THE COMMISSION FOR A RENEWED LUTHERAN CHURCH:

HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE

The ELCA’s Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church (CRLC) was formed in response to action taken by the ELCA’s 2022 Churchwide Assembly. The assembly directed the Church Council “to establish a Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church” which would be “particularly attentive to our shared commitment to dismantle racism” and would “present its findings and recommendations to the 2025 Churchwide Assembly in preparation for a possible reconstituting convention.”  

As I wrote in my February 2024 Letter from the Director (LINK), the phrase “dismantle racism” is very significant. It reflects the position that racism is not just something that some people think and do. Rather imbedded into the very nature of our society are structures that privilege and empower certain races (white people) and disempower, victimize, and marginalize all other races (BIPOC people). The ELCA is therefore saying that it is not enough to just be non-racist – to not use racist language. We must be anti-racist. We must break down the structures that empower some and dis-empower everyone else. As I also wrote in the February 2024 letter, the report of the “Dismantling Racism” internal committee during the Commission’s November 30-December 2 meeting took the concept even further. According to that committee, it is important that all of the work of the Commission “is completed through an intersectional lens of dismantling racism.” Those also are very significant words. According to the concept of intersectionality, the various systems that privilege and empower some and victimize and disempower everyone else are so intertwined and interconnected that all of these systems need to be dismantled, whether they be white supremacy, male dominance, agism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, heteronormativity, or whatever.

Because of all that is involved with the concepts of dismantling racism and intersectionality, I was alarmed when I listened to a video on the Commission’s Facebook page from the two co-chairpersons, Carla Christopher and Leon Schwartz. A link to that Facebook page can be found HERE.  In that video Pastor Christopher said, “The language of the memorial and the commitment from each of the members of the CRLC also named dismantling oppression and ensuring equity wherever possible throughout our governing documents and the structure of the church.” 

Concerned enough about the full and actual meaning of “dismantling racism,” and then being even more concerned by her changing the language from “dismantling racism” to “dismantling oppression,” I wrote to her. Among my questions were the following –

·      What is the difference between dismantling racism and dismantling oppression?

·      Is the focus of the Commission going to be on “dismantling racism” (which I would interpret as more narrowly defined) or “dismantling oppression” (which I would interpret as more broadly defined)? 

·      If the focus is on “dismantling oppression,” how did that change come about and what will it mean? 

·      How will it be determined who is experiencing oppression? 

·      Will the working assumption be that if anyone feels oppressed, claims to be oppressed, and/or identifies as someone who is oppressed, that person is oppressed?

I then concluded by asking – since all the members of the ELCA with traditional views who speak up will probably be among the oppressed (even though they represent the majority of the people in the pews) – what will the Commission be doing to address that anticipated oppression?

I also responded to her saying that each of the members of the Commission is committed to “ensuring equity wherever possible throughout our governing documents and the structure of the church.” As glaring examples of inequity within the ELCA I mentioned the complete lack of speakers with traditional views at youth gatherings and Reconciling Works’ having a voice but no vote position on the ELCA Church Council while no organization with traditional views is in the same favored, privileged position.

Within less than two hours I received a response which I considered to be very dismissive and sloppy. In her email she backpedaled from dismantling oppression to dismantling racism. She also mentioned the “limited time and finite resources” of the Commission, insisted that the focus of the Commission “is specifically about structure and governance and constitutional language that may be more helpfully updated or clarified,” mentioned the “diversity of views” among the members of the Commission “regarding institutional structures and the relationships between the current three expressions of church,” and stated the desire of the Commission not to “duplicate or interrupt the work of other task forces,” such as the task force that is working on the statement on human sexuality.

In my response to her response, I did not bring up her mentioning the “limited time and finite resources” of the Commission. But I would say that twenty-two months have passed since the 2022 Churchwide Assembly, which directed the ELCA Church Council to form the Commission, while only fourteen months remain until the 2025 Churchwide Assembly, to whom the Commission is to “present its findings and recommendations . . . in preparation for a possible reconstituting convention.” Unless the Commission does far more in the next fourteen months than it has done in the past twenty-two months, I do not see it as having a report that will satisfy those who were instrumental in the passing of the resolution to form the Commission.    

However, I did respond – in order – to several other things she said in her email.

First, in regard to her backpedaling from “dismantling oppression” to “dismantling racism,” I reminded her of the significance of the “intersectionality” language from the “Dismantling Racism” internal committee (which I discussed in the second paragraph of this letter). I told her that I interpreted her mentioning “dismantling oppression” in light of that statement from that committee.

Second, the major part of my email was in response to her stating that the focus of the Commission “is specifically about structure and governance and constitutional language that may be more helpfully updated or clarified.” I shared with her how that statement reminded me of the comments made by the two members of the Commission who held a Listening Session for members of the Grand Canyon Synod, the Synod in which I am rostered. They said that the work of the Commission is focused on structure and governance and that there is no pre-determined outcome to the work of the Commission.

I wrote to Pastor Christopher, “Personally I find that very hard to believe. Everything from the makeup of the Commission – whom the ELCA Church Council chose to serve on the Commission – to the reports of the work of the Commission points to a pre-determined outcome.”

In regards to the makeup of the Commission, I pointed out that 20% – 7 out of 35 – are DEIA officers and/or leaders at their place of employment and/or influence and that the three members of the Commission who serve as assistants to a synodical bishop all work in the area of social justice activism. 

I then gave her a link to the article I wrote for the September 2023 issue of our newsletter, CORE Voice, where I discussed the makeup of the Commission – Once You Know the Makeup, You Know the Outcome – Lutheran Coalition for Renewal (CORE)

Regarding the work of the Commission, I also gave her a link to my February 2024 Letter from the Director, where I did an analysis of their November 30-December 2 meeting. LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR – FEBRUARY 2024 – Lutheran Coalition for Renewal (CORE)

I continued by saying, “I do not see any way in which someone could claim that the Commission is merely concerned with governance and structure and its work does not have a pre-determined outcome. Rather the Commission was formed and is working hard to create a whole new church whose values and priorities will be based not upon Scripture, but upon critical race theory and DEIA ideology.”

Third, I responded to her saying that the Commission was formed so that it would have “a diversity of views regarding institutional structures and the relationships between the current three expressions of church.” I wrote, “The members of the Commission may have a diversity of views on those issues. There is certainly nothing in the reports from the meetings of the Commission that would tell me one way or the other. But the reports of your meetings certainly suggest no diversity of views in regard to the values and priorities that should shape the new Lutheran church.” 

Fourth, in response to her saying that the Commission will “stay within our scope and not duplicate or interrupt the work of other task forces,” such as the task force that is working on the statement on human sexuality, I said, “I certainly understand and would agree with that approach.” I explained that I mentioned the complete lack of speakers with traditional views at youth gatherings and ReconcilingWorks’ having a voice but no vote position on the ELCA Church Council but no organization with traditional views being in the same favored, privileged position not because I believe that these are matters that the Commission should concern itself with. Instead they are examples of how – even though each of the members of the Commission has made a commitment to “ensuring equity wherever possible throughout our governing documents and the structure of the church” – it is abundantly clear that in regard to the various positions on human sexuality, equity does not exist in the ELCA. 

I concluded by saying, “Thank you again for hearing and considering my concerns. Blessings in Christ.” I signed the letter – 

Dennis D. Nelson

Retired ELCA Pastor

Executive Director of Lutheran CORE

So far I have not received a response.

 

* * * * * * *

VIDEO MINISTRIES

“A SHORT COURSE ON PRAYER”

by CATHY AMMLUNG AND TIM HUBERT

Many thanks to NALC pastors Cathy Ammlung and Tim Hubert for giving us a review of Tim’s book, “A Short Course on Prayer.” A link to their video review and be found HERE. A link to our You Tube channel, which contains reviews of around three dozen books as well as a dozen CORE Convictions videos on various topics related to the Christian faith and life, can be found HERE. 

This review is unusual in that it is more of an interview. Tim and Cathy have been friends for over forty years, and he was her ordination sponsor almost thirty-five years ago. Cathy has used various iterations of his manual on prayer throughout her ministry.

In this video review/interview, Cathy briefly describes the layout of the book. But mostly, she and Tim talk about his inspiration for writing it. They discuss the stumbling blocks to prayer experienced by many people. They examine some of the sixteen “prayer forms” in the first half of the book. And they reflect on some of the weightier issues about prayer: the joys and warnings, the hostility of the devil, and the spiritual warfare we are thrust into. Front and center is the insistence that prayer is a conversation, not a monologue. God himself provides words, topics, and insights for that conversation, and his Word grounds and centers every prayer form, directly or indirectly.

The interview is informal and casual, reflecting their long friendship and years of conversation on prayer as well as many other topics.

Folks interested in Tim’s book, for themselves or as a manual for an adult study group, may contact Cathy at cammlung@gmail.com. She will put you in touch with Tim!

 

In my previous two articles, I talked about the dilemma facing De-churched Lutherans.  Some cannot find an orthodox Lutheran parish in their area.  Some have been made to feel unwelcome in their former congregation.  Others belong to a congregation that cannot find a pastor.

I have suggested that there is help for De-churched Lutherans.  There is no reason that a group of Lutherans who have no congregation or who cannot find a pastor should give up.  Lutheran lay people can gather together for prayer and Bible study.  As I have mentioned before, there are services found within Lutheran hymnals that may be led by lay people.  These include the prayer offices of Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and Compline, along with the Service of the Word.  (Check the Table of Contents in the Lutheran Book of Worship or the Lutheran Service Book.)

This month, however, I want to discuss resources that are available for you from Lutheran CORE. First of all, there are Daily Devotions available for personal use.  Dr. Jeffrey Greene writes Daily Devotions for Lutheran CORE.  Dr. Douglas Schoelles hosts a podcast called The Daily Plunge Bible Study. 

For adult education, Lutheran CORE has a Video Ministry that includes Book Reviews and series of videos in theological topics called “CORE Convictions”.  In addition, Pastor Dennis Nelson, records a Weekly Bible Study on the Lectionary Readings each week. 

For those who would like to hold a weekly worship service, Lutheran CORE has a Worship Page.  Pastor Cathy Ammlung has developed Hymn Suggestions and Prayers of the Church for each Sunday of the Church Year.  In addition, she offers Hymns and Liturgy Paraphrases for congregational use which she will be updating after Easter.

Finally, for congregations that are either too small or who have failed to find a pastor, there is hope.  Small congregations and worshipping communities can raise up leaders from within. The Congregational Lay-Led Initiative (CLI) offers training and mentoring for lay leaders.  The intent is not to replace pastors or seminary education but equip lay people for ministry in their own congregations and communities.  If the lay leaders in your congregation need help, or if you would like to form a small worshipping community, Don Brandt would love to talk with you. 

Of course, Lutheran CORE is not the only place you can go for help.  Our ministry partners also have many resources that you can use. In particular, I recommend that you look at two independent Lutheran publishers, SOLA Publishing and ALPB Publicity Bureau.  SOLA Publishing offers weekly worship resources, Sunday School, Confirmation, and adult education curricula in print and on video, and much more.  ALPB publishes books that would be very helpful for adult education worship planning.  Of most interest, however, is the four volume series on daily prayer called For All the Saints.  A congregation that wanted to gather weekly for Morning or Evening Prayer would have all they need to make that happen, excluding hymns and musical settings for the services. 

There is hope for De-churched Lutherans.  Let us know how we can help.

 

The First Half of the Season of Pentecost, Cycle A

June 11 – September 3, 2023

 

NOTE: LBW – Lutheran Book of Worship (The Green Book)

WOV – With One Voice (The Blue Book)

LSB – Lutheran Service Book (The Maroon Book)
ELW – Evangelical Lutheran Worship (The Cranberry Book)

 

There are versions of some hymns that are superior in LSB and I recommend using them if possible. Also, there are some superb hymns in LSB that aren’t available in the other hymnals. When I suggest one of the latter, I try to include an alternative from LBW or WOV. I recommend that a license and DVD of downloadable hymns from LSB be purchased if you are looking to expand your hymnody. There are, in ELW, some familiar hymns that have been drastically altered, which I try to note. ELW also has some fine hymns not available in the other hymnals, or has, interestingly, a more “traditional” translation or harmonization.

 

Color for the day is indicated for each Sunday. Primary liturgical calendar taken from Sola Publishing (www.solapublishing.org), based on LSB. Also, I include the lessons from the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) found in ELW and used in some congregations. It often overlaps the Sola/LCMS calendar lectionary, but when there are differences, I will note them.

 

I’ve also included a complete Tenebrae service for Good Friday. This is one I’ve used at my little churches. Feel free to use different hymns, but the ones I chose seemed to fit the readings.

 

Because some of the prayers of confession, as well as offertory and post-communion prayers, provided on certain resource pages lack theological heft or linguistic elegance, I have added some seasonal prayers that you are free to cut, paste, and revise as needed. They are modified from the copyright-free Online Book of Common Prayer, or are my own creation. These are found on the following pages. The regular prayers of intercession will, as usual, be provided weekly in their own Word documents.

 

 

 

For General/Green Season Use: A Brief Order of Confession and Holy Absolution

 

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son+, and of the Holy Spirit: Amen.

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.

Silence may be kept.

Most merciful God, we confess that 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 are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen.

 

For General/Green Season Use: The Gospel Acclamation (Spoken)

Alleluia. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of eternal life. Alleluia.

OR

Alleluia. Your Word, O Lord, is truth; consecrate us in the truth. Alleluia.

 

 

For General/Green Season Use: The Offertory Prayer

Let us pray. Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated unto

you; and then use us, we pray you, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

OR

 

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we humbly offer to you the gifts of our treasures, talents, and time. Use them to you glory, and for the benefit of all your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

 

For General/Green Season Use: The Great Thanksgiving and Proper Preface

 

The Lord be with you. And also with you.

Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give him thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. For you are the source of light and life, you made us in your image, and called us to new life in Jesus Christ our Lord; who on the first day of the week overcame death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life. Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of heaven, who forever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your Name:

 

For General/Green Season Use: The Eucharistic Prayer

 

Holy and gracious Father: In your infinite love you made us for yourself, and, when we had fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death, you, in your mercy, sent Jesus Christ, your only and eternal Son, to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to you, the God and Father of all. He stretched out his arms upon the cross, and offered himself, in obedience to your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world.

On the night he was handed over to suffering and death, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread; and when he had given thanks to you, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, and said, “Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.” After supper he took the cup of wine; and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and said, “Drink this, all of you: This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.”

Therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith:

Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

We celebrate the memorial of our redemption, O Father, with praise and thanksgiving. Recalling our Savior’s death, resurrection, and ascension, we pray that you would sanctify these gifts by your Holy Spirit, to be for your people the Body and Blood of your Son, the holy food and drink of new and unending life in him. Sanctify us also that we may faithfully receive this holy Sacrament, and serve you in unity, constancy, and peace; and at the last day bring us with all your saints into the joy of your eternal kingdom.

 

All this we ask through your Son Jesus Christ: By him, and with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and forever. AMEN.

 

OR

 

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts. Sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

On the night he was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, “Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.”

 

After supper, he took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, “Drink this, all of you: This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.”

 

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. By means of this holy bread and cup, we proclaim his death and resurrection, until he comes again. Gather us by this Holy Communion into one body in your Son Jesus Christ. Make us a living sacrifice of praise. By him, and with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and forever. AMEN.

 

 

For General/Green Season Use: Post-Communion Prayer

Eternal God, heavenly Father, you have graciously accepted us as living members

of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, and you have fed us with spiritual food in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood. Send us now into the world in peace, and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

OR

Almighty and ever-living God, we thank you for feeding us with the most precious Body and Blood of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; and for assuring us that we are living members of the Body of your Son, and heirs of your eternal kingdom. Send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

 

 

 

June 11, 2023: 2^nd Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 5

OR St. Barnabas, Apostle

 

For 2 Pentecost

Hosea 5:15-6:6 (Israel’s superficial repentance, God’s frustration. God desires not sacrifice but steadfast love, knowledge of God)

 

Psalm 119:65-72: (You humbled me when I strayed from your commands. Teach me your way!)

            ELW/RCL: Psalm 50:7-15 (God wants not burnt offerings but the sacrifice of praise)

 

Romans 4:13-25: (God’s promise realized through faith like Abraham’s)

 

Matthew 9:9-13: (Call of Matthew. Jesus comes to call sinners!)

ELW/RCL: Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 (Ditto; also girl restored to life, woman healed)

 

*******

 

Opening Hymn: The God of Abraham Praise, v. 1-4: LBW #544, ELW #831, LSB #798

 

            OR Dearest Jesus, At Your Word/We Are Here: LBW #248, ELW #520, LSB #520

 

Hymn of the Day: What Wondrous Love is This: LBW #385, ELW #666, LSB #543

 

Communion Hymn #1: Chief of Sinners Though I Be: LBW #306, ELW #609, LSB #611

 

Communion Hymn #2: Give Me Jesus/ In the Morning When I Rise:

WOV #777, ELW #770, LSB #976

 

Closing Hymn: The God of Abraham Praise:

LBW #544, v. 6, 7, 10, 11, ELW #831, v. 5-8, LSB #798, v. 6-9

 

OR One There Is, Above All Others: LBW #298

 

OR Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven: LBW #549, ELW #865, LSB #793

 

 

 

 

 

For St. Barnabas:

 

Isaiah 42:5-12: (The Lord, who created all, called you in righteousness to be a covenant to the people. Let them all praise God!)

 

Psalm 112: (Happy are the righteous, who are gracious, merciful, and generous)

 

Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-3: (Barnabas sent to Antioch; he was gracious and good; he and Paul commissioned by the Spirit in Antioch church)

 

Matthew 10:7-16: (Jesus commissions the Twelve: preach, heal, drive out demons, be as sheep among wolves.)

 

*******

 

Opening Hymn: Dearest Jesus, At Your Word/We Are Here: LBW #248, ELW #520, LSB #520

 

OR  Word of God, Come Down on Earth (Yes, smartypants, it’s the same tune!!):

WOV #716, ELW #510, LSB #545

 

Hymn of the Day: Lord, You Gave the Great Commission: WOV #756, ELW #579

 

OR Lord, Speak to Us, That We May Speak: LBW #403, ELW #676

 

Communion Hymn #1: Give Me Jesus: WOV #777, ELW #770, LSB #976

 

Communion Hymn #2: One There Is, Above All Others: LBW #298

 

Closing Hymn: Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven: LBW #549, ELW #865, LSB #793

 

 

 

 

 

June 18, 3^rd  Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 6); Fathers’ Day

 

Exodus 19:2-8a (Obey my voice, be my treasured people)

 

Psalm 100 (Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!)

