September 24, 2023 The Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost

Entrance Hymn #690 Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah Sequence Hymn #411 O Bless the Lord, My Soul Offertory Anthem God Be In My Head (Wilby) Communion Anthem For The Bread Which You Have Broken (Franck) Post-Communion Hymn #344 Lord, Dismiss Us With Thy BlessingTHE COLLECT OF THE DAYGrant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.FIRST READING Jonah 3:10-4:11 A Reading from the Prophet Jonah.When God saw what the people of Nineveh did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” Andthe LORD said, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city.The LORD God appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.” Then the LORD said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”Reader PeoplePSALMThe Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.Psalm 145:1-8Exaltabo te, Deus1 I will exalt you, O God my King, *and bless your Name for ever and ever.2 Every day will I bless you *and praise your Name for ever and ever.3 Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; * there is no end to his greatness.4 One generation shall praise your works to another * and shall declare your power.5 I will ponder the glorious splendor of your majesty * and all your marvelous works.6 They shall speak of the might of your wondrous acts, * and I will tell of your greatness.Lawren Casagrande, Soloist7 They shall publish the remembrance of your great goodness; * they shall sing of your righteous deeds.8 The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, * slow to anger and of great kindness.SECOND READING Philippians 1:21-30A Reading from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians.To me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed betw