Join us for our service on March 15th – even if you cannot attend in person – via our website. Both audio and video tracks are available, and the bulletin is incorporated and attached.
We pray for your continued health and safety during this challenging time!
WELCOME/ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Lord be with you!
This is an unusual way of meeting but we found it necessary to meet this way for the protection of our members from the Corona virus that is spreading across our country. Thanks to our technological world, we are able to record the service and provide it to our community through the wonders or the internet. There is one thing lacking in this kind of fellowship, and that is, our fellowship. These recordings are not meant to be a solution for all time. This is a temporary fix for a situation we hope will pass soon. That said,
Welcome to Blessed Savior Lutheran Church. I am Pastor Vern Lintvedt, Pastor Matt Kusch will be our Proclaimer today and Eric Stake is our IT specialist.
Announcements
As you know the 20th Annual Trivia had to be canceled due to the progression of the Corona virus. Fortunately we were able to reschedule the event at the Katy Cavins Community Center on Saturday, August 8.
Secondly, we also decided to go ahead with the Life Touch Photo Shoot for our Church Pictorial Directory on Friday, Mar 20 & Sat. Mar 21. Extra precautions are being made to sterilize all surfaces and doors in between sessions to ensure everyone protection from the virus. If you have not signed up, there are still some slots available. When you signed onto mybslc.org you went to the right place to sign up for the Photo Shoot. Click on the image for Life Touch and follow the link to the sign-up page.
One more note: We have 3 more Wednesday services before Holy Week. Hopefully the Corona Virus will have subsided by Easter or we may have to meet outside and pray for the disinfecting sun to shine down on us.
Let us now turn our attention to our Triune God, who called us by faith and brought us into His eternal fellowship.
INVOCATION
P: In the name of the Father,
C: Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
P: and of the Son,
C: Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!
P: and of the Holy Spirit.
C: For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. Amen.
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION
Psalm 95; Romans 5:1,8
P: In His hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land.
C: Almighty Lord, our Creator, we confess to You we forget Your power and might, fail to trust in Your ever-providing hands, and are found lacking in our managing of this world You formed.
P: Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.
C: Almighty Lord, our Maker and Shepherd, we confess we like sheep have gone astray, listening to other voices of this world. We have not loved You with our whole heart and have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
P: Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put Me to the test and put Me to the proof, though they had seen My work. For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.” Therefore I swore in My wrath, “They shall not enter My rest.”
C: Almighty Lord, like those You sent wandering in the wilderness, we justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment. For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the glory of Your holy name. Amen.
P: Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Almighty God, in His mercy, has given His Son to die for you, and for His sake forgives you all your sins. In this Lenten season as we journey closer to His cross, God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners,
C: Christ died for us.
P: As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all
C: Amen. Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
SONG OF PRAISE
Yet Not I, But Through Christ in Me – CityAlive
What gift of grace is Jesus my redeemer
There is no more for heaven now to give
He is my joy, my righteousness, and freedom
My steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace
To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus
For my life is wholly bound to His
Oh how strange and divine, I can sing: all is mine!
Yet not I, but through Christ in me
The night is dark but I am not forsaken
For by my side, the Savior He will stay
I labor on in weakness and rejoicing
For in my need, His power is displayed
To this I hold, my Shepherd will defend me
Through the deepest valley He will lead
Oh the night has been won, and I shall overcome!
Yet not I, but through Christ in me
No fate I dread, I know I am forgiven
The future sure, the price it has been paid
For Jesus bled and suffered for my pardon
And He was raised to overthrow the grave
To this I hold, my sin has been defeated
Jesus now and ever is my plea
Oh the chains are released, I can sing: I am free!
Yet not I, but through Christ in me
With every breath I long to follow Jesus
For He has said that He will bring me home
And day by day I know He will renew me
Until I stand with joy before the throne
To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus
All the glory evermore to Him
When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat
Yet not I, but through Christ in me!
To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus
All the glory evermore to Him
When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat
Yet not I, but through Christ in me!
When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat
Yet not I, but through Christ in me!
Yet not I, but through Christ in me!
Yet not I, but through Christ in me!
PRAYER OF THE DAY
P: Let us pray.
O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy, be gracious to all who have gone astray from Your ways and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of Your Word; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT READING
Exodus 17:1–7 (Water from the rock)
All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?”
But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
And the LORD said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the LORD by saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”
EPISTLE
Romans 5:1–8 (Peace with God through faith)
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
VERSE
John 4:23a
L: The hour is coming, and is now here,
C: when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.
HOLY GOSPEL
John 4:5–26 (Jesus and the woman of Samaria)
P: The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the fourth chapter.
C: Glory to You, O Lord.
So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water
welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to Thee, O Christ.
HYMN No. 423
“Jesus Refuge of the Weary”
Jesus, refuge of the weary, Blest redeemer, whom we love,
Fountain in life’s desert dreary, Savior from the world above:
Often have Your eyes, offended, Gazed upon the sinner’s fall;
Yet upon the cross extended, You have borne the pain of all.