 

Romans 5:6-15 (While we were weak, Christ died for the ungodly. Though in Adam’s trespass all

died, God’s grace abounds in Christ’s righteousness)

            (ELW: Romans 5:1-8)

 

Matthew 9:35-10:8 (9-20) (Jesus calls, instructs, and sends out the Twelve)

 

********************

 

Opening Hymn: All People That on Earth Do Dwell: LBW #245, ELW #883, LSB #791

 

Hymn of the Day: Preach You the Word and Plant it Home: LSB #586

 

OR Spread, O Spread, Almighty Word: LBW #379, ELW #663

                        Spread the Reign of God the Lord, LSB #830

 

OR In Adam We Have All Been One: LBW #372, LSB #569

(use if you preach on Romans text)

 

Communion 1: I Love to Tell the Story: LBW #390, ELW #661

 

OR This Little Light of Mine: ELW #677

 

Communion 2: Hark, the Voice of Jesus Calling: LBW 381, LSB #827

 

Closing Hymn: Our Father, By Whose Name: (LBW #357, ELW #640, ELW #863)

 

OR Rise Up, O Saints of God: (LBW #383, ELW #669)

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

 

 

 

June 25, 4th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 7)

 

Jeremiah 20:7-13 (I must speak God’s Word, though I’m mocked for it)

 

Psalm 91:1-16 (God will deliver from snares, pestilence and evil)

            (ELW: Psalm 69:7-18, Zeal for your house has consumed me; save me from the mire)

 

Romans 6:12-23 (Having been delivered from slavery to sin, now be slaves to righteousness)

            (ELW, Romans 6:1-11, Baptized into Jesus’ death and resurrection)

 

Matthew 10:5, 21-33 (Jesus instructs disciples before their mission;

fear the One who can destroy body and soul!)

            (ELW, Matthew 10:24-39, Disciple not above teacher, but you are of great value

to your Father. I have not come to bring peace but a sword.)

 

*********************

 

Opening Hymn: On Eagles’ Wings: WOV #779, ELW #787, LSB #727

 

OR Herald, Sound the Note of Judgment: LBW #556, LSB #511

NOTE: If tune is unfamiliar, use the tune Regent Square, LBW #50, “Angels, From the Realms of Glory”

 

 

Hymn of the Day: O Master, Let Me Walk with You: LBW #492, ELW #818

 

OR Let Us Ever Walk With Jesus: LBW #487, ELW #802, LSB #685

 

Communion 1: Just as I Am, Without One Flea: LBW #296, LSB #570

 

Communion 2: Amazing Grace: LBW #448, ELW #779, LSB #744

 

Closing Hymn: Lift Every Voice and Sing: LBW #562, ELW #841, LSB #964

 

OR O God of Mercy, God of Light/Might: LBW #425, ELW #714, LSB #852

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

 

 

July 2, 5^th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 8); Independence Day Weekend

 

Jeremiah 28:5-9 (Would that the word of the prophet who speaks peace come to pass!)

 

Psalm 119:153-160 (Preserve my life from those who do not heed your law)

            (ELW, Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18, God’s covenant with David)

 

Romans 7:1-13 (We have died to Law in Christ; sin caused the Law to be death for us)

            (ELW, Romans 6:12-23, Delivered from slavery to sin, now be slaves to righteousness)

 

Matthew 10:34-42 (I come not with peace but a sword; whoever doesn’t take up cross and follow isn’t worthy of Jesus, but whoever gives cup of water in His name will receive reward)

            (ELW, Matthew 10:40-42, Whoever welcomes you welcomes me)

 

********************

 

Opening Hymn: Before You, Lord, We Bow: LBW #401, ELW #893, LSB #966

 

Hymn of the Day: Stand Up, Stand Up For Jesus: LBW #389, LSB #660 (Even if your congregation , like mine, normally sits for the Hymn of the Day, GET EM ON THEIR FEETSES for this one!)

 

OR Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word: LBW #230, ELW #517, LSB #655

 

Communion 1: We Give Thee but Thine Own: LBW #410, ELW #686, LSB #781

 

Communion 2:  Son of God, Eternal Savior: LBW #364, ELW #655, LSB #842

 

Closing Hymn: Jesus Shall Reign Where’er the Sun: LBW #530, ELW #434, LSB #832

 

OR God of Our Fathers: LBW #567

 

OR America the Beautiful: ELW #888

 

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

 

 

July 9: 6^th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 9)

 

Zechariah 9:9-12 (Rejoice, daughter of Zion, your lowly King comes to you)

 

Psalm 145:1-14 (The Lord is gracious and full of compassion; all his works praise him)

 

Romans 7:14-25 (I don’t do the good I want to do; another law is at work in me!)

 

Matthew 11:25-30 (My yoke is easy, my burden light)

            (ELW, Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30, Jesus, friend of sinners; take my yoke…)

 

***********************

 

Opening Hymn: Hark, the Glad Sound: LBW #35, ELW #239, LSB #349

 

OR I Know That My Redeemer Lives, v. 1-4: LBW # 352, ELW #619, LSB #461

 

Hymn of the Day: I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say: LBW #497, ELW #332/611, LSB #699

NOTE: I know, nobody knows Lydian and Doric modes anymore, so the Tallis tune is tough  for many folks. The words, which are wonderful with the Gospel, can also be sung to the tune Kingsfold, and in ELW is specifically set to that melody at #611. The tune is commonly used for “My Soul Proclaims Your Greatness, Lord” (WOV #730) and is also used for hymns in LSB (#444, 846) and LBW (#391). Try it out!

 

OR Come to Me, All Pilgrims Thirsty: ELW #777

 

OR Come unto Me, Ye Weary: LSB #684

 

Communion 1:  Father Most Holy, Merciful and Tender: LBW #169, ELW #415, LSB #504

 

Communion 2: When Peace, Like a River, Attendeth My Way: LBW #346, ELW #785, LSB #763

 

OR One There Is, Above All Others: LBW #298

 

Closing Hymn: Love Divine, All Loves Excelling: LBW #315, ELW #631, LSB #700

 

            OR I Know That My Redeemer Lives, v. 5-8: LBW # 352, ELW #619, LSB #461

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

 

 

July 16: 7^th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 10)

 

Isaiah 55:10-13 (God’s Word does not return to him empty)

 

Psalm 65:1-13 (A song of praise for God’s bounty in nature)

            (ELW, Psalm 65:1-13, Happy are they whom you choose to live in your courts;

thanksgiving for the bounty of creation)

 

Romans 8:12-17 (The Spirit bears witness to our adoption by God, so we cry Abba, Father)

            (ELW, Romans 8:1-11, The mind set on the flesh cannot please God;

but you are in the Spirit, and the life of Christ dwells in you)

 

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 (Parable of the good seed on different soils)

 

*************************

 

Opening Hymn: How Marvelous God’s Greatness: LBW #515 simple, singable tune!

           

OR This Is My Father’s World: LBW #554, ELW #824

 

Hymn of the Day: Sing to the Lord of Harvest: LBW #412, ELW #412, LSB #893

 

OR We Plow the Fields and Scatter: LBW #362, ELW #680 [more modern, Hispanic tune], #681 [traditional, German tune])

 

Communion 1: Children of the Heavenly Father: LBW #474, ELW #781, LSB #725

 

Communion 2: Now Thank We All Our God: LBW #533/4, ELW #839/40, LSB #895

 

Closing Hymn: On What Has Now Been Sown: LBW #261, ELW #550, LSB #921

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

 

 

July 23: 8^th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 11)

 

Isaiah 44:6-8 (I am the first and last; beside me there is no god.)

 

Psalm 119:57-64 (I hasten to keep your commandments)

            (ELW, Psalm 86:11-17, Teach me your way; you are gracious and merciful,

slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love)

 

Romans 8:18-27 (Creation is in travail; we groan, but Spirit searches heart, intercedes for us)

            (ELW, Romans 8:12-25)

 

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 (Parable of the wheat and the weeds)

 

*******************

 

Opening Hymn: Gracious Spirit, Heed Our Pleading: WOV #687, ELW #401

 

OR Holy Spirit, Truth/Light Divine (if not used on Pentecost): LBW #257, ELW #398, LSB #496

 

Hymn of the Day: Come, You Thankful People, Come: LBW #407, ELW #693, LSB #892

 

Communion 1: Eternal Spirit of the Living Christ: LBW #441, LSB #769, ELW #402

 

OR Abide with Us, Our Savior: LBW #263, ELW #539,

LSB #919, Abide, O Dearest Jesus

 

Communion 2: Great Is Thy Faithfulness: WOV #771, LSB #809, ELW #733

 

Closing Hymn: Savior, Again to Your/Thy Dear Name: LBW #262, ELW #534, LSB #917

 

OR Almighty Father, Bless the Word: LSB #923

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

July 30: 9^th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 12)

 

Deuteronomy 7:6-9 (Israel chosen because of God’s love, not their deserving)

            (ELW, 1 Kings 3:5-12, Solomon asks for wisdom)

 

Psalm 125 (God stands round his people like the hills surrounding Jerusalem)

            (ELW, Psalm 119:129-136, Your words enlighten the simple; keep my steps steady

 in your precepts)

 

Romans 8:28-39 (Nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus)

 

Matthew 13:44-52 (Parable of the pearl of great price)

            (ELW, Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52, Mustard seed, yeast, pearl)

 

*******************

 

Opening Hymn: I Love Your Kingdom, Lord: LBW #368, LSB #651

 

OR Praise, Praise! You are the Rock: ELW #862

 

Hymn of the Day: Jesus, Priceless Treasure: LBW #457/8, ELW #775, LSB #743

 

OR One Thing’s Needful; Lord, This Treasure: LSB #536

 

Communion 1: Jesus, the Very Thought of You: LBW #316, ELW #754

 

Communion 2: How Great Thou Art: LBW #532, ELW #856, LSB #801

 

Closing Hymn: In Thee is Gladness: LBW #552, ELW #867, LSB #818

 

            OR Praise to the Father: LBW #517 (simple tune)

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

 

 

August 6: 10^th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 13)

 

 

Isaiah 55:1-5 (Buy wine and milk without money; don’t spend for bread that doesn’t satisfy)

 

Psalm 136:1-26 (God’s mercy endures forever!)

            (ELW, Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21, God is gracious and merciful, opens his hand,

feeds every living thing)

 

Romans 9:1-13 (Paul’s anguish for fellow Jews who do not have faith in Christ)

            (ELW, Romans 9:1-5)

 

Matthew 14:13-21 (Miracle of feeding 5000)

 

*************

 

Opening Hymn: All Who Hunger, Gather Gladly: ELW #461

 

OR Lord Jesus Christ, We Humbly Pray: LBW #225, LSB #623

 

Hymn of the Day: At the Lamb’s High Feast: LBW #210, ELW #362, LSB #633

 

OR Thee We Adore, O Hidden Savior: LBW #199, LSB #640

Thee We Adore, O Savior: ELW #476 (different translation of Thomas Aquinas’ wonderful hymn)

 

Communion 1: What Feast of Love: WOV #701, ELW #487

 

OR What is This Bread: LSB #629

 

Communion 2: Break Now the Bread of Life: LBW #235, ELW #515

 

OR O Gracious Lord, I Firmly Am Believing: LSB #635

 

Closing Hymn: O Living Bread from Heaven: LBW #197, ELW #542, LSB #642

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

 

 

 

August 13: 11^th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 14)

 

Job 38:4-18 (Where were you when I laid out the foundations of the earth?!)

            (ELW, 1 Kings 19:9-18, Elijah encounters God as still small voice)

 

Psalm 18:1-16 (“His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,

 and dark is his path on the wings of the storm!”)

            (ELW, Psalm 85:8-13, God will speak peace to his people;

righteousness and peace have kissed)

 

Romans 10:5-17 (Righteousness of faith comes through hearing the Gospel preached)

 

Matthew 14:22-33 (Jesus and Peter take a watery walk on the sea)

 

**********************

 

Opening Hymn: O Worship the King, All-glorious Above: LBW #548, ELW #842, LSB #804

 

Hymn of the Day:, Eternal Father, Strong to Save: LBW #467, ELW #756, LSB #717

 

OR Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me: LBW #534, LSB #715, ELW #755

 

Communion 1: Precious Lord, Take My Hand: WOV #731, ELW #773, LSB #739

 

OR I am Trusting You, Lord Jesus: LBW #460, LSB #729

 

Communion 2: Lead Me, Guide Me: ELW #768 LSB #721

 

OR Calm to the Waves: ELW #794

 

OR My Life Flows On in Endless Song: WOV #781, ELW #763

 

Closing Hymn: Great Is Thy Faithfulness: WOV #771, ELW #733, LSB #809

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

 

 

 

 

August 20: 12^th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 15)

 

Isaiah 56:1, 6-8 (My house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples)

 

Psalm 67 (God judges the nations with equity and guides all the people of earth)

 

Romans 11:1-2a, 13-15, 28-32 (God’s election of Jews irrevocable; he will show mercy!)

 

Matthew 15:21-28 (Healing of Syro-Phoenecian woman’s daughter)

 

********************

Opening Hymn: Both go well with Romans text. Blessed Be the God of Israel: WOV #725, ELW #250

 

OR Bless Israel’s God Words: Rev. Cathy Ammlung, STS; Tune: Angelic Songs (O Zion, Haste)

 

1. Bless Israel’s God; he has redeemed his people:

Raised up a Savior born from David’s line;

Promised of old, through prophets’ proclamation,

To save from deadly foes with pow’r divine;

Promised to show our fathers mercy sure;

Promised his covenant forever shall endure.

 

2. Through Abraham, God swore an oath to save us

From hands of foes, to serve him fearlessly

In holiness and righteousness before him,

There to adore and bless him constantly.

You, child – God’s prophet, go before his face,

Give saving knowledge of forgiveness and God’s grace!

 

3. Tenderly, God bestows his love and mercy,

His heav’nly Dayspring shines upon our plight.

Darkness and death no longer can confound us:

In paths of peace, he guides us by his light.

Glory to Father, Son, and Spirit – Lord

God who through the ages ever is adored!

 

Hymn of the Day: In Christ There is No East or West: LBW #359, ELW #650, LSB #653

 

OR How Wide the Love of Christ!: LSB #535 (Simple tune. Another Herm Stuempfle gem ignored by many Lutheran hymnals. I’d recommend you get a one-time license from CPH to use this.)

 

Communion 1: I Love to Tell the Story: LBW #390, ELW #661

 

Communion 2: What a Friend We Have in Jesus: LBW #439, ELW #742, LSB #770

 

Closing Hymn: Spread, O Spread, Almighty Word: LBW #279, ELW #663

Spread the Reign of God the Lord: LSB #830

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

August 27: 13^th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 16)

 

Isaiah 51:1-6 (Listen for God’s teaching, wait for his deliverance)

 

Psalm 138 (God is faithful; he listens to the lowly)

 

Romans 11:33-12:8 (The depth and riches of God’s wisdom! Present your bodies

as living sacrifice to him)

            (ELW, Romans 12:1-8, Present your body as a living sacrifice to God;

do not be conformed to this world, but transformed by renewal of your mind)

 

Matthew 16:13-20 (Peter’s confession; on this rock I will build my Church)

 

********************

 

Opening Hymn:  Listen, God is Calling: WOV #712, ELW #513, LSB #833

 

OR Father of Mercies, In Your Word: LBW #240 Note: do try this nice hymn; same tune as

                           “Forgive our sins as we forgive” – early American.

 

Hymn of the Day: Built on a Rock, the Church Shall Stand: LBW #365, ELW #652, LSB #645

 

OR The Son of God Goes Forth to War: LBW #183, LSB #661

 

Communion 1: Take My Life, That I May Be: LBW #406, ELW #583, 685

Take My Life and Let it Be: LSB #783/4

 

Communion 2: The Church’s One Foundation: LBW #369, ELW #654, LSB #644

 

Closing Hymn: Christ is Made the Sure Foundation: WOV #747, ELW #645, LSB #909

LBW #367, same words, different tune. I recommend using the WOV version if you can.

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 3: 14^th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 17; Labor Day weekend)

 

Jeremiah 15:15-21(Jeremiah laments; God promises strength, deliverance

if he speaks what is precious)

 

Psalm 26 (I have lived with integrity; do not sweep me away with sinners)

 

Romans 12:9-21 (Live in harmony, respect, and mutual forbearance; vengeance is God’s)

 

Matthew 16:21-28 (Get behind me, Satan! Take up cross and follow me;

what does it profit to gain world, lose soul?

 

******************

 

Opening Hymn: God’s Word is Our Great Heritage: LBW #239, ELW #509, LSB #582

 

Hymn of the Day: The Son of God Goes Forth to War: LBW #183, LSB #661

 

OR When I Survey the Wondrous Cross: LBW #482, ELW #803, LSB #425/426

 

Communion 1: Blest Be the Tie That Binds: LBW #370, ELW #649/975, ELW #656

 

Communion 2: In the Cross of Christ I Glory: LBW #104, ELW #324, LSB #427

 

Closing Hymn: Jesus, Still Lead On: LBW #341, ELW #624

Jesus, Lead Thou On: LSB #718

 

OR Onward, Christian Soldiers: LBW #509, LSB #662

Here is a link to our You Tube channel. In the top row you will find both our Video Book
Reviews as well as our CORE Convictions Videos on various topics related to Biblical teaching,
Lutheran theology, and Christian living. You will find these videos in the order in which they
were posted, beginning with the most recent. In the second row you will find links to the
Playlists for both sets of videos. This month we want to feature a CORE Convictions video by
NALC pastor Cathy Ammlung.

A CRITIQUE OF THE WWW.ALTLITURGIES.COM WORSHIP RESOURCE

BY CATHY AMMLUNG

Here is a link to Cathy’s video. Many thanks to her for this powerful presentation.

Cathy writes, “A host of ‘alternative liturgies’ and worship resources are springing up on the
internet. These resources provide rationales and examples for decolonizing, upending, and
disrupting traditional liturgical theologies, practices, and language. They are based on social
justice and intersectionality rhetoric and philosophy. One such resource, called alt.liturgies,
comes from a Lutheran perspective and has gained notice and traction. It, as well as other
resources such as www.disruptworshipproject.com, reflects and promulgates a theological and
liturgical world-view that seeks to dismantle the (supposed) evils of racism, heteronormativism,
ableism, and the like, which infest traditional worship and contribute to the material harm, even
genocide, of vulnerable groups of people.

“I focus my critique of the alt.liturgies website resource centers through the lens of two ‘core
values’ of the North American Lutheran Church: ‘Christ Centered’ and ‘Traditionally
Grounded.’ I do this because the Great Tradition of the Church has been, and always will be,
centered in Jesus Christ, who incorporates wildly diverse, sinful, contentious individuals and
factions into his Body, the Church. From there, I explore concerns with a few of the many topics
and their sub-headings. My conclusion: however well-intended this resource is as it addresses
some legitimate concerns, its fatal flaw is that Christ is not the Center.”

THE WRONG QUESTION:  

A REVIEW AND EVALUATION OF A FORMER ELCA SEMINARY PRESIDENT’S THEOLOGY OF THE CROSS   

The second reading for the Sundays of the Epiphany season have been coming from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.  As we begin our Lenten journey it is good to be reminded of what Paul said in the first chapter of this letter.  For those who are being saved “the message about the cross is . . . the power of God” (1: 18).  Tragically, Paul also talks in that same chapter about people who find the message of the cross to be “foolishness” and “a stumbling block” (1: 23).  That kind of a view of the cross is running rampant today.    

