St Ansgar Lutheran Church, London

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Sunday Morning

We invite you to join us for the following worship services:

Sundays
10:30 a.m. Worship service

Hand sanitizer will be available at the entrance and other locations in the church for
your use.

Washrooms will be available for use.

In the service: The service will be shown on the screen. The offering will not be gathered and presented, but there will be an offering plate at the back of the sanctuary where you can put your offering as you enter or leave. Pastor David distributes the communion wafers and an Assisting Minister distributes wine or grape juice in individual glasses.

We have coffee and fellowship time available again in Luther Hall after the service.

We will continue to evaluate our worship service procedures on a monthly basis.

SUNDAY OF THANKSGIVING, OCTOBER 11, 2026

St. Ansgar Lutheran Church, Outline for Worship (with sermon)
October 11, 2026 – Sunday of Thanksgiving
Based on ELW Setting Ten

GATHERING

WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS

BRIEF ORDER FOR CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
P: Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God, who pours love into our hearts and
healing upon the earth.
C: Amen.

P: Confident that God justifies us by grace through faith, let us confess our sin.

Silence is kept for reflection.

P: Compassionate God,
C: we confess that we struggle to embody your goodness in the world and
in our own hearts.
Creation groans from overuse. Jealousy and bitterness strain our
relationships. Indifference keeps us from seeking justice. Divisions
disrupt your call to show genuine love to others.
Turn our hearts back to you. Restore our world and reconcile us to one
another. Renew us to live as your holy people, following the way of Jesus
Christ. Amen.

P: Hear this good news: We have peace with God through ☩ Jesus Christ, in
whom there is no condemnation, but only forgiveness and the promise of eternal
life. Receive freely this healing gift of grace.
C: Amen.

ENTRANCE HYMN - Come, Ye Thankful People, Come (ELW #693)

GREETING
P: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion
of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
C: And also with you

KYRIE (ELW p. 203)
Have mercy on us, Lord, and hear our solemn prayer.
We come to hear your living word; it saves us from despair.
Have mercy on us Christ, and wash away our sin.
Pour out your grace and make us whole that new life may begin.
Have mercy on us, Lord; make sin and shame depart.
Renew us with your saving pow’r; create in us new hearts!

CANTICLE OF PRAISE (ELW p. 204)
Glory be to God in heaven; peace, goodwill to all the earth.
Mighty God of all creation, Father of surpassing worth:
we exalt you, we adore you, we lift high our thanks and praise.
Saints and angels bow before you; here on earth our songs we raise.
Glory be to Christ forever, Lamb of God and Lord of love.
Son of God and gracious Saviour, you have come from heav’n above;
on the cross you died to save us; now you reign at God’s right hand.
Hear our prayer; restore, forgive us; in your promise firm we stand.
Holy One we now acclaim you; Lord alone, to you we call;
Holy One in faith we name you, God most high, yet near to all:
Jesus Christ, with God the Spirit, in the Father’s splendour bright.
For the peace that we inherit, glory be to God on high!

PRAYER OF THE DAY
P: Let us pray.
P: Almighty God our Father, your generous goodness comes to us new every
day. By the work of your Spirit lead us to acknowledge your goodness, give
thanks for your benefits, and serve you in willing obedience, through Jesus
Christ, our Saviour and Lord.
C: Amen

WORD

FIRST READING: Deuteronomy 8:7-18
7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing
streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, 8 a
land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of
olive trees and honey, 9 a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where
you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you
may mine copper. 10 You shall eat your fill and bless the LORD your God for
the good land that he has given you. 11 Take care that you do not forget the
LORD your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his
statutes, which I am commanding you today. 12 When you have eaten your fill
and have built fine houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks
have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is
multiplied, 14 then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the LORD your God, who
brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15 who led you
through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland with poisonous
snakes and scorpions. He made water flow for you from flint rock, 16 and fed
you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble
you and to test you, and in the end to do you good. 17 Do not say to yourself,
"My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth." 18 But
remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth,
so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is
doing today.

