Sunday Morning Worship – August 30th, 2026

Welcome to Christ Mertz Lutheran Church

Welcome to Worship

Welcome to Christ Mertz Lutheran Church! Today is the 14th Sunday after Pentecost, August 30, 2026, and we’re gathered for the Service of the Word. Pastor Milne is away this week, so Seminarian Sarah Hohl is both leading and preaching for us — fresh off two intensive weeks of Greek at seminary. Wherever you’re joining from, we’re glad you’re here.

Today’s readings sit with the cost of following Jesus. Jeremiah wrestles honestly with God over the weight of his calling, even accusing God of being “a deceitful brook” before hearing God’s promise to sustain him. Paul, in Romans, describes what genuine love looks like in practice — patience, hospitality, refusing to repay evil with evil. And in the Gospel, Peter tries to talk Jesus out of the road to the cross, only to be told that following Jesus means taking up a cross of his own.

In her sermon, Sarah connects that struggle to her own — fresh off two weeks of intensive Greek, she found Peter’s rebuke of Jesus hitting differently this time, as an invitation to set down what we’re gripping so tightly and let God carry it instead. Drawing on her own struggle to keep up in class, she reminds us that we’re never meant to carry the cross alone — God gives us each other, the church, to walk it together.

Order of Worship

• Gathering Music: “Voluntary e-moll” (John Stanley, arr. Karl-Peter Chilla)
• Gathering Song: “Lift High the Cross” (ELW 660)
• Readings: Jeremiah 15:15-21, Psalm 26:1-8, Romans 12:9-21
• Gospel: Matthew 16:21-28
• Hymn of the Day: “Will You Come and Follow Me” (ELW 798)
• Offertory: “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” (Charles C. Converse, arr. Cindy Berry)
• Offertory Response: “Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow” (ELW 884)
• Sending Hymn: “Bind Us Together” (WOV 748)
• Postlude: “For by Grace” (Thomas Ian Nicholas)

Copyright & Licensing

Liturgical texts, scripture readings, and music reprinted from Sundays and Seasons, copyright © Augsburg Fortress. Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Music and texts used by permission; license # SAS002147. OneLicense #A-721235 with podcasting/streaming. CCLI Church Copyright License® 22713895 Size B and CCLI Streaming License™ 22713905 Size B. All rights reserved.

Concerning Service Music:

• “Lift High the Cross” — Tune and Text © 1974 Hope Publishing Company. Reprinted under OneLicense #A-721235.
• “Will You Come and Follow Me” — Tune © 1987, WGRG c/o Iona Community, GIA Publications, Inc. Reprinted under OneLicense #A-721235.
• “Bind Us Together” — © 1977 Thankyou Music Ltd (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing); Author Bob Gillman; CCLI Song #1228. Reprinted under CCLI License #2964851.
• “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow” — Authors Louis Bourgeois, Thomas Ken; CCLI Song #56204; Public Domain. Reprinted under CCLI License #2964851.
• “Voluntary e-moll” / John Stanley, arr. Karl-Peter Chilla; © Strube Verlag, München
• “What A Friend We Have in Jesus” / Charles C. Converse, arr. Cindy Berry; © 2010 by Alfred Music
• “For By Grace” / Thomas Ian Nicholas; © 1998 Thomas Ian Nicholas, admin. Faith Inkubators

If you would like to participate in worship with us, our service bulletin is available @
Service Bulletin 

If you would like to contribute to the ministry of Christ Mertz Lutheran Church, Dryville, you may do so @
https://secure.myvanco.com/L-YSKY/home

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