Entrance Hymn:  LBW #241 “We Praise You, O God”

Prayer of the day: 

Lord God, heavenly Father, send forth Your Son to lead home His bride, the Church, that with all the company of the redeemed we may finally enter into His eternal wedding feast; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

First Reading:

Amos 5:18-24                                                                                     

Let Justice Roll Down

¹⁸ Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
    Why would you have the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, and not light,
¹⁹     as if a man fled from a lion,
    and a bear met him,
or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,
    and a serpent bit him.
²⁰ Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,
    and gloom with no brightness in it?

²¹ “I hate, I despise your feasts,
    and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
²² Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
    I will not look upon them.
²³ Take away from me the noise of your songs;
    to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
²⁴ But let justice roll down like waters,
    and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Psalm 84:1, 9-12; antiphon: Psalm 84:3 

L:  Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay here young,

C:  at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

L:  How lovely is your dwelling place,

C:  O Lord of hosts!

L:  Behold our shield, O God;

C:  look on the face of your anointed!

L:  For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.

C:  I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

L:  For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor.

C:  No good thing does he withhold from those who walk up rightly.

L:  O Lord of hosts,

C:  blessed is the one who trusts in you!

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.  Amen.

L:  Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay here young,

C:  at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

Epistle:

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18                               

The Coming of the Lord

¹³ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. ¹⁴ For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁵ For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Gospel:

Matthew 25:1-13                         

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

25 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³ For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, ⁴ but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ⁵ As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. ⁶ But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. ¹¹ Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ¹² But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ ¹³ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Message Hymn:  LBW #322 “The Clouds of Judgement Gather”

Closing Hymn:  LBW #533 “Now Thank We All Our God”