St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
Alliance, Ohio
Sunday, April 6, 2025
9:30 AM
PRELUDE Let Us Ever Walk with Jesus Theodore Beck
CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
Blessed be the holy
Trinity, + one God, who brings us safely through the sea, who gives us water
from the rock, who leads us into the land of milk and honey.
Amen.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Holy God, holy and
mighty, holy and immortal,
have mercy on us.
For self-centered living, and for failing to walk with humility and gentleness:
Holy God, holy and
mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.
For longing to have what is not ours, and for hearts that are not at rest with ourselves:
Holy God, holy and
mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.
For misuse of human relationships, and for unwillingness to see the image of God in others:
Holy God, holy and
mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.
For jealousies that divide families and nations, and for rivalries that create strife and warfare:
Holy God, holy and
mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.
For reluctance in sharing the gifts of God, and for carelessness with the fruits of creation:
Holy God, holy and
mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.
For hurtful words that condemn, and for angry deeds that harm:
Holy God, holy and
mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.
For idleness in witnessing to Jesus Christ, and for squandering the gifts of love and grace:
Holy God, holy and
mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.
Accomplish in us, O God, the work of your salvation,
that we may show forth
your glory in the world.
By the cross and passion of your Son, our Savior,
bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection.
In the mercy of almighty
God, our Lord Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for his sake, God
forgives us all our sin. As a call and
ordained minister of the church of Christ and by his authority, I therefore declare
to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and
of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
HYMN My
Hope is Built on Nothing Less #597
GREETING
The grace of our Lord, Jesus
Christ, the love of God, and communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. And
also with you.
PRAYER OF THE DAY, CHIldren’s Sermon
First Reading: Isaiah 43:16-21
16 Thus says
the Lord, who makes a way in
the sea, a path in the mighty waters, 17 who brings out chariot and horse, army and
warrior; they lie down; they cannot rise; they are extinguished, quenched like
a wick: 18 Do not remember the
former things or consider the things of old. 19 I am about to do a new
thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the
wilderness and rivers in the desert. 20 The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and
the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to
give drink to my chosen people, 21 the people whom I formed for myself so that
they might declare my praise.
The Word of the
Lord. Thanks be to God.
Psalm 126
1 When the Lord restored
the for- | tunes of Zion, then were we like | those who
dream.
2 Then was our mouth
filled with laughter, and our tongue with | shouts of
joy. Then they said among
the nations, “The Lord has
done
great | things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great | things for us, and
we are | glad indeed.
4 Restore our fortunes,
O Lord, like the
watercourses | of the Negeb.
5 Those who | sowed with tears
will reap with | songs of joy.
6 Those who go out
weeping, carrying the seed,
will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.
Second Reading: Philippians 3:4b-14
[Paul
writes:] 4b If anyone
else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the
eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a
Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor
of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
7 Yet whatever gains I
had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard
everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my
Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as
rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not
having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but one that comes
through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 I want to know Christ
and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming
like him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from
the dead. 12 Not that I
have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to
lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I
do not consider that I have laid hold of it, but one thing I have laid hold of:
forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the
goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. The Word of the
Lord. Thanks be to God.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
Gospel: John 12:1-8
The Holy Gospel, according to Saint John, the 12th chapter. Glory to you, O Lord
1 Six days
before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had
raised from the dead. 2 There they
gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining
with him. 3 Mary took a
pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped
them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the
perfume. 4 But Judas
Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him),
said, 5 “Why was
this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the
poor?” 6 (He said
this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; he kept
the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7 Jesus said, “Leave her
alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor
with you, but you do not always have me.”
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to
you, O Christ.
SERMON
HYMN When I Survey the Wondrous Cross #803
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, PEACE,
OFFERING, special music
LORD'S PRAYER
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
DISTRIBUTION OF COMMUNION
HYMN Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross #335
PRAYER, BLESSING
HYMN Through the Night of Doubt and Sorrow #327
Liturgy and hymns
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