Fishers of Men (November 19, 2023) (Communion)

November 19, 2023 (Welcome)

O WORSHIP THE KING LSB 804

1 O worship the King, all-glorious above. O gratefully sing His pow’r and His love; Our shield and defender, the Ancient of Days, Pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.

2 O tell of His might, O sing of His grace, Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space; His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form, And dark is His path on the wings of the storm.

3 This earth, with its store of wonders untold, Almighty, Thy pow’r hath founded of old, Established it fast by a changeless decree, And round it hath cast, like a mantle, the sea.

4 Thy bountiful care what tongue can recite? It breathes in the air, it shines in the light , It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain, And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

5 Frail children of dust and feeble as frail, In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail. Thy mercies, how tender, how firm to the end, Our maker, defender, redeemer, and friend!

6 O measureless Might, ineffable Love, While angels delight to hymn Thee above, Thy humbler creation, though feeble their lays With true adoration shall sing to Thy praise. P In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit. C Amen. P Our help is in the name of the Lord, C who made heaven and earth. P If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? C But with You there is forgiveness; therefore You are feared. P Since we are gathered to hear God’s Word, call upon Him in prayer and praise, and receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in the fellowship of this altar, let us first consider our unworthiness and confess before God and one another that we have sinned in thought, word, and deed, and that we cannot free ourselves from our sinful condition. Together as His people let us take refuge in the infinite mercy of God, our heavenly Father, seeking His grace for the sake of Christ, and saying: God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

Confession of Sins

C Almighty God, have mercy upon us, forgive us our sins, and lead us to everlasting life. Amen.

Absolution

P Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit. C Amen.

Introit

P Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! C In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!

P Enter not into judgment with your servant, C for no one living is righteous before you.

P I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; C I ponder the work of your hands.

P I stretch out my hands to you; C my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.

P Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! C Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!

P For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life! C In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble! 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.

P Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! C In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!

Kyrie

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

THIS IS THE FEAST

This is the feast of victory for our God.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain, whose blood set us free to be people of God.

This is the feast of victory for our God.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Power, riches, wisdom, and strength, and honor, blessing, and glory are His.

This is the feast of victory for our God.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Sing with all the people of God, and join in the hymn of all creation:

Blessing, honor, glory, and might be to God and the Lamb forever. Amen.

This is the feast of victory for our God.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

For the Lamb who was slain has begun His reign. Alleluia.

This is the feast of victory for our God.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Salutation and Collect of the Day

P The Lord be with you. C And also with you. P Let us pray. Almighty and ever-living God, You have given exceedingly great and precious promises to those who trust in You. Dispel from us the works of darkness and grant us to live in the light of Your Son, Jesus Christ, that our faith may never be found wanting; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. C Amen.

Old Testament Reading (Zephaniah 1:7–16)

7Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near; the Lord has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests. 8And on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice— “I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire. 9On that day I will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold, and those who fill their master’s house with violence and fraud. 10“On that day,” declares the Lord, “a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate, a wail from the Second Quarter, a loud crash from the hills. 11Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar! For all the traders are no more; all who weigh out silver are cut off. 12At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The Lord will not do good, nor will he do ill.’ 13Their goods shall be plundered, and their houses laid waste. Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them.” 14The great day of the Lordis near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there. 15A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements. L This is the Word of the Lord. C Thanks be to God.

Epistle 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11

1Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. L This is the Word of the Lord. C Thanks be to God.

Alleluia and Verse

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Holy Gospel Matthew 5:1-12

P The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the twenty-fifth chapter. C Glory to You, O Lord. 14[Jesus said:] “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ 21His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ 23His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed and gather where I scattered no seed? 27Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” P This is the Gospel of the Lord. C Praise to You, O Christ.

Nicene Creed

I believe in one God,

the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth

and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ,

the only-begotten Son of God,

begotten of His Father before all worlds,

God of God, Light of Light,

very God of very God,

begotten, not made,

being of one substance with the Father,

by whom all things were made;

who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven

and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary

and was made man;

and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.

He suffered and was buried.

And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures

and ascended into heaven

and sits at the right hand of the Father.

And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead,

whose kingdom will have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the Lord and giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son,

who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified,

who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church,

I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins,

and I look for the resurrection of the dead

and the life T of the world to come. Amen.

Stand Up Stand Up for Jesus LSB 660

1 Stand up, stand up for Jesus, Ye soldiers of the cross. Lift high His royal banner; It must not suffer loss. From vict’ry unto vict’ry His army He shall lead Till ev’ry foe is vanquished, And Christ is Lord indeed.