I wrote an article for the May 2022 issue of our CORE Voice newsletter about the fact that many within the ELCA and other liberal/progressive, mainline denominations reject the teaching that Jesus died in our place for our sins.  Instead they make Good Friday into the supreme example of Jesus’ bold political protest against the Roman empire, even unto death.  And now we need to follow Him as we join in the work of dismantling empires and all other oppressive, political and social power structures.  According to this view, Jesus’ death on the cross does not provide for our salvation.  Instead it merely tells us what we need to do.  A link to that article can be found HERE.

One of the examples I gave was a Huffington Post editorial by the Rev. Dr. David Lose, former president of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (now part of United Lutheran Seminary) and author of “Making Sense of the Cross” (published by Augsburg Fortress).  Here is a LINK to his blog.

Is God Angry At You? A Good Friday Reflection | HuffPost Communities

In this article I will give a detailed analysis of what Dr. Lose has written.  My argument will be that Dr. Lose is asking the wrong question.  The right question is not, Is God angry?  Instead, the right question is, Is sin serious?

I begin by commenting on some language that Dr. Lose uses in the second paragraph, where he makes the claim that the one who led us astray in this matter was the eleventh century theologian, Anselm of Canterbury.  According to Anselm, the god-man Jesus became our substitute.  He saved us “by voluntarily substituting himself for guilty humanity and (receiving) the punishment for sin we deserve.”  According to some proponents of so-called Progressive Christianity, a perspective like that makes God into some kind of Cosmic Child Abuser.  The loving Son offers Himself in order to satisfy the demands of the mean Father.  But that is not the way it happened.  It is not that Jesus volunteered.  Instead it is that God provided the substitute to die in our place.  And that was not something that Jesus came up with in order to satisfy the mean and demanding Father.  Rather that had been God’s plan from the beginning (1 Peter 1: 20). 

In the third paragraph Dr. Lose criticizes the view that Jesus died for our sins on the basis that it is “so terribly rational.”  He says, “You can understand it in legal terms. . . . Or you can approach it in accounting terms. . . . Either way, all the pieces fit.”  But arguing that something is “terribly rational” and able to make “all the pieces fit” is a not valid criticism.  Being “terribly rational,” able to make “all the pieces fit,” and capable of being explained in legal and/or accounting terms does not mean that something cannot be true.

The apostle Paul often explains the meaning and significance of the cross in legal and/or accounting terms.  For example, in 2 Corinthians 5: 19 and 21 Paul says, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their sins against them,” and, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in turn we might become the righteousness of God.”  Christ took our sins upon Himself, and God credits Christ’s righteousness to us.  Part of the brilliance of Paul’s theological mind is his ability to explain salvation and the cross in legal and accounting terms.

In the fourth paragraph Dr. Lose makes the claim that the view that Jesus died for our sins “begs several huge questions.”  Among those questions are “Why should one person’s punishment – even if that person is the Son of God – count for all others?”, “Doesn’t that essentially negate the idea of personal responsibility?”, and “If it’s true that Jesus has endured punishment for all sins that have been or ever will be committed, why wouldn’t we be motivated to sin all the more knowing that the penalty has already been paid?”

The only way that I can fathom someone’s asking questions like these would be if they do not realize the seriousness of their own sin.    

Paul clearly states in Romans 6: 23, “The wages of sin is death.”  Jesus told a parable in Matthew 18: 24-27 about a man who owed ten thousand talents.  A talent was worth more than fifteen years’ wages, so ten thousand talents would be worth more than 150,000 years’ wages.  That would be an impossibly huge amount ever to be able to repay.  I think of a young pastor whose wife gave birth to a child shortly after he graduated from seminary.  Because of the child’s severe health issues, their medical bills soon soared to over one million dollars.  The young pastor said that without very good insurance the bill could never have been paid.

It is only someone who does not realize the seriousness and dire consequences of their own sin that would ask questions like the above.  It is only someone who does not realize the seriousness of owing an amount equal to more than 150,000 years’ wages, or a recent seminary graduate who does not realize the overwhelming burden of having medical bills totaling over one million dollars, who would be so ungrateful as to say, “Why should someone else’s paying the debt count for me?”, “Now I am relieved of all personal responsibility,” or “Now that my huge debt has been paid I can go off and spend lavishly.”  

In the fifth paragraph Dr. Lose asks, “Can you really call it forgiveness if someone else had to pay?”  Dr. Lose’s argument is that “Forgiveness is releasing someone’s debt, not distributing it to another.”  The problem with that line of argument is that someone always has to pay the debt – either the person who owes the debt, someone who pays the debt on behalf of the person who owes the debt, or the one to whom the debt is owed.  In Jesus’ parable in Matthew 18 the man to whom ten thousand talents was owed would have ending up himself paying the ten thousand talents if he were not going to be able to collect the ten thousand talents.  Somebody always has to pay. 

In the seventh paragraph Dr. Lose responds to those who say that Jesus died in our place for our sins but then try to soften the blow by saying that it was out of love that God sent the Son to take the beating we deserve.  Dr. Lose insists that in that line of argument “the fact remains that God can’t act toward humanity in a loving way until blood has been shed.”  Could God have forgiven sin without the shedding of blood?  Who am I to say that God could not have or what would be impossible for God?  The point is this.  God has a standard, a way He does things, a way by which it happens.  Paul tells us in Romans 3: 24-26 that God put forth Christ Jesus “as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood . . . to show his righteousness . . . to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.”  God is both just and justifier.  God sets the standard.  God consistently maintains and acts according to His standard.  But then God also meets the requirements of His standard.   

Dr. Lose makes the comment in the eighth paragraph, “The major problem with this understanding of God and the cross is that it enjoys relatively little support from the Biblical witness.”  If by “this understanding of God and the cross” Dr. Lose means the understanding that God is angry and vengeful and Jesus needed to do something to satisfy and placate Him, then that is true.  There is no support for that view from the Biblical witness.  “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son” (John 3: 16).  But if “this understanding” is the understanding that Jesus died in our place for our sins, there is ample Biblical support.  For example –

Romans 5: 8 – “God proves His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”

1 Corinthians 15: 3 – “Christ died for our sins” (a teaching that Paul identifies as “of first importance”).

Ephesians 1: 7 – “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.” 

Hebrews 9: 26 – “He has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.”  

1 John 2: 2 – “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

Revelation 1: 5 – “To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood.”

How could we interpret the Gospel writer John’s recording of John the Baptist’s saying, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1: 29) as anything other than Jesus’ being the one that the whole Old Testament sacrificial system was pointing to when the sins of the people were transferred to the lamb and the lamb died in their place?  Why would Jesus have chosen to give His people the Lord’s Supper within the context of a Passover meal if He did not view Himself in terms of the Passover lamb who died in place of the first born and whose blood protected the family?  The Gospel writer Luke also supports this interpretation of seeing Christ in the Old Testament when he tells us that “beginning with Moses and all the prophets (Jesus) interpreted to (His friends on the road to Emmaus) the things about himself in all the scriptures” (Luke 24: 27).

Also in the eighth paragraph Dr. Lose puts forth the strange argument that Jesus’ death on the cross could not have been necessary for forgiveness of sins because “Jesus doesn’t wait until after his sacrifice on the cross to offer God’s forgiveness.”  That is true.  Jesus did offer forgiveness, and Jesus got into trouble for offering forgiveness, before the cross.  But the reason why Jesus was able to offer forgiveness before the cross was because He would be dying for us on the cross.  The reason that the Old Testament sacrificial system worked and that it was the means through which forgiveness could and would come to the people is because that is the means God provided and that means looked forward to Jesus.  “In his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed” (Romans 3: 25).  The means of offering and providing forgiveness before the cross were powerful and effective because of the cross.  

I would certainly agree with Dr. Lose in the ninth paragraph that “Jesus didn’t come to make God loving but because God is loving.”  But if you follow his line of reasoning, then the only reason why Jesus died on the cross was because “the political and religious authorities put Jesus to death to quash the hope he created and retain their power.”  According to Dr. Lose, the cross was not part of God’s plan from the beginning.  Rather “the religious and political authorities . . . crucified him for daring to declare the unlovable beloved and the God-forsaken saved” (thirteenth paragraph).  Was the cross central to the fulfillment of God’s plan, or did the cross happen only because of opposition to God’s plan?  The way you answer that question is crucial.

Dr. Lose also says in the ninth paragraph that God’s vindicating Jesus’ message by raising him from the dead is “something notoriously underemphasized by substitution theologians.”  I completely agree with Dr. Lose that the resurrection of Jesus was a vindication of Jesus and His message.  Dr. Lose is right that the resurrection of Jesus is a demonstration that “self-giving love is more powerful than hate and that God’s promise of life is stronger than death.”  “God in Jesus joins us in absolute solidarity by taking on our lot and our life, even to the point of death, and at the same time promises that death does not have the last word; that, in the end, life and love win.”  All that is true, but that does not mean that Jesus did not die in our place for our sins.  Rather what it does mean is that there is more involved.  The story of God’s work for our salvation does not end with the cross.  It continues to the resurrection – God’s winning the victory over sin, death, and the devil. 

Dr. Lose concludes in his final paragraph, “The penal-substitution theory promotes the seductive illusion that we know just how God works and can therefore determine who enjoys God’s favor.”  And yet the problem according to Dr. Lose is that “pretty much whenever you draw a line between who’s in and who’s out, you’ll find this God on the other side of the line.”

The implication here is that those who believe that Jesus died in our place for our sins see themselves as in and others as out.  The accusation is that they believe that Jesus died for them but not for others.  That is an unfair characterization.  What do the Scriptures say?  “God our Savior . . . desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2: 3-4).  If that is God’s desire, then that needs to be our desire as well.  “While we were still weak . . . Christ died for the ungodly.”  “While we still were sinners Christ died for us.”  “While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son.” (Romans 5: 6, 8, 10)  The three words weak, sinners, and enemies describe all of us. 

It deeply disturbs and concerns me that someone who has a theology of the cross like Dr. Lose’s would have been the president of an ELCA seminary. 

* * * * * * *

VIDEO MINISTRY

HERE is a link to our You Tube channel.  In the top row you will find both our Video Book Reviews as well as our CORE Convictions Videos on various topics related to Biblical teaching, Lutheran theology, and Christian living.  You will find these videos in the order in which they were posted, beginning with the most recent.  In the second row you will find links to the Playlists for both sets of videos.  This month we want to feature a video book review by NALC pastor Brian Hughes and a CORE Convictions video by NALC theologian Robert Benne.

A REVIEW OF “SPEAK OUT” BY BRIAN HUGHES   

Many thanks to NALC pastor and Lutheran CORE board member Brian Hughes for his video review of the book “Speak Out” by Father Michael Breen.  A link to his video can be found HERE.  Brian writes concerning the book –

“My wife and I were coached by Father Mike and Sally Breen as he was developing the content for this book.  That was several years before it was published and rereading it for this review I was reminded of how impactful it was and still is.  The effectiveness of my preaching dramatically improved, making it easier to contextualize Law and Gospel in ways that were unexpectedly received.

“At the time of publication Karen Heist, our discipleship pastor who was also coached with the content, introduced it to the laity in our church and the results were astonishing: rising comfort level for sharing the Gospel at work and in their neighborhoods (with great stories in the process; the coin of a discipling culture) as well as doing so in public worship.  Cogent and impactful messages from lay leaders signaled to the entire congregation that our embracement of building a discipling culture had been worth it.  Pastors I’ve coached have told me it revolutionized their preaching too and completely changed their understandings of how to communicate outside the pulpit.  Buy this book.  Read it.”

“LUTHER ON VOCATION” BY ROBERT BENNE

Many thanks to Robert Benne, professor of Christian ethics at the Institute of Lutheran Theology, for his video on what Martin Luther taught regarding vocation.  A link to his video can be found HERE. 

According to Luther, all Christians, not just the clergy, have a calling or vocation, and all callings are equal in religious and moral significance.  The only difference is in function.  Every person is called by God to work in the world, fulfilling their calling gladly and conscientiously as they serve the neighbor.  This teaching had great historical affect as it unleashed unprecedented commitment and energy to worldly work in the Western world.  It gave everyday activity a religious significance.

With Luther’s concept of vocation, work is no longer just a job or occupation.  Instead it is a calling and summons from God that gives great purpose and meaning to life. 

A CRITIQUE OF THE WWW.ALTLITURGIES.COM WORSHIP RESOURCE BY CATHY AMMLUNG

The March issue of CORE Voice will feature another fascinating and insightful CORE Convictions video by NALC pastor Cathy Ammlung.  In the meantime HERE is a link to her video, in which she powerfully and effectively argues that “however well-intended this resource is as it addresses some legitimate concerns, its fatal flaw is that Christ is not the Center.”

* * * * * * *

May the Lord bless you as you begin your Lenten journey. 

Dennis D. Nelson

Executive Director

dennisdnelsonaz@yahoo.com

 

 

 

 

Lessons and Suggested Hymns, Ash Wednesday – Trinity Sunday, Cycle A

February 22 – June 4, 2023

 

NOTE: LBW – Lutheran Book of Worship (The Green Book)

WOV – With One Voice (The Blue Book)

LSB – Lutheran Service Book (The Maroon Book)
ELW – Evangelical Lutheran Worship (The Cranberry Book)

 

There are versions of some hymns that are superior in LSB and I recommend using them if possible. Also, there are some superb hymns in LSB that aren’t available in the other hymnals. When I suggest one of the latter, I try to include an alternative from LBW or WOV. I recommend that a license and DVD of downloadable hymns from LSB be purchased if you are looking to expand your hymnody. There are, in ELW, some familiar hymns that have been drastically altered, which I try to note. ELW also has some fine hymns not available in the other hymnals, or has, interestingly, a more “traditional” translation or harmonization.

 

Color for the day is indicated for each Sunday. Primary liturgical calendar taken from Sola Publishing (www.solapublishing.org), based on LSB. Also, I include the lessons from the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) found in ELW and used in some congregations. It often overlaps the Sola/LCMS calendar lectionary, but when there are differences, I will note them.

 

I’ve also included a complete Tenebrae service for Good Friday. This is one I’ve used at my little churches. Feel free to use different hymns, but the ones I chose seemed to fit the readings.

 

Because some of the prayers of confession, as well as offertory and post-communion prayers, provided on certain resource pages lack theological heft or linguistic elegance, I have added some seasonal prayers that you are free to cut, paste, and revise as needed. They are modified from the copyright-free Online Book of Common Prayer, or are my own creation. These are found on the following pages. The regular prayers of intercession will, as usual, be provided weekly in their own Word documents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Brief Order of Confession and Holy Absolution for Lent

 

P: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son+, and of the Holy Spirit: Amen.

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.

Silence may be kept.

P: Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal,

C: Have mercy and hear us. Though we are poor sinful creatures, have mercy and hear us. Though we have turned from you and grieved you, have mercy and hear us. Though we have hardened our hearts against you and against our sisters and brothers, have mercy and hear us. Though we deserve judgment, wrath, and condemnation, for the sake of your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy and hear us. Forgive us, heal us, and save us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

P: God hates nothing that he has made and forgives the sins of all those who are penitent. He shall create in us new and contrite hearts, so that we who worthily lament our sins and acknowledge our wretchedness, may receive from him, the God of all mercy, perfect remission, and forgiveness. This he promises through Jesus Christ, his Son, who is our Lord, our Savior, and our righteousness forever. AMEN.

 

A Spoken Gospel Acclamation for Lent:

 

            C: One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. Your words, O Lord, are Spirit and life.

 

An Offertory Prayer for Lent

P: Let us pray.

C: What can we render to you, Lord, for all your benefits to us? All we have is yours. Our lives are in your hands. Receive, hallow, and use our time, talents, and treasures, for the love of your Son and the benefit of those he came to save. Amen.

 

A Proper Preface for Lent

 

The Lord be with you. And also with you.

Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give him thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. You bid your faithful people cleanse their hearts, and prepare with joy for the Paschal feast; that, fervent in prayer and in works of mercy, and renewed by your Word and Sacraments, they may come to the fullness of grace which you have prepared for those who love you.. Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of heaven, who forever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your Name:

 

A Eucharistic Prayer for Lent

 

Holy and gracious Father: In your infinite love you made us for yourself, and, when we had fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death, you, in your mercy, sent Jesus Christ, your only and eternal Son, to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to you, the God and Father of all. He stretched out his arms upon the cross, and offered himself, in obedience to your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world.

 

On the night he was handed over to suffering and death, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread; and when he had given thanks to you, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, and said, “Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.”

 

After supper he took the cup of wine; and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and said, “Drink this, all of you: This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.”

 

Sanctify these gifts of bread and wine by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of your Son, the holy food and drink of new and unending life in him. Sanctify us also that we may faithfully receive this holy Sacrament, and serve you in unity, constancy, and peace; and at the last day bring us with all your saints into the joy of your eternal kingdom.

 

All this we ask through your Son Jesus Christ: By him, and with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and forever.  AMEN.

 

 

A Post-Communion Prayer for Lent

 

P: Let us pray. Almighty and ever-living God,

C: You have given your only Son to be for us both a sacrifice for sin and also an example of godly life. Give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive these his inestimable gifts, and also daily endeavor to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

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A Brief Order of Confession and Holy Absolution for the Easter Season

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son+, and of the Holy Spirit: Amen.

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.

Silence may be kept.

Lord Jesus, our risen Savior,

We confess to you our sinfulness. We believe mortal words above your holy Word. We prefer easy lies to hard truth. We are quick to judge, condemn, and exclude, but slow to forgive. We have lived for this world alone, and doubted our home in heaven. In your mercy, forgive us. In your goodness, resurrect us. Amen.

 

Our Savior Christ comes with healing, forgiveness, and life in his wounded hands. He breathes his Holy Spirit upon us, kindling renewed faith, hope, and love. Receive all he gives with humble joy, and share them with warm generosity, in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

A Gospel Acclamation for the Easter Season

Alleluia. I am the way, the truth, and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father, except through me. Alleluia.

 

An Offertory Prayer for the Easter Season

Let us pray. Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated unto you; and then use us, we pray you, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

A Proper Preface for the Easter Season

The Lord be with you. And also with you.

Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give him thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. But chiefly are we bound to praise you for the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; for he is the true Paschal Lamb, who was sacrificed for us, and has taken away the sin of the world. By his death he has destroyed death, and by his rising to life again he has won for us everlasting life. Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of heaven, who forever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your Name:

 

 

 

A Eucharistic Prayer for the Easter Season

We give thanks to you almighty God, through your beloved son Jesus Christ, whom you sent to us in former times as Savior, Redeemer, and Messenger of your Will. He is your inseparable Word, through whom you made all things, and in whom you were well-pleased. You sent from heaven into the womb of a virgin, who, being conceived within her, was made flesh, and appeared as your Son, born of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary. It is he who, fulfilling your will and acquiring for you a holy people, extended his hands in suffering, in order to liberate from sufferings those who believe in you. Who, when he was delivered to voluntary suffering, in order to dissolve death, and break the chains of the devil, and tread down hell, and bring the just to the light, and set the limit, and manifest the resurrection, taking the bread, and giving thanks to you, said, “Take, eat, for this is my body which is broken for you.” Likewise the chalice, saying, “This is my blood which is shed for you. Whenever you do this, do this in memory of me.”