A: The word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.

PSALM: Psalm 65
1 You are to be praised, O God, in Zion;
to you shall vows be fulfilled.
2 To you, the one who answers prayer,
to you all flesh shall come.
3 Our sins are stronger than we are,
but you blot out our transgressions.
4 Happy are they whom you choose and draw to your courts to dwell there!
They will be satisfied by the beauty of your house, by the holiness of
your temple.
5 Awesome things will you show us in your righteousness, O God of our
salvation, O hope of all the ends of the ends of the earth and of the oceans
far away.
6 You make firm the mountains by your power;
you are girded about with might.
7 You still the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves, and the clamor of the peoples.
8 Those who dwell at the ends of the earth will tremble at your marvelous
signs; you make the dawn and the dusk to sing for joy.
9 You visit the earth and water it abundantly; you make it very plenteous; the
river of God is full of water. You prepare the grain, for so you provide for
the earth.
10 You drench the furrows and smooth out the ridges;
with heavy rain you soften the ground and bless its increase.
11 You crown the year with your goodness,
and your paths overflow with plenty.
12 May the fields of the wilderness be rich for grazing,
and the hills be clothed with joy.
13 May the meadows cover themselves with flocks, and the valleys cloak
themselves with grain; let them shout for joy and sing.

SECOND READING: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15
6 The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the
one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each of you must give as
you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves
a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to provide you with every blessing in
abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share
abundantly in every good work. 9 As it is written, "He scatters abroad, he gives
to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." 10 He who supplies seed to the
sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and
increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every
way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through
us; 12 for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints
but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. 13 Through the testing of
this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel
of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others, 14
while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God
that he has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

A: The word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (ELW p. 205)
Alleluia! Lord and Saviour: open now your saving word.
Let it burn like fire within us; speak until our hearts are stirred.
Alleluia! Lord, we sing for the good news that you bring

GOSPEL
P: The Holy Gospel according to Luke 17:11-19
C: Glory to you, O Lord.

11 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between
Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him.
Keeping their distance, 13 they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy
on us!" 14 When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the
priests." And as they went, they were made clean.
15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising
God with a loud voice. 16 He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him.
And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But
the other nine, where are they? 18 Was none of them found to return and give
praise to God except this foreigner?" 19 Then he said to him, "Get up and go on
your way; your faith has made you well."

P: The gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to you, O Christ.

