Marking Ten Years of Recovery from the May 22, 2011 Joplin Tornado

Marking Ten Years of Recovery from the May 22, 2011 Joplin Tornado

Service of Thanksgiving Marking Ten Years of Recovery from the Devastation of May 22, 2011

Rev. Gregory Mech | May 23, 2021 | Matins at Pentecost | Immanuel Lutheran Church – Joplin, Missouri | 8:00 or 10:30 am

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Special thanks to all who helped to make this broadcast possible today:
Rev. Gregory Mech, DCE Jason Glaskey, organist Betty Lingenfelter,
the COVID Committee, Altar Guild, Board of Elders and all of our volunteers!


May 23 Bulletin Cover Marking Ten Years of Recovery. Immanuel Lutheran Church LCMS. Joplin Missouri. Tornado.

“And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

A portion of today’s reading from the Book of Acts, chapter 2. We welcome you to Immanuel Lutheran Church in Joplin, Missouri. May God continue to accomplish His saving work in all who call upon His Name. We praise God for ten years of recovery since the Joplin Tornado of 2011.


Service of Thanksgiving Marking Ten Years of Recovery from the Devastation of May 22, 2011

Matins at Pentecost — May 23, 2021

INVITATORY, GLORIA and COMMON VERSE 219

O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth will declare Your praise. Psalm 51:15

Make haste, O God, to deliver me;
Make haste to help me, O Lord. Psalm 70:1

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Praise to You, O Christ. Alleluia!

VENITE with COMMON ANTIPHON 220

Blessed be God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
O come, let us worship Him.

O come, let us sing to the Lord. 
Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving,
Let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of joy.
For the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods.
The deep places of the earth are in His hands;
The strength of the hills is His also.
The sea is His, for He made it, and His hand formed the dry land.
O come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker.
For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture
And the sheep of His hand. Psalm 95
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Blessed be God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
O come, let us worship Him.

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

Let us pray. Gracious God, giver of life, health, safety and strength: receive our thanks and praise for blessing Joplin with recovery from the catastrophic loss of life and property visited upon Your people in the events a decade past. Fill our hearts with daily remembrance of Your goodness and of the generosity of Your people everywhere that we may serve You with lives which bear the fruit of Your Spirit; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

OFFICE HYMN “Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord” 497

Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord, 
With all Your graces now outpoured
On each believer’s mind and heart, 
Your fervent love to them impart.
Lord, by the brightness of Your light 
In holy faith Your Church unite;
From every land and every tongue 
This to Your praise, O Lord, our God, be sung. 
Alleluia, Alleluia!

Come, holy Light, guide divine, 
Now cause the Word of life to shine.
Teach us to know our God aright 
And call Him Father with delight.
From every error keep us free; 
Let none but Christ our master be
That we in living faith abide
In Him, our Lord, with all our might confide. 
Alleluia, Alleluia!

Come, holy fire, comfort true, 
Grant us the will Your work to do
And in Your service to abide; 
Let trials turn us not aside.
Lord, by Your power prepare each heart 
And to our weakness strength impart
That bravely here we may contend,
Through life and death to You, our Lord, ascend. 
Alleluia, Alleluia!

KIDS TALK

SCRIPTURE READING Ezekiel 37:1–14

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

O Lord, have mercy upon us.
Thanks be to God.

SCRIPTURE READING Acts 2:1–21

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”

O Lord, have mercy upon us.
Thanks be to God.

SCRIPTURE READING John 15:26–27; 16:4b–15

[Jesus said:] “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. . . .

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

O Lord, have mercy upon us.
Thanks be to God.

THE THIRD ARTICLE OF THE APOSTLE’S CREED

In the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed we confess:

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church,
The forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,
And the life everlasting. Amen.

What does this mean?

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the one true faith.

In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.

In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers.

On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ.

This is most certainly true.

HYMN OF THE DAY “Holy Spirit, the Dove Sent from Heaven” 502: 1,2

Holy Spirit, the dove sent from heaven, 
Ever one with the One who is Three,
From the Father You came, 
Words of peace to proclaim.
Come and comfort us, speak tenderly.
You, the fragrance of life we are seeking; 
Fill Your temple, Your altar make clean.
Joyous shelter of love, 
Gracious friend from above,
In Your care we are resting, serene.

Holy Spirit, the fire celestial, 
Who on Pentecost came as foretold,
To descend from on high 
And the Church occupy
As the cloud filled the Temple of old;
All the baptized You seal with Your promise, 
All believers Your gift there receive,
So that all the elect—
All in Christ—may expect
To enjoy what by grace they believe.

SERMON

TE DEUM “We Praise You, O God” 223

We praise You, O God; we acknowledge You to be the Lord.
All the earth now worships You, the Father everlasting.
To You all angels cry aloud, the heavens and all the powers therein.
To You cherubim and seraphim continually do cry:|
    “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth;
      Heaven and earth are full of Your glory.”
The glorious company of the apostles praise You.
The goodly fellowship of the prophets praise You.
The noble army of martyrs praise You.
The holy Church throughout all the world does acknowledge You:
The Father of an infinite majesty; 
    Your adorable, true and only Son;
    Also the Holy Ghost, the comforter.
You are the king of glory, O Christ;
You are the everlasting Son of the Father.
When You took upon Yourself to deliver man,
    You humbled Yourself to be born of a virgin.
When You had overcome the sharpness of death,
    You opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You sit on the right hand of God 
    In the glory of the Father.
We believe that You will come
    To be our judge.
We therefore pray You to help Your servants
    Whom You have redeemed with Your precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with Your saints
    In glory everlasting.
O Lord, save Your people and bless Your heritage.
    Govern them and lift them up forever.
Day by day we magnify You
    And we worship Your name forever and ever.
Grant, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin.
O Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us.
O Lord, let Your mercy be upon us, as our trust is in You.
O Lord, in You have I trusted; let me never be confounded.

PRESENTATION OF THE OFFERING and KYRIE 227

Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy.

LORD’S PRAYER

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.

COLLECTS OF THE DAY

Let us pray. O God, on this day You once taught the hearts of Your faithful people by sending them the light of Your Holy Spirit. Grant us in our day by the same Spirit to have a right understanding in all things and evermore to rejoice in His holy consolation; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Lord God, You have called Your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that Your hand is leading us and Your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. 
Amen.

BENEDICAMUS and BENEDICTION 228

Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14
Amen.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND CELEBRATIONS

IMMANUEL’S MISSION PRAYER

Heavenly Father, We pray to see the future as You see it, so we may live the present as You will it. We pray we may be grounded in Christ as a Lutheran congregation, and guided by Your grace as we walk in forgiveness. We pray we are growing continually in faith as servants in Christ’s Kingdom proclaiming the Gospel. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

COMMON DOXOLOGY 805

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host:
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2006 Concordia Publishing House.

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