Service outline for Sunday, March 1, 2026

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church

Alliance, Ohio

Sunday, March 1, 2026

9:30 AM

 

PRELUDE                                        When I Survey the Wondrous Cross                         Jan Sanborn

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                                                        Lift High the Cross                                               #660

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: Genesis 12:1-4a

1 The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

  4a So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him.

Psalm 121

 1 I lift up my eyes | to the hills;

  from where is my | help to come?
 2 My help comes | from the Lord,
  the maker of heav- | en and earth.
 3 The Lord will not let your | foot be moved
  nor will the one who watches over you | fall asleep.
 4 Behold, the keep- | er of Israel
  will neither slum- | ber nor sleep; R
 5 the Lord watches | over you;
  the Lord is your shade at | your right hand;
 6 the sun will not strike | you by day,
  nor the | moon by night.
 7 The Lord will preserve you | from all evil
  and will | keep your life.
 8 The Lord will watch over your going out and your | coming in,
  from this time forth for- | evermore. R

Second Reading: Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

1 What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. 5 But to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.
  13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law, neither is there transgression.

  16 For this reason the promise depends on faith, in order that it may rest on grace, so that it may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (who is the father of all of us, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”), in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 

 

 GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Gospel: John 3:1-17

1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with that person.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
  11 “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen, yet you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
  16 “For 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.”

SERMON

 

HYMN                                                          God Loved the World                                                 #323 

 

 

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

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                                                           Blessed Assurance                                                  #638

PRAYER, BLESSING

 

HYMN                                               When I Survey the Wondrous Cross                                     #803

DISMISSAL 

POSTLUDE               God Loved the World So that He Gave                                Wayne Wold

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