Bulletin

SALEM  EVANGELICAL  LUTHERAN  CHURCH

10   McClellan  Circle  -  Buffalo, New York

Phone:  824-2787

(e-mail: salemoncircle@yahoo.com)

Rev. David F. C. Wurster, Ph.D.  -  Pastor  -  825-3253

Rev. Richard E. Blemaster, Pastor Emeritus

Sunday School & Bible Classes  .  .  .  .  9:00 a.m.

Worship  .  .  .  .  10:30 a.m.

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A  THANKSGIVING  DAY  SERVICE

November 28, 2002  -  10:00 a.m.

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“Carlyle has somewhere said, that a man should put himself at zero, and then reckon every degree ascending from that point an occasion for thanks.  Precisely on this scale do the Scriptures compute our mercies.”  -  William Adams

 

THE  ORDER  OF  WORSHIP

 

THE  PRELUDE  -  Prelude on  “Kremser”  -  Willan

THE  PROCESSIONAL

      “We Praise You, O God”                                                                      LW 494

A  COLLECT  FOR  THE  PRESENCE  OF  GOD

      Pastor:      Holy Spirit, who moves the hearts of Your people to praise and

            thanksgiving, since we are come together into this place of worship

                     to offer gratitude and glory for God’s endless gifts to us, we bid

            Your presence among us, together with the presence of our Lord

            Jesus Christ, and of the heavenly Father who created and still

            preserves us, one God, our God, world without end.  Amen.

A  RESPONSIVE  READING

      Pastor:      Let heaven praise Yahweh; praise Him heavenly heights,

      People:      praise Him, all His angels, praise Him, all His armies!

        Pastor:      Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, shining stars,

      People:      praise Him, highest heavens, and waters above the heavens!

      Pastor:      Let them all praise the name of Yahweh, at whose command they

            were created;

      People:      He has fixed them in their place for ever, by an unalterable

            statue.

      Pastor:      Let earth praise Yahweh:  sea-monsters and all the deeps, fire and

            hail, snow and mist, gales that obey His decree, mountains and

            hills, orchards and forests, wild animals and farm animals, snakes

            and birds, all kings on earth and nations, princes, all rulers in the

            world, young men and girls, old people, and children too!

      People:      Let them all praise the name of Yahweh, for His name and no

            other is sublime, transcending earth and heaven in majesty,

      Pastor:      raising the fortunes of His people, to the praises of the devout, of

            Israel, the people dear to Him.

      All:      Five kernels of corn!  Five kernels of corn!  To the

            Thanksgiving Feast bring five kernels of corn.

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I

GOD  OF  OUR  FATHERS

HYMN – “God of Our Fathers”                                                     LW 501 vv. 1-3

A  READING

                Eccelesiastes  44:1-4; 8-9a; 10-15

      Pastor:      Next let us praise illustrious men, our ancestors in their

            successive generations.

      People:      The Lord has created an abundance of glory, and displayed

            His greatness from earliest times.

      Pastor:      Some wielded authority as kings and were renowned for their

            strength; others were intelligent advisers and uttered prophetic

            oracles.

            Others directed the people by their advice, by their understanding

                     of the popular mind, and by the wise words of their teaching; . . .

      People:      Some of them left a name behind them, so that their praises

            are still sung.

      Pastor:      While others have left no memory, and disappeared as though

            they had not existed.

      People:      But here is a list of generous men whose good words have not

            been forgotten.  In their descendants there remains a rich

            inheritance born of them.

            Their descendants stand by the covenants and, thanks to them,

            so do their children’s children.  Their offspring will last

            forever, their glory will not fade.

      Pastor:      Their bodies have been buried in peace, and their name lives on for

            all generations.  The peoples will proclaim their wisdom, the

            assembly will celebrate their praises.

THE  HYMN  CONCLUDED:  “God of Our Fathers”                     LW 501 v. 4

A  COLLECT  OF  THANKS  FOR  OUR  FOREFATHERS

      Pastor:      Lord Jesus Christ, Ruler of the affairs of mankind, for the fearful

            people who settled our land when it was new and who established

            the principles by which we still seek to govern ourselves, we

            tender thanks to You, and pray to contend for our way of life under

            God and the kind of freedom that implies; who with the Father and

 

            the Spirit, are one God, living and reigning, world without end. 

            Amen.

      People:      Five Kernels of Corn!  Five Kernels of Corn!  To the

            Thanksgiving Feast bring Five Kernels of Corn!

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II

GOD  OF  CREATION  AND  PRESERVATION

THE  HYMN:  “Sing To The Lord of Harvest”                                         LW 493

A  COLLECT  FOR  THE  SEEDTIME  AND  HARVEST

      Pastor:      Lord of the seedtime and harvest, who set all living things in

            motion and who maintains them in constant care, we are grateful

            for the life-sustaining gifts which we receive from Your Hand

            each day, praying that there be always enough to supply the needs

                     of the whole human family until the end of time, through Jesus

            Christ, who with You and the Spirit, are one, eternal God.  Amen.

