This Sunday's 8:00 AM Service | Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church

TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Your Redemption Is Near

November 16, 2025

AS WE GATHER

One of the great mysteries of the Christian faith can be summed up in the word “near.” “Near” can indicate something that is almost here but hasn’t yet arrived. And at the same time, “near” can point to something already with us, like those “near and dear” to our hearts. The word “near” resounds with feelings of the here and now and the not quite yet. Today in worship, Your Savior, Jesus, is near! He is present in the here and now, delivering grace upon grace. And He is on His way, bringing the fullness of His freedom. Praise the God who comes near in Jesus Christ, our Lord!

+ PREPARATION +

HYMN O Sing to the Lord LSB 808

O sing to the Lord, O sing God a new song. O sing to the Lord, O sing God a new song.

O sing to the Lord, O sing God a new song. O sing to our God, O sing to our God

For God is the Lord! And God has done wonders. For God is the Lord! And God has done wonders.

For God is the Lord! And God has done wonders. O sing to our God, O sing to our God.

So dance for our God And blow all the trumpets. So dance for our God And blow all the trumpets.

So dance for our God And blow all the trumpets. And sing to our God, And sing to our God.

O shout to our God, Who gave us the Spirit. O shout to our God, Who gave us the Spirit.

O shout to our God, Who gave us the Spirit. O sing to our God, O sing to our God.

For Jesus is Lord! Amen! Alleluia! For Jesus is Lord! Amen! Alleluia!

For Jesus is Lord! Amen! Alleluia! O sing to our God, O sing to our God.

INVOCATION

Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

People: Amen.

OPENING SENTENCES

Pastor: For I know that my Redeemer lives.

People: Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.

Pastor: You have led in Your steadfast love the people whom You have redeemed;

People: You have guided them by Your strength to Your holy abode.

Pastor: This is the day that the Lord has made;

People: let us rejoice and be glad in it.

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION Colossians 1:13–14

Pastor: The Lord has delivered us from the domain of darkness

People: and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Pastor: Almighty God and Father,

People: we confess, as Your people, our sinful human nature and the thoughts, words, and actions that are evil in Your sight. We need Your rescue. We need Your righteousness. We need a Redeemer. Mercifully draw near to us, O Lord. For the sake of Jesus Christ and His cross, rescue us from our troubles and cover our sin with true righteousness. Redeem our lives, that our days and deeds would be directed in Your peace. Amen.

Pastor: Almighty God, in His mercy, has given His Son, Jesus, to die for you, and for His sake forgives You all Your sins. As a called and ordained servant of the Word made flesh and by His authority, I therefore forgive You all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

People: Amen.

+ WORD +

HYMN OF PRAISE Now Thank We All Our God TLH 36

Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,

Who wondrous things hath done, in whom His world rejoices;

Who, from our mothers’ arms, hath blessed us on our way

With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

Oh, may this bounteous God thro’ all our life be near us,

With ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us;

And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed,

And free us from all ills in this world and the next.

All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given,

The Son, and Him who reigns with them in highest heaven,

The one eternal God, whom earth and heav’n adore;

For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Pastor: Let us pray. O Lord, almighty and ever-living God, You have given exceedingly great and precious promises to those who trust in You. Rule and govern our hearts and minds by Your Holy Spirit that we may live and abide forever in Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

People: Amen.

OLD TESTAMENT READING Malachi 4:1–6 (The Lord prepares His people to meet the sun of righteousness.)

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts. 4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. 5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

EPISTLE 2 Thessalonians 3: 6–13 (Paul commends believers to dedicate themselves to honorable work and doing good.)

6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. 9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. 13 As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.

HOLY GOSPEL Luke 21:5–28 (Seeking a sign, Jesus offers His hearers assurance that amid disaster, their redemption is drawing near.)

5 And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, 6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” 7 And they asked him, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” 8 And he said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. 9 And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.”

10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. 13 This will be your opportunity to bear witness. 14 Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 17 You will be hated by all for my name's sake. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.

20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, 22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. 23 Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

CHILDREN’S MESSAGE

HYMN In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found, He is my light, my strength, my song.

This cornerstone, this solid ground,

firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

when fears are stilled, when striving cease.

My comforter, my all in all, here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone – who took on flesh, fullness of God in helpless babe.

This gift of love and righteousness,

scorned by the ones He came to save.

‘Til on that cross, as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied.

For ev’ry sin on Him was laid, here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay, light of the world by darkness slain.

Then bursting forth in glorious day up from the grave He rose again.

And as He stands in victory sin’s curse has lost its grip on me.

For I am His and He is mine –

bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the pow’r of Christ in me.

From life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny.

No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand.

‘Til He returns or calls me home, here in the pow’r of Christ I stand.

SERMON

CATECHISM The Seventh Petition

Pastor: The Seventh Petition of the Lord’s Prayer:

People: But deliver us from evil.

Pastor: What does this mean?

People: We pray in this petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.

GREETING/ANNOUNCEMENTS

OFFERING

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

Pastor: Redeemed in the Lord, we go to our God with our thanks, praise, and petitions, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

People: Amen.

Pastor: Before Your throne, O Lord, we have an advocate: Jesus Christ, the Righteous. Grant to us the perfect peace of knowing He pleads for us and for our world.