The Service in PDF format is at: April 2, 2023 Service
Video of service is at: YouTube
Peace Lutheran Church
We welcome you in the name of the Lord Jesus. We are honored with your presence. If you do not have a church home, you are invited to join us regularly. Please introduce yourself to Pastor Jeremy Lucke or one of the Ushers as you leave today and sign the guest book in the entryway. We continue to observe the guidelines for health safety. If you have any questions, please see an usher. Everyone is welcome.
The ringing of the bell and the lighting of the Christ candle mark the beginning of our service and a time for quiet meditation, prayer and inward reflection as we begin our worship.
Children are welcome at our worship services. If you prefer, Peace Lutheran has a playroom equipped for children three years old and younger. The room is unstaffed and can be accessed in the fellowship hall where the service is also being live streamed for your convenience and enjoyment.
Holy Communion is celebrated every first and third Sunday and will follow the order of service in the bulletin. If you are a baptized Christian and share our faith in Jesus as Savior and have been instructed in the meaning and use of the Lord’s Supper, you are invited to partake. We have pre-wrapped communion wine or juice and wafers. We also have gluten-free wafers available. If you desire a gluten-free wafer, ask the server. May the body and blood of Jesus, present in the bread and wine, be a blessing to you.
There are times during the service when you will be asked to stand if you are able. Please feel free to remain seated if standing is difficult.
Offering. Peace Lutheran Church understands and teaches that Offerings are voluntary and to be from the heart. Whether we give or do not give does not determine our salvation. Whether we give much or little does not determine our standing before God. Sharing an Offering is an opportunity to quietly practice generosity with our neighbors. Offerings may be placed in the plates by the doors as we exit the sanctuary.
Serving You
Pastor Pastor Jeremy Lucke
Music Director Colleen Schulze
Choir Director Diane Crocker
Supt. Of Sunday School Brandy Stokes & Karyn Stanley
Admin Assistant Daniel Dusek
Parish Nurse Kathy Durling
Webmaster Jim Holroyd
Audio-Visual Johnathon Holroyd, George Abele, Nicholas Abele, Merv Munster, Callie Santora, Caleb Santora, Joyce Long, Oscar Gutbrod, Sam Worth, Rick Durling, Jim Holroyd, Nora Stanley, Debbi Weiler, Daniel Dusek
Today, April 2, 2023
Musician Colleen Schulze
Ushers Jim & Lynn Reams
Reader Margaret Philpott
Flowers Janette Payne (In memory of Parents)
AS WE GATHER… Today is a very special day. Psalm 118:19 says, “Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.” Psalm 118 speaks of gates opening for the people of God to enter into God’s presence. Palm Sunday is the “gate” of Holy Week. As we gather for worship, let us walk through this gate with Jesus, our King, remembering His suffering for our salvation, and receiving again the gifts of God that inspire in us our thanks and praise.
RINGING OF THE BELL
CHOIR ANTHEM “Hosanna! Sing a Loud Hosanna”
By Mark Hayes
Hosanna! Sing a loud hosanna!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna – to the Son of David!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Come faithful people, come away,
Your homage to your Sovereign pay;
It is the feast of the palms today.
Hosanna! In the highest!
Go, Savior, thus to triumph born,
Thy crown shall be the wreath of thorn,
Thy royal garb the robe of scorn. Hosanna!
Hosanna! Hosanna! Sing a loud hosanna!
Sing a loud hosanna!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna! Hosanna to the Son of David!
To the Son of David!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
They thronged before, behind, around,
They cast palm branches on the ground,
And still rose up the joyful sound:
Hosanna in the highest!
“Blessed is Israel’s king,”, they cried;
“Blessed is He that cometh nigh
In name of God the Lord most high.”
Hosanna – in the highest!
Hosanna! Sing a loud hosanna!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna – to the son of David!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
Leader: The grace of our Lord + Jesus Christ and the love of God and communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
People: Amen.
OPENING BLESSING
Leader: Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.
People: Hosanna in the highest!
OPENING PRAYER
Leader: Let us pray.
