The Bulletin is at: 03-10-2019 – Bulletin
The Service in PDF format is at: 03-10-2019 – Service
or the service is as follows:
FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT
March 10, 2019
AS WE GATHER: Like an army runs to find refuge in a castle, we run to Jesus in every time of need. He is our fortress, our God. Today He mercifully invites us into His presence and shields us from the power of our adversary. He will guard and defend us! What makes Him completely trustworthy to be our fortress? What gives us confidence in knowing that He will deliver us from sin, death, and the devil? He Himself was tempted and can understand our temptation. He Himself was protected from the evil one and can protect us in our hour of need. He Himself battled Satan and won. He invites us to share in the victory of His cross and resurrection. Find refuge in Him today! He is our mighty fortress. He is our God.
CHOIR ANTHEM: “God Gives Us Love”
By Nancy Price & Don Besig
To make our lives worth living, God Gives us love.
To learn the joy of giving, God gives us love.
To help us through each day, to guide us on our way,
to show us what to do and say, God gives us love.
To bring our fam’lies nearer, God gives us love.
To keep our vision clearer, God give us love.
To use the gifts we share, to find the time to care,
to ease the pain we all must bear, God gives us love.
God’s perfect love, that wondrous gift from heaven,
lives in our hearts to guide our steps each day.
And when we share that love, so freely given,
we will reflect God’s grace in ev’ry way.
To share with one another, God gives us love.
To learn to trust each other, God gives us love.
To help us lend a hand, to try to understand,
to teach us how to be a friend, God gives us love.
Share God’s love. Share God’s love.
P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION
P: Return to the LORD, your God, for He is gracious and merciful,
C: slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.
P: Confident in His steadfast love, let us confess our sins to the Lord our God.
Silence for reflection and confession
P: O Lord, our gracious and merciful Father,
C: we confess our unworthiness to be in Your presence. Our sins of thought, word, and deed leave us hopeless without Your saving work in our lives. Hear us as we call out for mercy and grace. Save us by the power of Your name. Help us find our refuge in the cross of Your only Son. By Your steadfast love, draw us to Jesus that we worship You with cleansed minds and hearts. In His saving name, we pray. Amen.
P: In the mercy of the Lord our God, we are redeemed by Jesus Christ, and in Him we are fully and freely forgiven. Since He alone is our refuge and fortress, we find peace in the forgiveness earned for all people by Jesus’ death and resurrection. As your pastor, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen!
OPENING SONG: “Oh, How I Love Jesus”
There is a name I love to hear, I love to sing its worth:
It sounds like music to my ear, The sweetest name on earth.
O, how I love Jesus, O, how I love Jesus,
O, how I love Jesus Because He first loved me!
It tells me of a Savior’s love, who died to set me free;
It tells me of His precious blood, The sinner’s perfect plea.
O, how I love Jesus, O, how I love Jesus,
O, how I love Jesus Because He first loved me!
It tells of One whose loving heart Can feel my deepest woe,
Who in each sorrow bears a part That none can bear below.
O, how I love Jesus, O, how I love Jesus,
O, how I love Jesus Because He first loved me!
P: O Lord God, Your Son was tempted in the wilderness and overcame.
C: When we encounter trial and temptation, lead us to look to Your perfect Son, that in Him we would have forgiveness and hope;
P: through Jesus, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
EPISTLE LESSON: Romans 10: 8b-13
Everyone who calls on the Lord will be saved.
“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Reader: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
Jesus is protected from the devil in his time of temptation.
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
and him only shall you serve.’”
And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
to guard you,’
and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to You, O Christ.
SERMON HYMN: “A Mighty Fortress is our God” LBW 229
A mighty fortress is our God, A sword and shield victorious;
He breaks the cruel oppressor’s rod And wins salvation glorious.
The old satanic foe Has sworn to work us woe!
With craft and dreadful might He arms himself to fight.
On earth he has no equal.
No strength of ours can match his might! We would be lost, rejected.
But now a champion comes to fight, Whom God himself elected.
You ask who this may be? The Lord of hosts is he!
Christ Jesus mighty Lord, God’s only Son, adored.
He holds the field victorious.
Though hordes of devils fill the land All threat’ning to devour us,
We tremble not, unmoved we stand; They cannot over pow’r us.
Let this world’s tyrant rage; In battle we’ll engage!
His might is doomed to fail; God’s judgment must prevail!
One little word subdues him.
God’s Word forever shall abide, No thanks to foes, who fear it;
For God himself fights by our side With weapons of the Spirit.
Were they to take our house, Goods, honor, child, or spouse,
Though life be wrenched away, They cannot win the day.
The Kingdom’s ours forever!
SERMON Pastor Jeremy Lucke
People: 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 + everlasting. Amen.
OFFERING
We offer our thanksgiving for what God has first given us—ourselves, our time, our possessions.
OFFERTORY
GATHERING OF MITES
P: Let us pray for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.
P: For the hallowing of God’s name among us in this congregation and throughout the world, that His Word be taught in its truth and purity and we, as the children of God, live holy lives according to it, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Father, be our fortress and the One who makes us holy.
P: For the protection of all who bear the name of Christ and seek to share His saving Gospel with all creation, that when there are times of testing and persecution, the Church grow strong in the power of the Holy Spirit, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Father, be our fortress and the One who strengthens Your Church.
P: For the support and care of all who are brokenhearted, that times of hardship, poverty, and loss lead all who struggle to seek refuge in the support of others and, ultimately, run to the fortress of Jesus and His never-failing mercy, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Father, be our fortress and the One who showers us with mercy.
P: For the healing of those who are struggling with medical issues and battling illness, [including . . .], that the Physician of body and soul work mightily in their lives and fill them with His perfect peace, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Father, be our fortress and the One who brings healing.
P: We pray for the special concerns on our hearts today, including health and family needs, bringing to You our joys, our sorrows, our hopes, (including…). Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: Into Your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
C: Amen.
LORD’S PRAYER
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 + give you peace.
C: Amen.
CLOSING HYMN “On Our Way Rejoicing” LBW 260
On our way rejoicing Gladly let us go.
Christ our Lord has conquered; Vanquished is the foe.
Christ without our safety; Christ within our joy;
Who, if we be faithful, Can our hope destroy?
On our way rejoicing; As we forward move,
Harken to our praises, O blest God of Love!
Unto God the Father Joyful songs we sing;
Unto God the Savior Thankful hearts we bring;
Unto God the Spirit Bow we and adore,
On our way rejoicing Now and evermore.
On our way rejoicing; As we forward move,
Harken to our praises, O blest God of Love!
EXTENDING PEACE: Luther House by Pastor Mike Ostrom
DISMISSAL