, class, gender, or any other human distinction.
God of grace,
C: hear our prayer.

A: We pray for this assembly. Listen to our cries, come to our aid, make us one.
Weave among us the fabric of belonging so that we rejoice in each person
gathered here, and enliven our proclamation of how much you have done
for us. God of grace,
C: hear 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: hear our prayer.

A: We offer our thanksgiving for all people who have died in faith. Keep them
in your peace, comfort us in sorrow, raise us to new life. As we remember
their faith and witness, may we trust your promise that we are yours forever.
God of grace,
C: hear our prayer.

A: Gather all our prayers in your mercy, O God, through Jesus Christ,
our Saviour.
C: Amen.

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

OFFERING PRAYER
A: Creator God, in your wisdom you bring forth all that is good and the
harvest is plentiful. Strengthen us at your table with these gifts of the earth
and our labour, that we may work for the good of all, through Jesus Christ,
our Saviour.
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 love of God abound in you; the grace of our Saviour Jesus Christ
fill your hearts; and the life of the Spirit ☩ bless you and give you peace.
C: Amen.

SENDING HYMN – On Our Way Rejoicing (ELW #537)

DISMISSAL
A: Go in peace. Live by the Spirit.
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)