Leader: Most merciful God, as the people of Jerusalem, with palms in their hands, gathered to greet Your dearly beloved Son when He came into His Holy City, grant that we may ever hail Him as our King and, when He comes again, may go forth to meet Him with trusting and steadfast hearts and follow Him in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen.
Jesus enters Jerusalem.
Leader: The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the twelfth chapter.
People: Glory to You, O Lord.
Leader: The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, crying out,
People: “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
Leader: And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
People: “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
Leader: His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about Him and had been done to Him. The crowd that had been with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet Him was that they heard He had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another,
People: “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him.”
Leader: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
People: Praise to You, O Christ.
Leader: When the crowd was greeting Jesus, the people were quoting a verse from Psalm 118, which Luther said was his favorite. Verse 25 begins, “Save us, we pray, O Lord!” “Save, Lord” is the meaning of “Hosanna.” As we process with our palms, let us join our voices together as we sing the hymn, “All Glory, Laud, and Honor.”
During the Opening Hymn, the congregation is invited to walk forward and place their palm branches into one of the two receptacles.
OPENING HYMN “All Glory, Laud, and Honor”
Text: Theodulph of Orleans, c. 760-821; tr. Johne M. Neale, 1818-1866, alt. Tune: Melchoir Teschner, 1584-1635; Copyright 1978 Lutheran Church in America, The American Lutheran Church, ELC of Canada, LCMS
Chorus: All glory, laud and honor
To you, redeemer, king
To whom the lips of children
Made sweet hosannas ring.
.
You are the king of Israel
And David’s royal Son,
Now in the Lord’s name coming,
Our King and Blessed One.
Chorus
The company of angels
Are praising you on high;
Creation and all mortals
In chorus make reply.
Chorus
The multitude of pilgrims
With palms before you went.
Our praise and prayer and anthems
Before you we present.
Chorus
To you, before your Passion,
They sang their hymns of praise.
To you, now high exalted,
Our melody we raise.
Chorus
Their Praises you accepted;
Accept the prayers we bring,
Great author of all goodness,
O good and gracious King.
Chorus
Leader: Lord, we come before You in prayer today, asking for forgiveness.
People: Gracious God, we admit that we are sinners, and that we have gone against your loving will in thoughts, words, and actions. We do not want to hear your word challenging us in our lives and our priorities. We ask for your forgiveness, so that we are freed from our sin to live in your gracious love.
GOD FORGIVES
Leader: Almighty God, in his mercy, has given his Son to die for us and, for his sake, forgives us all our sins. To those who believe in Jesus he gives the power to become the children of God and bestows on them the Holy Spirit. May the Lord, who has begun this good work in us, bring it to completion in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
People: Amen.
SCRIPTURE LESSON
Humbled to death on a cross that we might be exulted with Him.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Leader: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
SONG OF PRAISE “Lord I Lift Your Name on High”
By: Rick Founds; © 1989 and this arr. © 1990 by Maranatha! Music
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.
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.
.
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.
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.
SERMON
“Choosing Our Hero”
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 power of 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 the 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.
Leader: Let us pray to the Lord that He may hear us on behalf of the people of God and all people as they have need.
Leader: Lord Jesus, although knowing about Judas’ plans, You arranged for the Passover, which foreshadowed the Lord’s Supper. Strengthen the faith of Your people here and wherever the Sacrament is celebrated, as we receive the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation, which come to us through Your body and blood. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Leader: Lord Jesus, although their Lord, at table You taught Your disciples the nature of true servanthood. Guide and direct all who work in the healing professions, in police departments and armed forces, in all levels of government, and in the cultivation and distribution of crops, that they see themselves as Your servants for the common good and be given the wisdom and guidance they need. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Leader: Lord Jesus, although Peter spoke confidently, You knew that in weakness he would deny You; yet You said he would turn and strengthen his brothers. Strengthen all whose faith is weak, those who face this day burdened by their past errors, and all who cannot comprehend the depth of Your love, that they realize and rejoice in the forgiveness You so freely offer. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Leader: In the garden, although You prayed in anguish, You asked that the Father’s will be done. We remember before You especially (names………..). Grant courage to them and all who struggle with sudden crisis or long-term illness, all who are near death, and all who languish, unjustly imprisoned and discriminated against, that they rely on Your gracious plans. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Leader: On the cross, although facing death Yourself, You promised paradise to a criminal and proclaimed the payment for our sins finished. Grant that Your Holy Spirit open the ears of those who have not heard the Gospel in terms they can understand and believe, that they rejoice with us in the forgiveness of sins and the paradise that awaits all who rely on Your grace and love. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Leader: At the end, although You could not do anything physically, You committed Your spirit to the Father. Into Your hands, heavenly Father, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy for the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
People: Amen.