 

Therefore, remembering his death and resurrection, we offer to you the bread and the chalice, giving thanks to you, who has made us worthy to stand before you and to serve as your priests. And we pray that you would send your Holy Spirit upon your Holy Church. In their gathering together, give to all those who partake of your holy mysteries the fullness of the Holy Spirit, toward the strengthening of the faith in truth, that we may praise you and glorify you, through your son Jesus Christ, through whom to you be glory and honor, Father and Son, with the Holy Spirit, in your Holy Church, now and throughout the ages of the ages.

Amen. AMEN.

 

A Post-Communion Prayer for the Easter Season

 

P: Let us pray. Heavenly Father, C: We thank you for your great gift of love, your Son Jesus Christ. May we who have received his body and blood bear the light of his love into the world, to your glory and for the healing of our world. Amen.

 

 

 

 

Lessons and Suggested Hymns

 

 

February 22, 2023: Ash Wednesday

 

Joel 2:12-19 (Declare a fast; repent, pray)

 

Psalm 51 (Create in me a clean heart!)

 

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 (Be reconciled to God and one another; now is the

            acceptable time!)

 

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 (On prayer, fasting, and giving alms)

 

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Opening Hymn, if you’re not chanting Psalm 51: O Lord, Throughout These Forty Days:

LBW #99, ELW #319, LSB #418

 

Lenten Hymn, if desired: written by Cathy Ammlung. Or use as the opening hymn

 

Tune: St. Catherine, “Faith of Our Fathers.”

Use refrain as opening line by cantor.

 

A: Glory we give you, God of Grace! In Jesus’ Cross, you grant us peace.

C: Father almighty, great God and King,

Glorious, gracious, merciful, true,

Our praise and worship and blessing we bring;

Receive it, Lord, as homage due.

Glory we give you, God of grace! In Jesus’ Cross, you grant us peace.

 

Lord Jesus Christ, your Father’s true Son,

Sin-bearing Lamb, the world’s one true Light,

Grant life and mercy from your heav’nly throne.

Our praise make perfect in your sight.

Glory we give you, God of Grace! In Jesus’ Cross, you grant us peace.

 

Most Holy Spirit, great God and Lord,

You give us grace to bless and adore

One with the Father and with the Word,

To you be glory forevermore!

Glory we give you, God of Grace! In Jesus’ Cross, you grant us peace.

 

 

Hymn of the Day: All Depends on Our Possessing: LBW #447, ELW #589, LSB #732

 

OR O Sun of Justice: WOV #659 (2^nd verse great if you preach on 2 Corinthians text; tune is simple plainsong chant, but feel free to sing it to the Doxology, Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow)

 

Communion Hymn 1: Restore in Us, O God: ELW #328

           

OR O Christ, Thou Lamb of God: LBW #103

 

OR Just a Closer Walk With Thee: ELW #697

 

Communion Hymn 2: Forgive Our Sins As We Forgive: LBW #307, ELW #605, LSB #843

 

OR Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling: WOV 734, ELW #608

 

Closing Hymn: Bless Now, O God, the Journey: ELW #326

 

OR Savior, When in Dust to You/Thee: LBW #91, ELW #601, LSB #419

 

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February 26, 2023, 1^st Sunday in Lent

 

Genesis 3:1-21 (The serpent tempts Adam and Eve to disobey God)

(ELW: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7)

 

Psalm 32:1-7 (Happy are they whose sins are forgiven!)

 

Romans 5:12-1 (Sin came through Adam; righteousness, through Christ)

 

Matthew 4:1-11 (Satan tempts Jesus to disobey his Father)

 

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Opening Hymn: A Mighty Fortress is Our God: LBW #229, ELW #504, LSB #657

 

OR if you’re a bit braver, God the Father, Be Our Stay: LBW #308, LSB #505

 

Lenten Hymn, if desired: see Ash Wednesday

 

Hymn of the Day: O Lord, Throughout These Forty Days: LBW #99, ELW #319, LSB #418

 

OR Rise! To Arms! With Prayer Employ You: LSB #668 (Tune is “Wake, Awake, For Night is Flying.” Words are gutsy encouragement against temptation. Pretty cool.)

 

OR Lent 1 stanza, Tree of Life and Awesome Mystery: ELW #334, v. 1-3

 

Communion Hymn 1: Lord Jesus, Think on Me: LBW #309, LSB #610

 

            OR That Priceless Grace: ELW #591

 

Communion Hymn 2:  All Who Would Valiant Be: LBW #498

 

Closing Hymn: Jesus, Still Lead/Lead Thou On: LBW #341, ELW #624, LSB #843

 

 

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March 5, 2023, 2nd Sunday in Lent

 

Genesis 12:1-9 (God calls Abram, promises land and offspring)

            (ELW: Genesis 12:1-4a)

 

Psalm 121 (From whence does my help come? The Lord, who will watch over you)

 

Romans 4:1-8, 13-17 (The promises to Abraham came through the righteousness

            of faith, not works of law)

 

John 3:1-17 (Jesus and Nicodemus; God so loved the world….)

 

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Opening Hymn: The God of Abraham Praise:

LBW #544, v. 1-4, 11; ELW #831, v. 1-4, 8; LSB #798, v. 1-4, 9

 

OR O Christ, Our Hope: LBW #300, ELW #604, LSB #553

 

Lenten Hymn, if desired: see Ash Wednesday

 

Hymn paraphrase of Psalm 121: Unto the Hills: LBW #445

 

Hymn of the Day: God Loved the World So That He Gave:  LBW #292, ELW #323, LSB #571 Suggestion: if the LBW or LSB tune is unfamiliar, take ELW’s suggestion and use “Rockingham Old,” one of the tunes for “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross)

 

OR Lord, Thee I Love With All My Heart: LBW #325, ELW #750, LSB #708 (One of the great chorales. If congregation is timid, have soloist or choir sing it.)

 

OR Tree of Life and Awesome Mystery: ELW #334, v. 1-3, Lent 2 stanza

 

Communion Hymn 1: Lord, Take My Hand and Lead Me: LBW #333, ELW #767, LSB #722

 

OR Day by Day: WOV #746, ELW #790

 

Communion Hymn 2:  O Love That Will Not Let Me Go: LBW #324

 

OR Jesus, Feed Us: ELW #464

 

Closing Hymn: Guide Me Ever/O Thou, Great Redeemer: LBW #543, ELW #618, LSB #918

 

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March 12, 2023, 3rd Sunday in Lent

 

Exodus 17:1-7 (Israelites murmur against God, who gives water from the rock)

 

Psalm 95: (We are the people of God’s pasture; don’t be like those who murmured!)

 

Romans 5:1-8 (9-11) (Justified by faith in Christ, we have peace with God through

            him, who died for the ungodly)

 

John 4:5-26 [may add 27-30, 39-42]) (Jesus and the woman at the well)

 

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Opening Hymn: Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing: LBW #499, ELW #807, LSB #686

 

OR “Come, Let Us Sing Unto the Lord” (paraphrase of Psalm 95)

Words by Rev. Cathy Ammlung, STS; Tune: Kirken (Built on a Rock, the Church Shall Stand)

 

1. Come, let us sing unto the Lord,

Our mighty Rock of salvation.

Come, with our psalms of thanks outpoured

To the great King of all nations.

Come, make a joyful noise of praise;

Come, worship God through all our days;

Come in his presence, adoring.

 

2. Within the hollow of his hand,

Caverns and hills find their dwelling.

Measureless seas and trackless land

Their Maker’s glories are telling.

Come; worship; bend the knee and bless

Our God, Our Shepherd. We confess

His hand’s our pasture forever.

 

Lenten Hymn, if desired: see Ash Wednesday

 

Hymn of the Day: I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say: LBW #497, ELW 332, 611; LSB #699

(Note: the 2^nd ELW tune is “Kingsfold,” which is a nice English folk tune. You’ll find it used in LBW #391)

 

OR As the Deer Runs to the River: ELW #331,

 

OR O Jesus, Joy of Loving Hearts: LBW #356

 

OR Lent 3 stanza, Tree of Life and Awesome Mystery: ELW #334, v. 1-3

 

Communion Hymn 1: LBW #345, How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds

(ELW #620, LSB #524)

 

OR Eat This Bread: WOV #709, ELW #472 (: Don’t use italicized words in ELW as a “second verse.” Just repeat first set of words 3x)

 

Communion Hymn 2: Come With Us, O Blessed Jesus: LBW #219, ELW #501

 

Closing Hymn: Glories of Your Name are Spoken: LBW #358, ELW #648 (BEWARE! Uses different tune, even though “Austria” is used elsewhere in hymnal!)

Glorious Things of You are Spoken: LSB #648

 

 

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March 19, 2023, 4th Sunday in Lent

 

Isaiah 42:14-21 (I will lead the blind by paths they don’t see)

            (ELW: 1 Samuel 16:1-13: Samuel anoints David)

 

Psalm 142 (I cry to the Lord, for I have been brought very low)

            (ELW: Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd)

 

Ephesians 5:8-14 (Once you were in darkness; now walk as children of the light)

 

John 9:1-41 (Jesus heals the man born blind)

 

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Opening Hymn: I Want Jesus to Walk With Me: WOV #660, ELW #325

 

Lenten Hymn, if desired: see Ash Wednesday

 

Hymn of the Day: When to the World Our Savior Came: LSB #551 (Great words, familiar tune!)

 

OR Be Thou My Vision: WOV #776, ELW #793

 

OR Tree of Life and Awesome Mystery: ELW #334, v. 1-3, Lent 4 stanza

 

Communion Hymn 1: Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound: LBW #448, ELW #779, LBW #744

 

Communion Hymn 2:  My God, How Wonderful Thou Art: LBW #524, ELW #863

 

OR Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us: LBW #481, ELW #789, LSB #711

Note: Both LSB and ELW use the tune older members will remember from SBH, “Bradbury.”

 

Closing Hymn: I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light: WOV #649, ELW #815, LSB #411

 

OR O God, My Faithful God: LBW #504, ELW #806, LSB #696

 

 

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March 26, 2023, 5th Sunday in Lent

 

Ezekiel 37:1-14 (The valley of dry bones)

 

Psalm 130 (Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord)

 

Romans 8:1-11 (The life-giving Spirit)

            (ELW, Romans 8:6-11, You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit of Christ,

                        who dwells within you and gives you life)

 

John 11:1-45[46-53]) (The death and raising of Lazarus)

 

*********************************

 

Opening Hymn: Love Divine, All Loves Excelling: LBW #315, ELW #631, LSB #700

 

Lenten Hymn, if desired: see Ash Wednesday

 

Hymn Paraphrase of Psalm 130: Out of the Depths I Cry to You:  LBW #295, ELW #600

From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee: LSB #607

 

Hymn of the Day: Be Still, My Soul: LSB #752 (Yeah, Finlandia. They used to play it on KFUO in St. Louis when they remembered the faithful departed. Can’t sing it without tearing up!)

 

OR Christ, the Life of All the Living: LBW #97, ELW #339, LSB #420

 

OR Tree of Life and Awesome Mystery: ELW #334, v. 1-3, Lent 5 stanza

 

Communion Hymn 1: What Wondrous Love is This: LBW #385, ELW #666, LSB #543

 

Communion Hymn 2: We Sing the Praise of Him Who Died: LBW #344, LSB #429 (Unfamiliar, though fairly simple tune. Words are superb. Sing to the Doxology!)

 

Closing Hymn: My Hope is Built on Nothing Less:

LBW 293/294, ELW #596/ 597, LSB #575/576

 

 

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April 2, 2023, Palm/Passion Sunday

 

John 12:12-19 (Triumphant entry into Jerusalem)

            (ELW: Matthew 21:1-11, Triumphant entry into Jerusalem)

 

Isaiah 50:4-9a (The Lord vindicates his servant)

 

Psalm 31:9-16 (Deliver me from my tormentors!)

 

Philippians 2:5-11 (Christ humbled himself, even to death. Every knee shall bow!)

 

Matthew 26:1-27:66 (The Passion of Our Lord)

 

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Hymn, Procession With Palms: All Glory, Laud and Honor: LBW #108, ELW #344, LSB #442

 

OR LSB #443, Hosanna, Loud Hosanna (A familiar tune and words I remember

from SBH. A nice alternative to All Glory, Laud, and Honor)

 

Hymn prior to and following Passion narrative: O Sacred Head:  LBW #116/117, ELW #351/352,

LSB #449/450 (Note: the former uses the wonderful Bach harmonization, but the latter has more verses and can be used to break up the Passion narrative, if desired)

 

Hymn of the Day: O God, I Love Thee: LBW #491 (Note: trust me on this. The words are exquisite. You can sing to the tune of LBW #272, Abide With Me.)

 

OR Were You There:  LBW #92, ELW #353, LSB #456

 

OR There in God’s Garden: WOV #668, ELW #342

 

OR No Tramp of Soldiers’ Marching Feet: LSB #444 (familiar English folk tune, great words that tie together the entry into Jerusalem and the crucifixion. I heartily recommend you obtain permission to use this!)

 

Communion Hymn 1: Lamb of God, Pure and Sinless/Holy:  LBW #111, (ELW #357 LSB #434

 

Communion Hymn 2: Beneath the Cross of Jesus: LBW #107, LSB #338

OR Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: ELW #335, LSB #335/346

 

Closing Hymn: Ride On, Ride On in Majesty: LBW #121, ELW #346, LSB #441 (different, fairly familiar tune)

 

OR On My Heart Imprint Your Image:  LBW #102, ELW #811, LSB #422

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April 6, 2023: Maundy Thursday

 

John 13:1-35 (for foot washing): Jesus washes disciples’ feet, explains significance

            ELW: This is the only Gospel appointed for Maundy Thursday

 

Exodus 24:3-11): Moses and the elders eat in God’s presence

            ELW: Exodus 12:1-4 [5-10] 11-14: The first Passover

 

Psalm 116: What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me?

            ELW: Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19

 

Hebrews 9:11-22: Christ, the mediator of new covenant, cleanses us by his blood

            ELW: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26: Paul’s words of institution

 

Matthew 26:17-30: Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper at his Last Supper

 

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Opening Hymn, if used: Around You, O Lord Jesus: LBW #496, ELW #468

 

Foot Washing Hymn: Where Charity and Love Prevail: LBW #126, ELW #359, LSB #845

 

OR Jesus, Greatest at the Table: LSB #446

 

Hymn of the Day: What Feast of Love: WOV #701, ELW #487

OR When You Woke That Thursday Morning: LSB #445 (Jaroslav Vajda’s powerful words pair surprisingly well with Marty Haugen’s tune usually used for “Joyous Light of heavenly Glory”)

 

Communion Hymn #1: Soul, Adorn Yourself With Gladness: LBW #224, ELW #488 (#489 has Hispanic tune, same words), LSB #636 (It has All. Eight. Verses!)

 

Communion Hymn #2: LBW #225, Lord Jesus Christ, We Humbly Pray

 

OR Thee We Adore, O Hidden Savior, Thee: LBW #199, LSB #840

Thee We Adore, O Savior, God Most True: ELW #476 (Gerard Manley Hopkins’ translation)

 

Closing Hymn: Generally omitted in favor of Psalm 22 while the altar is stripped

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April 7, 2023: Good Friday

 

Isaiah 52:13-53:12: The Suffering Servant bears our griefs and carries our sorrows

 

Psalm 22: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

 

Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9: Jesus the great high priest learned obedience through

suffering and therefore obtained salvation for all who obey him

 

John 18:1-19:42: The Passion of Our Lord according to St. John

 

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Here are a number of hymns to use whether you use the above texts, have a Tenebrae service with 7 readings, or do the 7 last words of Christ.

 

Were You There (LBW #92, ELW #353, LSB #456)

 

Ah, Holy Jesus (LBW #123, ELW #349)

 

O Sacred Head (LBW 116, ELW #352, LSB #450 [rhythmic; note 7 verses in LSB makes it useful for separating portions of the Passion reading],

 

OR LBW #117, ELW #351, LSB #449 [more familiar; note ELW and LSB use Bach harmonization]

 

Jesus, in Thy/Your Dying Woes (LBW #112, 113 {need to use both to get all 7 words}; LSB #447

 

O Darkest Woe (LSB #448, also if you have the old SBH, it’s #87)

 

Upon the Cross Extended (LSB #453; Lovely Paul Gerhard tune, heartfelt lyrics, public

domain. If you want to use it, therefore, feel free to copy it!)

 

Sing, My Tongue, the Glorious Battle (LBW #118, ELW #356, LSB #454)

 

Go to Dark Gethsemane (LBW #109, ELW #347, LSB #436)

 

There in God’s Garden (wherever your last hymn appears in the service, and whatever form of Good Friday liturgy you use, I think this is a perfect “capstone” to our worship)

            (WOV #668, ELW #342)

 

 

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Good Friday Tenebrae Service

 

Prayer of the Day:

Almighty Father, we ask you to look with mercy on your family, for whom your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, was willing to be betrayed and to be given over to the hands of sinners and to suffer death on the cross; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. AMEN.

 

The first section: Jesus is arrested

Psalm 25

 

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame;

do not let my enemies exult over me.

Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;

let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation;

for you I wait all day long.

Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,

for they have been from of old.

Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;

according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!

Good and upright is the Lord; therefore, he instructs sinners in the way.

He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,

for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.

Who are they that fear the Lord?

He will teach them the way that they should choose.

They will abide in prosperity,

and their children shall possess the land.

The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him,

and he makes his covenant known to them.

My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.

Relieve the troubles of my heart, and bring me out of my distress.

Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.

Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me.

O guard my life, and deliver me; do not let me be put to shame,

for I take refuge in you.

May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.

Redeem Israel, O God, out of all its troubles.

 

Hymn: WOV #667, Stay here and Watch With Me (sung 3x)

 

Stay here and keep watch with me. The hour has come.

Stay here and keep watch with me. Watch and pray.

 

 

John 18:1-14

 

After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus replied, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground. Again he asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.” This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, “I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me.” Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?” So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him.

First they took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die for the people.

 

Prayer

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

A brief silence

 

Forgive and save your Church, O God, for heeding anything that distracts it from knowing, proclaiming, and sharing the love of Jesus, its crucified and risen Redeemer.

 

            Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

Forgive and renew pastors, bishops, theologians, and other church leaders when by treacherous words and shameful deeds they crucify Christ anew, and turn people from his salvation.

 

            Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

The first candle is extinguished

The second section: Peter denies Jesus

Psalm 54

 

Save me, O God, by your name, and vindicate me by your might.

Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

For the insolent have risen against me, the ruthless seek my life;

they do not set God before them.

But surely, God is my helper;

the Lord is the upholder of my life.

He will repay my enemies for their evil.

In your faithfulness, put an end to them.

With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;

I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.

