October 5, 2025 – Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost / Proper 22

Lectionary Readings

Semicontinuous
Lamentations 1:1–6
How lonely is the great city now; majesty had departed from Zion. 

Lamentations 3:19–26
Even in my affliction, I remember the steadfast love of the Lord. 

or Psalm 137
By the waters of Babylon we wept; how could we sing God’s song? 

Complementary
Habakkuk 1:1–4; 2:1–4
Write the vision; make it plain: the righteous live by their faith. 

Psalm 37:1–9
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in God, who will act. 

2 Timothy 1:1–14
Rekindle your faith; guard the good treasure entrusted to you. 

Luke 17:5–10
If you had faith like a mustard seed, you could uproot this tree. 

— Gathering —

Opening Sentences

Through desolation and weeping, 
through bitterness and fear,
through anguish and suffering, 
through destruction and violence, 
this we will remember:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; 
God’s mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; 
great is God’s faithfulness. 
So we will not despair, we will keep hope alive. 
The Lord is my portion, says my soul, 
therefore I will hope in God.
Trust in the Lord, and do good; 
take delight in the Lord, 
Commit your way to the Lord; 
trust God, who will act.  

Prayer of the Day

God of grace, mercy, and peace,
through the trials and tribulations of life, 
many burdens fill our souls with strife.
Instill in us sincere faith
and grant us a spirit of power, love, 
and self-discipline, 
that we may worship with humility 
and steadfast trust
and respond to your holy calling,
according to your will. Amen. 

Hymn, Psalm, or Spiritual Song

Thanksgiving for Baptism

At the baptismal font:
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
O Lord our God, we give you thanks
for the grace that is at work in us
through the gift of our baptism—
the sign of your threefold name,
the communion of your faithful people,
the promise of your glorious realm.
By the power of your Holy Spirit,
poured out upon us in baptism,
let your grace and peace grow in us,
until we gather at your heavenly throne
to give you thanks and praise forever;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Confession and Pardon

At the baptismal font:
Our faith may be small,
but God’s power is great.
Our sins may loom large,
but God’s promise of forgiveness is sure.
Trusting that God is able to do for us
what we could never do for ourselves,
let us make our confession.

God of grace,
we confess that the seed
of faith within us is small.
Hope is often absent.
Love is frequently inconvenient.
Our sin keeps us from responding to you.
Tend to us in mercy,
so that we may grow in the ways
of faith, hope, and love,
after the example of Jesus Christ.

Lifting water from the font:
The grace of God is given to us
in Jesus Christ.
This is good news!
In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

— Word —

Prayer for Illumination

At the lectern or pulpit:
Faithful God, how blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Sanctify us by your Word and Spirit
so that we may glorify you
in the company of the faithful;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Scripture

Before the readings:
Sacred writings, our instruction in salvation 
through faith in Jesus Christ. 
2 Timothy 3:15

After the readings: 
The words of Scripture, inspired by God. 
Thanks be to God.
2 Timothy 3:16

Sermon

Ascription of Praise

After the sermon:
Blessed be the Lord our God. Amen.
Luke 1:68

Hymn, Psalm, or Spiritual Song

Affirmation of Faith

The life, death, resurrection,
and promised coming of Jesus Christ
has set the pattern for the church’s mission.
His human life involves the church
in the common life of all people.
His service to men and women
commits the church
to work for every form of human well-being.
His suffering makes the church sensitive
to all human suffering
so that it sees the face of Christ
in the faces of persons in every kind of need.
His crucifixion discloses to the church
God’s judgment on the inhumanity
that marks human relations,
and the awful consequences
of the church’s own complicity in injustice.
In the power of the risen Christ
and the hope of his coming,
the church sees the promise
of God’s renewal of human life in society
and of God’s victory over all wrong.
The church follows this pattern
in the form of its life
and in the method of its action.
So to live and serve
is to confess Christ as Lord.
Adapted from the Confession of 1967, 9.32–33