Worship and Devotions

Welcome visitors and old friends. Welcome regardless of belief, ethnic background, sexual orientation, gender, socio-economic status, marital status, age, abilities, or life situation. Welcome believers and doubters as well as doubting believers. Welcome to share the fullness of Christ's love for the world!

(Adapted from The welcome message from the Thomas Community in Finland. "Celebrating milestone moments" by Rev. Jukka Joensuu. Canada Lutheran January/February 2024 Vol. 39 No. 1; chorus of ELW 523)

Twenty-Third Sunday After Pentecost

Sunday, November 16, 2025

The end is near. There is no doubt about it. The warnings are dire. The tone of today’s texts is ominous. But the baptized know how to live in the meantime. The baptized are strengthened for the living of these days in word and sacrament. The baptized rally around the invitation of the apostle: “Do not be weary in doing what is right.”

Music

Come Now, O God

Come Now, O God - ELW/ACS 902

Prayer of the Day

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without you nothing is strong, nothing is holy. Embrace us with your mercy, that with you as our ruler and guide, we may live through what is temporary without losing what is eternal, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Readings

Malachi 4:1-2a; Psalm 98; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Semi-continuous - Isaiah 65:17-25; Isaiah 12:2-6

Gospel - Luke 21:5-19

Glory to you, O Lord.

As history moves toward God’s fulfillment there will be frightening signs and events. Before the end, believers will draw strength from their relationship to God and will be given the words they need to testify and to endure without fear.

When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, [Jesus] said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.” They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray, for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them. “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified, for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes and in various places famines and plagues, and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven. “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance, for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and siblings, by relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.”

Praise to you, O Christ.

Music

When Our World Is Rent By Violence

When Our World Is Rent by Violence - ELW/ACS 1052 (youtube.com)

Sermon

Give Us Visions of a Future

By Pastor Carol J. Dennison

It is the final week of Jesus’ life. He enters Jerusalem on a donkey to crowds praising him and warns that Jerusalem is about to be surrounded and destroyed “because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” (Luke 19:24) He then drives the money changers out of the temple. Every day he teaches in the temple and spends his night outside Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives. More and more people make it a point to be in the temple to hear him.

The chief priests, the scribes, the Sadducees and the temple authorities are looking for a way to kill him without angering the people! They repeatedly try to trap him into saying or doing something they can use against him but without success.

While the people are listening, Jesus denounces the scribes to the disciples then calls attention to a poor widow placing all she has as her offering in the temple while all the “big-wigs” put in the left-overs!

Jesus hears some talking about the splendidness of the Temple. Repeating what he has earlier said about all Jerusalem he says it is all going to be destroyed. When asked “when” and “what will be the sign” he does not answer but goes on to reiterate an answer he gave them when they asked when the kingdom of God was coming.

Don’t believe those who are coming who will say they are coming in my name or are me or saying the time is near! They are liars! Do not go after them! This a warning reiterated in 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3 and referred back to in our Epistle lesson today. The day of the Lord is not here yet and will not come until “the lawless one” is revealed, the one who is going to be destroyed!

Jesus reminds them of all the bad things that have come before and will come again- wars, famines, plagues, phenomenon in the skies, and the like that will come before the end of the world. BUT before then, the disciples are going to be arrested, persecuted, and brought before the authorities of the day, betrayed by family members and friends, hated by everyone, and some even put to death because they follow him. Jesus has already warned them of this. So what are they to do?

Do not be afraid. Look on this as an opportunity to testify to who Jesus is! Don’t prepare your defense! Jesus says he will send them the words and wisdom when they need it! It will be so effective their judges will not be able to withstand or contradict them! Endure. Keep on keeping on. You will gain your souls!

To those hearing Luke’s gospel it is hearing about the reality of what has already and is still happening to them. The destruction of the temple and Jerusalem happened in 70 C.E. Fifteen years or more later, Christians throughout the Roman Empire continue to face persecution. Paul and Stephen have already been martyred as have others. Yet when they hear Luke’s gospel, Christians are encouraged to keep on keeping on, to endure, to know that those martyred made their defense with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and that the church of Jesus Christ has grown and continues to grow despite all that is against it. The living, loving Presence of Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit is always with them. They are not alone. God’s purposes are being fulfilled!

What do we hear in this gospel? What does our world look like? What are Christians facing now?

Nations rise against nations and wars continue within nations too. As of October 2025, in countries currently at war, there have been 10, 000 + casualties in civil wars in Myanmar, and Sudan, as well as in the conflict between the Palestinian Territories (Gaza and the West Bank) and Israel, between Russia and Ukraine. There have been fewer than 10, 000 casualties in 2025 in civil wars in Afghanistan, the drug war in Mexico, civil war in Yemen and related to it in Saudi Arabia. (Countries Currently at War 2025)

There are great earthquakes this year in places such as the Pacific Antarctic Ridge, Japan, and Russia. (Map of Earthquakes Today)

There are famines in Sudan, Palestine, South Sudan, Mali, Haiti and Yemen and near-famine in the Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria and Afghanistan as well as hot spots in Burkina Faso, Chad, Kenya and among the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. (Millions of lives at risk, warn UN food agencies, as hunger crisis worsens | UN News) Here in Canada there have been 2, 165, 766 visits to food banks just this year! (Overall Findings - Food Banks Canada)

We don’t think about plagues but the World Health Organization reports outbreaks of Rift Valley Fever, Chikungunya virus, Nipah virus, Ebolo virus, cholera, polio virus, rabies, Avian influenza, anthrax, COVID-19, yellow fever and measles among others in areas including Canada and the U.S.A. (Disease Outbreak News)

Then just in case we don’t see the connection, there is persecution in at least 145 countries for Christians, 139 countries for Muslims and 88 countries for Jews. (Religious persecution - Wikipedia) That does not even include the use of the notwithstanding clause to bypass the right to religious freedom used by Quebec to outlaw the wearing of religious symbols in any public service place and its expansion this year into all schools even those run by religions! Some other provinces have introduced modifications with similar intent.