2 Stand up, stand up for Jesus; The trumpet call obey; Stand forth in mighty conflict In this His glorious day. Let all His faithful serve Him Against unnumbered foes; Let courage rise with danger And strength to strength oppose.

3 Stand up, stand up for Jesus; Stand in His strength alone. The arm of flesh will fail you, Ye dare not trust your own. Put on the Gospel armor; Each piece put on with prayer. Where duty calls or danger, Be never wanting there.

4 Stand up, stand up for Jesus; The strife will not be long; This day the din of battle, The next the victor’s song. The soldiers, overcoming, Their crown of life shall see And with the King of Glory Shall reign eternally.

Cornhole Origins

Tossing bean bags at a board 27 feet away, hoping your bean bag lands in the hole. We had cornhole boards set up at our pumpkin patch and the kids loved it. Cornhole is a game that has its origins with the Cincinnati Bengals and tailgating. Except not really. Cornhole as we know it really did begin in the Cincinnati area, some people claiming to have played it in the 1960s on Cincinnati’s west side. But if you wonder where they got it, no one knows for sure. And if you look the game up on the internet, you’ll find there’s a similar game patented in the Chicago area in the 1800s patterned after a game in England. That game had boards with a square hole and a bell… and bags filled with corn or beans were tossed at the board. But if you ask Native Americans, they’ll tell you about a game they had 500 years ago with a board with multiple holes and bags filled with corn. Still, you ask any Bengals fan and they’ll tell you it started at their tailgates in the 90s.

Origin stories. We all love origin stories. We all want to know where or how something started. And if we are in love with the origin story enough, we’ll figure out ways that we are part of that origin story. Whatever origin story we tell and wherever we tell it, what we’re looking at today is the original origin story. For you and for me. We continue our Bible Binge today.. this past week we began to read the book of Genesis.. and tomorrow, Genesis 10-12 is the Bible Binge reading for the day as we make our way through the Bible in 14 months.

The Book of Genesis is the book of Origins. Genesis tells us where we came from. Why we’re here. And the book of Genesis contains our origin story. And it is the Bible’s origin story. Genesis chapter 1. The great leader Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible and he wrote Genesis, most likely to the nation of Israel as they wandered in the desert on their way to the Promised Land.

If you are in Moses' audience, like any kind of university class dealing with philosophy or history or anthropology… what's one of the first questions addressed? What's the first major question we ask ourselves when we begin to understand life? We ask, "where did I come from?""Where did we come from?" And Moses starts there… the children of Israel want to know… where did we come from? Why are we out in this desert? Where did this all start? Genesis 1 is where it all starts. And in the very first verse we are told this:

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

In the beginning God. It doesn't tell us where God came from. From the beginning of the Bible to the end of the book, the Bible presumes there is a God. And it all goes from there. God created the heavens and the earth. The rest of the chapter and the next give us more details about how the heavens and the earth came to be. God made all of this. In fact, John 1:1 tells us it was actually the Son of God, who we now know as Jesus, who spoke all of this into existence. All of creation, the whole universe, made by the Son of God.. Spoken into existence out of nothing.

There are three things… very quickly… we need to get our of our birth story here. If we were to read the rest of that very first chapter, we’d find these patterns.. the first is:

The rhythm of night and day

Night and day. Darkness and light. As the story of creation unfolds, you get the sense that God created a specific order… that whatever is going on in the evening and the darkness is going to give way to the light.

The second is a recurring statement… over and over and over…

God saw that it was good

There was nothing wrong with creation. In fact, it was perfectly good. There was no sin, no death, no crying, no evil, no war, no hunger, no thirst, no famine, no being woken up at 3 in the morning by the steak that is not digesting all that well… no sickness. It is perfect. Nothing wrong. No bad feelings. No bad emotions. It's all good. Very good, Moses says.

The third thing is that

Humanity is:

created out of the dust of the ground

made in God’s image

commissioned to fill the earth with God's image by reproducing and creating worship all over the globe

Man and woman are in perfect harmony with their Creator. They and the Son of God walk and talk with perfect conversations. It's all good. They sleep well at night in full confidence that their Creator loves them. There is perfect communion between the Creator and those he created. What a great origin story. The origin of humanity. But that’s not the end of the origins.

God made two special trees.. The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve could eat of any tree they wanted to in the garden… except the tree of knowledge of good and evil… Chapter 3 in Genesis says this..

