March 25

Pastor Michael has had to take Sick Leave because of Ross River virus. Please pray for him as he takes the necessary time to recover.

LayServicePowerpoint March 25,2012

 

FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT

March  25th, 2012

LAY READING SERVICE

Service of the word

This order was originally prepared by the Department of Liturgics and released in 1991 in a booklet by the Board for Congregational Life for use in the Lutheran Church of Australia.

OPENING RESPONSES

L: I will sing to the Lord,

C: because he has won a glorious victory.

L: The Lord is my strong defender;

C: he is the one who has saved me.

L: His right hand is awesome in power;

C: it breaks the enemy in pieces.

L: Faithful to his promise, he led the people he had rescued;

C: by his strength he guided them to his sacred land.

L: He brings them in and plants them on his mountain,

C: the place that he has chosen for his home,

L: the temple that he himself has built.

C: The Lord will be king forever and ever.

[Exod 15:1,2,6,13,17,18]

Glorify your name
AT 250 CAL 295

Donna Adkins

1976.1981 Maranathal MusIc. All rIghts reserved.

1. Father, we love you, we praise you, we adore you.
Glorify your name in all the earth.
Glorify your name, glorify your name.
Glorify your name in all the earth.

 

2. Jesus, we love you, we praise you, we adore you.
Glorify your name in all the earth.
Glorify your name, glorify your name.
Glorify your name in all the earth.

 

3. Spirit, we love you, we praise you, we adore you.
Glorify your name in all the earth.
Glorify your name, glorify your name.
Glorify your name in all the earth.

CONFESSION and absolution

L: Let us confess our sins in the presence of God and of each other.

C: We confess to you, almighty God, before the whole company of heaven, and to each other, that we have sinned in thought, word, and deed by our own fault.

Have mercy on us, for Jesus’ sake, forgive us all our sins, and bring us to eternal life. Amen.

L:  The almighty and merciful Lord grants us pardon; and forgives us all our sins.

 C:  Amen.

Apostles’ Creed

L:  As God’s people through our baptism into Christ, let us confess our faith.

 C: 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, dead, and 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 catholic* church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.

Amen

*or: Christian; ‘catholic’ here means ‘universal’

OLD TESTAMENT CANTICLE         Isaiah 12:1–6

L: I will thank you, Lord.

C: Although you were angry with me,

L: your anger has turned away

C: and you have comforted me.

L: Surely God is my salvation;

C: I will trust him and not be afraid.

L: The Lord God is my strength and my song;

C: he has become my salvation.

L: With joy you will draw water

C: from the wells of salvation.

L: Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;

C: make known among the nations what he has done,

and proclaim that his name is exalted.

L: Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things;

C: let this be known to all the world.

L: Shout and sing for joy, people of Zion,

C: for Israel’s holy God is great, and he lives among you.

L: Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

C: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

L: The Lord be with you.

C: And also with you.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

L: Let us pray that we remain united with Christ.

C: Jesus our Saviour,
thank you for coming to give us life
through your suffering and death.
Keep us following you wherever you lead us, because we know that you have promised to take us home to God.
For you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

FIRST READING

Jeremiah 31:31-34 CEV

God promises a new covenant

R: The first Reading for the Fifth Sunday in Lent is written in Chapter 31 of Jeremiah, beginning at Verse 31.

³¹The LORD said: The time will surely come when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and Judah. ³²It will be different from the agreement I made with their ancestors when I led them out of Egypt. Although I was their God, they broke that agreement.

³³Here is the new agreement that I, the LORD, will make with the people of Israel:

“I will write my laws on their hearts and minds. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

³⁴“No longer will they have to teach one another to obey me. I, the LORD, promise that all of them will obey me, ordinary people and rulers alike. I will forgive their sins and forget the evil things they have done.”

