Third Sunday in Lent
March 7, 2010
Prelude O God beyond All Praising Tune: Thaxted
St. Matthew’s Ringers arr. Lee J. Afdahl
Welcome
We’re delighted to greet everyone in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, who takes away our sin and offers grace to all people. If you are a guest, please fill out the Guest Form. If you’re looking for a meaningful ministry with which to become involved, you are encouraged to speak with the Pastor.
Gathering
(Please stand)
Brief Order for Confession & Forgiveness
P We gather in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
C Amen.
P God of all mercy and consolation, come to the help of your people, turning us from our sin to live for you alone. Give us the power of your Holy Spirit that we may confess our sin, receive your forgiveness, and grow into the fullness of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
C Amen.
(Please kneel)
Confession
P Most merciful God,
C we confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. 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.
Absolution
P In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for his sake God forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the ς Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
C Amen.
(Please stand)
Entrance Hymn O God beyond All Praising Hymn 880
(1)
Greeting
P The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy
Spirit be with you all!
C
And, also with you.
Kyrie Music on
page 138
P In
peace, let us pray to the Lord.
C
Lord, have mercy.
P For the peace from above, and for
our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
C
Lord, have mercy.
P For the peace of the whole world,
for the well-being of the church of God, and for the unity
of all, let us pray to the Lord.
C
Lord, have mercy.
P For this holy house, and for all
who offer here their worship and praise, let us pray to the
Lord.
C
Lord, have mercy.
P Help, save, comfort, and defend
us, gracious Lord.
C
Amen.
Prayer
of the Day
P Eternal God, your kingdom has
broken into our troubled world through the life, death, and
resurrection of your Son. Help us to hear your word and
obey it, and bring your saving love to fruition in our
lives, through
Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C
Amen.
Children’s Sermon ?
Word
Lesson (Please sit)
Isaiah 55:1-9
To
those who have experienced long years in exile, the return
to their homeland is a celebration of abundant life. God
calls them into an everlasting covenant of love. Those who
return to the Lord will enjoy new life and forgiveness,
because God’s ways are not our
ways.
Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that
have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price. Why do you spend your
money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that
which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat
what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline
your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I
will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast,
sure love for David. See, I made him a witness to the
peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. See, you
shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that
do not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your
God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. Seek
the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is
near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous
their thoughts; let them return to the LORD, that he may
have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your
ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my
thoughts than your thoughts.
P The
Word of the Lord.
C
Thanks be to God.
Psalmody Psalm
63:1-8
God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Therefore I have gazed upon you in your holy place,
that I might behold your power and your glory.
For your steadfast love is better than life itself;
my lips shall give you praise.
So will I bless you as long as I live
and lift up my hands in your name.
R
My spirit is content, as with the richest of foods,
and my mouth praises you with joyful lips,
when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the night watches.
For you have been my helper,
and under the shadow of your wings I will rejoice.
My whole being clings to you;
your right hand holds me fast.
R
Lesson 1
Corinthians 10:1-13
Paul
uses images from Hebrew story and prophecy to speak the
truth of Jesus Christ: He is our rock, our water, our food,
and our drink. Christ is the living sign of God’s
faithfulness.
I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that
our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed
through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the
cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food,
and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from
the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was
Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of
them, and they were struck down in the wilderness. Now
these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might
not desire evil as they did. Do not become idolaters as
some of them did; as it is written, “The people sat down to
eat and drink, and they rose up to play.” We must not
indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and
twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put
Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed
by serpents. And do not complain as some of them did, and
were destroyed by the destroyer. These things happened to
them to serve as an example, and they were written down to
instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. So if
you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall.
No testing has overtaken you that is not common to
everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be
tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will
also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure
it.
Lenten
Acclamation (Please
stand)
Gospel Luke
13:1-9
P The
Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke, the thirteenth
chapter.
C
Glory to you, O Lord.
Asked
about current tragic events, Jesus turns a lesson about
whether suffering is deserved into a hard call to
obedience. He then tells a parable that holds out hope that
the timeline for ultimate judgment will be tempered by
patience.
At that very time there were some present who told him
about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with
their sacrifices. He asked them, “Do you think that because
these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse
sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but
unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.
Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam
fell on them — do you think that they were worse offenders
than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you;
but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they
did.” Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree
planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on
it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here!
For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig
tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be
wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one
more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If
it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you
can cut it down.’”
P The
Gospel of the Lord.
C
Praise to you, O Christ.
Sermon
(Please
sit) Listen to Jesus . . . Pastor
Robert Wallace
To His Call to Radical Discipleship
(Please
stand)
Hymn
of the Day Guide Me Ever, Great
Redeemer Hymn 618
Nicene
Creed
We
believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of
heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from
Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one
Being with the Father; through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was
incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary and became
truly human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius
Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day
he rose again in accordance with the scriptures; he
ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come
again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his
kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,* who with the
Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has
spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church. We
acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We
look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
The Prayer of the People (Please
kneel)
The prayers
conclude:
P Receive our prayers, holy God, and
give us all we need for this day and the days to come,
through the power of the Holy Spirit, and in the name of
Jesus Christ our Lord.
C
Amen.
Peace
(Please
stand)
P The peace of the Lord be with you
always.
C
And also with you.
(Please feel free to move about and share God’s Peace with
one another!)
Meal
Offering
(Please
sit)
Anthem
(8:30 am)
Jesus the very
Thought of You John Dykes
Family Choir
Anthem
(11:00 am)
Sicut
Servus G.
P. Palestrina
Gallery Choir
As the deer longs for the water brooks, so longs my soul
after you, O Lord
Offering
Response (Please stand)
Tune:
Passion
Chorale
C
What language shall I borrow to thank thee, dearest friend.
For this thy dying sorrow, thy pity without end?
Oh, make my thine forever, and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to thee.
(5)
Offering Prayer
P Holy God, gracious and merciful,
you bring forth food from the earth and nourish your whole
creation.
Turn our hearts toward those who hunger in any way, that
all may know your care; and prepare us now
to feast on the bread of life, Jesus Christ, our Savior and
Lord.
C
Amen.
The
Great Thanksgiving Music on Page 144
P The
Lord be with you.
C
And also with you.
P Lift up your hearts.
C
We lift them to the Lord.
P Let us give thanks to the Lord our
God.
C
It is right to give our thanks and
praise.
Proper
Preface
Sanctus
Music on Page 144
Holy, holy, holy Lord. God of pow’r and might
heaven and earth are full of your glory, Hosanna, Hosanna.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Words
of Thanksgiving
P . . . as we proclaim the mystery
of faith.
C
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come
again.
P . . . Grace our table with your
presence.
C
Come Holy Spirit.
P . . . Send us forth . . . peace
and love.
C
Come Holy Spirit.
Lord’s Prayer
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. Save us from the
time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom,
the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.
Communion
All baptized Christians are invited to share in the
Eucharist. Those who are not baptized, or wish to receive
only a blessing, are asked to fold their arms over their
chest. Communion will be by intinction (dipping). Please
follow the usher’s direction. If you are not physically
able to come forward to
receive communion, please inform the usher and someone will
come to you.
Music
at Distribution (Please sit)
(6)
Agnus
Dei Music on
page 146
Lamb of God you take away the sin of the world: have mercy
on us.
Lamb of God you take away the sin of the world: have mercy
on us.
Lamb of God you take away the sin of the world: grant us
peace.
Hymns
462, 807
Post
Communion Blessing and Prayer (Please
stand)
P Compassionate God, you have fed us
with the bread of heaven. Sustain us in our Lenten
pilgrimage: may our fasting be hunger for justice; our
alms, a making of peace; and our prayer, the song of
grateful hearts, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
C
Amen.
P
The Lord bless you and
keep you. The Lord’s face shine on you with grace and
mercy. The Lord look upon you with favor and
ς give you
peace.
C
Amen.
Sending
Hymn Lord,
Dismiss Us with Your Blessing Hymn 545
Dismissal
P
Go in peace. Serve the
Lord.
C
Thanks be to God.
Postlude
__________________________________________
Music reproduced with permission
by Augsburg Fortress.
Liturgies License # 23349
You may use this Bulletin to cover your parking in the
Francis Marion or
Camden (former Hutson Street) Garage.
St.
Matthew’s Lutheran Church * 405 King Street * Charleston,
SC * 843.723.1611