Genesis 3:6 The woman saw that the tree (they had been told not to eat of) was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Absolutely devastating. Catastrophic. All of human history rides on that bad decision. What was good, is no longer good. The perfect has been destroyed. There is now sin in the world. This is also part of our origin story. Ever want to know why we have sickness, why we have suffering, why there is evil in the world… why we have war, why we have famine, why we can't get along with our family members, why life is so difficult, why life is so dark at times, why happiness eludes me??

Genesis 3 is the answer. We did this to ourselves. We brought this on ourselves. We have no one to blame but ourselves. This is our story. What was once great is now crash and burn… total failure. What was paradise is paradise no longer… Adam and Eve are kicked out of the garden, and the one on one relationship they had with their creator is cut off. Their whole world crashes. As does ours.

And into that mess, into that darkness, into that ruin God speaks words of grace,words of promise:

Genesis 3:15 “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

I will. He will. You will. Promise language. This promise is a curse for the serpent, but a Promise of grace blessing to the man and the woman who had just disobeyed. Unbelievable Grace. And then this act of grace:

The LORD God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)

God had promised to kill them if they disobeyed. Instead, an animal dies… and they live to see another day. The covering of the animal is grace… because without that covering they are doomed. Without some kind of satisfaction for disobeying God we all are doomed. This is our story.

This is also our origin story. Adam started the sin problem. God starts the redemption of humanity with a Promise. This story of Adam and Eve and a perfect garden that gets ruined by disobedience to God… God gives a promise… the promise of a Savior who would fix the ruin and restore the communion with God. The seed of the woman would not go without pain… his heel would be bruised by the seed of the serpent, but the end result is that the seed of the woman, this savior would crush the head of the serpent once and for all… in being bruised and broken, the seed of the woman would win it all.

That fix finally does come. After a few thousand years. The author who wrote most of the New Testament sees our story in Adam's story. In Romans 5. The famous missionary Paul says this:

Romans 5:12-19 sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned… from one sin came the judgment, resulting in condemnation… by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man… through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone…through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners.

We all died in Adam. When Adam sinned, we sinned. We were all made sinners when Adam and Eve ate the fruit. The death of Adam was the death of all of us. My son Luke once said, when he understood this as a 10-year-old… "that's not fair". It’s not fair that our destiny was riding on the line when Adam sinned. That may not seem fair to us, but God in his goodness set it up so that when Adam was eating the fruit, that was us eating the fruit. We were in Adam… and we all died.

It's kind of depressing. All of this sin. All of life's brokenness. All of the bad news we read about and watch on the internet or on TV… it is because we introduced sin into the world. I am a sinner. We all sinned. Like Adam, we're all doomed. We are all divorced from God. We are all destined to live apart from God for all time… unless that seed of the woman is born and crushes the head of the serpent..And that's exactly what happens… listen to the rest of the story in Romans 5:

Romans 5:19 Through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

And then in the very next chapter:

Romans 6:3-4 All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.

Wow. There’s the grace that we don’t deserve. When Christ died, I died. When Christ arose, I arose. I deserve eternal damnation, instead… I get all of the paradise and goodness and life… all of the blessings Adam didn’t get, I get all of it. And it all comes to me and is given to me in my baptism. That's my story. I blew it in Adam. I deserve hell in Adam. In my baptism, I die with Christ and I am raised with Christ and I am given new life in baptism.

As we read Genesis this week and into next, we are reading the unfolding of that story… Adam started sin. God starts the story of redemption and that story flows through Noah and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and Judah. That story will culminate in Jesus who is FOR YOU in this story. That story finds its way to you and your heart.

OFFERING

PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH

Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs. (Respond with “hear our prayer”)

Lord God, enter not into judgment with Your servants, for no one living is righteous before You. Have mercy on those haunted by guilt and shame, and faithfully convince them of Your grace and holiness for them in Christ Jesus. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Teach us to do Your will, for You are our God. Strengthen pastors to meditate on all You have done and proclaim Your Word in its truth and purity, that Your good Spirit may lead us on level ground, holy and righteous before You. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Father in heaven, You have made us children of the light and of the day. Bless our homes, especially parents as they teach their children Your ways, that Your people may walk as those armored in faith, love and salvation. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Holy God, a nation that despises You will be as a sacrifice to others, for it has rejected You as its strength and shield. Grant repentance in our land, that our laws may be just, our transactions honest and our love for others fervent. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Almighty God, give ear to our pleas on behalf of the afflicted [including _____________]. For Your name’s sake, preserve their life and grant them healing according to Your will. In Your righteousness, strengthen their faith through all trials and bring their souls out of trouble. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Holy God, You have not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord, Jesus Christ. Until the day of His coming in glory, grant that we may welcome Him at the altar, even as we are welcomed to Him, receiving His body and blood for our forgiveness. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of life, Your Son died for us so that, whether awake or asleep, we might live with Him. Receive our thanks for Your kindness to all who have died in the faith. Comfort those who mourn with the consolation that all who die in Christ live with Him forever. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