This is the Word of the Lord

C: Thanks be to God

 

Psalm 51:1-12 CEV

R:  The Psalm is PSALM  51

R: ¹You are kind, God! Please have pity on me.  You are always merciful! Please wipe away my sins.
C: ²Wash me clean from all of my sin and guilt.  
R: 3 I know about my sins, and I cannot forget my terrible guilt.
C: ⁴You are really the one I have sinned against;  I have disobeyed you and have done wrong. : So it is right and fair for you to correct and punish me.
R:  5 I have sinned and done wrong since the day I was born.
C: ⁶But you want complete honesty, so teach me true wisdom.  
R: 7 Wash me with hyssop until I am clean and whiter than snow.
C: ⁸Let me be happy and joyful!  You crushed my bones, now let them celebrate.  
R: ⁹Turn your eyes from my sin and cover my guilt.
C: 10 Create pure thoughts in me and make me faithful again.  
R: ¹¹Don’t chase me away from you or take your Holy Spirit away from me.
C:  12Make me as happy as you did when you saved me; make me want to obey!  

C:  Glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit;

As it was in the beginning is now, and will be for ever. Amen

Hebrews 5:5-10       CEV

Jesus the great high priest, made perfect through suffering

R: The Second Reading is written in Chapter 5 of Hebrews, beginning at Verse 5

⁵That is how it was with Christ. He became a high priest, but not just because he wanted the honor of being one. It was God who told him, “You are my Son, because today  I have become your Father!”

⁶In another place, God says, “You are a priest forever just like Melchizedek.”

⁷God had the power to save Jesus from death. And while Jesus was on earth, he begged God with loud crying and tears to save him. He truly worshiped God, and God listened to his prayers. ⁸Jesus is God’s own Son, but still he had to suffer before he could learn what it really means to obey God. ⁹Suffering made Jesus perfect, and now he can save forever all who obey him. ¹⁰This is because God chose him to be a high priest like Melchizedek.

This is the Word of the Lord

C: Thanks be to God

 

C: ♫Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

 

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?….

Words: African-American Spiritual

 

John 12:20-33  CEV

Jesus announces that his hour has come

M: The Holy Gospel is written in Chapter 12 of the Gospel according to St John beginning at verse 20.

C: Glory to You O Lord.

M: ²⁰Some Greeks had gone to Jerusalem to worship during Passover. ²¹Philip from Bethsaida in Galilee was there too. So they went to him and said, “Sir, we would like to meet Jesus.” ²²Philip told Andrew. Then the two of them went to Jesus and told him.

²³Jesus said:

The time has come for the Son of Man to be given his glory. ²⁴I tell you for certain that a grain of wheat that falls on the ground will never be more than one grain unless it dies. But if it dies, it will produce lots of wheat. ²⁵If you love your life, you will lose it. If you give it up in this world, you will be given eternal life. ²⁶If you serve me, you must go with me. My servants will be with me wherever I am. If you serve me, my Father will honor you.

²⁷Now I am deeply troubled, and I don’t know what to say. But I must not ask my Father to keep me from this time of suffering. In fact, I came into the world to suffer. ²⁸So Father, bring glory to yourself.

A voice from heaven then said, “I have already brought glory to myself, and I will do it again!”

²⁹When the crowd heard the voice, some of them thought it was thunder. Others thought an angel had spoken to Jesus.

³⁰Then Jesus told the crowd, “That voice spoke to help you, not me.

 ³¹This world’s people are now being judged, and the ruler of this world is already being thrown out! ³²If I am lifted up above the earth, I will make everyone want to come to me.”

³³Jesus was talking about the way he would be put to death.

This is the Gospel of the Lord

C:Praise to you, O Christ

M: Lord Jesus, thank you for giving up your life for our sake.
Make us ready to give up ourselves and follow you.
C: Amen

Give us Hearts to Know You, Lord

AT357 CAL293

Words and music: Annette Fechner

©1995 Annette Fechner, 18 Pinewood Drive, Mt Waverley Vic 3149

Give us hearts to know you, Lord,

To know who you are.

We will be your people,

And you our God, and you our God

 

Give us hearts to love you, Lord,

To love who you are.

We will be your people,

And you our God, and you our God

 

Give us hearts to serve you, Lord,

To serve who you are.

We will be your people,

And you our God, and you our God

 

Give us hearts to worship, Lord,

To worship who you are.

