St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church

Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 21, 2010


Prelude Music of Johann Sebastian Bach (b. March 21, 1685; d. July 28, 1750)

Sonata in E-Flat, BWV 1031
Siciliano
Allegro
Allison Davis, flute

Suite in D minor, BWV 1008
Prelude
Sarabande
Adam Collins, cello

Prelude in E Flat (St. Anne), BWV 552
Charles Tompkins, organ


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 Let the Whole Creation Cry Hymn 876

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 (sung in German) J. S. Bach Christina Carviou - soloist

Kyrie! God, Father in Eternity! Great is your mercy, creator and ruler
of all things. Eleison.

Christ, comforter of the whole world! You alone have redeemed us
sinners. O Jesus, Son of God! You are our mediator at the highest throne.
To you we cry with heart’s desire. Eleison.

Kyrie! God, Holy Spirit, comfort, strengthen us above all in faith that we
gladly depart from this misery at our death. Eleison.

Prayer of the Day

P Creator God, you prepare a new way in the wilderness, and your grace waters our desert. Open our hearts
to be transformed by the new thing you are doing, that our lives may proclaim the extravagance of your love
given to all through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C Amen.

Word

Lesson
(Please sit) Isaiah 43:16-21

The prophet declares that long ago the Lord performed mighty deeds and delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage through the waters of the sea. Now, the Lord is about to do a new thing, bringing the exiles out of Babylon and through the wilderness in a new exodus.

Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people,
the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.

P The Word of the Lord.
C Thanks be to God.


Psalmody Psalm 130 John Rutter
Adam Collins, cello

Lesson Philippians 3:4b-14

Writing to Christians in Philippi, Paul admits that his heritage and reputation could give him more reason than most people to place confidence in his spiritual pedigree. But the overwhelming grace of God in Jesus calls Paul to a new set of values.

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

P The Word of the Lord.
C Thanks be to God.

Lenten Acclamation (Please stand)




Gospel
John 12:1-8

P The Holy Gospel according to Saint John, the twelfth chapter.
C Glory to you, O Lord.



Judas willfully misinterprets as waste Mary’s extravagant act of anointing Jesus’ feet with costly perfume. Jesus recognizes that her lavish gift is both an expression of love and an anticipation of his burial.

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor? (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

P The Gospel of the Lord.
C Glory to you, O Lord.

Sermon (Please sit) Listen to Jesus . . . Pastor Robert Wallace
To His Willing Sacrifice and Humiliation

(Please stand)
Hymn of the Day Our Father, We Have Wandered Hymn 606

Holy Baptism
(11:00 am) Page 227

Nicene Creed (8:30 am)

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) Jesu dulcis memoria Tomas Luis da Victoria

Jesu dulcis memoria Jesus, the very thought of Thee

Dans vera cordis gaudia: With sweetness fills the breast
Sed super mel et omnia But sweeter far your face to see,
Ejus dulcis presentia And rest within your light.


Jesus I Adore Thee Stephen Caracciolo

Offering Response (Please stand) Tune: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

C Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

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
(sung in German) Felix Mendelssohn

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)

Grant Peace We Pray Felix Mendelssohn

Ubi Caritas Ola Gjeilo
Where charity and love prevail,
There God is ever found;
Let us with heart and mind and soul
By love we thus are bound.

Come to Him Marc Kilstofte

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.

Post Communion Canticle
Dona Nobis Pacem J. S. Bach
from Mass in B Minor
Grant us peace.
Prayer
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 O Spirit of Life Hymn 403

Dismissal
P Go in peace. Serve the Lord.
C Thanks be to God.

Postlude
We All Believe in One God J. S. Bach
Paul Thomas, organ


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St. Matthew’s welcomes today, the
Furman University Chamber Choir, under the direction of Dr. William D. Thomas, Jr. and accompanied by organist, Dr. Charles Tompkins. The Choir is made up of some of Furman’s most outstanding singing musicians. A vital part of a choral program well known for its excellence, the Choir is committed to the thorough preparation and insightful performance of a wide variety of traditional and contemporary choral music. Chosen by careful audition and rewarded with a significant scholarship, each singer brings to the ensemble a sense of dedication, purpose and care. Though all are capable of dramatic solo singing, the singers’ commitment to unity and beauty of ensemble tone creates a remarkable range and quality of sound. The choir regularly performs a wide range of sacred music in churches throughout the region.

Today, March 21, at 4pm, the Furman University Chamber Choir will sing Evensong and a concert at the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul, 126 Coming Street in downtown Charleston. This event is open without charge to the public. Cathedral phone: 843-722-7345. Questions: email William Gudger at gudgerw@yahoo.com




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Music reproduced with permission by Augsburg Fortress.
Liturgies License # 23349







St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church * 405 King Street * Charleston, SC * 843.723.1611


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