      All:      Five Kernels of Corn!  Five Kernels of Corn!  To the

            Thanksgiving Feast bring Five Kernels of Corn!

 

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III

GOD  OF  HISTORY

THE  HYMN:  “God Bless Our Native Land”                                    LW 497 v. 1

A  CONTINUING  CALL  TO  PRAYER             (The Gettysburg Address)

      Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a

      new nation conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men

      are created equal.

      Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any

      nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.  We are met on a

      great battlefield of that war.  We have come to dedicate a portion of that

      field as a final restingplace for those who here gave their lives that that

      nation might live.  It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

      But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate – we can not consecrate – we can

      not hallow – this ground.  The brave men, living and dead, who struggled   

      here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.  The

      world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never

      forget what they did here.  It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to

      the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly

      advanced.  It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining

      before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that

      cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here

      highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation,

      under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the

      people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

THE HYMN CONCLUDED:  “God Bless Our Native Land”          LW 497 v. 2

A  SCRIPTURE:  Isaiah  2:2-4

      Pastor:     It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the

            house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the

            mountains,

      People:      and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall

            flow to it,

      Pastor:      and many people shall come, and say:

      People:      “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house

            of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us His ways and that

            we may walk in His paths.”

      Pastor:      For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord

            from Jerusalem.

      People:      He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many

            peoples;

      Pastor:      and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears

            into pruning hooks;

      People:      nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they

            learn war any more.

      All:      Five Kernels of Corn!  Five Kernels of Corn!  To the

            Thanksgiving Feast bring Five Kernels of Corn!

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IV

GOD  OF  ALL  MANKIND

AN  ANTHEM:  “Son of God, Eternal Savior”                                  LW 394 v. 4

A  COLLECT  FOR   ALL  PEOPLE

      Pastor:      God of all gods, Lord of all people, who by virtue of creation holds

            dominion over all of us, maintain and sustain in the hearts of all

            who know and acknowledge You as Lord, break open and claim

            the hearts of all who follow other gods; and in Your patience, love,

            and power grant us all Your continual benediction; through Jesus

            Christ, our Lord who with You and the Spirit reign forever.  Amen.

      All:      Five Kernels of Corn!  Five Kernels of Corn!  To the

            Thanksgiving Feast bring Five Kernels of Corn!

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V

GOD  OF  THE  FUTURE

A  SCRIPTURE:  Luke  17:11-19

THE  HYMN:  “My Faith Looks Trustingly”                               LW 378 vv. 1, 4

A  COLLECT  FOR  THE  FUTURE

      Pastor:      Lord of time, God of eternity, whose divine plan is fixed, we pray

            that judgment against the world be stayed until many, many more

            be prepared to say their thanksgivings before Your throne; through

            the Holy Spirit, through whom the Gospel of Christ is spread, who

            reign and rules with You, O Father, and with You, O Holy beloved

            Son.  Amen.

      All:      Five Kernels of Corn!  Five Kernels of Corn!  To the

            Thanksgiving Feast bring Five Kernels of Corn!

THE  THANKSGIVING  MESSAGE

OFFERING  OF  OUR  GIFTS  -  Sr. Choir:  “Thanksgiving Medley”

HYMN  RESPONSE:  “Praise and Thanksgiving”                            LW 403 v. 1

THE  EUCHARISTIC  (“THANKSGIVING”)  PRAYER

DISTRIBUTION  HYMN:  “Come, You Thankful People Come”          LW 495

POST-COMMUNION  PRAISE: “Praise & Thanksgiving”     LW 403 v. 2 & 3

THE  BENEDICTION

CLOSING  PRAISE

      ALL:      Five Kernels of Corn!  Five Kernels of Corn!  To the

            Thanksgiving Feast bring Five Kernels of Corn!

CLOSING  HYMN

      “All Creatures of Our God and King”                             LW 436 vv. 1, 2, 3, 7

POSTLUDE  -  Postlude on Lasst Uns Erfreuen”  -  Willan

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ASSISTANTS  IN  TODAY’S  WORSHIP

Celebrant   .  .  .  Rev. David F. C. Wurster, Ph. D.                  Lector . . . Joshua Reynolds

Organist  .  .  .  .  Lois L. Jones           Assistants  .  .  .   Tim Metzler & Paul Swierczynski

Acolytes  .  .  .  .  Jennifer Carr & Molly Webster        

Ushers  .  .  .  .  .  Robert  Wiedemann,  Russell  Alessi  Jr.,  Ken  Kushka,  Barbara

                             Turner,  Michael  Turner,  Sue  Wiedemann

Altar  .  .  .  .  .  .  Doris Baker, Jim & Judy Carr, Pearl Heisler

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FLOWERS  -  The centerpiece is given by Benjamin, Dorothy & Gloria Kasprzak and

                        Linda Ciminelli in thanks to God for all the blessings they have received through the year . . . and the two sidepieces are given by George & Joyce Ruhland in memory of mother, Esther Pietz, whose birthday would have been November 26; and in memory of cousin, Floyd Hochgrebe, whose birthday would have been November 30.

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