| Prelude Greeting and Welcome Lighting of the Candles Hymn of Invocation – A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth (LSB 438) A Lamb goes uncomplaining forth, The guilt of sinners bearing And, laden with the sins of earth, None else the burden sharing; Goes patient on, grows weak and faint, To slaughter led without complaint, That spotless life to offer, He bears the stripes, the wounds, the lies, The mockery, and yet replies, “All this I gladly suffer.” This Lamb is Christ, the soul’s great friend, The Lamb of God, our Savior, Whom God the Father chose to send To gain for us His favor. “Go forth, My Son,” the Father said, “And free My children from their dread Of guilt and condemnation. The wrath and stripes are hard to bear, But by Your passion they will share The fruit of Your salvation.” “Yes, Father, yes, most willingly I’ll bear what You command Me. My will conforms to Your decree, I’ll do what You have asked Me.” O wondrous Love, what have You done! The Father offers up His Son, Desiring our salvation. O Love, how strong You are to save! You lay the One into the grave Who built the earth’s foundation. Lord, when Your glory I shall see And taste Your kingdom’s pleasure, Your blood my royal robe shall be, My joy beyond all measure! When I appear before Your throne, Your righteousness shall be my crown; With these I need not hide me. And there, in garments richly wrought, As Your own bride shall we be brought To stand in joy beside You. + Preparation + Invocation P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. C: Amen. Opening Sentences - Psalm 119:33–35, 40–41 P: Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes; and I will keep it to the end. C: Give me understanding, that I may keep Your law and observe it with my whole heart. P: Lead me in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it. C: Behold, I long for Your precepts; in Your righteousness give me life! Let Your steadfast love come to me, O Lord, Your salvation according to Your promise. Confession and Absolution P: Let us make confession of our sins to God, our gracious, heavenly Father. C: Eternal God, we confess that we all have sinned and need forgiveness. By nature, we are sinful from the very beginnings of our lives. Through our thoughts, words, and deeds, we continually sin against You. We have lived for ourselves in many ways, breaking Your commands that direct us not to lie, steal, or transgress Your holy will. We have walked in the darkness of bad choices and have left unfulfilled opportunities to do good and be blessings to others. O God, in Your mercy forgive our sin and free us from selfishness and indifference, that we may joyfully follow Your will and gladly obey Your commandments. Graciously forgive our sins and direct us in ways of compassion and love. P: God promises to hear those who turn to Him with repentant hearts. Upon this your confession, in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it. Go in + peace. C: Amen. + Word + Introit P: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. C: I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. P: Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. C: The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. P: Then I called on the name of the Lord: "O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!" C: For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. 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: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
Salutation and Prayer of the Day P: The Lord be with you. C: And also with you. P: Let us pray. Faithful God, whose grace attends us all our days, look upon us in mercy and renew us by Your Holy Spirit. Direct our steps into pathways of peace and lead us to discover all that is good and right and true. Preserve us in Your righteousness and at last bring us to Your eternal kingdom where You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. C: Amen. First Reading – Ezekiel 37:1–14 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.” P: This is the Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God.
Epistle – Romans 8:1–11 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. P: This is the Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God.
Holy Gospel – Matthew 24:45-51 P: The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the twenty-fourth chapter. C: Glory to You, O Lord.
“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord. C: Praise to You, O Christ. Apostles' Creed I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His 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 into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life + everlasting. Amen. Children’s Hymn – Make Me a Servant (AGPS 174) Make me a servant, humble and meek, Lord, let me lift up those who are weak. And may the pray’r of my heart always be: Make me a servant, make me a servant, Make me a servant today. (Repeat) Children’s Message – Janet Leet Hymn of the Day – Lord, Whose Love through Humble Service (LSB 848) Lord, whose love through humble service Bore the weight of human need, Who upon the cross, forsaken, Offered mercy’s perfect deed, We, Your servants, bring the worship Not of voice alone, but heart, Consecrating to Your purpose Ev’ry gift that You impart. Still Your children wander homeless; Still the hungry cry for bread; Still the captives long for freedom; Still in grief we mourn our dead. As, O Lord, Your deep compassion Healed the sick and freed the soul, Use the love Your Spirit kindles Still to save and make us whole. As we worship, grant us vision, Till Your love’s revealing light In its height and depth and greatness, Dawns upon our quickened sight, Making known the needs and burdens Your compassion bids us bear, Stirring us to tireless striving, Your abundant life to share. Called by worship to Your service, Forth in Your dear name we go, To the child, the youth, the aged, Love in living deeds to show; Hope and health, goodwill and comfort, Counsel, aid, and peace we give, That Your servants, Lord, in freedom May Your mercy know and live. Sermon | 