THE 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
DISTRIBUTION HYMNS “Jesus Loves Me”
By: Anna B. Warner, alt. & Wm. B. Bradbury; © 1971 by William J. Gaither. The Fellowship Publications Edina, MN 55435
Jesus Loves Me
Jesus loves me this I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong,
They are weak, but He is strong.
Chorus: Yes Jesus loves me,
Yes Jesus loves me,
Yes Jesus loves me,
The Bible tells me so.
Jesus loves me, Loves me still,
Though I’m very weak and ill.
That I might from sin be free
Bled and died upon the tree.
Chorus
Jesus loves me! He who died,
Heavens gates to open wide
He will wash away my sin,
Let his little child come in.
Chorus
Jesus loves me he will stay,
Close beside me all the way.
That I might from sin be free,
I will henceforth live for thee.
Chorus
Leader: The Lord bless you and keep you. The make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you with favor and + give you peace.
People: Amen.
CLOSING SONG “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”
Text: Joachim Neander, 1650-1680; tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1829-1878, alt. Tune: Ernewerten Gesangbuch, Stralsund, 1665; © 1978 by Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis and Board of Publication, Lutheran Church in America, Philadelphia
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,
the King of creation!
O my soul, Praise Him,
for He is your health and salvation!
Let all who hear,
Now to His temple draw near;
Joining in glad adoration!
.
Praise to the Lord,
who o’er all things is wondrously reigning,
And, as on wings of an eagle,
uplifting, sustaining.
Have you not seen
All that is needful has been
Sent by His gracious ordaining?
.
Praise to the Lord,
who will prosper your work and defend you;
Surely His goodness and mercy
shall daily attend you.
Ponder anew
What the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend you.
.
Praise to the Lord,
Oh let all that is in me adore Him!
All that has life and breath,
come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen
Sound from His people again,
Gladly forever we adore Him.
Pastor: Go in Peace. Serve the Lord!
People: Thanks be to God!
Announcements
Preparing for Easter. We need some help in the following ways as we prepare for Easter:
- Please consider bringing flowers for the cross outside the church. People should bring flowers Friday afternoon (Apr 7) to Saturday morning (Apr 8).
- We need some lilies to decorate the altar area of the church. Please consider bringing a lily or two by Saturday, April 8.
- Please bring your filled Easter eggs by Saturday, April 8.
- We need people to bring finger foods for Easter Sunday Fellowship.
Easter Egg Hunt. The Easter Egg Hunt will take place immediately following the worship service next Sunday, April 9. All children in grades 6 and below are welcome to come. Please invite your neighbors and friends.
Looking for a church treasurer. The Church Treasurer position is currently being filled by Lynn Reams and our desire is to train someone else up to fill this position for the 2024 year. If anyone is interested or if anyone has questions, they can reach out to Pastor or George. The position would be co-Treasurer for the 2023 year and assume the full role in 2024. We will receive names up to April 10
FELLOWSHIP. Fellowship is a wonderful time to connect with our church family. We are returning to our pre-pandemic model and the first Sunday of every month will be the “potluck” Sunday. The rest of the Sundays are for snacks and coffee. If anyone wants to bring a more involved dish to share on those “other” Sundays, they are certainly welcome to, but there is no obligation and/or expectation to do so.