Then what about portents and great signs in heaven? Well there is a giant asteroid predicted as having a four per cent chance of crashing into the moon in 2032 and the fact that Earth’s northern half is getting darker than the south because it is reflecting less and less sunlight. Not to mention climate change! (What happens if this giant asteroid crashes into moon? | Watch; The Earth is growing darker, reflecting less and less sunlight | Watch)

In the face of all this Jesus says to us as he said to them way back then: Don’t be afraid. I am with you. When you testify before them I will give you the words- so wise they cannot withstand or contradict them. Endure. Keep on doing what I asked you to do. Speak truth to power. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, bring relief to those threatened by war, famine, disease or disaster, love your enemies, tell them the good news that I love them and have saved them.

What about being hated by all, betrayed even by family and friends, and the like? That too may happen. It may also show up as indifference, thinking we’re crazy to keep on being part of the church, bullying those who are open about their belief in Jesus, and the like. As a national church, as synods and as congregations we have seen this happening. It is part of why the national church is spending the next three years having us explore together what it is God wants us to have as structures, how God wants us to live and act and worship, and the like. As we endure, knowing God is with us, we will discover where God wants us to do and what and when and where God wants us to do it.

I want to share with you something I have started to do. Each day when I leave my house to go out among other people, I say a prayer asking God to lead me to the people, places and situations where God wants me to be and to give me the words and actions to do when I get there. I also ask God to enable me to show the fruit of the Spirit in all I say and do so that all I say and do will glorify God’s Name and further God’s kin-dom. I do not know what God has done to answer it but I trust that God is answering!

Our former Bishop Greg often used this prayer and I think it embodies what Jesus is talking about today. God will give us a vision of what God wants our future and present to be and will walk with us all the way! By our endurance we will gain our souls! Let us pray:

O 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 our Lord. Amen. (Written by Eric Milner-White. Page 317, Evening Prayer, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Copyright ©2006 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)

Prayers of Intercession

Renewed in God’s everlasting grace, let us pray for the church, the world, and all creation.

A brief silence.

God of roots and branches, defend the leaders of your church as they proclaim the gospel. Grant them discernment, wisdom and brave testimony. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.

God of roaring seas, in a world of earthquake, famine, and plague, use your mighty power to nurture the land and all that lives upon it. Restore peoples and places experiencing natural disasters. Strengthen organizations who provide aid to any in crisis. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.

God of justice, you call us to respect and protect life in all its forms. Forgive our daily acts of injustice which condemn many, many persons to death by hunger, exclusion and war, and lead us to the abyss of endless violence. Strengthen us in our daily work for a world more just, accepting differences, built on diversity. Renew our commitment to peace with justice. Help us denounce the arrogance of those who believe that they are powerful and own the lives of all the rest. Give us a vision to banish violence in all its forms and establish as the foundation of our lives respect, equality, truth and justice. Bring an end to the civil war in Sudan that is escalating. Help Israel and Hamas, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Cambodia and Thailand to keep the ceasefires and use this time to listen to each other and bring about peaceful resolution of their conflicts. Bring an end also to the war between Ukraine and Russia. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great. (Adapted from a prayer by Bishop Nelly Ritchie, Buenos Aires, Argentina. ©Red de Liturgia del CLAI; English transl. Terry MacArthur, WCC)

God of healing, where injustice and exploitation result in populations that are marginalized or underserved, accompany those abandoned by their friends, hurt by family, and harmed by violence and oppression. Care for all people who are ill, anxious, in pain, or in mourning especially the families of the more than 1,376 people who have died from toxic drug overdoses in BC this year; the families of all murdered and missing Indigenous persons; the more than 218 homeless here in the Comox Valley; the more than 600 homeless in Nanaimo; and others whom we name in our heart. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.

God of hope, you have warned us through your Son Jesus Christ that those who follow Him may be oppressed and abused because of their faith. Please protect our brothers and sisters around the world who are being persecuted for their faith, especially those who are active in sharing the gospel. Let your peace reign in those regions where your children are not permitted the freedom to live out their faith in safety. Watch over and encourage those who work to support oppressed believers on the ground, risking their own lives to do so. For those who persecute our brothers and sisters, may their spirits be touched by the incredible faith of those whom they attack. May they turn away from sin and open their hearts to your love. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great. (Adapted from 3 prayers for persecuted Christians - Christian Today

God of wisdom, be with the delegates to COP30 (30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Belém, Brazil from 10 to 21 November 2025. Please grant them wisdom that they will have national climate action plans with real accountability, establish climate finances as justice through grants instead of loans and debt cancellation and bring about a just transition toward genuine socio-ecological transformation that centers Indigenous wisdom and rejects false solutions. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great. (Adapted from https://www.oikoumene.org/news/wcc-calls-cop30-a-kairos-moment-for-climate-transformation)

God of new songs, in a congregation of faithful believers, energize us for compassionate service and delight us through worship and inspired prayer. Encourage your people in building equitable community where all are valued. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.

Here other intercessions may be offered.

God of every generation, we remember the saints with steadfast love and faithfulness. Confident in Christ’s victory over death, may we be inspired by the example of the faithful. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.

We offer these and all our prayers to you, O God, trusting in your grace and unyielding love; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

Music

God, Bless The Hands

God, Bless the Hands - ELW/ACS 1022 - YouTube

Go Now In Peace

Go Now In Peace / Don Besig and Nancy Price - YouTube