SERMON
Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost
Thanksgiving Sunday
Luke 17:11-19
Let us pray. May the words of my mouth, and the prayers of our hearts, always
be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our Strength, and our Redeemer. AMEN
When I was in elementary school, the teachers always asked us at
Thanksgiving time to identify things we were thankful for. In the lower grades we
cut out pictures from magazines and pasted them on a large piece of paper. The
final product was pretty basic: pictures of trees, houses, pets, a favourite toy.
Then in grade four we were asked to write a short paragraph describing the
things in our lives for which we were thankful. I don’t remember what I wrote, but
I do recall having a terrible case of writer’s block. I sat for the longest time just
staring at that piece of paper. I couldn’t think of a thing for which I was thankful.
Thinking about it now, it seems shocking that a grade four boy growing up in
northwestern Ohio, with plenty of food and warm clothes and a comfortable
home and a loving family, couldn’t think of anything for which he was thankful. I
was surrounded by gifts, but I did not recognize them as gifts, and so I couldn’t
begin to express my gratitude for them. I suppose I naively assumed that
everyone had food and clothing, a loving family and comfortable home. I was
unaware how privileged I was to enjoy these things daily and simply took them
for granted.
I remember that incident when I read this story from Luke’s Gospel. Here, Jesus
meets a band of lepers, who beg him to have pity on them. Jesus does, and
they are miraculously made clean. But of the ten who receive healing, only one
returns to give thanks. Only one is aware that he has received a gift that will
forever change his life, and only he pauses to acknowledge the giver of this gift,
and praise and thank God for his restored health.
There are two things in this lesson that I would like to comment on. The first is to
note that there is a moment of awareness, a moment of awakening, in which this
man discovers the gift he has been given. “And as they went, they were made
clean,” Luke tells us. “Then one of them, when he saw he had been healed,
turned back...” We can imagine him looking down at his hands and feet, seeing
the restored and now healthy flesh, and suddenly realizing that his terrible
affliction was gone. When he saw that he had been made whole and realized his
disease was gone, when he understood how radically different his life could now
be, he turned back to give thanks.
Gratitude is the awareness that we have been given a gift. Often, it is an
awareness that comes upon us in sudden and unexpected ways. We are
walking along, and suddenly our breath is taken away by the beauty of the
autumn leaves, or the rays of the sun piercing the clouds over the lake, or the
feel of the wind on our face, and we are caught up in the giftedness of the
moment. Or we are talking with a friend, and suddenly we realize the gift this
person has been to us and the tremendous treasure this friendship has been for
us. We have been given a gift.
Gratitude, then, arises out of awareness that we have been given a gift, that
something has come to us from outside ourselves, something unexpected and
even undeserved, and our lives have been enriched by it. We feel grateful.
Learning to see with eyes of gratitude, becoming more aware of the gifts that
surround us every day, is an ability that needs to be kept alive every day
through constant practice. The insights of wonder must be constantly kept alive.
There is not much in our culture that encourages this sense of wonder or that
leads to gratitude. More often, we are seduced into thinking that we need to
acquire more to be truly happy and fulfilled. Instead of encouraging us to give
thanks for the gifts we have been given, the advertising that assaults us each
day encourages us to be greedy for more gifts. A steady stream of messages
tells us of the many things we could own, but don’t own. Our neighbours and co-
workers describe to us their latest purchases with a sense of pride and
satisfaction, as if these things were proof of their personal importance and
worth. If we listen to these voices, we won’t feel much gratitude. Instead, we will
start thinking we don’t have enough and that we need to get more...and
more...and more. To nurture a spirit of gratitude and to resist the lure of voices
that tell us we do not have enough, takes courage and determination.
Practising gratitude is a radical act and can be very counter-cultural.
As I said earlier, gratitude is the awareness that we have been given a gift. But
to become aware of the gift is not enough. Gratitude moves beyond the
recognition of the giver. And that is what distinguishes the man in our Gospel
lesson from the others who were healed. And that is what earns Jesus’ praise.
Not only does the man become aware that he has received a great gift, but he
acts upon it. He returns to seek out the giver of the gift, to express his gratitude,
and to offer God praise.
Gratitude moves us beyond the recognition of the gift to recognize and thank the
giver. In some ways, the gift is secondary in importance. What is more important
is the exchange that takes place when we express our gratitude. The offering of
the gift is only complete when we receive it with gratitude, and when that
gratitude is expressed to the giver. Without the expression of gratitude,
something is missing. “Then Jesus asked, were not ten made clean? But the
other nine, where are they? Was none of then found to return and give praise to
God except this foreigner?” True gratitude leads us beyond the gift itself and
unites us with the giver, closing the circle and establishing a mutual exchange.
We Christians proclaim that God is the giver of all good gifts. We acknowledge
that all that we have and all that we are are the result of God’s divine goodness
and love. God is the giver of every good gift: the gifts of nature, the gifts we
receive in and through others, even the gift of our own selves.
Thomas Merton wrote, “To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in
everything God has given us, and God has given us everything:” Every breath
we draw is a gift of God’s love, every moment of existence a grace...Gratitude
therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly
awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the
grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And
that makes all the difference...We live in constant dependence upon this
merciful kindness of God and thus our whole life is a life of gratitude – a
constant response to God’s help which comes to us at every moment.
“Our whole life is a life of gratitude.” Even in difficult times there are reasons to
be grateful. We are alive. We are loved. We are surrounded by beauty and
wonder. And God is near, loving us, supporting us and making a way for us. We
know that nothing can separate us from the love of God – no circumstance, no
power on earth or heaven, no trouble or hardship – nothing. We are and will be
forever loved and held by God.
As I began this sermon, I was wondering why I so like the Thanksgiving Holiday.
Now I know. Because it is the heart of it all. Thanksgiving Day is about
remembering that all of life is a gift from God, it is about worshipping our
gracious God, who broke all the limits of generosity by giving us the gift of his
Son. It is all about completing the circle and saying thank you. Thank you, God!
AMEN

