February 25, 2024 — 9:00 AM Service

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PRELUDE
“Cantad al Señor” (arr. Susan Geschke)
Peace Ringers, Linnae Stole (Director)

WELCOME

CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
We gather in the name of God who creates, redeems, and sustains us. Amen.
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.

Holy God, 
We confess that we have rejected the refuge you offer.
We try to hide behind self-sufficiency and pride,
but you see us, and love us still.

We confess that we have chosen strife over peace;
we want to be right more than we want to be in right relationship.
Forgive us for the ways we have rebelled against you 
and harmed our neighbors in action, thought, or indifference.

We confess that we have settled for convenient comforts,
for palm-sized imitations of mercy and justice.
Your mighty hands break the bow and topple the throne,
yet also gather and shelter us like a mother hen.

We confess that you know what we need and gladly provide it.
Grant us the courage, patience, and trust
to receive and share your love. Amen. 

HYMN
“Eternal Spirit of the Living Christ” ELW # 402                      

PRAYER OF THE DAY  
In the Holy Trinity, you show us belonging and inclusion in perfect balance. Made in your image, we long for community, yet we retreat into rigid categories and binary thinking, as if excluding others could protect us from being left out. In you, there is no inside or outside; in you, there is no us or them. Embolden and equip us to work towards this expansive kinship, which is only possible through the love of your Son, Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

ANTHEM 
“My Jesus, I Love Thee“  (arr. Dan Forrest)
Canticle Choir,  Rachel Calvert (Violin), Larry Bach (Director)

READING
Acts 8:26-40

Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

The Word of the Lord.  Thanks be to God.

SERMON
“Altered on the Edge of Belonging”

OFFERING OF MUSIC
“Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy” (arr. Travis Cottrell) 
Rebecca Hammond, Elliana Meier, Larry Bach, Rachel Calvert                

OFFERING PRAYER

PRAYERS OF GOD’S PEOPLE 

THE LORD’S PRAYER

BEFORE YOU GO 

BENEDICTION

Hymn
“All Are Welcome” (St. 1-2, 5) ELW # 641

SENDING: 
Go in peace. Serve the Lord. Thanks be to God!

POSTLUDE
“Humoresque“ (Antonin Dvorak)
Rachel Calvert, Jodi Edstrom

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The Musicians for Today’s Worship

• Larry Bach (Canticle Choir Director)
• Rachel Calvert
• Jodi Edstrom 
• Rebecca Hammond
• Elliana Meier
• Canticle Choir

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Prayers

As a community of faith we are connected through joy, sorrow, worship, and prayer. Please pray for the people listed below.
Your prayers are greatly appreciated!

We ask for God’s loving embrace to hold all those who mourn, especially:

• Prayers for Gay and Bob Schmidt and family on the death of their 16 year old grandson
• Loved ones and all first responders and families in the deaths of two police officers and a medic in Burnsville
• Todd and Krista Dammen and family in the death of Julane Dammen
• Delores Cornelius and family on the death of her husband, Don
• The family of Ron Bergom
• Jason Schultz, Jen Cater & family on the death of Lou Schulz
• Meggy Wagner and family on the death of her father, Reinhold
• Prayers for Debbie Gelle and family on the death of her father Don Denike
• Jeanne Aamot and family on the death of her mother, Nancy
• Caleb Wragge, Kathy, Kari, Gary Blackford and family on the death of Marilyn Kramme

Prayers of Mourning:

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord; O Lord, hear my voice. Psalm 130:1–2
For I am convinced that neither death nor life… nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38–39
Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die’. John 11:25–26

As we are praying for all members of the St. Andrew community, this week we pray especially for God’s comfort, healing, protection, and strength to be present with:

• Armon Ross
• Prayers for Ralph and Mary Hanson’s son Kristopher
• Darlene our wonderful cook at Spirit in the pines who has surgery coming up
• Andrew Pick
• Delores Cornelius
• Ron Bergom
• Gabe Perez
• Delia Tufte
• John Rostad’s father, Mike
• Stephanie Berg’s son-in-law, Zach

Long Term Prayers:

• Gordon Gilbert
• Kathy Hoagland
• Dave & Sherri Anderson’s daughter, Sarah Anderson-Jacobson
• Ron Wolfbauer
• Dick Smith
• Tammi Ziesemann as she continues her cancer treatment
• For the people of Haiti enduring ongoing political upheaval, severe economic challenges, and gang-related violence.
• For the people of the Middle East and Ukraine – non-violence and peace.
• All those in the military serving our country

General Prayers:

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you. Psalm 55:22a
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

Names will remain listed for three weeks unless otherwise requested. To add a name to the prayer list, click Prayer Requests or contact Pastor Peter Johnson.

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The Pastors of St. Andrew