ST. MICHAEL LUTHERAN CHURCH 118 State Street Harrisburg, Pennsylvania We remember the following members and friends of St. Michael in prayer this week: Talia Babel, Ryan Borys, Art Cover, Richard DiSalvo, Milt Evans, Mike Fuller, Gary Lee Hoke, Jackie Lithgow, Mary Palmer, Diana Pate and Roxanne Umbenhauer. Names will remain on the prayer list for three weeks. If you would like to have someone remain on the list longer than that, please contact the church office at 234-0092 or churchoffice@stmikehbg.com. Presiding Minister Director of Music Organist Assisting Minister Eucharistic Minister Cantor Acolyte Lector Greeters Ushers Altar Guild Offering Counters Worship Leaders The Reverend Larry Hawkins Alex Ashman Dr. Brenda Leach Karl Hawkins Dylan White Mike Ennis Clair Gunnet, Jr. Janine Laurent Lisa Kratzer and Dan Tosheff Lloyd and Shirley Kramer Doug Kakuk and Dave Kiser Clair Gunnet, Jr. and Guy Kehler PHONE AND INTERNET INFORMATION Church phones: Office: 234-0092 Kitchen: 234-0106 E-mail addresses: Church Office churchoffice@stmikehbg.com Pastor Hawkins pastor@stmikehbg.com Web site: www.stmikehbg.com Fifth Sunday in Lent March 22, 2015 10:00 a.m. 16
Welcome to St. Michael Church In a world polluted by noise, we should be able to expect the privilege of silence for meditation and preparation as we enter the space set aside for our public worship. In that spirit, we ask you for silence and offer the devotional aids below for your use as you await the start of the service and during the prelude. Prayers Before Worship God of suffering and glory, in Jesus Christ you reveal the way of life through the path of obedience. Inscribe your law in our hearts, that in life we may not stray from you, but may be your people. Lord Jesus Christ, we live in a world that most often finds glory in the gathering of material possessions. You found glory in giving your life for us on a cross. We praise you for such love, not as we ought, but as we are able. Help us to bring that spirit of giving with us as we return to our daily activity. Worship Notes. God promises Jeremiah that a "new covenant" will be made in the future: a covenant that will allow all the people to know God by heart. The church sees this promise fulfilled in Christ, who draws all people to himself when he is lifted up on the cross. Our baptismal covenant draws us to God's heart through Christ and draws God's light and truth into our hearts. We see God's heart most clearly in the way Jesus shares human suffering, in an agony both the John and Hebrews readings describe. During the season of Lent there will be no prelude or postlude music for the worship service. The time immediately before and after the service is being held by our community as a time of silence for prayer and to experience the presence of God. Before the service the time of silent prayer will begin with the ringing of a chapel bell. After the service chapel bell will be rung at the end of the time of silent prayer. You may pray from your seat or at the altar rail; and, you may come and go as you please during this time of prayer. Persons with impairments - St. Michael offers to anyone with a hearing difficulty a small, remote personal speaker. We invite our guests who may need this to ask an usher for one. We welcome any comments concerning St. Michael's efforts to accommodate persons with impairments or disabilities. The readings for the Sunday of the Passion/Palm Sunday, March 29, are: Isaiah 50:4-9a, Psalm 31:9-16, Philippians 2:5-11, Mark 14:1-15:47. We are pleased to welcome Dr. Brenda Leach as our guest organist this morning. KEEPERS OF THE ALLELUIA BANNER The Alleluia! has been removed from our liturgy and hymns until Easter. Symbolically, the Alleluia banner has also been removed from our sight and cared for during Lent by members and friends of St. Michael Church. This week we thank Greg Darr for his devotional care of the Alleluia. WEDNESDAY EVENINGS DURING LENT we have weekly gatherings beginning at 6:00 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. We share a light meal and discuss our encounter with the living Word of God, (you are invited to read the Gospel of Mark) then we share in a time of worship. Plan to join us. LENTEN FOOD COLLECTION FOR LOAVES OF LOVE During this season of Lent the Ministry To Society Committee is again asking the congregation of St. Michael to help support the Loaves of Love Ministry. Last year our congregation provided LOL with 130 cans of pineapple, a food item the PA Food Bank does not supply and a favorite among the clients for their Easter dinner. Due to an increase in the number of clients being served, the goal has been bumped up to 140, 20 oz. cans of either crushed, sliced or chunk pineapple to be brought to Fellowship Hall by Sunday, March 29th. Please keep