God of grace, preserve us from the temptation to consider You a hard and unmerciful master. Keep us mindful that You give us every good thing in abundance, most of all a place in Your household; for the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Offering

Doxology

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!

Service of the Sacrament

P The Lord be with you.

C And also with you.

P Lift up your hearts.

C We lift them to the Lord.

P Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

C It is right to give Him thanks and praise.

P It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, O Lord, holy Father, almighty and everlasting God, for the countless blessings You so freely bestow on us and all creation. Above all, we give thanks for Your boundless love shown to us when You sent Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, into our flesh and laid on Him our sin, giving Him into death that we might not die eternally. Because He is now risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity, all who believe in Him will overcome sin and death and will rise again to new life. Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You and singing:

SANCTUS

Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth adored;

Heav’n and earth with full acclaim

shout the glory of Your name.

Sing hosanna in the highest, sing hosanna to the Lord;

Truly blest is He who comes in the name of the Lord!

Prayer of Thanksgiving

P Blessed are You, O Lord our God, king of all creation, for You have had mercy on us and given Your only-begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

In Your righteous judgment You condemned the sin of Adam and Eve, who ate the forbidden fruit, and You justly barred them and all their children from the tree of life. Yet, in Your great mercy, You promised salvation by a second Adam, Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, and made His cross a life-giving tree for all who trust in Him.

We give You thanks for the redemption You have prepared for us through Jesus Christ. Grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may faithfully eat and drink of the fruits of His cross and receive the blessings of forgiveness, life, and salvation that come to us in His body and blood.

Hear us as we pray in His name and as He has taught us:

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.

The Words of Our Lord

P Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said: “Take, eat; this is My T body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me.”

In the same way also He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying: “Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My T blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

Pax Domini

P The peace of the Lord be with you always.

C Amen.

Agnus Dei

1 O Jesus Christ, true Lamb of God,

You take the sin of the world away;

O Jesus Christ, true Lamb of God,

Have mercy on us, Lord, we pray.

2 O Jesus Christ, true Lamb of God,

You take the sin of the world away;

Have mercy on us, Jesus Christ,

And grant us peace, O Lord, we pray.

The Distribution

The Dismissal

P The body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen and preserve you in body and soul to life everlasting. Depart T in peace.

C Amen.

Nunc Dimittis

1 O Lord, now let Your servant

Depart in heav’nly peace,

For I have seen the glory

Of Your redeeming grace:

A light to lead the Gentiles

Unto Your holy hill,

The glory of Your people,

Your chosen Israel.

2 All glory to the Father,

All glory to the Son,

All glory to the Spirit,

Forever Three in One;

For as in the beginning,

Is now, shall ever be,

God’s triune name resounding

Through all eternity.

Post-Communion Collect

P Let us pray.

We give thanks to You, almighty God, that You have refreshed us through this salutary gift, and we implore You that of Your mercy You would strengthen us through the same in faith toward You and in fervent love toward one another; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C Amen.

P Let us bless the Lord.

C Thanks be to God.

Benediction

P The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.

The Lord look upon you with favor and T give you peace.

C Amen.

655 GOD OF OUR FATHERS

1. God of our fathers, whose almighty hand Leads forth in beauty all the starry band Of shining worlds in splendor through the skies, Our grateful songs before Thy throne arise. 2. Thy love divine hath led us in the past, In this free land by Thee our lot is cast; Be Thou our Ruler, Guardian, Guide, and Stay, Thy Word our law, Thy paths our chosen way. 3. From war’s alarms, from deadly pestilence, Be Thy strong arm our ever-sure defense; Thy true religion in our hearts increase, Thy bounteous goodness nourish us in peace. 4. Refresh thy people on their toilsome way; Lead us from night to never ending day; Fill all our lives with love and grace divine, And glory, laud, and praise be ever Thine!