For he has delivered me from every trouble,

and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

 

 

Hymn: WOV #668, v.1: There in God’s Garden

 

There in God’s garden stands the Tree of Wisdom,

Whose leaves hold forth the healing of the nations.

Tree of all knowledge, Tree of all compassion, Tree of all beauty.

 

John 18:15-27

 

Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. The woman said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?”

He said, “I am not.” Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing around it and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself.

Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. Jesus answered, “I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said.”

When he had said this, one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?”

Jesus answered, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?”

He denied it and said, “I am not.”

One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?”

Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.

 

 

Prayer

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

A brief silence

 

Forgive and guide each of us, for the small and great ways in which we fail to love you with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and do not love one another as Jesus has loved us.

 

            Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

Forgive and challenge everyone who says they believe in you, but have more pressing obligations than worship, prayer, forgiveness, or service in your name.

 

            Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

 

The second candle is extinguished

 

 

 

 

The third section: Jesus before Pilate

 

Psalm 2

 

Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together,

against the Lord and his anointed, saying,

“Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision.

Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,

“I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.”

I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me,

“You are my son; today I have begotten you.

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,

and the ends of the earth your possession.

You shall break them with a rod of iron,

and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.

Serve the Lord with fear, with trembling

kiss his feet, or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way;

for his wrath is quickly kindled. Happy are all who take refuge in him.

 

Hymn: WOV #668, v.2: There in God’s Garden

 

Its name is Jesus, name that says, “Our Savior!”

There on its branches see the scars of suffering;

See where the tendrils of our human selfhood feed on its lifeblood.

 

John 18:28-40

 

Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” They answered, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.”

The Jews replied, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.” (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.) Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”

Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?”

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”

Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?”

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no case against him. But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?”

They shouted in reply, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a bandit.

 

Prayer

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

A brief silence

Forgive and enlighten all who believe in other gods, or who have limited and distorted notions of who you are.

           

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

Forgive and rescue all who say they are “spiritual but not religious,” or who are fascinated by the occult or dark spiritual arts.

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

The third candle is extinguished

 

 

 

 

The fourth section: Jesus is sentenced to death

 

Isaiah 52: 13-15

 

See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. Just as there were many who were astonished at him—so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of mortals— so he shall startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which had not been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.

 

Hymn: WOV #668, v.3: There in God’s Garden

 

Thorns not its own are tangled in its foliage;

Our greed has starved it, our despite has choked it.

Yet look! It lives! Its grief has not destroyed it nor fire consumed it.

 

John 19: 1-16

 

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face.

Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.”

The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.” Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.

Pilate therefore said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?”

Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.”

When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon.

He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?”

The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.”

Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

 

Prayer

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

A brief silence

 

Forgive and teach those who do not believe in you at all, especially those who persecute believers.

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

Forgive and bring to repentance our enemies, personal and communal. Forgive all who slander, lie, and spew hate, as did their spiritual ancestors toward your beloved Son.

 

            Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

Forgive and transform all who break promises, break laws, and break hearts, especially when we still struggle to forgive.

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

The fourth candle is extinguished

 

 

The fifth section: Jesus is crucified

 

Isaiah 53:1-6

 

Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.

Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

 

 

 

Hymn: WOV #668, v.4: There in God’s Garden

 

See how its branches reach to us in welcome;

Hear what the Voice says: “Come to me, ye weary!

Give me your sickness, give me all your sorrow, I will give blessing.”

 

John 19:17-25

 

So they took him out; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them.

Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says, “They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.” And that is what the soldiers did.

 

Prayer

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

A brief silence

Forgive and energize all who whine, complain, make excuses, and shift blame to others.

 

            Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

Forgive and reform everyone who seeks to divide, not build up; to sow suspicion, not trust; and who insists on their own way at any cost.

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

 

The fifth candle is extinguished

 

 

 

 

The sixth section: Jesus dies

 

Psalm 69:16-21, 29-33

 

Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;

according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.

Do not hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress—

make haste to answer me.

Draw near to me, redeem me,

set me free because of my enemies.

You know the insults I receive, and my shame and dishonor;

my foes are all known to you.

Insults have broken my heart, so that I am in despair.

I looked for pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.

They gave me poison for food,

and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

But I am lowly and in pain;

let your salvation, O God, protect me.

I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.

This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs.

Let the oppressed see it and be glad;

you who seek God, let your hearts revive.

For the Lord hears the needy,

and does not despise his own that are in bonds.

 

Hymn: WOV #668, v.5: There in God’s Garden

 

This is my ending, this my resurrection;

Into your hands, Lord, I commit my spirit.

This have I searched for; now can I possess it. This ground is holy.

 

John 19:26-30

 

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

 

 

Prayer

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

A brief silence

Forgive and liberate those who are enslaved by their desires, passions, fears, addictions, or by their attraction to evil for its own sake.

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

Forgive and heal all who are caught in snares of illness and pain, depression and anxiety, regret and shame.

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

Forgive, save, transform, and redeem all of us – for if we are honest, we know we must number ourselves in the great and miserable fellowship of sinners. Forgive, dear Lord, forgive us who despair; who seek revenge; who are cruel and selfish; who are bored and apathetic; who are thoughtless, clueless, heedless, merciless, and faithless.

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

The sixth candle is extinguished

 

 

The seventh section: Jesus is buried

 

Isaiah 53:7-12

 

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he did not open his mouth.

By a perversion of justice he was taken away.

Who could have imagined his future?

For he was cut off from the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people.

They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich,

although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain.

When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring,

and shall prolong his days;

through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.

Out of his anguish he shall see light;

he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.

The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,

and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;

because he poured out himself to death,

and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

and made intercession for the transgressors.

 

Hymn: WOV #668, v.6: There in God’s Garden

 

All heav’n is singing, “Thanks to Christ whose Passion

Offers in mercy healing, strength, and pardon.

Peoples and nations, take it, take it freely!” Amen! My Master!

 

John 19:31-40

 

Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him.

But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.” And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”

After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews.

 

Prayer

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A brief silence

 

By the suffering and passion, of your holy and beloved Son; by his prayers from the Cross for our sake; by his sinless death and his descent into the depths of hell for the sake of sinners; by his glorious resurrection and ascension, and by his promise to come again as victorious Lord of all, forgive us our sins, heavenly Father. Crucify our sins and burn them in hell; but hide us, your poor sinful creatures, in the life-giving wounds of Jesus, and shelter us in his outstretched arms. Anoint us with the same Spirit he committed to you with his dying breath. Raise us, in the power of that Spirit, to share in the glorious resurrection life of Christ. And speed the coming of that great eternal day when everyone whom you have forgiven and healed, transformed and redeemed, is made fit to stand together before your throne, there to praise and adore you in the unity you share with your Son, our Savior and Lord, and with the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

 

The seventh candle is removed but not extinguished.

 

The closing

 

The single lighted candle is returned. All rise and recite the Apostles’ Creed and Lord’s Prayer.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

 

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again 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. Our Father, who art in heaven…..

 

 

 

April 8, 2023: The Vigil of Easter

 

For the Service of the Word portion: The great acts of salvation, as taken shamelessly from the ELW pericope. If fewer than 12 readings (snort) are used,

make sure to use the ones marked with an asterisk

 

*Genesis 1:1-2:4a: Creation

            Response: Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26

            OR How Marvelous God’s Greatness LBW #515, ELW #830 (Easy Swedish tune)

 

Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18; 8:6-18; 9:8-13: The Great Flood

            Response: Psalm 46

OR Thy Holy Wings WOV #741, ELW #613

 

Genesis 22:1-18: God tests Abraham, commanding him to sacrifice his son

            Response: Psalm 16

            OR God Loved the World (So That He Gave) (Even I don’t know the tune in LBW,

so use the tune suggested in ELW, used often for “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”)

            LBW #292, ELW #323, LSB #571

 

*Exodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21: Deliverance of Israel at the Red Sea

            Response: Exodus 15:1b-13, 17-18

            OR Guide Me Ever, Great Redeemer LBW #343, ELW #618, LSB #918

            OR The God of Abraham Praise, v. 1, 3, 5 LBW #544, ELW #831, LSB #798

 

*Isaiah 55:1-11: Salvation freely offered to all

            Response: Isaiah 12:2-6

            OR I’ve Just Come From the Fountain WOV #696

 

Proverbs 8:1-8, 19-21; 9:4b-6: The wisdom of God

            Response: Psalm 19

OR Let All Things Now Living LBW #557, ELW #881

 

 

 

 

Ezekiel 36:24-28: God promises to give a new heart and spirit to his people

            Response: Psalms 42 and 43 (combine them)

            OR As Pants the Hart for Cooling Streams LBW #452

            OR As the Deer Runs to the River ELW #331

 

Ezekiel 37:1-14: The valley of the dry bones

            Response: Psalm 143

            OR O Happy Day When We Shall Stand LBW #351, ELW #441

 

Zephaniah 3:14-20: The gathering of God’s people

            Response: Psalm 98

            OR Joy to the World (hey why not?!) LBW #39, ELW #267, LSB #387

 

Jonah 1:1-2:1: Jonah’s faithlessness and deliverance

            Response: Jonah 2:2-9

            OR Great is Thy Faithfulness WOV #771, ELW #733, LSB #809

 

Isaiah 61:1-4, 9-11: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” to proclaim good news to

all who suffer; God clothes his servant in the garments of salvation

            Response: Deuteronomy 32:1-4, 7, 36a, 43a

            OR In Thee Is Gladness LBW #552, ELW #867, LSB #818

 

*Daniel 3:1-29: Shadrach, Meshach, and A Bean to Go (look it up for great coffee!)

are delivered from the fiery furnace

Response: Song of the Three (LBW Canticle #18)

OR All Creatures of Our God and King LBW #527,

ELW #835 (de-gendered, de-kinged – it’s All Creatures of Our God Most High)

 

 

During the order for Holy Baptism or Affirmation of Baptism

 

The Litany of the Saints (ELW Service Music, #237) may be sung

 

 

 

The Service of Holy Communion

 

Romans 6:3-11: We are baptized into the death and resurrection of Christ:

dead now to sin, alive in Christ!

 

John 20:1-18: John and Peter race to the tomb; Mary Magdalene encounters

the risen Jesus

 

Hymn of the Day: We Know That Christ is Raised and Dies No More

            LBW #189, ELW #449, LSB #603

 

Hymn During Communion: I Know That My Redeemer Lives

            LBW #352, ELW #619, LSB #461

 

Closing Hymn: This Joyful Eastertide WOV #676, ELW #391,LSB #482

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

 

April 9, 2023, Easter Sunday, The Resurrection of Our Lord

 

Easter Sunrise:

 

Exodus 14:10-15:1 (Song of thanksgiving after crossing the Red Sea)

 

Psalm 118:15-29 (I shall not die but live, and declare the works of the Lord!)

 

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (I handed on to you what I received: that Christ rose

            from the dead)

 

John 20:1-18 (Peter and John’s foot race; Mary Magdalene encounters risen Jesus)

 

#########

 

Easter Day

 

Acts 10:34-43 (Peter preaches Gospel to Gentiles)

 

Psalm 16 (You do not give me up to Sheol, nor let your faithful one see the Pit)

            (ELW: Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24), I shall not die but live, and declare the works

 of the Lord!)

 

Colossians 3:1-4 (your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth,

for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.)

 

Matthew 28:1-10 (Risen Jesus greets the women, bids them tell disciples to go to Galilee)

**************************************

 

Opening Hymn: Jesus Christ is Risen Today: LBW #151, ELW #365, LSB #457

 

Hymn of Praise: Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia: WOV #678, ELW #364, LSB #466

 

OR Hymn paraphrase of “This is the Feast” by Cathy Ammlung. Tune: “In Thee is Gladness”

 

This feast of gladness triumphs o’er sadness; Jesus, Lord, the victor now.

The Lamb, once slain now lives again! Every knee to him shall bow.

Joy in full flower! Blessing and power, honor and praises all heaven raises,

And earth shall echo: Alleluia!

Sing of his glory, for Christ is worthy of adoration; and our salvation

In love he wins for us. Alleluia!

 

Gospel Procession Hymn: This Joyful Eastertide: WOV #676, ELW #391, LSB #482

 

Hymn of the Day: Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands: LBW #134, ELW #370, LSB #458

 

OR Awake, My Heart, With Gladness: LBW #129, ELW #378, LSB #467 (This is a DANCE tune! Play it as a sprightly minuet, not a solemn dirge, and by, er, verse 7, folks will be warbling and swaying!)

 

Communion Hymn 1: Thine is the Glory: LBW #145, ELW #376

 

OR The Strife is O’er: LBW #135, ELW #366, LSB #464

 

Communion Hymn 2: I Know that My Redeemer Lives: LBW #352, ELW #619, LSB #461

 

Closing Hymn: Alleluia! Sing to Jesus: LBW #158, ELW #392, LSB #821

 

 

 

 

 

April 16, 2023, 2^nd Sunday of Easter

 

Acts 5:29-42 (Gamaliel counsels caution dealing with apostolic teaching, miracles)

 

            (ELW: Acts 2:14a, 22-32, Peter exhorts crowd to repent, be baptized)

 

Psalm 148 (Praise God for his universal glory)

 

            (ELW: Psalm 16, I keep the Lord always before me; I shall not be moved)

 

1 Peter 1:3-9 (Christ’s resurrection promises new hope, imperishable inheritance)

 

John 20:19-31 (Jesus appears to disciples – including Thomas)

 

*****************************

 

Opening Hymn: O Sons and Daughters of the King/Let Us Sing:

LBW #139, v.1-4, ELW #386, v.1-4, LSB #470/471; Note: the latter is the same as LBW, but the former is a well-known Easter tune also)

 

Hymn of Praise: Good Christian Friends, Rejoice and Sing: LBW #144, ELW #385, LSB #475

 

OR Hymn paraphrase of “This is the Feast;” See Easter Sunday

 

Hymn of the Day: We Walk By Faith and Not by Sight: WOV #675, ELW #635, LSB #720

 

OR Come, You Faithful, Raise the Strain: (I don’t know who has the Arthur Sullivan tune from SBH):

LBW #132, ELW #363, LSB #487

 

OR The Risen Christ: ELW #390

 

OR These Things Did Thomas Count as Real: LSB #472

 

Communion Hymn 1: O Savior, Precious Savior: LBW #514, ELW #820, LSB #527

 

Communion Hymn 2: Jesus, the Very Thought of You: LBW #316, (ELW #754

 

Closing Hymn: O Sons and Daughters: LBW #139, v. 5-9, (ELW #386, v. 5-8, LSB #470/471)

 

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

 

 

April 23, 2023, 3^rd Sunday of Easter

 

Note: Even if today isn’t a usual Communion Sunday, consider making it one!!

 

Acts 2:14a, 36-41 (Pentecost: Peter exhorts listeners to repent, be baptized)

 

Psalm 116:1-14 (15-19) (Thanksgiving for deliverance from illness)

 

1 Peter 1:17-25 (You were ransomed not with gold, but the precious blood of Christ)

 

Luke 24:13-35 (The Road to Emmaus story)

 

****************************

 

Opening Hymn: Around You, O Lord Jesus: LBW #496, ELW #468

 

OR Day of Arising: ELW #374

 

Hymn of Praise: Christ the Lord is Risen Today: LBW #130, ELW #373, LSB #469

 

OR Hymn paraphrase of “This is the Feast;” See Easter Sunday

 

Hymn of the Day: Who Are You Who Walk in Sorrow: LSB #476

 

OR Alleluia! Jesus is Risen: WOV #674, ELW #377, LSB #474

 

OR Come, Let Us Eat: LBW #214, ELW #491, LSB #626

 

Communion Hymn 1: O Bread of Life/Living Bread From Heaven:

LBW #222, ELW #480, LSB #642 (this is a different tune)

 

OR What Is This Bread: LSB #629

 

Communion Hymn 2: Come With Us, O Blessed Jesus: LBW #219, ELW #501

 

OR Come, Lord Jesus, Be Our Guest: LSB #776 (sing 3x, or as round)

 

Closing: At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing: LBW #210, ELW #362, LSB #633

 

            OR Abide With Me: LBW #272, ELW #629, LSB #878

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

April 30, 2023, 4^th Sunday of Easter/ Good Shepherd Sunday

 

Acts 2:42-47 (The common life of the first believers)

 

Psalm 23 (The Lord is my shepherd)

 

1 Peter 2:19-25 (Endure suffering for doing right; for you’ve returned to Shepherd

            and guardian of your souls)

 

John 10:1-10 (Sheep know Shepherd’s voice; Jesus is shepherd, gate for the sheep)

 

**************************************

 

Opening Hymn: Christ the Lord is Risen Today; Alleluia: LBW #128, ELW #369, LSB #463

 

Hymn of Praise: Good Christian Friends, Rejoice and Sing: LBW #144, ELW #385, LSB #475

 

OR Hymn paraphrase of “This is the Feast;” See Easter Sunday

 

Hymn of the Day: The Lord’s My Shepherd; I’ll Not Want: LBW #451, ELW #778, LSB #710

 

OR Have No Fear, Little Flock: LBW #476, ELW #764, LSB #735

 

OR Lord Jesus Christ, Life-Giving Bread: LSB #625

 

Communion Hymn 1: The King of Love My Shepherd Is: LBW #456, ELW #502, LSB #709

 

Communion Hymn 2: Blest Be the Tie That Binds: LBW #370, ELW #656, LSB #649

 

OR I Am Jesus’ Little Lamb: LSB #740

 

Closing Hymn: O Happy Day When We Shall Stand: LBW #351, ELW #441

 

OR Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us: LBW #481, ELW #789, LSB #711 (latter 2 use Bradbury, a much more familiar tune)

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

May 7, 2023, 5^th Sunday of Easter

 

Acts 6:1-9; 7:2a, 51-60 (Deacons, including Stephen, are chosen; excerpts from

            Stephen’s speech; the stoning of Stephen)

 

            (ELW: Acts 7:55-60, The stoning of Stephen)

 

Psalm 146 (Happy are they whose help is from the Lord, who executes justice

for the poor)

 

            (ELW: Psalm 31: 1-5,15-16, Prayer for deliverance from enemies)

 

1 Peter 2:2-10 (Come to Christ, the living Stone who will cause many to stumble;

            but you are his own people, a royal priesthood)

 

John 14:1-14 (I am the Way, Truth and Life; believe that the Father is in me

and I am in him)

 

*****************************

 

Opening Hymn: From God Can Nothing Move Me: LBW #468, LSB #713

OR The Son of God Goes Forth to War: LBW #183, LSB #661

OR Rise Up, O Saints of God: LBW #383, ELW #669

 

Hymn of Praise: Make Songs of Joy to Christ Our Head (easy tune!): LBW #150, LSB #484

 

OR Soli Deo Gloria: ELW #878

 

OR Hymn paraphrase of “This is the Feast;” See Easter Sunday

 

Hymn of the Day: You Are the Way: LBW #464, ELW #758, LSB #526

 

OR Give Me Jesus: WOV #777, ELW #770

 

Communion Hymn 1: My Life Flows On in Endless Song: WOV #781, ELW #763

 