HYMN OF THE DAY – Great Is Thy Faithfulness (ELW #733)

APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
A: United with the great cloud of witnesses, we offer our prayers for the church,
the world, and all of creation.
A: God of our church, send forth your Spirit as we pray for our Bishops Larry and
Carla. Empower them with your wisdom to lead the church. We also pray for the
Thames Ministry area, especially Interim Pastor Paul Sodtke and the people of
Peace Christian Church, a Lutheran Fellowship in Chatham. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.

A: We give thanks for the communion of the church. Infuse a spirit of generosity
in your people. Bless relationships among differing religions and faiths as signs
of unity and hope. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.

A: We give thanks for abundant harvests and the many gifts of your good
creation. Make us faithful caretakers of land, water, soil, and air, that all life
might flourish. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.

A: We give thanks for local and global peace efforts. Uplift the voices of
Indigenous communities and theologians, and further the work of truth-telling
and reparations in solidarity with our Indigenous siblings. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.

A: We give thanks for your tender care. Accompany all who travel; comfort all for
whom this is a lonely season, and assure all weary hearts and bodies of your
healing love. We pray especially for Beth, Jean, Kristine, Karen, Emma, Cathy,
Lene, Lyra, Bud, Pastor Bob, Margaret, Johnny, Marion, and those others who
are in our hearts. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.

A: We give thanks for ministries and agencies working to end food and housing
insecurity. Open our hearts to your abundance and our minds to new ways of
sharing that abundance for the good of all. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.

A: Merciful God, we pray for peace as war continues in Ukraine and in the
Middle East. Shelter all living in fear; protect those seeking refuge in
neighbouring countries; sustain families separated by the horrors of war;
tend to those who are injured; comfort all who mourn their dead.
Direct your people into the way of peace. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.

A: We give thanks for the witness of all the faithful departed. Empower us, by
their example, to serve you with courage, hope, and joy in the promises of the
gospel. God, in your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.

A: Into your steadfast love, faithful God, we entrust all for whom we pray, in the
name of Jesus, your beloved.
C: Amen.

PEACE
P: The peace of Christ be with you always.
C: And also with you.

LORD’S PRAYER
P: Lord, remember us in your kingdom and teach us to pray.
C: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.

SENDING

BLESSING
P: The God of love draw you into full accord and one mind, in the body of Christ
Jesus.
C: Amen.

P: The God of hope grant you strength and joy in all circumstances through the
interceding of the Spirit.
C: Amen.

P: The God of grace + bless you now and forever.
C: Amen.

SENDING HYMN – Now Thank We All Our God (ELW #840)

DISMISSAL

A: Go out in joy. Be led forth in peace.
C: Thanks be to God.

DISMISSAL HYMN – The Lord Now Sends Us Forth (ELW #538)
Verse 1
The Lord now sends us forth
with hands to serve and give,
to make of all the earth
a better place to live. Repeat (2X)

Verse 2
The angels are not sent
into our world of pain
to do what we were meant
to do in Jesus' name;
that falls to you and me
and all who are made free.
Help us, O Lord, we pray,
to do your will today. Repeat (2X)