The Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 29, 2020
WELCOME/ANNOUNCEMENTS
Good morning Church and friends of Blessed Savior! I would like to welcome you to our Online Worship Service this morning! If you are new to our church we look forward to the time when we can meet you in our House of Worship, where we gather together to hear the Word of God and respond to Him with our praises and offerings of thanksgiving. If you would like a call from one of our pastors, please call the church office or contact us through our website: www.mybslc.org.
As you know, we are still under the State of Illinois’ quarantine, which means all our church activities have been suspended until the order is lifted. The order stands in place till Maundy Thursday, April 9 which means we will still have some restrictions till after Easter. That does not mean the “church” is closed. The church is the people of God and as such, our main activities are Worship, Bible Study, Prayer, Fellowship, and Service to one another.
While our personal contact may be restricted for a while, all but “Up-Close and Personal Fellowship can still be done. These things will continue. But even Fellowship can be maintained through phone conversations, texts and emails. Facetime and Skype give us opportunity to actually see each other. Please reach out for help if you need it. If we cannot help you, we will try to find someone who can.
We’ve got some great news for you: Finley “Finn” Brooks Grant was born on Thursday, March 26, to Nathan & Hannah Grant. We have a couple of pictures to see the little whipper snapper. He’s a handsome fella! Welcome Finn.
INVOCATION
P: We gather today celebrating life: Life created by the Father;
C: life restored by Jesus Christ, the life of all the living, who is the resurrection and the life;
P: life sanctified by the living breath of the Holy Spirit.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION
Psalm 116:1–9; Ezekiel 37:13–14, adapted
P: I love the LORD, because He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.
C: Because He inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call on Him as long as I live.
P: The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish.
C: Then I called on the name of the LORD: “O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!”
P: We come before our Lord, confessing our sins and seeking His forgiveness.
Silence for reflection
P: Gracious God,
C: we confess that we have longed too much for the comforts of this world. We have loved the gifts more than the Giver. In your mercy, help us to see that all the things we pine for are shadows, but you are the substance; that they are quicksand, but you are the mountain; that they are shifting, but you are the anchor. We plead your forgiveness on the merits of Jesus Christ. Accept His worthiness for our unworthiness, His sinlessness for our transgressions, His fullness for our emptiness, His glory for our shame, His righteousness for our dead works, His death for our life. We pray in Jesus’s name. Amen.
P: Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; our God is merciful. The LORD preserves the simple; when I was brought low, He saved me. Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.
The LORD will open the graves and put His Spirit within His people, and they shall live. God, in His mercy has given His Son to die for us and through His death brought life and immortality to light. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
SHARING THE PEACE
As you share the peace with those who are with you today, as a bonus, call someone who is alone after the service and share the peace verbally. The Lord be with you!
SONG OF PRAISE
“Sing His Love”
Father, long before creation
Thou hadst chosen us in love
And that love so deep, so moving
Draws us close to Christ above
Still it keeps us, still it keeps us
Firmly fixed in Christ alone
Chorus:
And the world will sing His love
Yes, the world will sing His love
And we’ll all join hands
Every woman, every man
And sing His love
We’ll sing His love
Tho’ the world may change its fashion
Yet our God is ever the same
His compassion and His cov’nant
Through all ages will remain
God’s own children, God’s own children
Must forever praise His name (Chorus)
God’s compassion is my story
It’s my boasting all the day
Mercy free and never failing
Moves my will, directs my way
God so loved us, God so loved us
That His only Son He gave (Chorus)
PRAYER OF THE DAY
P: Let us pray.
Almighty God, by Your great goodness mercifully look upon Your people that we may be governed and preserved evermore in body and soul; 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
Ezekiel 37:1–14 (The valley of dry bones)
The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD.”
So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.”
Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
EPISTLE
Romans 8:1–11 (Life in the Spirit)
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
VERSE
John 11:25
L: I am the resurrection and the life.
C: Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live.
HOLY GOSPEL
John 11:1–45 (Jesus is the resurrection and the life.)
P: The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the eleventh chapter.
C: Glory to You, O Lord.
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”
Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”
Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone.
And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him.
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to You, O Christ.
HYMN No. 420
“Christ, the Life of All the Living” (vss. 1, 6, & 7)
Christ, the life of all the living,
Christ, the death of death, our foe,
Who, Thyself for me once giving
To the darkest depths of woe:
Through Thy suff’rings, death, and merit
I eternal life inherit.
Thousand, thousand thanks shall be,
Dearest Jesus, unto Thee.
Thou hast suffered great affliction
And hast borne it patiently,
Even death by crucifixion,
Fully to atone for me;
Thou didst choose to be tormented
That my doom should be prevented.
Thousand, thousand thanks shall be,
Dearest Jesus, unto Thee.
Then, for all that wrought my pardon,
For Thy sorrows deep and sore,
For Thine anguish in the Garden,
I will thank Thee evermore,
Thank Thee for Thy groaning, sighing,
For Thy bleeding and Thy dying,
For that last triumphant cry,
And shall praise Thee, Lord, on high.