the Loaves of Love ministry in your prayers. Shop Price Right on Union Deposit Road or the Aldi Food Stores to find more reasonably priced items. See any member of MTS for questions. COMMUNITIES OF HOPE a focus of Seminarian Jennifer Crist's internship, invites you to participate with them on Palm Sunday for a creative expression of faith. We will meet at St. Michael's from 12:30 to 4:30 to create colorful patterns with sawdust on the sidewalks, a Guatemalan Holy Week tradition. Please contact Jennifer Crist if you are interested in participating: cristfarm@gmail.com or 717-364-4090. ORDER FORMS FOR PALMS AND EASTER FLOWERS are available on the bulletin board in Fellowship Hall. Please note the deadline for placing orders is today. SPONSORS FOR ALTAR FLOWERS, BULLETINS AND FELLOW- SHIP HOUR are needed. If you would like to sponsor, please sign up on the charts in Fellowship Hall. An enlarged copy of the bulletin is available. Please see an usher if you would like to use one. 2 15
BLESSING +++SENDING+++ The blessing of God Almighty, the wisdom and power of + Christ Jesus, and the light of the Holy Spirit be among you and remain with you always. SENDING HYMN In the Cross of Christ I Glory elw 324 DISMISSAL Go in peace. Remember the poor. Thanks be to God. You are invited to stay and pray in silence, or depart in silence for our normal jovial time of fellowship in the social hall. The pastor will greet everyone in the social hall after the service. From Sundays and Seasons.com. Copyright 2015 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #23333. New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Lent 2015 ONGOING MINISTRY OPPORTUNITIES Helping Hands Ministry Let s All Gather and Walk! Loaves of Love Communion for the Pates CALENDAR FOR WEEK OF MARCH 22 Deadline for Palm and Easter Flower Orders Lenten Meal/Table Talk/Evening Prayer Choir Rehearsal Deadline for Loaves of Love Food Collection Sunday, Thursday and Friday at 4:00 p.m. Monday and Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. Ongoing food collection Third Sunday of the month Today Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Next Sunday By water and the Spirit we are baptized into the body of Christ and made members of his church. We remember and rejoice with those who celebrate their baptismal anniversaries this week: Lennie Whitcomb on March 26; Bob Gerberich and Karen Grissom on March 28. MEDITATION SERVICE OF WORD AND SACRAMENT +++GATHERING+++ The ringing of the chapel bell marks the beginning of our time of silent prayer. CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS All may make the sign of the cross, the sign marked at baptism, as the presiding minister begins. Blessed be the holy Trinity, + one God, who brings us out of captivity into freedom, out of the wilderness into the promised land, out of death into life. Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another. Silence is kept for reflection. Gracious God, we confess that we have sinned in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. Forgive us and give us strength to turn from sin and to serve you in newness of life. By water and the Holy Spirit, God gives us a new birth, and through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, + God forgives us all our sins. Almighty God strengthen us in all goodness and keep us in eternal life. GATHERING HYMN Great God, Your Love Has Called Us elw 358 GREETING The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. And also with you. 14 3
KYRIE SONG AFTER COMMUNION PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION Let us pray. Merciful God, accompany our journey through these forty days. Renew us in the gift of baptism, that we may provide for those who are poor, pray for those in need, fast from self-indulgence, and above all that we may find our treasure in the life of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. 4 13
COMMUNION Communion is open to anyone who seeks to respond to Christ's love. To receive communion the assembly follows the choir, approaching the altar rail by the center aisle in two rows. Individuals fill in at the next open spot at the rail on their side of the aisle. You may kneel or stand. The pastor will come around and place the host (bread) in your hand, an assisting minister will have the wine. You may receive the wine either by common cup, or from the pouring chalice. To receive from the pouring chalice take a glass from the tray at the front of the center aisle. After you use the glass you may place it in the tray on the window sill as you return to your seat by the side aisle. COMMUNION SONG PRAYER OF THE DAY +++WORD+++ FIRST READING Jeremiah 31:31-34 31 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. COMMUNION HYMN You Satisfy the Hungry Heart elw 484 12 5
