SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6TH, 2026​

​CREATION IN CHRIST (SUNDAY)

15TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

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INTRODUCTION​

Since the seventh century, September 1st has symbolized the day of the creation of
     the world in the Byzantine tradition and has been the opening feast of its liturgical
     year (known as the Feast of the Indiction), in parallel with Rosh Hashanah
     marking the Jewish New Year. Creation in Christ celebrates the ongoing creation
     of the world in and through Christ, who sustains, unites, and holds all created
     things. We hear today of the triune God who creates all things: sun and moon,
     shining stars, sea monsters, creeping things and flying birds—and, yes, even
     human beings. God-in-Christ still takes care of all things and invites us to join in
     as caretakers of God's good creation.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

O God, in whom we live and move and have our being, in Christ you created the   
     worlds, and your Spirit breathes life into the universe. We praise you for your
     wondrous creation. Bless us and all your handiwork with your infinite light, and
     direct our lives to the care of this good earth, through your Son, Jesus Christ, our
     Savior and Lord. Amen.​

FIRST READING

GENESIS 1:1--2:4a
     At the beginning of time, God the Creator, God the powerful Word, and God the
     life-giving Spirit form the earth and all its inhabitants. God sees that all this
     created work is good and then rests on the seventh day.

1 When God began to create the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was
     complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from
     God swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and
     there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the
     light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called
     Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

     6 And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it
     separate the waters from the waters.” 7 So God made the dome and separated
     the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome.
     And it was so. 8 God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was
     morning, the second day.

     9 And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one
     place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land
     Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw
     that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants
     yielding seed and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in
     it.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of
     every kind and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw
     that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

     14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day
     from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years,
     15 and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And
     it was so. 16 God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and
     the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 God set them in the dome of
     the sky to give light upon the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night,
     and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
     19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

     20 And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let
     birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” 21 So God created the
     great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with
     which the waters swarm and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it
     was good. 22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the
     waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening
     and there was morning, the fifth day.

     24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle
     and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so.
     25 God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind and the cattle of every
     kind and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that
     it was good.

     26 Then God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness,
     and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air
     and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth and over every
     creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

     27 So God created humans in his image,
     in the image of God he created them;
     male and female he created them.

     28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the
     earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds
     of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” 29 God said,
     “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the
     earth and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to
     every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps
     on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant
     for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it
     was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

     2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all their multitude. 2 On the
     sixth day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh
     day from all the work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and
     hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.

     4a These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

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PSALM

PSALM 148
(Response) God’s splendor is over earth and heaven. (Ps. 148:13)

1 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise God in the heights.
2 Praise the Lord, all you angels;
sing praise, all you hosts of heaven.
3 Praise the Lord, sun and moon;
sing praise, all you shining stars.
4 Praise the Lord, heaven of heavens,
and you waters above the heavens.
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
who commanded, and they were created,
6 who made them stand fast forever and ever,
giving them a law that shall not pass away.
(Response) God’s splendor is over earth and heaven. (Ps. 148:13)

7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps;
8 fire and hail, snow and fog,
tempestuous wind, doing God's will;
9 mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars;
10 wild beasts and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds;
11 sovereigns of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the world;
12 young men and maidens,
old and young together.
(Response) God’s splendor is over earth and heaven. (Ps. 148:13)

13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
whose name only is exalted, whose splendor is over earth and heaven.
14 The Lord has raised up strength for the people
        and praise for all faithful servants,
the children of Israel, a people who are near the Lord. Hallelujah!

(Response) God’s splendor is over earth and heaven. (Ps. 148:13)

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SECOND READING

ACTS 17:22a, 24-28
In Athens, Paul faces the challenge of proclaiming the gospel to Greeks who
     know nothing of either Jewish or Christian tradition. He proclaims that the
     “unknown god” whom they worship is the true Lord of heaven and earth who will
     judge the world with justice through Jesus, whom God has raised from the dead.

22a Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, 24 “The God who made
     the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live
     in shrines made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as
     though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath
     and all things. 26 From one ancestor he made all peoples to inhabit the whole
     earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the
     places where they would live, 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps
     fumble about for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of
     us. 28 For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your
     own poets have said,
     ‘For we, too, are his offspring.’​​

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​​​​GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
Alleluia. How manifold are works, O Lord! In Wisdom you have made them all. Alleluia. (Psalm 104:24)

GOSPEL READING

JOHN 1:1-5
John begins his gospel with this prologue: a hymn to the Word through whom all
     things were created. This Word became flesh and brought grace and truth to the world.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
     God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through
     him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being
     4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the
     darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.

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LICENSES & EXPIRATION DATES
Worship Service Content is used via permission through Augsburg Fortress Liturgies

Annual License #SB144368. The next Subscription Renewal Date is 2/28/2027.
Our Hymns and Worship Music are used via permission through CCLI One
License #11327166. The next Subscription Renewal Date is 1/31/2027.

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​SERMONS​
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BULLETIN FOR SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6TH, 2026