Greeting and Announcements Our Savior Lutheran Church Mankato, Minnesota The Fourth Mid-week Service in Lent March 9, 2016 Hymn of Invocation: Come to Calvary's Holy Mountain LSB 435 1 Come to Calv ry s holy mountain, Sinners, ruined by the fall; Here a pure and healing fountain Flows for you, for me, for all, In a full, perpetual tide, Opened when our Savior died. 2 Come in poverty and meanness, Come defiled, without, within; From infection and uncleanness, From the leprosy of sin, Wash your robes and make them white; Ye shall walk with God in light. 3 Come in sorrow and contrition, Wounded, impotent, and blind; Here the guilty, free remission, Here the troubled, peace may find. Health this fountain will restore; They that drink shall thirst no more. 4 They that drink shall live forever; Tis a soul-renewing flood. God is faithful; God will never Break His covenant of blood, Signed when our Redeemer died, Sealed when He was glorified. Public domain Invocation P In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit. C Amen.
Exhortation P Beloved in the Lord! Let us draw near with a true heart and confess our sins unto God our Father, beseeching Him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness. P Our help is in the name of the Lord, C who made heaven and earth. P I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, C and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Confession of Sins P O almighty God, merciful Father, C I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You and justly deserved Your temporal and eternal punishment. But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them, and I pray You of Your boundless mercy and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor, sinful being. Forgiveness of our Sin (Absolution) P Upon this your confession, I, by virtue of my office, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God unto all of you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit. C Amen. Lord, Have Mercy! (Kyrie) C Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us. Greeting and Prayer of the Day (Salutation and Collect) P The Lord be with you. C And with thy spirit. P Let us pray. Lord God heavenly Father, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, Your servant Moses proclaimed the resurrection to the children of Israel to give them hope in the midst of their darkness. As we journey to the darkness of the cross, give us hope to look beyond it to the light of the resurrection; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord. C Amen. 2
Old Testament Reading: Numbers 21:4 9 P The Old Testament Reading is from Numbers, the twenty-first chapter. From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food. Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. So Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live. So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. P This is the Word of the Lord. C Thanks be to God. Reading from a New Testament Letter (Epistle): Romans 5:1 11 P The Epistle is from Romans, the fifth chapter. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. P This is the Word of the Lord. C Thanks be to God. 3
Anthem: Lamb of God Vocal Trio Holy Gospel: John 3:1 14 P The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the third chapter. C Glory be to Thee, O Lord. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother s womb and be born? Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, You must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus said to him, How can these things be? Jesus answered him, Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, P This is the Gospel of the Lord. C Praise be to Thee, O Christ. Apostles' Creed C I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His 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 into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life T everlasting. Amen. 4
Hymn of the Day: Not All the Blood of Beasts LSB 431 1 Not all the blood of beasts On Jewish altars slain Could give the guilty conscience peace Or wash away the stain. 2 But Christ, the heav nly Lamb, Takes all our sins away; A sacrifice of nobler name And richer blood than they. 3 My faith would lay its hand On that dear head of Thine, While as a penitent I stand, And there confess my sin. 4 My soul looks back to see The burden Thou didst bear When hanging on the cursèd tree; I know my guilt was there. 5 Believing, we rejoice To see the curse remove; We bless the Lamb with cheerful voice And sing His bleeding love. Public domain Sermon Offertory 5
Offering Prayer of the Church L This is the day which the Lord has made; C let us rejoice and be glad in it. L From the rising of the sun to its setting, C the name of the Lord is to be praised. L Return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, C slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil. L Jesus said: If any man would come after Me, C let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. L Christ was wounded for our transgressions. C He was bruised for our iniquities. L From the rising of the sun to its setting, C the name of the Lord is to be praised. C Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Lord's Prayer 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. 6
Our Blessing (Benedicamus) A Bless we the Lord. C Thanks be to God. The Lord s Blessing (Benediction) P The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you with favor and T give you peace. C Amen. Closing Hymn: Were You There LSB 456 1 Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Oh... Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord? 2 Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree? Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree? Oh... Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree? 3 Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb? Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb? Oh... Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb? 7
4 Were you there when God raised Him from the tomb? Were you there when God raised Him from the tomb? Oh... Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when God raised Him from the tomb? Public domain Acknowledgments Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Created by Lutheran Service Builder 2006 Concordia Publishing House. Serving today: Liturgist and Preacher... Rev. Paul A. Lauer Organist... [1:30] Gin Kuske; [6:30] Susan Klute Special Music... [6:30] Vocal Trio: Barb Anderson, Lisa Matzke, Denise Painter Elder of the Day... [6:30] Nick Mack Acolytes... [6:30] Chris Weihe; Sydney Nagel Assistant Usher... [6:30] Kurt Anderson Greeters... [1:30] Karen Slipy; Betty Mace... [6:30] Chuck & Bev Fitzloff 8