Prelude
Greeting and Welcome
Lighting of the Candles
Hymn of Invocation – Jesus, I Will Ponder Now (LSB 440, verses 1-3)
Jesus, I will ponder now
On Your holy passion;
With Your Spirit me endow
For such meditation.
Grant that I in love and faith
May the image cherish
Of Your suff’ring, pain, and death
That I may not perish.
Make me see Your great distress,
Anguish, and affliction,
Bonds and stripes and wretchedness
And Your crucifixion;
Make me see how scourge and rod,
Spear and nails did wound You,
How for them You died, O God,
Who with thorns had crowned You.
Yet, O Lord, not thus alone
Make me see Your passion,
But its cause to me make known
And its termination.
Ah! I also and my sin
Wrought Your deep affliction;
This indeed the cause has been
Of Your crucifixion.
+ Preparation +
Invocation
P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
Confession and Absolution
P: Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
C: and cleanse me from my sin!
P: Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your steadfast love;
C: according to Your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
Silence for meditation and reflection.
P: Merciful Father,
C: we beg You, O Lord, to have mercy upon us sinners. Though we deserve nothing of Your kindness, deliver us according to the mercy You have promised in Your Son, Jesus Christ, and restore us as Your own sons and daughters. Forgive us all our sins, create in us new and contrite hearts, and instill in us the will and desire for all that is good and right and true. Make us to know Your will and grant us Your Holy Spirit 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.
P: May the Lord, who has begun this good work in us, bring it to completion in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
C: Amen.
+ Word +
Introit
P: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
C: Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
P: For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
C: Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
P: Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
C: Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
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: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
Salutation and Prayer of the Day
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Let us pray. Almighty God, our heavenly Father, Your mercies are new every morning; and though we deserve only punishment, You receive us as Your children and provide for all our needs of body and soul. Grant that we may heartily acknowledge Your merciful goodness, give thanks for all Your benefits, and serve You in willing obedience; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
First Reading – Isaiah 12:1–6
You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.
“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.
“Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Epistle – 2 Corinthians 5:16–21
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Holy Gospel – John 16:23-28
P: The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the sixteenth chapter.
C: Glory to You, O Lord.
In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to You, O Christ.
Nicene Creed
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.
Children’s Hymn – Standin’ in the Need of Prayer (AGPS 220)
Not my brother, nor my sister,
But it’s me, O Lord,
Standin’ in the need of prayer;
Not my brother, nor my sister,
But it’s me, O Lord,
Standin’ in the need of prayer. Refrain
Refrain: It’s me, it’s me, O Lord,
Standin’ in the need of prayer;
It’s me, it’s me, O Lord,
Standin’ in the need of prayer.
Not my father, nor my mother,
But it’s me, O Lord,
Standin’ in the need of prayer;
Not my father, nor my mother,
But it’s me, O Lord,
Standin’ in the need of prayer. Refrain
Children’s Sermon – Janet Leet
Hymn of the Day – What a Friend We Have in Jesus (LSB 770)
What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Ev’rything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit;
Oh, what needless pain we bear—
All because we do not carry
Ev’rything to God in prayer!
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our ev’ry weakness—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Are we weak and heavy laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee;
Thou wilt find a solace there.
Sermon