SERMON
“Words and Actions”
John 11
Pastor Matt
CONFESSION OF FAITH
THE NICENE CREED
Please stand
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth
and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten of his Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten not made,
being of one substance with the Father,
by whom all things were made;
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary
and was made man;
And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.
He suffered and was buried.
And the third day rose again according to the Scriptures
and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father.
And he will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified,
who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church,
I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins,
and I look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
OFFERING
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
P: The resurrection to eternal life has come to the world in Christ Jesus. Let us pray for the deliverance of all who belong to Christ by faith and for all for whom He died and rose again.
O God, as You created everything out of nothing by Your mighty Word, so You have brought resurrection and eternal life to light by the mighty command of Your Son, Jesus, who went through death and emerged victorious over it. Help us to learn from Ezekiel’s vision the death that comes when we lose faith and the life we gain through Your Spirit. Receive our praise and thanks for Your gift of eternal life. Help us to live as Your resurrection people, bringing the great power of Your Word to all. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: As our Lenten season soon transitions to Holy Week, help us continue to recognize our sin, our need for repentance, and our dependence on our Savior. Help us learn from Paul’s Letter to the Romans to continually put to death those things of the flesh that lead us astray, that we be fed and led by Your life-giving Spirit. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: We lift up those who mourn and carry grief and sorrow in the loss of loved ones, especially, the family of Herbert Mueller former President of the Southern Illinois District. Comfort his wife Faith and their children who are in deep mourning. In the hour of our death, Help us learn from our Savior at Lazarus’s tomb, that death is not the last word of this life, that we rejoice in Your promises made, fulfilled, and yet to come of the resurrection of the dead and life of the world to come. Enable and equip us Now to be heralds of the hope that is ours and witness to Christ and the power of His resurrection. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: Inspire and bless all called to preach Your Word and in this time of isolation, make us ever to hunger for the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus through the gift of the Lord’s Supper. We look forward to the Marriage Feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom when no earthly pestilence, no virus, natural disaster, nor death itself, will be able to shut down the glories of heaven. Help us by your resurrection power, that we do not grow weary but grow in compassion and perseverance. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: O Jesus, during Your ministry on Earth You showed Your power and care by healing people of all ages and stations of life from physical, mental, and spiritual ailments. Be present now to people who need Your loving touch because of the Coronavirus. Deal mercifully with Joe Moore, a close friend and Grampa figure to Hannah Grant who has contracted the Corona virus in his 90s. May he feel Your power of healing through the care of doctors and nurses.
Take away the fear, anxiety, and feelings of isolation from people receiving treatment and those in our world who are under quarantine orders. Give us all sense of purpose in pursuing health and protecting others from exposure to the disease. Protect all families and friends threatened by this disease and bring peace to all by Your abiding presence. Lord in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: Comfort, merciful Lord, and graciously heal all those who are sick or infirm, disabled, or troubled, esp. those on our prayer list and most recently added, Randy Morton, Bob’s brother, Randy who was recently diagnosed with throat cancer. Watch over Loriann Reynolds’ Uncles John Cusack and Don Moravec both dealing with advanced cancer. And keep Your tender embrace around little Makayla Wolff, the Krantz’ precious grand-daughter, who was hospitalized with a respiratory virus but now is showing symptoms of Spinal Bifida.
Breathe Your life-giving Spirit into all in need, that hope, comfort, and peace in You may be theirs. Remind us that our ultimate healing is in the resurrection of the dead and the life, everlasting. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: Heavenly Father, we know that life is like a book. With each new
chapter, we learn and grow towards what you would have us be. Bless the birthday celebrations this week for Keith Szolga, Blake Bartimus, Zora Boggs, and Abby Willgohs. As the chapter of their past year is finished and recorded, now grant them faith, to face what is yet to be written, knowing that in Scripture, You have already finished and published for their comfort and joy, the final chapter for everyone in Christ, which culminates in the resurrection of the dead and the life to come. Lord in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: Lord of Life, we give You thanks for the arrival of Finley Brooks Grant this past Thursday. We know how fond of children You are. As you blessed the children who came to you, so bless little Finn. Protect our dear Hannah as she recovers in the hospital. Keep her safe from all harm and danger. We all look forward to the day of Finn’s baptism where You have promised Him the abundant life and the glories of heaven. Lord in your mercy.
C: Hear our prayer
P: Mighty and eternal God, we give you thanks for blessing Dale & Carol Schutte by granting them another year of marriage filled with love and mutual support. Protect them, O Lord, and grant that their love may be in the image of the devotion and love of Christ for his Church. Grant them a long and fruitful life together, in joy and in peace, so that, through your Son and in the Holy Spirit, their hearts may always rise to You in praise, and their lives may be continually lived in response to Your eternal goodness. 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 O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
P: Remember us in Your kingdom Lord, and teach us to pray,
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.
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.
C: Amen.
SENDING
P: Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God!
Please Enjoy and Sing along with our
CLOSING SONG
“Christ is Risen” Matt Maher