Prelude
Rhosymedre Ralph Vaughan Williams
Welcome & Announcements
*Kyrie, Confession & Forgiveness
Blessed be the holy Trinity, one God, who forgives all our sin,
whose mercy endures forever. Amen.
Let us now confess our sin before God, who removes our guilt
and blots out all offenses.
Gracious God,
have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.
For seeking worldly delights that deceive us and dishonor you: Gracious God,
have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.
For desiring self-reliance instead of hungering for your word:
Gracious God,
have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.
For failing to recognize your coming reign, and for hindering the work of the Spirit: Gracious God,
have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.
For drawing from the well of self-serving ambition, and for disdaining the living water Christ offers: Gracious God,
have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.
For disregarding voices from the margin, and for distrusting signs of your healing and hope in the world: Gracious God,
have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.
For dwelling in tombs of self-pity and discontent, and for disregarding Christ’s call to come forth to life: Gracious God,
have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.
God’s steadfast love, grace, and forgiveness abound. Through faith, the free gift of God, you have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. The Spirit of the One who raised Christ from the dead dwells in you,
pours God’s love into your hearts, and gives you life and peace.
Amen.
*Gathering Hymn Lift High the Cross
*Prayer of the Day
O God, our leader and guide, in the waters of baptism you bring us to new birth to live as your children. Strengthen our faith in your promises, that by your Spirit we may lift up your life to all the world through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
Old Testament Reading Genesis 12:1-4a
1 The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
4a So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him.
Word of God, Word of Life. Thanks be to God.
Psalm 121
1 I lift up my eyes | to the hills;
from where is my | help to come?
2 My help comes | from the Lord,
the maker of heav- | en and earth.
3 The Lord will not let your | foot be moved
nor will the one who watches over you | fall asleep.
4 Behold, the keep- | er of Israel
will neither slum- | ber nor sleep; R
5 the Lord watches | over you;
the Lord is your shade at | your right hand;
6 the sun will not strike | you by day,
nor the | moon by night.
7 The Lord will preserve you | from all evil
and will | keep your life.
8 The Lord will watch over your going out and your | coming in,
from this time forth for- | evermore. R
The Epistle Lesson Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
1 What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. 5 But to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.
13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law, neither is there transgression.
16 For this reason the promise depends on faith, in order that it may rest on grace, so that it may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (who is the father of all of us, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”), in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
Word of God, Word of Life. Thanks be to God.
*Gospel Acclamation
*Gospel John 3:1-17 Glory to you O Lord
1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with that person.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
11 “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen, yet you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.
Sermon Pastor Kurt Christenson
*Hymn of the Day Great God Your Love Has Called Us
*Prayers of Intercession
Response to each petition: Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
*Apostle’s Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s 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 to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and 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.
*Exchange of Peace
The peace of the Lord be with you. And also with you.
Offering
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Offering Music Meditation on Resignation: My Shepherd
Will Supply My Need Arr Charles Callahan
Offering Prayer
God our provider, you have not fed us with bread alone, but with words of grace and life. Bless us and these your gifts, which we receive from your bounty, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
*Eucharistic Prayer
On the night our Lord Jesus was betrayed, …
…through whom all glory and honor are yours, almighty Father, with the Holy Spirit, in your holy church, both now and forever. Amen.
*Sanctus
Blessed are you, O God of the universe. Your mercy is everlasting
and your faithfulness endures from age to age….
…With this bread and cup we remember our Lord’s passover from death to life as we proclaim the mystery of faith:
O God of resurrection and new life: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us
and on these gifts of bread and wine. Bless this feast. Grace our table with your presence.
Come, Holy Spirit.
Reveal yourself to us in the breaking of the bread. Raise us up as the body of Christ for the world. Breathe new life into us. Send us forth,
burning with justice, peace, and love.
Come, Holy Spirit.
With your holy ones of all times and places, with the earth and all its creatures, with sun and moon and stars, we praise you, O God,
blessed and holy Trinity, now and forever.
Agnus Dei
Communion Distribution
Communion Anthem
O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High
O love, how deep, how broad, how high! / It fills the heart with ecstasy, / that God, the Son of God, should take
our mortal form, for mortal’s sake.
For us he was baptized and bore / his holy fast, and hungered sore,
for us temptation sharp he knew, / for us the tempter overthrew.
For us he prayed, for us he taught, for us his daily works he wrought.
by words and signs and actions thus /still seeking not himself but us.
For us to wicked hands betrayed,/ scourged, mocked, in purple robe arrayed, / he bore the shameful cross and death,/
for us at length gave up his breath.
Eternal glory to our God / for love so deep, so high, so broad;
the trinity whom we adore / forever and forevermore.
*Post Communion Blessing, Canticle and Prayer
God of our salvation, we give you thanks for this meal that restores our souls, reconciles us to you, and strengthens us for the journey. Through the body and blood of your Son you have imprinted your image so that we may we become Christ’s body in the world, bearing witness to your love for all creation, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
*Sending Hymn Hope of the World verses 1,2,4
*Blessing & Dismissal
Receive the blessing of the holy Trinity: God, who calls all things into existence, Jesus Christ, who redeems us, and the Holy Spirit, whose breath sustains all creation, bless you now and always. Amen.
Go in peace. Believe the good news.
Thanks be to God.
Postlude
I Need Thee Every Hour Robert Lowry arr. James Kasen