Communion Hymn 2: Jesus, Thy Boundless Love to Me: LBW #336, LSB #683

 

OR Come, My Way, My Truth, My Life: LBW #513, ELW #816

 

Closing Hymn:, Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart: LBW #553, ELW #873

Rejoice, O Pilgrim Throng: LSB #813

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

May 14, 2023, 6^th Sunday of Easter (Also Mother’s Day)

 

Acts 17:16-31 (Paul in Athens: What you worship as unknown, I proclaim to you)

 

            (ELW: Acts 17:22-31)

 

Psalm 66:8-20 (God has tested, delivered us; we will offer sacrifices and extol him)

 

1 Peter 3:13-22 (Give account of hope within you with gentleness; suffer for doing

            good, as Christ did; baptism an appeal to God for good conscience, through

            Christ’s resurrection and exaltation)

 

John 14:15-21 (If you love me, keep my commandments; I will pray the Father,

            who will send you the Spirit)

 

*****************************

 

Opening Hymn: Christ is the King! O Friends, Rejoice: LBW #386, ELW #662

 

OR All People That On Earth Do Dwell: LBW #245, ELW #883, LSB #791

 

Hymn of Praise: Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven: LBW #549, ELW #865, LSB #793

 

OR Hymn paraphrase of “This is the Feast;” See Easter Sunday

 

Hymn of the Day: Come Down, O Love Divine: LBW #508, ELW #804, LSB #501

 

Communion Hymn 1: Son of God, Eternal Savior: LBW #364, ELW #655, LSB #842

 

Communion Hymn 2: Lord, Speak to Us, That We May Speak: LBW #403, ELW #676

 

Closing Hymn: May We Your/Thy Precepts, Lord, Fulfill: LBW #353, LSB #698

 

OR I Love to Tell the Story: LBW #390, ELW #661

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

 

 

May 21, 2023, 7^th Sunday of Easter, or Ascension (Transferred)

 

7^th Sunday of Easter

 

Acts 1: (6-10), 12-26 (Matthias chosen to replace Judas)

 

Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35 (The holy God is also the protector of orphans and widows)

 

1 Peter 4:12-19; 5:6-11 (Christian suffering; God of grace will support, strengthen, establish you)

 

John 17:1-11 (Jesus’ High Priestly prayer; glorify yourself in them as you have in me)

 

*******************************

 

Opening Hymn: When Morning Gilds the Skies: LBW #546, ELW #853, LSB #807

 

OR Blessing and Honor: LBW #525, ELW #854

 

OR Thine The Amen, Thine The Praise: WOV #801, ELW #826, LSB #680

 

Hymn of Praise:  Give to Our God Immortal Praise: LBW #520, ELW #848

 

OR Hymn paraphrase of “This is the Feast;” See Easter Sunday

 

Hymn of the Day: O One With God the Father (Use tune for “The Church’s One Foundation”): LBW #77

 

OR Hear Us, Father, When We Pray (Great words, ok tune): LSB #773

 

Communion Hymn 1: Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise: LBW #526, ELW #834, LSB #802

 

Communion Hymn 2: Beautiful Savior: LBW #518, ELW #838, LSB #537

 

Closing Hymn: O God Beyond All Praising: WOV #797, ELW #880

 

OR Crown Him With Many Crowns: LBW #170, ELW #855, LSB #525

 

 

#####

Ascension (Transferred)

 

Acts 1:1-11 (The Ascension of Jesus)

 

Psalm 47 (God has gone up with a shout!)

 

Ephesians 1:15-23 (The power of grace put into effect when God exalted Jesus

above every authority and power)

 

Luke 24:44-53 (Shorter account of Ascension; conclusion of the gospel)

 

************************************

 

Opening Hymn: O God Beyond All Praising: WOV #797, ELW #880

 

OR Blessing and Honor: LBW #525, ELW #854

 

OR Thine The Amen, Thine The Praise: WOV #801, ELW #826, LSB #680

 

Hymn of Praise: Look, the Sight is Glorious:  LBW #156

Look, Ye Saints, the Sight is Glorious: LSB #495

 

 

OR Hymn paraphrase of “This is the Feast;” See Easter Sunday

 

Hymn of the Day: Alleluia! Sing to Jesus: LBW #158, ELW #392, LSB #821

 

OR Alleluia, Alleluia! Hearts To Heaven: LSB #477 (Note: tune is “Ode to Joy!)

 

Communion Hymn 1: Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise (ELW #834, LSB #802)

 

Communion Hymn 2: Beautiful Savior: LBW #518, ELW #838, LSB #537

 

Closing Hymn: A Hymn of Glory Let Us Sing: LBW #157, ELW #393, LSB #493 (which mercifully has left off excessive exclamation points)

 

OR Crown Him With Many Crowns: LBW #170, ELW #855, LSB #525

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

 

 

 

 

May 28, 2023, Day of Pentecost

 

Numbers 11:24-30 (The Spirit descends on 70 elders)

 

            (ELW, ditto, or Acts 2:1-11, the Holy Spirit descends like tongues of fire)

 

Psalm 25:1-15 (Good and upright is the Lord; so he instructs sinners in the way.)

 

(ELW: Psalm 104:24-34, 35b, The Spirit renews creation)

 

Acts 2:1-21 (The Holy Spirit descends; Peter comments)

 

(ELW, ditto, or 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13, the gifts of the Spirit)

 

John 7:37-39 (The Spirit wells up like living water in believers’ hearts)

 

            (ELW, ditto, or John 20:19-23)

************************

 

Opening Hymn: Come Holy Ghost, Our Souls Inspire: LBW #472/473

Creator Spirit, Heavenly Dove: ELW #577/578

Come Holy Ghost, Creator Blest: (LSB #498/499

 

Hymn of Praise: God of Tempest, God of Whirlwind: ELW #400

 

OR Holy Spirit, Ever Dwelling: LBW #523, ELW #582, LSB #650

 

Hymn of the Day: Gracious Spirit, Heed Our Pleading: WOV #687, ELW #401

 

OR Holy Spirit, The Dove Sent From Heaven: LSB #502

 

Communion Hymn 1: Come Gracious Spirit, Heavenly Dove: LBW #475, ELW #404

 

Communion Hymn 2: Holy Spirit, Truth/Light Divine: LBW #257, ELW#398, LSB #496

 

OR O Spirit of Life: WOV #680, ELW #405

 

Closing Hymn: O Day Full of Grace: LBW #161, ELW #627, LSB #503

 

OR O Day of Rest and Gladness: LBW #251, ELW #521, LSB #906

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

 

 

June 4, 2023, The Holy Trinity

 

Genesis 1:1-2:4a (God creates the universe and blesses it)

 

Psalm 8 (What is man that you are mindful of him?)

 

Acts 2:14a, 22-36 (Again, part of Peter’s Pentecost sermon)

            (ELW, 2 Corinthians 13:11-13, Trinitarian blessing)

 

Matthew 28:16-20 (The Great Commission)

 

********************************

 

Opening Hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy: LBW #165, ELW #473, LSB #507

 

Hymn of Praise: How Great Thou Art: LBW #532, ELW #856, LSB #801

 

Hymn of the Day: Thy Strong Word Did Cleave The Darkness: LBW #233, ELW #511, LSB #578

 

OR the following hymn paraphrase of the Nicene Creed:

 

Almighty Father, Creator Blest

Tune: Victory (The Strife is O’er); Words: Rev. Cathy A. Ammlung, STS

Dedicated to the Pastors of the Society of the Holy Trinity

 

(before first verse; note, “in” is sung on two notes): Credo, credo, credo in_ unum Deum!

 

1. Almighty Father, Creator blest,

Worlds sprang to life at his behest;

Seen and unseen, his name they confessed:

Credo, credo!

 

 

2. Lord Jesus Christ, his only Son,

In truth and substance, they are one;

Pure Light from Light, in him life’s begun:

Credo, credo!

 

3. For us poor sinners, mortal and weak,

He came from heav’n, the lost to seek,

God’s Word made flesh, salvation to speak.

Credo, credo!

 

4. Born of the virgin, Mary most pure,

And of the Spirit, to be sin’s cure,

Christ became man; let praises endure –

Credo, credo!

 

5. For us, ‘neath Pilate’s judgment he died –

For us, our Lord was crucified,

For us, he rose again, glorified:

Credo, credo!

 

6. Ascended to the Father’s throne,

He shall return, to judge everyone,

And rule fore’er, as Lord and God:

Credo, credo!

 

7. Most Holy Spirit, life-giving Lord,

One with the Father and Son, adored,

Inspiring prophets’ holy word,

Credo, credo!

 

8. Making one holy Church in the world,

One with apostles, martyrs, and Lord,

One through baptism with water and Word,

Credo, credo!

 

 

9. From sin forgiven, we are made free,

Christ’s life from death our future shall be,

Forever praising the Trinity:

Credo, credo!

 

(final refrain: as in opening) Credo, credo, credo in_ unum Deum!

 

 

Communion Hymn 1: God Himself is Present: LBW #249, LSB #907

OR Come, Join the Dance of Trinity: ELW #412

 

Communion Hymn 2: Father Most Holy: LBW #169, ELW #415, LSB #504

 

Closing Hymn: Holy God, We Praise Your Name: LBW #535, ELW #414, LSB #940

Lutheran CORE is always looking for ways to take our ministry to the next level and expand our work of being a Voice for Biblical Truth and a Network for Confessing Lutherans.  Our most recent new effort is to expand our video ministry.

For about two years we have been posting on our You Tube channel a new video book review on the first day of every month.  Many thanks to the Lutheran pastors and theologians who have been recording these reviews of books of interest and importance. 

We are calling our new video ministry CORE Convictions.   This new video series is being planned particularly for those who are looking to strengthen and renew their Christian faith. We believe that these videos will be a valuable resource for those who wish to grow in their knowledge of Biblical teaching and Christian living as well as for those who want to know more about how Lutherans understand the Bible. We also want to provide this resource for those who do not have the opportunity or the option of attending a church where the preaching and teaching is Biblical, orthodox, and confessional.

Here is a link to our You Tube channel.  In the top row you will find recordings from both sets of videos – in the order in which they were posted, beginning with the most recent.  In the second row you will find links to the Playlists for both sets of videos – Book Reviews and CORE Convictions.  Here is some more information about our two most recent video book reviews.

VIDEO BOOK REVIEWS

“THANKS BE TO GOD: MEMOIRS OF A PRACTICAL THEOLOGIAN”

Many thanks to NALC pastor Dennis DiMauro for recording a video review of Robert Benne’s book, Thanks Be to God: Memoirs of a Practical Theologian.  A link to his review can be found here. 

Dr. Benne is the Jordan-Trexler Professor of Religion Emeritus at Roanoke College in Virginia as well as the founder of the college’s Benne Center for Religion and Society.  He currently serves as Professor of Christian Ethics at the Institute of Lutheran Theology.

In this book Robert Benne tells the story of his life from a small-town upbringing in an ethnically German area of Nebraska (which Dennis DiMauro describes as like Ozzie and Harriet wearing Luther Rose t-shirts), to the University of Chicago and a few sabbaticals in Germany.  At first enthralled with the seminary radicalism of the 1960’s, he soon discovers that this is not for him.  He moves from Chicago to Roanoke College in Virginia, where he works to reclaim the Lutheran identity of the college. 

In 1982 he founded the college’s Center for Religion and Society, which later was named after him.  He worked with Lutheran CORE in a failed attempt to uphold traditional views on marriage in the ELCA and worked with Carl Braaten to start the NALC’s annual theology conference (which later was renamed the Braaten-Benne Lectures), and the younger theologians colloquium, of which Dennis DiMauro is a member.  

Dennis DiMauro concludes this enthusiastic recommendation of this book by saying that it is a wonderful memoir that details Dr. Benne’s journey from left-wing activist to iconic Christian ethicist.  It demonstrates how one person can fight the good fight for God’s Law and Gospel and make a difference in the world while succeeding in academia against all odds.

DEBATE BETWEEN ERASMUS AND LUTHER 

Many thanks to Ethan Zimmerman for his review of the debate between Desiderius Erasmus and Martin Luther on the issue of free will.  Ethan is a first-year student at the North American Lutheran Seminary.  A link to his review can be found here.   

This debate took place in the mid-1520’s as Erasmus stated in his Diatribe that the will is free, while Luther insisted in his Bondage of the Will that the will is bound to Satan or to God.  Erasmus’ work is a very methodical, precise piece according to the best tradition of the humanists.  Erasmus uses Scripture to support his point because he knows that Scripture is the only authority that Luther will accept.  Luther argues his point on the basis of the same passages of Scripture which Erasmus uses, plus some additional passages.

A major difference between the work of these two men is the tone.  Erasmus’ writing is very professional, polite, concise, and academic.  Luther’s is emotionally charged, vehement, and down to earth.  Reading Erasmus is like reading a textbook.  Reading Luther is like reading a fiery sermon.

Ethan Zimmerman concludes by saying that reading these two books “will more clearly elucidate both the men of the debate, the issues of the reformation, and shed light on the core tenants of the Lutheran tradition and why we are the way we are today.”  

* * * * * * *

CORE CONVICTIONS

We now have four videos posted in our CORE Convictions series –

• “Defending Christian faith and morality without being a nasty jerk or a defensive Bible thumper” by NALC pastor Cathy Ammlung
• “Jesus is the only way to salvation” by Russell Lackey, campus pastor at Grand View University (ELCA)
• “Teaching the faith to children of all ages” by NALC pastor Jim Lehmann
• “What does it mean to be Confessional?” by NALC pastor Jeffray Greene

More videos will be posted as they become available.  My August letter from the director contained a summary of and a link to Cathy’s video.  Here is a summary of and a link to Russell’s video.

IS JESUS THE ONLY WAY TO SALVATION?

Many thanks to Russell Lackey, senior campus pastor at Grand View University in Des Moines, for his answer to the question, Is Jesus the only way to salvation?  A link to his video can be found here.

Some will interpret John 14: 6 as Jesus’ narrowing the way to God.  “No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  Instead Dr. Lackey points out that here Jesus is providing a way to the Father.  “No one comes to the Father.”  On our own we would never be able to come to the Father.  “Except through Me.”  Jesus provides the way.  It is as if we were all stuck in a dark room and were unable to find our way out.  Someone needs to open the door, provide a light, and show the way.

Pastor Lackey also refers to Revelation 5: 2-5, where the question is asked, “Who is worthy to open the scroll?”  Only Jesus is worthy.  No one else is able to provide the way. 

We will all die.  No one can escape that.  Jesus alone overcame the grave, opened the way, and provides a way beyond the grave.  The best news of all is this – Jesus has made a way to the Father. 

THE REVISIONISTS HAVE COMPLETELY TAKEN OVER:

 A REVIEW AND EVALUATION OF THE ELCA CHURCHWIDE ASSEMBLY

The ELCA held its Churchwide Assembly August 8-12 in Columbus, Ohio.  The gathering sent a strong message to confessional Lutherans with traditional views – You are not welcome.  In this article I will list several ways in which the decisions that were made and the events that took place communicate that message loud and clear.    

First, the resolution concerning human sexuality that came from the Memorials Committee early on in the gathering was bad enough.  The assembly voted overwhelmingly, without discussion, and with no concerns expressed “to authorize a social statement reconsideration to revise Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust (2009) so that its wording reflects current church understanding, church policy, civil law, and public acceptance of marriage of same-gender and gender non-confirming couples.”  It was obvious where this was headed, and it took only two days to get there.  Towards the end of the week a resolution came through the Reference and Counsel Committee “to authorize a possible revision of the social statement on Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust” which “reconsiders the church’s current concept of the four positions of bound conscience.”  At least there were a few people who spoke against this resolution, and 12% voted against it, but still the days of the ELCA’s claiming to honor bound conscience and to provide a place for those who hold traditional views are over. 

I am certain that the ELCA never intended to honor traditional views.  The language regarding bound conscience and the four positions was placed within the 2009 social statement only to obtain enough votes to get the social statement approved.  One needs to look no further than the ELCA’s total embrace of ReconcilingWorks and its choice of keynote speakers for the 2018 youth gathering to realize that confessional Lutherans with traditional views are not welcome. 

David Charlton, vice president of our board, has done a powerful analysis of the possible (even probable) implications of this action. 

• Candidacy committees and seminaries will no longer need to pretend to work with traditional candidates.  They can reject them outright.
• Seminaries will be able to openly purge any traditional professors who remain, in the name of ELCA policy.
• Synods will no longer need to work with congregations who do not want to call LGBTQIA+ pastors.  These congregations can be told, “Either call an LGBTQIA+ person or you will get no pastor at all.”
• It will be difficult for a pastor who holds traditional views to move to a new synod or a new call.  A bishop will be able to refuse to recommend a pastor for a new call if that pastor is unwilling to do same sex weddings.
• It will be easier to sue congregations for not doing same sex weddings.

Second, during the days leading up to the assembly there was much conversation about calling for a restructure of the governance of the ELCA.  I read comments from many people who believed that the Memorials Committee’s original recommendation to refer the memorials from synods to the Church Council was an act of deliberately stonewalling their efforts.  Some even talked about a showdown at the assembly.  By the time of the assembly the Memorials Committee had changed its recommendation – to one which directed “the Church Council to establish a Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church” which would be “particularly attentive to our shared commitment to dismantle racism” and would “present its findings and recommendations to the 2025 Churchwide Assembly in preparation for a possible reconstituting convention.” 

One could hope, when this new church is reconstituted, that congregations will be given an opportunity for an “easy exit” because the new church will not be what they had signed up for in 1988.   There is even talk about removing the word Evangelical from the name of this new church.  The claim is that the word evangelical is associated in the minds of many people with right-wing, racist, white-supremacy fundamentalists.   

Prior to the assembly I read much criticism of Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton – some of it even very severe.  Some were calling for her resignation or a vote of no confidence because of the way she initially handled the situation with Meghan Rohrer and Iglesia Luterana Santa Maria Peregrina.  Bishop Eaton survived the assembly (though she did test positive for COVID on the morning of the final day – we pray for her quick and full recovery) and she demonstrated throughout the week her great giftedness for presiding over a large and complex gathering.  But I definitely got the impression that she was not setting the course.  The relentless revisionists were, and they have completely taken over.

Third, the whole assembly was a powerful example of the amount of damage that can be done to and the depth of embarrassment that can be created for a large organization by the foolish and self-centered actions of just one person.  It felt like the specter of former bishop Meghan Rohrer and their termination of Nelson Rabell on the Feast Day of our Lady of Guadalupe hung over the entire week.

Fourth, Bishop Eaton’s apology to Iglesia Luterana Santa Maria Peregrina was deep and thorough, and the response of the representatives of the congregation was incredibly gracious, but it should be noted that Bishop Eaton apologized only on behalf of the ELCA.  She did not apologize for herself.  It is a whole lot easier – and a whole lot less painful – to apologize on behalf of a large group of people rather than on behalf of yourself.

