Service outline for Sunday, March 14, 2021

Welcome to worship at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church!

 Sunday, March 14, 2021

Lent 4

PRELUDE   Jesus, Keep me Near the Cross – Pedal Variations     Thewes     

     

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      Amazing Grace       #779 v. 1,3,5

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 message 

FIRST READING: Numbers 21:4-9

⁴From Mount Hor [the Israelites] set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. ⁵The 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 detest this miserable food." ⁶Then the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. ⁷The people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD to take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. ⁸And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live." ⁹So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

 

PSALM: Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22

¹Give thanks to the LORD, for the ^| LORD is good, for God's mercy en- ^| dures forever.

²Let the redeemed of the ^| LORD proclaim that God redeemed them from the hand ^| of the foe,

³gathering them in ^| from the lands;    from the east and from the west, from the north and ^| from the south.

¹⁷Some were fools and took re- ^| bellious paths;     through their sins they ^| were afflicted.

¹⁸They loathed all man- ^| ner of food and drew near ^| to death's door.

¹⁹Then in their trouble they cried ^| to the LORD and you delivered them from ^| their distress. 

²⁰You sent forth your ^| word and healed them and rescued them ^| from the grave.

²¹Let them give thanks to you, LORD, for your ^| steadfast love   and your wonderful works ^| for all people.

²²Let them offer sacrifices ^| of thanksgiving   and tell of your deeds with ^| shouts of joy.  

 

SECOND READING: Ephesians 2:1-10

 ¹You were dead through the trespasses and sins ²in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. ³All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else.

⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us ⁵even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—⁹not the result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

GOSPEL: John 3:14-21

[Jesus said:] ¹⁴"Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.¹⁶For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

¹⁷"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. ²¹But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God."

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

SERMON

HYMN     God Loved the World    #323 v. 1,3,5

 

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 THE PEOPLE

PEACE

OFFERING

COMMUNION PRAYER

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. Ame

DISTRIBUTION OF COMMUNION

BLESSING

HYMN   Lead Me, Guide Me     #768 v. 1,3

Chorus
Lead me, guide me along the way,
For if you lead me I cannot stray.
Lord, let me walk each day with Thee.

Lead me, oh Lord lead me.

Verse 1
I am weak and I need Thy strength and power,
To help me over my weakest hour.
Help me through the darkness Thy face to see,
Lead me, oh Lord lead me.

Chorus

Verse 3
I am lost if you take your hand from me,
I am blind without Thy light to see.
Lord just always let me thy servant be,
Lead me, oh Lord lead me.

Chorus

DISMISSAL

POSTLUDE  Salvation Unto Us Has Come         Cherwien

 

Liturgy and hymns printed and streamed with permission through OneLicense. A-710659