Do we pass that cross unheeding, Breathing no repentant vow,
Though we see You wounded, bleeding, See Your thorn encircled brow?
Yet Your sinless death has brought us Life eternal, peace, and rest;
Only what Your grace has taught us Calms the sinner’s deep distress.
Jesus, may our hearts be burning With more fervent love for you;
May our eyes be ever turning To behold your cross anew
Till in glory, parted never From the blessed Savior’s side,
Graven in our hearts forever, Dwell the cross, the Crucified.
SERMON
“Keep it Centered” – John 4:5-26 – Pastor Matt
CONFESSION OF FAITH THE APOSTLES’ CREED
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
Please remember your church in this time of upheaval. We realize that some of you will be affected financially from missing work and so we understand that offerings may not be as forthcoming as usual. If you wish to make an offering, the easiest option is just to mail it directly to the church: Blessed Savior Lutheran Church, 1205 N Lincoln Ave, O’Fallon, IL 62269.
While we do not have the means to give through a Credit or Debit Cards, there is a tab on our website (mybslc.org) for “Joyful Response – How to Give.” Joyful Response (a tool of the Lutheran Church Extension Fund) offers a safe way to make contributions directly from your bank to ours on a regular basis at whatever interval or date works best for you. This tool is a way of remembering your church during the harsh winter months when there are church closings and during the summer months when people travel on vacation.
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
P: Let us pray for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.
Lord God, though we are undeserving of not only Your mercy and grace but also of Your tending to our daily needs, we give You thanks that You provide all we need for this body and life. We pray for all that we need—health for the soul, peace for the mind, strength for the body, forgiveness of sin, freedom from condemnation, and a genuine heart gifted for service. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: Grant Your healing, O God, to those on our Prayer List and those whom You have laid on our hearts as we silently bring their names to Your throne of grace. (Pause) We ask for Your gentle presence to bless and keep Cheryl Vohlken’s father, Elbert Brink who is been hospitalized and for Carolyn Chingo, Pastor Matt’s Aunt who has been given 6 months to live in this world. We ask You also to show mercy to all those around the world affected by the Flu and Corona Virus as well as those whose lives were turned upside down by the tornadoes in Nashville, TN. Bind up the hearts of all who are troubled, heal the wounds of those who suffer disease or injury of every type, and comfort those who are burdened. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: Grant that the witness and teaching of those whom You have called and placed as overseers and leaders in Your places of worship here and throughout the world faithfully fulfill the tasks You have placed before them in spite of the dangers they may face, that they may speak Your Word in confidence so that Your truth prevails. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: We pray for those who serve in our country in the armed forces and ask that You would guard and protect them in the fulfillment of their duties in domestic and foreign lands. For all who work in our communities for safety, order, and protection, be with them in their service; for all who use Your gifts and abilities given for the health and well-being of others in medical fields, guide their care. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: We praise You for all Your gifts to us. In a special way, We thank You for Laura Schutte Vied, Emily Colvin Garcia, Larry Gruhn, RJ Kinsella, Jessica Schmidt, Karen Anders, and Morgan Kjosa whose birthdays we celebrate this week. Bless them always in Your love. Heavenly Father, Your Word tells us that when a man finds a wife that he has found a good thing. You also make it clear in Your Word how important and sacred marriage is in Your eyes. We pray that You will bless Blake & Lynn Bartimus with Your grace, forgiveness and love that they may spend their years united and comforted by mutual understanding and peace until You call them into their eternal rest in heaven. Lord in Your mercy,
C: Hear our prayer.
P: In this season of Lent, continue to open our ears to hear Your Word, to repent of sin, and to be drawn to the cross of Christ. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: Lord God, though we are unable to commune with You this morning through the Sacrament of the Altar, we know we have the bond of the Spirit and celebrate the bond of peace we have with each other. Strengthen those bonds as we reach out to one another through a simple phone call, Skype, or Facetime, that those in our fellowship may know Your love expressed through our faithful contact. Into Your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord who taught and enables us to pray saying:
LORD’S PRAYER
(Matthew 6:9-13)
All: 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.
CLOSING SENTENCES
Romans 5:1, 6, 8, adapted
P: Therefore, since we have been justified by faith,
C: we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
P: For while we were still weak,
C: at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
P: While we were still sinners,
C: Christ died for us.
BLESSING OF THE LORD
Numbers 6:24–26
P: The Lord bless you and keep you
The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you
The Lord smile upon you and give you peace, now and forever.
Amen.
CLOSING HYMN
No. 543 “What Wondrous Love is This”
What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this That caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!
When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down Beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.
To God and to the Lamb I will sing, I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb, Who is the great I AM,
While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing,
While millions join the theme, I will sing.
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing His love for me,
And through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,
And through eternity I’ll sing on.
SENDING
P: Be safe! Go in peace to love and serve the Lord!
C: Thanks be to God.