During the apology she said, “Part of the body was disconnected; the body was not whole.”  She also promised to be “committed to listen to voices that have traditionally been marginalized.”  But what about another part of the body that is disconnected?  What about other voices that are being marginalized – the voices of those who hold traditional views?  During and after the 2009 Churchwide Assembly Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson reached out to those who were feeling alienated by the actions that were taken (even if it was only for the self-serving reason to preserve the organization).  I have not heard of any effort – nor do I expect to hear of any effort – to reach out to those who feel disconnected and marginalized, even more so now because of the vote on the human sexuality resolution.  We are just too few in number and we are seen as insignificant.  Unlike Pastor Rabell and Iglesia Luterana Santa Maria Peregrina, pastors and congregations who hold traditional views do not have well-positioned, powerful, and credible people to advocate for them – and to do so relentlessly – until finally something is done.

Fifth, the overwhelmingly positive vote on the Land Back Memorial is another example of ELCA inconsistency and hypocrisy.  The assembly fully supported a resolution which, among other things, called upon the ELCA to “support creative programs of restorative justice in partnership with Indigenous people, including, but not limited to, whenever considering a transfer or sale of real property, including returning land (and any structures built on it) after satisfying any financial obligations, to the appropriate Native nations, and when direct return is not feasible or not desired by the Indigenous people, to return the proceeds from the sale of the land to the ELCA Native American Ministry Fund or other local Indigenous led ministries or organizations.” 

Several months ago I wrote a letter to the bishop of the synod in which I was rostered before I retired.  In that letter I said that if that synod truly believes that the land now occupied by the synod offices and all of the congregations of that synod is stolen land, then they are morally obligated – whenever they close a congregation and sell the property – to return at least the value of the land to indigenous persons, and if they do not do so, then they would be complicit in the stealing of land.  The problem is that the number of congregations in that synod and the size and vitality of the remaining congregations are so diminished.  Therefore, that synod needs considerable funds from the sale of buildings and land of closed congregations to balance the budget. 

Will the ELCA truly want to return land and structures to Native nations if the ELCA is struggling financially, or is virtue signaling something the ELCA does only when it does not cost too much?  Also, will the ELCA be willing to return the land and structures of congregations that had to pay a very high price to leave the ELCA?  And if those congregations no longer exist, will the ELCA be willing to give the land and structures (or the value of that land and those structures) to other church bodies which better reflect the beliefs and values of those congregations that paid a very high price to leave and/or were decimated by the persons whom the synod sent in?

Sixth, those who hold a pro-life position should be deeply disturbed by the action that was taken to archive a number of social policy resolutions. In the ELCA social statements cover broad frameworks and are intended to help God’s people think about their faith in the context of social life.  Social policy resolutions are a much narrower and more focused category of social teaching.   

The idea behind archiving a social policy resolution or social statement is to say that that document is no longer relevant to the ELCA’s mission, does not have continued significance for society, and is no longer congruent with ELCA social teaching.  The ELCA’s abortion social policy resolution states essentially the same thing as the ELCA’s 1991 abortion social statement, and it has now been archived.  It has been ruled as not relevant, not still significant, and not still congruent with ELCA social teaching.  It is only a matter of time – perhaps at the 2025 churchwide assembly – until the ELCA’s abortion social statement also will be ruled as not relevant, not still significant, and not still congruent.  After all, as one person said recently, “The ELCA’s abortion social statement was written in the 1900’s.”  I do not remember any explanation of the meaning and significance of archiving prior to the vote to archive.  If anyone who holds a pro-life position happened to be present, there is a good chance that that person would not have understood what just happened. 

Seventh, there was a lot of strange spirituality and even the worship of other gods during the assembly.  The opening focused more on the original inhabitants of the land than on Jesus, and the welcome from the bishop of the host synod focused more on the rivers that flow through that synod than on Jesus.  And the prayer from a member of the prayer team during the vote on the human sexuality resolution was particularly strange.  First, Bishop Eaton needed to be reminded of the importance of having a prayer even though voting had already begun.  And the wording of the prayer was completely irrelevant. A member of the assembly prayer team read from her i-phone an invocation to Mother Earth and Father Sky, concern for all the creatures of the earth, and repentance for our not recycling enough.  The only possibly relevant phrase was, “Help us to dance together,” but even considering that phrase relevant is a stretch.  The thinking seems to be that if we pray prior to a vote, then the outcome of the vote must be within the will of God. 

Eighth, one might wonder how so much groveling, repenting, and apologizing by the assembly could possibly be uplifting for the voting members.  The reason is that they were groveling over, repenting of, and apologizing for what other people have done and not for anything that they have done or ever would do.  A definite characteristic of the whole Woke Movement is an arrogant self-righteousness.

Ninth, in an article entitled “Major Disaster on Its Way,” published prior to the assembly, I wrote of my concern regarding two constitutional amendments that would be considered.  A link to that article can be found here.  The first amendment, which removed proclaiming God’s love for the world from the role of rostered leaders and essentially made them social justice advocates, was originally voted on in 2019.  This amendment was part of a block of amendments that were ratified overwhelmingly.  A motion to ratify previously approved amendments is not open to debate.  ELCA parishioners should not be surprised if their pastors do not preach about Jesus, but instead are only social justice warriors.   

I was glad to hear considerable concern expressed regarding the role of the ELCA’s colleges and universities as described in the other amendment.  Many felt that the deletion of a certain paragraph from the constitution weakened the church’s connection with those institutions and diminished their Christian witness.  A slight majority voted to approve, but it did not receive the required 2/3rds, so the amendment failed.

Tenth, it was good to see certain issues addressed – such as the evils of racism and abuse of power, the need for fair and adequate compensation for all rostered leaders, and the issue of seminarian debt.  And there were four times when the proceedings made me chuckle.

• When Bishop Matthew Riegel of the West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod responded in the words of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to a motion to eliminate the breaks in order to give more time to the consideration of the memorials.  He said, “If we do not satisfy the lower level needs, we will never be able to self-actualize.”
• When a voting member who made a motion to table the Land Back Resolution was told that a better way to go would be a motion to postpone debate until a fixed time or when certain conditions have been met.  His response was, “I have no idea how these rules of whatever work.”
• When Bishop Eaton said to Bishop Riegel, “I have learned not to doubt you.”
• When a voting member spoke to a certain resolution, using all the right woke phrases but not making any sense.  Bishop Eaton had a very pained and confused look on her face as the voting member was speaking and then said, “Thank you.”

The “Embody the Word” Bible studies prior to the assembly culminated on the second day with a theological presentation by Anthony Bateza, associate professor of religion at St. Olaf College.  He talked about the importance of trust, the lack of trust today, and the question of how do and can we become people who can be trusted.  He told of his having to undergo surgery and physical therapy after tearing his ACL in a skiing accident.  He said that he needed to learn to trust his own body again.

Even more so than ever before – with the motion “to authorize a possible revision of the social statement on Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust” and reconsider “the church’s current concept of the four positions of bound conscience” – the ELCA has totally obliterated any reason why anyone with traditional views would ever trust the ELCA.  The damage to the body is irreparable.  Far more than an ACL has been torn. 

* * * * * * *

VIDEO MINISTRY

Lutheran CORE is always looking for ways to take our ministry to the next level and expand our work of being a Voice for Biblical Truth and a Network for Confessing Lutherans.  Our most recent new effort is to expand our video ministry.

For about two years we have been posting on our You Tube channel a new video book review on the first day of every month.  Many thanks to the Lutheran pastors and theologians who have been recording these reviews of books of interest and importance. 

We are calling our new video ministry CORE Convictions.   This new video series is being planned particularly for those who are looking to strengthen and renew their Christian faith. We believe that these videos will be a valuable resource for those who wish to grow in their knowledge of Biblical teaching and Christian living as well as for those who want to know more about how Lutherans understand the Bible. We also want to provide this resource for those who do not have the opportunity or the option of attending a church where the preaching and teaching is Biblical, orthodox, and confessional.

Here is a link to our You Tube channel.  In the top row you will find recordings from both sets of videos – in the order in which they were posted, beginning with the most recent.  In the second row you will find links to the Playlists for both sets of videos – Book Reviews and CORE Convictions.  Here is some more information about two of the most recent videos. 

* * * * * * *

BOOK REVIEW – “THE HOLY SPIRIT AND CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE”

Many thanks to Dr. Paul Hinlicky, professor emeritus at Roanoke College in Roanoke, Virginia, for giving us a review of Simeon Zahl’s book, The Holy Spirit and Christian Experience.  Here is a link to his review. 

Prior to the rationalism of the Enlightenment, during the early years of Reformation theology, part of the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer was seen to be the giving of a new heart, new emotions, a change in one’s desires.  This book helps regain that emphasis.  Faith is not just a matter of intellectual conviction.  It is also something that strikes home for us personally.  It changes us and what we love. 

Grace can be an abstraction – simply the idea that God is merciful and loving.  Instead grace needs to be and can be a concrete experience of the merciful Jesus Christ, who finds His way into our hearts through the extraordinary work of the Holy Spirit.  

CORE CONVICTIONS

We now have four videos posted in our CORE Convictions series –

• “Defending Christian faith and morality without being a nasty jerk or a defensive Bible thumper” by NALC pastor Cathy Ammlung
• “Jesus is the only way to salvation” by Russell Lackey, campus pastor at Grand View University (ELCA)
• “Teaching the faith to children of all ages” by NALC pastor Jim Lehmann
• “What does it mean to be Confessional?” by NALC pastor Jeffray Greene

More videos will be posted as they become available.  Here is a summary of Cathy’s video.

DEFENDING CHRISTIAN FAITH AND MORALITY

WITHOUT BEING A NASTY JERK OR A DEFENSIVE BIBLE THUMPER

Many thanks to NALC pastor Cathy Ammlung for this video on how to share the Christian faith and moral values in a hostile environment.  Here is a link to her video.

In this video she discusses what Christians can do to prepare for and engage in conversations on difficult topics like abortion.  Cathy does not give answers or talking points.  Instead she counsels the viewer on leading with the love of Jesus and doing the hard work that provides solid information, insight, and confidence.  Finally, she walks the viewer through some of the tactics for argumentation and activism that were formulated by Saul Alinsky and that are being used by many people today who oppose Christian faith and moral values.  It’s less threatening when you know what’s going on!

* * * * * * *

Thank you for letting me share regarding these issues.  May the Lord continue to bless you.

Dennis D. Nelson

Executive Director of Lutheran CORE

dennisdnelsonaz@yahoo.com

Lessons and Hymn Suggestions

Ash Wednesday – Good Friday, Cycle C

March 22, 2022 – April 15, 2022

 

NOTE: LBW – Lutheran Book of Worship (The Green Book)

WOV – With One Voice (The Blue Book)

LSB – Lutheran Service Book (The Maroon Book)

ELW – Evangelical Lutheran Worship (The Cranberry Book)

 

There are versions of some hymns that are superior in LSB and I recommend using them if possible. Also, there are some superb hymns in LSB that aren’t available in the other hymnals. When I suggest one of the latter, I try to include an alternative from LBW or WOV. I recommend that a license and DVD of downloadable hymns from LSB be purchased if you are looking to expand your hymnody. There are, in ELW, some familiar hymns that have been drastically altered, which I try to note. ELW also has some fine hymns not available in the other hymnals, or has, interestingly, a more “traditional” translation or harmonization.

 

Color for the day is indicated for each Sunday. Primary liturgical calendar taken from Sola Publishing (www.solapublishing.org), based on LSB. Also, I include the lessons from the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) found in ELW and used in some congregations. It often overlaps the Sola/LCMS calendar lectionary, but when there are differences, I will note them.

 

I’ve also included a complete Tenebrae service for Good Friday. This is one I’ve used at my little churches. Feel free to use different hymns, but the ones I chose seemed to fit the readings.

 

Because some of the prayers of confession, as well as offertory and post-communion prayers, provided on certain resource pages lack theological heft or linguistic elegance, I have added some seasonal prayers that you are free to cut, paste, and revise as needed. They are modified from the copyright-free Online Book of Common Prayer, or are my own creation. These are found on the following pages. The regular prayers of intercession will, as usual, be provided weekly in their own Word documents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Brief Order of Confession and Holy Absolution for Lent

 

P: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son+, and of the Holy Spirit: Amen.

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.

Silence may be kept.

P: Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal,

C: Have mercy and hear us. Though we are poor sinful creatures, have mercy and hear us. Though we have turned from you and grieved you, have mercy and hear us. Though we have hardened our hearts against you and against our sisters and brothers, have mercy and hear us. Though we deserve judgment, wrath, and condemnation, for the sake of your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy and hear us. Forgive us, heal us, and save us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

P: God hates nothing that he has made and forgives the sins of all those who are penitent. He shall create in us new and contrite hearts, so that we who worthily lament our sins and acknowledge our wretchedness, may receive from him, the God of all mercy, perfect remission, and forgiveness. This he promises through Jesus Christ, his Son, who is our Lord, our Savior, and our righteousness forever. AMEN.

 

A Spoken Gospel Acclamation for Lent:

 

                C: One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. Your words, O Lord, are Spirit and life.

 

An Offertory Prayer for Lent

P: Let us pray.

C: What can we render to you, Lord, for all your benefits to us? All we have is yours. Our lives are in your hands. Receive, hallow, and use our time, talents, and treasures, for the love of your Son and the benefit of those he came to save. Amen.

 

A Proper Preface for Lent

 

The Lord be with you.    And also with you.

Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give him thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. You bid your faithful people cleanse their hearts, and prepare with joy for the Paschal feast; that, fervent in prayer and in works of mercy, and renewed by your Word and Sacraments, they may come to the fullness of grace which you have prepared for those who love you.. Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of heaven, who forever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your Name:

 

A Eucharistic Prayer for Lent

 

Holy and gracious Father: In your infinite love you made us for yourself, and, when we had fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death, you, in your mercy, sent Jesus Christ, your only and eternal Son, to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to you, the God and Father of all. He stretched out his arms upon the cross, and offered himself, in obedience to your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world.

 

On the night he was handed over to suffering and death, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread; and when he had given thanks to you, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, and said, “Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.”

 

After supper he took the cup of wine; and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and said, “Drink this, all of you: This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.”

 

Sanctify these gifts of bread and wine by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of your Son, the holy food and drink of new and unending life in him. Sanctify us also that we may faithfully receive this holy Sacrament, and serve you in unity, constancy, and peace; and at the last day bring us with all your saints into the joy of your eternal kingdom.

 

All this we ask through your Son Jesus Christ: By him, and with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and forever.  AMEN.

 

 

A Post-Communion Prayer for Lent

 

P: Let us pray. Almighty and ever-living God,

C: You have given your only Son to be for us both a sacrifice for sin and also an example of godly life. Give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive these his inestimable gifts, and also daily endeavor to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

*****************************************

 

 

Wednesday, March 2, 2022: Ash Wednesday

 

Joel 2:12-19 (return to the Lord with all your heart; sanctify a fast)

 Psalm 51 (wash me from my sins; put a right spirit within me)

 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 (be reconciled with God; don’t let his grace be in vain; we have suffered for your sake

 Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21(fast, pray, give alms, but don’t show them off before others)

 

*****

 

Opening Hymn: None; Psalm 51 is spoken or chanted

     OR O Lord, Throughout These Forty Days: LBW #99, ELW #319 LSB #418

 Hymn of the Day: Out of the Depths I Cry to You: LBW #295, ELW #600

LSB #607, From Depths of Woe I Cry To You (different translation)

 Communion Hymn #1: Today Your Mercy Calls Us: LBW #304, LSB #915

     OR God Loved the World So That He Gave: ELW #323 (tune is  “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross)

Communion Hymn #2:, Jesus, Your/Thy Blood and Righteousness: LBW #302, LSB #563

OR Here is Bread: ELW #483

Closing Hymn: Lord Jesus, Think on Me: LBW #309, ELW #599; LSB #610

     OR The Glory of These Forty Days: WOV #657, ELW #320 (tune is “Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word”; words attr. to Luther, very nice)

 

 

March 6, 2022: 1^st Sunday in Lent

 

Deuteronomy 26:1-11 (creedal confession when giving first fruit)

 Psalm 91:1-13(God will shield his Righteous One; angels will bear him up)

Romans 10:8b-13 (all who believe and confess that Jesus is Lord shall be saved)

Luke 4:1-13 (Jesus tempted by Satan)

*******

 

Opening Hymn: I Want Jesus to Walk with Me: WOV #660, ELW #325

OR Once He Came in Blessing: LBW #312, LSB #333

 Hymn of the Day: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God: LBW #229, ELW #504, NOT 505; LSB #657

Communion Hymn #1: Jesus, Still Lead On: LBW #341, ELW #624

Jesus, Lead Thou On: LSB #718

 Communion Hymn #2: Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word:  LBW #230, ELW #517, LSB #655

 Closing Hymn:  O Christ, You Walked the Road: LSB #424

OR O Love, How Deep (especially v. 3): LBW #88, ELW #322; LSB 544

 

OR

THROUGH THE TIME OF TESTING

(Words: Rev. Cathy Ammlung, STS; Tune: King’s Weston, LBW #179, “At the Name of Jesus”)

 

Through the time of testing lead us, Lord, we pray.

Forge a holy people on that desert way.

Strip us from our idols, mortify our pride.

Cleave us and conform us to the Crucified.

 

And your mind, Christ Jesus, in our midst bestow,

We your love to offer, we your grace to show,

We your service render to your people here:

Murm’ring and rebellious, yet you count them dear.

 

With your Breath revive us in the wilderness.

Grant us joy, obedience, and your holiness.

Jesus’ new commandment on our hearts engrave.

Your covenant remember; and your people save!