We will be your people,

And you our God, and you our God

 

  SERMON

Father of Heaven

LHS 141 CAL 293

Edward Cooper (1770-1833)

1. Father of heaven, whose love profound

A ransom for our souls has found,

Before Your throne we sinners bend;

To us Your pardoning love extend.

 

2. Almighty Son, incarnate Word,

Our prophet, priest, Redeemer, Lord,

Before Your throne we sinners bend;

To us Your saving grace extend.

 

3. Eternal Spirit, by whose breath

The soul is raised from sin and death,

Before Your throne we sinners bend;

To us Your quickening power extend.

 

4. Thrice holy! Father, Spirit, Son,

Mysterious Godhead, three in one,

Before Your throne we sinners bend;

Grace, pardon, life, to us extend.

OFFERING PRAYER

C: Thank you, Lord, for making us yours through the sacrifice of your Son.
Let your Spirit live in us to make us more and more like Christ.
Lead us to serve others with all that you have given us.

Amen

Prayer of the church

Call to prayer

L: Our Lord Jesus Christ is our high priest, and he stands at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us. Let us pray to the Father, knowing that he listens to us for Jesus’ sake.

For the dying love of Christ,

C: we praise you, Lord.

L: Heavenly Father, your Son’s wounded arms reach out from the cross to enfold all people in the world in your forgiving love. Draw people of all sizes, shapes and colours to you to rescue them from the embrace of the evil one.

For the dying love of Christ,

C: we praise you, Lord.

L: As your Son gave up his innocent life to reach out and rescue others, help us to reach out in unselfish love to be a helping hand to other people. Today we pray for those in our world who are threatened by fire, floods, diseases, wars, and injury through accidents.

For the dying love of Christ,

C: we praise you, Lord.

L: We ask you to bless

* those who are afraid to live

* those who are scared of dying

* those who share the good news of your love

* those who reach out in loving concern to the unlovely people.

For the dying love of Christ,

C: we praise you, Lord.

L: Bless the volunteers and workers in our community who work in

* hospitals

* fire brigades

* ambulances

* prisons

* local government

* our local churches

* aged care and nursing homes

* and among the families and friends of suicides.

For the dying love of Christ,

C: we praise you, Lord.

 Concluding prayer

L: Loving Father, as the grains of wheat become bread to nourish our hungry bodies, and the grapes are crushed to become new wine for our thirsty spirits, feed us now with the body and blood of your Son, broken and shed for us, so that we may go out refreshed and nourished and bring honour and glory to your name by the way we live. For the sake of Jesus Christ your Son.

C: Amen.

L:  Finally, let us pray for all those things which our Lord would have us ask, saying:

C: Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,

now and forever.

Amen.

 

NEW TESTAMENT CANTICLE

L: Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

C: For in our union with Christ he has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world.

L: Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ,

C: so that we would be holy and without fault before him.

L: Because of his love God had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would make us his children — this was his pleasure and purpose.

C: Let us praise God for his glorious grace, for the free gift he gave us in his dear Son!

L: For by the blood of Christ we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven.

C: How great is the grace of God, which he gave to us in such large measure!

L: In all his wisdom and insight God did what he had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ.

C: This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head.

(Eph 1:3–10)

 

BLESSING

L: Christ our crucified Saviour draw you to himself, so that you may find in him the assurance of sins forgiven
and the gift of eternal life

The blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with us always.

C: Amen.

 

DISMISSAL

L: Go in peace to follow and serve the Lord.

C:  In the name of Christ. Amen.

 

O Jesus I have promised v.1,3,5

LHS 371 CAL 293

John Ernest Bode (1816-1874)

1.  O Jesus, I have promised

To serve You to the end;

O Be  for ever near me,

My master and my friend.

I shall not fear the battle

If You are by my side,

Nor wander from the pathway

If You will be my guide.

 

3.  O let me hear You speaking

In accents clear and still,

Above the storms of passion,

The murmurs of self-will;

O speak to reassure me,

To hasten or control:

O speak, and make me listen,

O guardian of my soul.

 

4.  O Jesus, You have promised

To all who follow You,

That where You are in glory

There shall You servant be;

And, Jesus, I have promised

To  serve You to the end;

O give me grace to follow,

My master and my friend.