Prelude – Festival Alleluia
Greeting and Welcome
Lighting of the Candles
Hymn of Invocation – Holy, Holy, Holy (LSB 507)
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, blessèd Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Which wert and art and evermore shalt be.
Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see,
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in pow’r, in love, and purity.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth and sky and sea.
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, blessèd Trinity!
+ Preparation +
Invocation
P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit
C: Amen.
Confession and Absolution
P: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
C: But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Silence for reflection on God's Word and for self-examination.
P: Let us then confess our sins to God our Father.
C: Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. 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. 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: Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. 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.
+ Word +
Introit for the Holy Trinity
P: Blessèd be the Holy Trinity and the undivided Unity.
Let us give glory to him because he has shown his mercy to us.
C: I have set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
P: Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
C: For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.
P: You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
All: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen
P: Blessèd be the Holy Trinity and the undivided Unity.
Let us give glory to him because he has shown his mercy to us.
Salutation and Prayer of the Day
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, You have given us grace to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity by the confession of a true faith and to worship the Unity in the power of the Divine Majesty. Keep us steadfast in this faith and defend us from all adversities; for You, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, live and reign, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
First Reading – Isaiah 6:1–8
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 1:18–31
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Holy Gospel – John 3:1–17
P: The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the third chapter.
C: Glory to You, O Lord.
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
[Jesus said:] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to You, O Christ.
Children’s Hymn – Father, I Adore You (AGPS 94)
Father, I adore you,
Lay my life before you,
How I love you.
Jesus, I adore you,
Lay my life before you,
How I love you.
Spirit, I adore you,
Lay my life before you,
How I love you.
Children’s Sermon – Tim Cosby
Hymn of the Day – Eternal Father, Strong to Save (LSB 717)
Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep:
O hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea.
O Christ, the Lord of hill and plain,
O’er which our traffic runs amain
By mountain pass or valley low;
Wherever, Lord, Thy people go,
Protect them by Thy guarding hand
From ev’ry peril on the land.
O Spirit, whom the Father sent
To spread abroad the firmament;
O Wind of heaven, by Thy might
Save all who dare the eagle’s flight,
And keep them by Thy watchful care
From ev’ry peril in the air.
Sermon
Nicene Creed
C: 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 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 He 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.
And 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.
Prayer of the Church
+ Celebrating birthdays this week: 30 – Debbie Jacobson, Joe Lauber; 1 – Jules Bush, Brent Steele, Corrine Gutzler; 3 – Doug Grimm, Hannah Grimm; 4 – Amanda Bach, Ron Froesel; 5 – Joseph Ryan;
+ Wedding anniversaries: 30 – Steve & Phyllis Phelps; 2 – Terry & Jennifer Buchholz, David & Gale Reed; 3 – Steve & Cathie Albers, Scott & Ann Jonas; 5 – Mike & Laura Murphy
Special Celebrations and Needs:
+ Church family members: Robert Lubben, celebrating the birth of grandson Andrew; family and friends of Joan Winkler, upon her death; Mary Aufderheide, recovering from a fall; Jane Robinson, upon the loss of her father; Pat Steele, recovering from a fall
+ Friends of our congregation: Nathan & Brittany, friends of Becci Lauber Sasser, upon Nathan’s diagnosis of colon cancer
+ Those who are homebound or in nursing facilities: Mary Guion, Corinne Gutzler, Anne Hammann, Ruth Wussler
