The Bulletin is at: 03-26-2017 Bulletin
The Service in PDF format is at: 03-26-2017 Fourth Sunday in Lent
or the service is as follows:
FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT
March 26, 2017
PRE SERVICE MUSIC
AS WE GATHER………… God has a plan for each of us. He has an amazing and surprising plan individually crafted. It may not follow the pattern that we or those around feel it should be. But it is God’s plan, shaped by His grace. We joyfully put our trust in the graciousness of the God who created, redeemed, and sanctifies us.
RINGING OF THE BELL
Following the ringing of the bell, we take a few moments in silence to prepare our hearts and minds for today’s worship.
Pastor: In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
Pastor: This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Women: Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success!
Men: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
People: We bless you from the house of the Lord.
CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
Pastor: Let us make confession of our sins to God, our gracious heavenly Father.
People: Eternal God, we confess that we are sinners in need of forgiveness. By nature we are sinful from the very beginning of our life. Through our thoughts, words, and deeds, we continually sin against You. We have walked in the darkness of bad choices and have left unfulfilled opportunities to do good and be blessings to others. O God, in Your mercy, forgive our sin and free us from indifference that we may joyfully follow Your will and gladly obey Your commandments. Graciously forgive our sins and direct us in ways of compassion and love.
SONG OF CONFESSION “White as Snow”
White as snow, white as snow,
Though my sins were as scarlet
Lord, I know,
That I’m clean and forgiven.
Through the power of Your blood,
Through the wonder of Your love,
Through faith in You
I know that I can be white as snow.
White as snow
Pastor:
God promises to hear those who turn to Him with repentant hearts. Upon this your confession, in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, and by His authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Be at peace.
People: Amen.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Pastor: Heavenly Father, Your Son came not to be served but to serve. As we follow in His steps, give us wisdom, patience, and courage to minister in His name to all who suffer and are in need, for the love of Him who laid down His life for us, Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT LESSON Isaiah 42:14-21 The Lord will turn darkness into light.
For a long time I have held my peace; I have kept still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor; I will gasp and pant. I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn the rivers into islands, and dry up the pools. And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them. They are turned back and utterly put to shame, who trust in carved idols, who say to metal images, “You are our gods.”
Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see! Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as my dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the LORD? He sees many things, but does not observe them; his ears are open, but he does not hear. The LORD was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify his law and make it glorious.
EPISTLE Ephesians 5:8-14 Walking as children of the light
For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
GOSPEL John 9:1-41 Jesus heals a man who was born blind.
As Jesus passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”
The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.
Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.
CHOIR ANTHEM “Without His Cross” by Joseph Martin
MESSAGE “Seeing for the first time”
SERMON HYMN “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High”
Lord, I lift Your name on high.
Lord, I love to sing Your praises.
I’m so glad You’re in my life,
I’m so glad You came to save us.
chorus
You came from heaven to earth to show the way,
from the earth to the cross my debt to pay.
From the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky.
Lord, I lift Your name on high.
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
Pastor: God, our Father in heaven, look with mercy on us, Your needy children on earth, and grant us grace that Your holy name be hallowed by us and all the world through the teaching of Your Word and the fervent love shown forth in our lives. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Pastor: Your kingdom come. Bring all transgressors and those who are blinded and bound in this world to know Jesus, Your Son, by faith, that the number of Christians be increased. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Pastor: Strengthen us by Your Spirit, according to Your will, both in life and in death, in the midst of both good and evil, thanks that our own wills be set aside to Your good and gracious will. Into Your merciful hands we commend all who are in need (including……..), praying for them at all times: Thy will be done. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Pastor: Grant us our daily bread, preserve us from greed and selfish cares, and help us trust in You to provide for all our needs. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Pastor: We trust, O Lord, in Your great mercy to hear and answer us; through Jesus, our Savior.
People: Amen.
LORD’S PRAYER
BENEDICTION
Pastor: The blessing of God Almighty—the Father, who gave His Son for the life of the world; the Son, who has revealed to us God’s grace, mercy and love; and the Spirit, by whose fruit we are seen to be children of God—bless you now and forever.
People: Amen.
CLOSING HYMN Red Book 47 “Freely, Freely”
God forgave my sin in Jesus’ name,
I’ve been born again in Jesus’ name;
And in Jesus’ name I come to you
To share His love as He told me to.
He said, “Freely, freely you have received:
Freely, freely give.
Go in my name, and because you believe,
Others will know that I live.”
All pow’r is giv’n in Jesus’ name,
In earth and heav’n in Jesus’ name
And in Jesus’ name I come to you
To share His pow’r as He told me to.
He said, “Freely, freely you have received:
Freely, freely give.
Go in my name, and because you believe,
Others will know that I live.”