 

 

March 13, 2022: 2nd Sunday in Lent

 

Jeremiah 26:8-15 (Jeremiah prophesies against Zion, is marked for death; urges repentance)

            ELW/RCL: Genesis 15:1-12, (13-16), 17-18 (God “cuts a covenant” with Abram)

 Psalm 4 (The Lord sets apart his faithful; ponder, pray, offer sacrifice, be patient)

            RCL: Psalm 27 (The Lord is my light and salvation; I desire to see the beauty of God)

 Philippians 3:17-4:1 (follow example of those who are in Christ; our citizenship is in heaven; stand firm in Christ who transforms us from humiliation to his glory)

 Luke 13:31-35 (Jesus, must die in Jerusalem; longs to gather its people beneath his wings)

 

*******

 

Opening Hymn: How Firm a Foundation, O Saints of the Lord: LBW #507, ELW #796, LSB #728

OR Christ, Mighty Savior, v. 1, 4, 5 (lovely paraphrase of Psalm 4. Omit “evening” verses for a.m.  service! I suggest the alternate tune, “Father Most Holy.”): WOV #729, ELW #560, LSB #881

 Hymn of the Day: Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart: LBW #325, ELW #750, LSB #708

          OR Jerusalem, My Happy Home: LBW #331, ELW #628, LSB #673

 Communion Hymn #1: Thy Holy Wings: WOV #741, ELW #613

 Communion Hymn #2: Children of the Heavenly Father: LBW #474, ELW #781

 Closing Hymn: O Christ Our Light, Our Radiance True: LBW #380, ELW #675

OR Jesus, the Very Thought of You: LBW #316, ELW #754

 

 

 

March 20, 2022: 3rd Sunday in Lent

 

Ezekiel 33:7-20 (you are a sentinel warning people to repent; if the evil repent, they live;  If the righteous sin, they die; if you don’t warn, their blood is on you)

      ELW/RCL: Isaiah 55:1-9: (Listen to God, eat what is good; he makes everlasting covenant; seek him while he may be found; his Word returns fruitfully to him)

 Psalm 85 (Restore us; show us your steadfast love; save us from our sin)

      ELW/RCL: Psalm 63:1-8 (My soul hungers, thirsts for you; you helped me; I sing for joy)

 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 (avoid sin; don’t test Christ; God provides escape when you are tested)

 

Luke 13:1-9 (tower didn’t fall because the people were worse sinners than you; but if you  do not repent, worse will happen to you. Parable of unfruitful fig tree)

 

*******

 

Opening Hymn: “As Surely As I Live,” God Said: LSB #614 (can sing to “Lord, Keep Us Steadfast”)

     OR Once He Came in Blessing: LBW 312, LSB #333

      OR Great is Thy Faithfulness: WOV 771, ELW #733, LSB #809

 Hymn of the Day: Jesus Sinners Will Receive: LBW #291 (sing to “Holy God, We Praise Your Name”)

     OR Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: ELW #335

 Communion Hymn #1:  Today Your Mercy Calls Us: LBW #304, LSB #915

 Communion Hymn #2:  Guide Me Ever, Great Redeemer: LBW #343, ELW #618, LSB #918

 Closing Hymn: Jesus, Still Lead On: LBW #341, ELW #624; Jesus, Lead Thou On: LSB #718

 

 

March 27, 2022: 4th Sunday in Lent

 

Isaiah 12:1-6 (With joy you will draw from waters of salvation and praise the Lord)

      RCL: Joshua 5:9-12 (After circumcision, Israelites keep first Passover in Promised Land)

 Psalm 32 (happy are they whose transgression is forgiven; accept his instruction and live)

 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (God has given us the ministry of reconciliation in Christ)

 Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 (Parable of the Prodigal Son)

 

*****

 

Opening Hymn: Evening and Morning: LBW #465, ELW #761, LSB #726

 Hymn of the Day: Our Father, We Have Wandered: WOV #733, ELW #606

OR As Rebels, Lord, Who Foolishly Have Wandered: LSB #612 (I don’t know the tune, but it looks easy, and the words are a wonderful meditation on the parable. Try it!)

 Communion Hymn #1: Amazing Grace: LBW #448, ELW #779, LSB #744

 Communion Hymn #2: Soul Adorn Yourself with Gladness: LBW #224, ELW #488 (Bach chorale),  ELW #489 (Hispanic melody; Spanish words available)

 Closing Hymn: All Depends on Our Possessing: LBW #447, ELW #589, LSB #732

OR What Wondrous Love Is This: LBW #385, ELW #666, LSB #543

 

 

April 3, 2022: 5^th Sunday in Lent

Isaiah 43:16-21(God announces his new work; the wilderness shall be a place of refreshment)

 Psalm 126 (God restored fortunes of Zion; those who sowed with weeping shall harvest with joy)

 Philippians 3:4b-14 (All is rubbish, compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ my God)

 Luke 20:9-20 (Parable of the wicked tenants of the vineyard)

           ELW/RCL: John 12:1-8 (Mary, Lazarus’s sister, anoints Jesus with oil)

 

*******

 

Opening Hymn: The Church’s One Foundation: LBW #369, ELW #654

 Hymn of the Day:  When I Survey the Wondrous Cross: LBW #482, ELW #803, LSB #435, 426

 Communion Hymn #1: In the Cross of Christ I Glory: LBW #104, ELW #324, LSB #427

 Communion Hymn #2: One There Is, Above All Others: LBW #298

     OR O Savior, Precious Savior: LBW #514, ELW #820, LSB #527

 Closing Hymn: My Hope is Built on Nothing Less: LBW #294, ELW #596, 597; LSB #575, 576

 

 

 

April 10, 2022: Palm/Passion Sunday

 

Processional Gospel: John 12:12-19 (Triumphal entry into Jerusalem)

             ELW/RCL: Luke 19:28-40 (Triumphal entry into Jerusalem)

 Deuteronomy 32:36-39 (There is no god apart from Me who can save you)

            ELW/RCL: Isaiah 50: 4-9a (The Lord opens my ear. Who will contend with me?)

 Psalm 31:9-16 (Psalm of deep lament and distress – and trust in God)

 Philippians 2:5-11 (Christ humbled himself, become obedient unto death, even death on a Cross)

 Luke 22:39-23:56 (from Gethsemane to Golgotha; Passion narrative)

 

*****

 

Opening Hymn: All Glory, Laud and Honor: LBW #108, ELW #344, LSB #442

OR Hosanna, Loud Hosanna: LSB #443 (Great also at beginning or end of a children’s sermon!)

 Hymn Prior to Reading of Passion: Jesus, I Will Ponder Now: LBW #115, ELW #345, LSB #440

 Hymn of the Day: O Sacred Head, Now Wounded: LBW #117, ELW #351, LSB #449

 Communion Hymn #1: There Is A Green Hill Far Away: LBW #114

     OR Now Behold the Lamb: ELW #341

 Communion Hymn #2: Jesus, Remember Me: WOV #740, ELW #616, LSB #767

 Closing Hymn: Ride On, Ride On in Majesty: LBW #121, ELW #346, LSB #441

OR No Tramp of Soldiers’ Marching Feet: LSB #444 (familiar English folk tune, powerful words)

 

 

Thursday, April 14, 2022: Maundy Thursday

 

Jeremiah 31:31-34 (new covenant; God writes his law upon the heart)

             ELW/RCL: Exodus 12:1-14 (The Passover)

 Psalm 116:12-19 (I will take up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord;  precious in his sight is the death of his faithful servant)

 Hebrews 10:15-25 (we have confidence through blood of Jesus to enter God’s holy sanctuary)

             ELW/RCL: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (Holy Communion; words of institution)

 Luke 22:7-20 (the Last Supper)

 

*******

 

Opening/Foot-washing Hymn: Where Charity and Love Prevail:  LBW #126, ELW #359, LSB #845

OR Jesus, Greatest at the Table: LSB #446

 Hymn of the Day: Great God, Your Love Has Called Us: WOV #666, ELW #358

            OR Thee We Adore, O Hidden Savior: LBW #199, LSB #640

Thee We Adore, O Savior, God Most True: ELW #476

 Communion Hymn #1: Go to Dark Gethsemane: LBW #109, ELW #347, LSB #436

 Communion Hymn #2: Draw Near and Take the Body of the Lord: LBW #226

OR Soul Adorn Yourself with Gladness: LBW #224, ELW #488, LSB #636

 Closing Hymn: If the altar is stripped, chant Psalm 22

OR In the Hour of Trial: LBW #106

 

 

 

 

Friday, April 15, 2022: Good Friday

 

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (the Suffering Servant, by whose wounds we are healed)

 Psalm 22 (My God, My God, why have you forsaken me….)

 Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9 (we have a great High Priest, tested as we are in all things yet without sin; by his perfect obedience and suffering, we receive salvation)

 John 18:1-19:42 (the Passion)

 

Hymn of the Day: There in God’s Garden: WOV #668, ELW #342

OR Lamb of God, Pure and Sinless: LBW #111, ELW #357

 Other hymns: Ah, Holy Jesus: LBW #123, (ELW #349)

Were You There: LBW #92, ELW #353, LSB #456

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross: LBW #492, ELW #803, LSB #425/426

 

As a bonus, here’s my Tenebrae service. Modify as needed.

 

Good Friday Tenebrae Service

 

Prayer of the Day:

Almighty Father, we ask you to look with mercy on your family, for whom your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, was willing to be betrayed and to be given over to the hands of sinners and to suffer death on the cross; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. AMEN.

 

The first section: Jesus is arrested

Psalm 25

 

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame;

do not let my enemies exult over me.

Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;

let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation;

for you I wait all day long.

Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,

for they have been from of old.

Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;

according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!

Good and upright is the Lord; therefore, he instructs sinners in the way.

He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,

for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.

Who are they that fear the Lord?

He will teach them the way that they should choose.

They will abide in prosperity,

and their children shall possess the land.

The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him,

and he makes his covenant known to them.

My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.

Relieve the troubles of my heart, and bring me out of my distress.

Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.

Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me.

O guard my life, and deliver me; do not let me be put to shame,

for I take refuge in you.

May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.

Redeem Israel, O God, out of all its troubles.

 

Hymn: WOV #667, Stay here and Watch With Me (sung 3x)

 

Stay here and keep watch with me. The hour has come.

Stay here and keep watch with me. Watch and pray.

 

 

John 18:1-14

 

After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus replied, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground. Again he asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.” This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, “I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me.” Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?” So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him. First they took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die for the people.

 

Prayer

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

A brief silence

 

Forgive and save your Church, O God, for heeding anything that distracts it from knowing, proclaiming, and sharing the love of Jesus, its crucified and risen Redeemer.

 

            Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

Forgive and renew pastors, bishops, theologians, and other church leaders when by treacherous words and shameful deeds they crucify Christ anew, and turn people from his salvation.

 

            Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

The first candle is extinguished

 

****

 

The second section: Peter denies Jesus

Psalm 54

 

Save me, O God, by your name, and vindicate me by your might.

Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

For the insolent have risen against me, the ruthless seek my life;

they do not set God before them.

But surely, God is my helper;

the Lord is the upholder of my life.

He will repay my enemies for their evil.

In your faithfulness, put an end to them.

With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;

I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.

For he has delivered me from every trouble,

and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

 

 

Hymn: WOV #668, v.1: There in God’s Garden

 

There in God’s garden stands the Tree of Wisdom,

Whose leaves hold forth the healing of the nations.

Tree of all knowledge, Tree of all compassion, Tree of all beauty.

 

John 18:15-27

 

Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. The woman said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?”

He said, “I am not.” Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing around it and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself.

Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. Jesus answered, “I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said.”

When he had said this, one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?”

Jesus answered, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?”

He denied it and said, “I am not.”

One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?”

Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.

 

 

Prayer

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

A brief silence

 

Forgive and guide each of us, for the small and great ways in which we fail to love you with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and do not love one another as Jesus has loved us.

 

            Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

Forgive and challenge everyone who says they believe in you, but have more pressing obligations than worship, prayer, forgiveness, or service in your name.

 

            Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

 

The second candle is extinguished

 

 

The third section: Jesus before Pilate

 

Psalm 2

 

Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together,

against the Lord and his anointed, saying,

“Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision.

Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,

“I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.”

I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me,

“You are my son; today I have begotten you.

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,

and the ends of the earth your possession.

You shall break them with a rod of iron,

and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.

Serve the Lord with fear, with trembling

kiss his feet, or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way;

for his wrath is quickly kindled. Happy are all who take refuge in him.

 

Hymn: WOV #668, v.2: There in God’s Garden

 

Its name is Jesus, name that says, “Our Savior!”

There on its branches see the scars of suffering;

See where the tendrils of our human selfhood feed on its lifeblood.

 

John 18:28-40

 

Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” They answered, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.”

The Jews replied, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.” (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.) Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”

Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?”

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”

Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?”

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no case against him. But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?”

They shouted in reply, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a bandit.

 

Prayer

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

A brief silence

Forgive and enlighten all who believe in other gods, or who have limited and distorted notions of who you are.

           

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

Forgive and rescue all who say they are “spiritual but not religious,” or who are fascinated by the occult or dark spiritual arts.

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

The third candle is extinguished

 

****

 

The fourth section: Jesus is sentenced to death

 

Isaiah 52: 13-15

 

See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. Just as there were many who were astonished at him—so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of mortals— so he shall startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which had not been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.

 

Hymn: WOV #668, v.3: There in God’s Garden

 

Thorns not its own are tangled in its foliage;

Our greed has starved it, our despite has choked it.

Yet look! It lives! Its grief has not destroyed it nor fire consumed it.

 

John 19: 1-16

 

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face.

Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.”

The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.” Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.

Pilate therefore said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?”

Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.”

When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon.

He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?”

The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.”

Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

 

Prayer

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

A brief silence

 

Forgive and teach those who do not believe in you at all, especially those who persecute believers.

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

Forgive and bring to repentance our enemies, personal and communal. Forgive all who slander, lie, and spew hate, as did their spiritual ancestors toward your beloved Son.

 

            Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

Forgive and transform all who break promises, break laws, and break hearts, especially when we still struggle to forgive.

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

The fourth candle is extinguished

 

****

The fifth section: Jesus is crucified

 

Isaiah 53:1-6

 

Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.

Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

 

 

 

Hymn: WOV #668, v.4: There in God’s Garden

 

See how its branches reach to us in welcome;

Hear what the Voice says: “Come to me, ye weary!

Give me your sickness, give me all your sorrow, I will give blessing.”

 

John 19:17-25

So they took him out; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them.

Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says, “They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.” And that is what the soldiers did.

 

Prayer

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

A brief silence

Forgive and energize all who whine, complain, make excuses, and shift blame to others.

 

            Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

Forgive and reform everyone who seeks to divide, not build up; to sow suspicion, not trust; and who insists on their own way at any cost.

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

 

The fifth candle is extinguished

 

****

 

The sixth section: Jesus dies

 

Psalm 69:16-21, 29-33

 

Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;

according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.

Do not hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress—

make haste to answer me.

Draw near to me, redeem me,

set me free because of my enemies.

You know the insults I receive, and my shame and dishonor;

my foes are all known to you.

Insults have broken my heart, so that I am in despair.

I looked for pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.

They gave me poison for food,

and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

But I am lowly and in pain;

let your salvation, O God, protect me.

I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.

This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs.

Let the oppressed see it and be glad;

you who seek God, let your hearts revive.

For the Lord hears the needy,

and does not despise his own that are in bonds.

 

Hymn: WOV #668, v.5: There in God’s Garden

 

This is my ending, this my resurrection;

Into your hands, Lord, I commit my spirit.

This have I searched for; now can I possess it. This ground is holy.

 

John 19:26-30

 

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

 

 

Prayer

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

A brief silence

Forgive and liberate those who are enslaved by their desires, passions, fears, addictions, or by their attraction to evil for its own sake.

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

Forgive and heal all who are caught in snares of illness and pain, depression and anxiety, regret and shame.

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

Forgive, save, transform, and redeem all of us – for if we are honest, we know we must number ourselves in the great and miserable fellowship of sinners. Forgive, dear Lord, forgive us who despair; who seek revenge; who are cruel and selfish; who are bored and apathetic; who are thoughtless, clueless, heedless, merciless, and faithless.

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

The sixth candle is extinguished

 

****

 

The seventh section: Jesus is buried

 

Isaiah 53:7-12

 

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he did not open his mouth.

By a perversion of justice he was taken away.

Who could have imagined his future?

For he was cut off from the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people.

They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich,

although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain.

When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring,

and shall prolong his days;

through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.

Out of his anguish he shall see light;

he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.

The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,

and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;

because he poured out himself to death,

and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

and made intercession for the transgressors.

 

Hymn: WOV #668, v.6: There in God’s Garden

 

All heav’n is singing, “Thanks to Christ whose Passion

Offers in mercy healing, strength, and pardon.

Peoples and nations, take it, take it freely!” Amen! My Master!

 

 

John 19:31-40

 

Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him.

But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.” And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”

After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews.

 

Prayer

 

Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear our prayer.

 

A brief silence

 

By the suffering and passion, of your holy and beloved Son; by his prayers from the Cross for our sake; by his sinless death and his descent into the depths of hell for the sake of sinners; by his glorious resurrection and ascension, and by his promise to come again as victorious Lord of all, forgive us our sins, heavenly Father. Crucify our sins and burn them in hell; but hide us, your poor sinful creatures, in the life-giving wounds of Jesus, and shelter us in his outstretched arms. Anoint us with the same Spirit he committed to you with his dying breath. Raise us, in the power of that Spirit, to share in the glorious resurrection life of Christ. And speed the coming of that great eternal day when everyone whom you have forgiven and healed, transformed and redeemed, is made fit to stand together before your throne, there to praise and adore you in the unity you share with your Son, our Savior and Lord, and with the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

 

The seventh candle is removed but not extinguished.

 

****

 

The closing

 

The single lighted candle is returned. All rise and recite the Apostles’ Creed and Lord’s Prayer.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

 

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again 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.

 

Our Father, who art in heaven…..

 

The people leave in silence.

 

 

 

 

 

Lutheran CORE wants to be of support and assistance to orthodox, confessional congregations in every way that we can.  Three of the ways in which we are seeking to do that are through a catalog of sermon resources, Clergy Connect, and Congregations in Transition.

I have spoken with lay leaders of congregations that are either too small or too remote to be able to find and call a pastor.  Other congregations are in the process of calling a pastor, and at this point do not have an interim.  Some of these congregations have a pastor who is available to come, preach, and preside at communion once or twice a month.  Many times it is a retired pastor, or a chaplain in a nearby care facility, who is able to help out.  I have spoken with some pastors who travel a great distance in order to provide care for the people of God.  Because of the distance, some of these pastors will preach and lead worship one Sunday a month, and then write and send sermons which a lay leader in the congregation can deliver on the other Sundays of the month.  There are many different kinds of situations, and many different kinds of arrangements that have been made.  We want to thank all of the lay leaders of congregations who “step up to the plate” and all the pastors, including retired pastors, who help meet the need.

We are also very grateful to Cathy Ammlung, NALC pastor and former secretary of the board of Lutheran CORE.  Cathy has a special passion and heart for smaller and/or more remote congregations and congregations that do not have a pastor.  She has begun the process of compiling a resource bank of sermons that lay leaders could use on the Sundays when their congregation does not have a pastor.  She describes her concept and vision in an article in the March issue of CORE Voice.  A link to that article can be found here.

Many thanks to all those who have already responded and sent Cathy one or more of their sermons.  If you have not already done so, please consider sending her one or more of your sermons which can be added to this resource bank.  Sermons will be organized by topic, Scripture passage, and Sunday of the church year.   Please email her your “best sermons” at cammlung@gmail.com. 

Another resource I want to lift up is Clergy Connect.  A link to this page on our website can be found here.

Many congregations have reported how difficult it is to find an orthodox, confessional, Great Commission minded pastor.   An anticipated increase in the number of retirements of pastors post-COVID, and the decrease in the number of seminary enrollees, will make and have made this situation even more severe.

We invite you to post your position on our website.  If you check out the page you will see the kind of information that other congregations have provided.  Congregational search committees are asked to submit church name, location, description of the position and the congregation, and contact information.  Vacancies can be emailed to lcorewebmail@gmail.com.   

Third, if you have a pastoral vacancy, please also consider our Congregations in Transition ministry initiative.  We have a group of (mostly) retired Lutheran pastors who have been trained to be transition coaches.  They are able and available to help congregations whose pastors have retired or resigned, or soon will be retiring or resigning, maintain stability and momentum in regards to the congregation’s vital ministries during the transition process.  For more information check out our Transitions page or contact lcorewebmail@gmail.com.