PSALM Psalm 51:1-12 The refrain is sung by the cantor, repeated by the assembly. The psalm is sung antiphonally by the cantor and assembly, beginning with the cantor. The assembly sings the refrain where marked. 1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; in your great compassion blot out my offenses. 2 Wash me through and through from my wickedness, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my offenses, and my sin is ev- er before me. 4 Against you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are justified when you speak and right in your judgment. R 5 Indeed, I was born steeped in wickedness, a sinner from my mother's womb. 6 Indeed, you delight in truth deep within me, and would have me know wisdom deep within. 7 Remove my sins with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be pur- er than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; that the body you have broken may rejoice. R 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my wickedness. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spir- it within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spir- it from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and sustain me with your boun- tiful Spirit. R Do this for the remembrance of me. Remembering, then, his death and resurrection, we take this bread and cup, giving you thanks that you have made us worthy to stand before you and to serve you as your priestly people. Send your Spirit upon these gifts of your church; gather into one all who share this bread and wine; fill us with your Holy Spirit to establish our faith in truth, that we may praise and glorify you through your Son Jesus Christ; through whom all glory and honor are yours, almighty Father, with the Holy Spirit, in your holy church, both now and forever. LORD'S PRAYER Lord remember us in your Kingdom, and teach us to pray. 6 11
PREFACE... we praise your name and join their unending hymn: SECOND READING Hebrews 5:5-10 5 So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you"; 6 as he says also in another place, "You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek." 7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; 9 and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, 10 having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. GOSPEL ACCLAMATION Glory and praise is sung by all; the cantor sings the proper verse, after which everyone repeats Glory and praise. We give you thanks, Father, through Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, whom you sent in this end of the ages to save and redeem us and to proclaim to us your will. He is your Word, inseparable from you, through whom you created all things, and in whom you take delight. He is your Word, sent from heaven to a virgin's womb. He there took on our nature and our lot and was shown forth as your Son, born of the Holy Spirit and of the virgin Mary. He, our Lord Jesus, fulfilled all your will and won for you a holy people; he stretched out his hands in suffering in order to free from suffering those who trust you. He is the one who, handed over to a death he freely accepted, in order to destroy death, to break the bonds of the evil one, to crush hell underfoot, to give light to the righteous, to establish his covenant, and to show forth the resurrection, taking bread and giving thanks to you, said: Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me. In the same way he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying: This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. 10 Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains a single grain;* but if it dies, it bears much fruit. GOSPEL John 12:20-33 The Holy Gospel according to St. John. Glory to you, O Lord. 20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." 22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. 27 Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 7
28 Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." 29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." 30 Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." 33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ. +++MEAL+++ CHOIR ANTHEM The Worthy Lamb Curtis OFFERTORY HYMN SERMON Silence for Meditation. HYMN OF THE DAY Lord Jesus, Think on Me elw 599 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. OFFERING PRAYER Let us pray. God our provider, you have not fed us with bread alone, but with words of grace and life. Bless us and these your gifts, which we receive from your bounty, through Jesus Christ our Lord. DIALOGUE PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION Lord, in your mercy, / hear our prayer. PEACE The peace of Christ be with you always. / And also with you. The assembly shares the Lord s peace with those nearby. 8 9