Third Sunday in Lent – March 7, 2021

Today’s Theme for Worship: God wants to be first in our lives. The lessons also show us Christ’s obedience and assure us of the salvation we have through Christ’s work.

Order of Service: Service of Word and Sacrament

Opening Hymn: 224 God Himself Is Present

1 God himself is present-Let us now adore him

And with awe appear before him.

God is in his temple-All within keep silence,

Humbly kneel in deepest rev’rence.

He alone On his throne

Is our God and Savior; Praise his name forever!

2 God himself is present-Hear the harps resounding;

See the hosts the throne surrounding.

“Holy, holy, holy”-Hear the hymn ascending,

Songs of saints and angels blending.

Bow your ear To us here:

Hear, O Christ, the praises That your Church now raises.

3 Fount of ev’ry blessing, Purify my spirit,

Trusting only in your merit.

Like the holy angels, Worshiping before you,

May I ceaselessly adore you.

Let your will Ever still

Rule your church terrestrial As the hosts celestial.

Text: Gerhard Tersteegen, 1697-1769, abr.; tr. Frederick W. Foster, 1760-1835, and John Miller, 1756-90, alt.

Order of Service: Service of Word and Sacrament

P: The grace of our Lord + Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.

C: And also with you.

Confession of Sins

P: God invites us to come into his presence and worship him with humble and penitent hearts. Therefore, let us acknowledge our sinfulness and ask him to forgive us.

C: Holy and merciful Father, I confess that I am by nature sinful, and that I have disobeyed you in my thoughts, words, and actions. I have done what is evil and failed to do what is good. For this I deserve your punishment both now and in eternity. But I am truly sorry for my sins, and trusting in my Savior Jesus Christ, I pray: Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.

P: God, our heavenly Father, has been merciful to us and has given his only Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Therefore, as a called servant of Christ and by his authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen.

Lord, Have Mercy

P: For all that we need in life and for the wisdom to use all your gifts with gratitude and joy, hear our prayer, O Lord.

C: ♬ Lord, have mer-cy.

P: For the steadfast assurance that nothing can separate us from your love and for the courage to stand firm against the assaults of Satan and every evil, hear our prayer, O Christ.

C: ♬ Christ, have mer-cy.

P: For the well-being of your holy Church in all the world and for those who offer here their worship and praise, hear our prayer, O Lord.

C: ♬ Lord, have mer-cy.

P: Merciful God, maker and preserver of life, uphold us by your power and keep us in your tender care:

C: ♬ A-men.

P: The works of the Lord are great and glorious; his name is worthy of praise.

♬ O Lord, Our Lord

O Lord, our Lord, how glo-rious is your name in all the earth.

Al-might-y God, mer-ci-ful Father,

you crown our life with your love.

You take a-way our sin; you com-fort our spir-it;

you make us pure and ho-ly in your sight.

You did not spare your on-ly Son, but gave him up for us all.

O Lord, our Lord, how glo-rious is your name in all the earth.

O Son of God, e-ter-nal Word of the Fa-ther,

you came to live with us;

you made your Fa-ther known;

you washed us from our sins in your own blood.

You are the King of glo-ry; you are the Lord!

O Lord, our Lord, how glo-rious is your name in all the earth.

Prayer of the Day

P: Let us Pray.

Almighty God, look with favor on your humble servants and stretch out the right hand of your power to defend us against all our enemies; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: ♬ A-men.

Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 1:22-25

“To those whom God has chosen, both Jews and Greeks, Christ [is] the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
²²Yes, Jews ask for signs, Greeks desire wisdom, ²³but we preach Christ crucified—which is offensive to Jews and foolishness to Greeks, ²⁴but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵We preach Christ crucified, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Psalm of the Day – Psalm 19

Refrain

Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.

The heavens declare the glory of God;*

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Their voice goes out into all the earth,*

their words to the ends of the world.

Refrain

Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.

The law of the LORD is perfect,*

giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the LORD are radiant,*

giving light to the eyes.

They are more precious than gold;*

they are sweeter than honey.

By them is your servant taught;*

in keeping them there is great reward.

Refrain

Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart*

be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Redeemer.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son*

and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning,*

is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Refrain

Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.

Refrain Tune: Richard Proulx. © 1986 GIA Publications, Inc., Chicago, IL, www.giamusic.com. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Gospel Lesson: John 2:13-22
Out of love for his Father’s house, Jesus cleanses the Temple at the beginning of his public ministry.

¹³The Jewish Passover was near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

¹⁴In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and money changers sitting at tables. ¹⁵He made a whip of cords and drove everyone out of the temple courts, along with the sheep and oxen. He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶To those selling doves he said, “Get these things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a place of business!”

¹⁷His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

¹⁸So the Jews responded, “What sign are you going to show us to prove you can do these things?”

¹⁹Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.”

²⁰The Jews said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple! And you are going to raise it in three days?” ²¹But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body. ²²When Jesus was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this. Then they believed the Scripture and what Jesus had said.

Hymn of the Day: 456 Forth in Your Name, O Lord, I Go

1 Forth in your name, O Lord, I go,

My daily labor to pursue,

Determined only you to know

In all I think or speak or do.

2 Oh, let me cheerfully fulfill

The task your wisdom has assigned

And do your good and perfect will-

In all my works your presence find!

3 May I find you at my right hand;

Your eyes see truly what I do.

I labor on at your command

And offer all my works to you.

4 Give me to bear your easy yoke

And ev’ry moment watch and pray

And still to things eternal look

And hasten to your glorious day.

5 For you I joyously employ

Whatever you in grace have giv’n;

I run my daily course with joy

And closely walk with you to heav’n.

Text: Charles Wesley, 1707-88, abr., alt.

Sermon: Exodus 20:1-17

Then God spoke all these words:

²I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, where you were slaves.

³You shall have no other gods beside me. ⁴You shall not make any carved image for yourself or a likeness of anything in heaven above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. ⁵Do not bow down to them or be subservient to them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God. I follow up on the guilt of the fathers with their children, their grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren, if they also hate me. ⁶But I show mercy to thousands who love me and keep my commandments.

⁷You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not permit anyone who misuses his name to escape unpunished.

⁸Remember the Sabbath day by setting it apart as holy. ⁹Six days you are to serve and do all your regular work, ¹⁰but the seventh day shall be a sabbath rest to the Lord your God. Do not do any regular work, neither you, nor your sons or daughters, nor your male or female servants, nor your cattle, nor the alien who is residing inside your gates, ¹¹for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. In this way the Lord blessed the seventh day and made it holy.

¹²Honor your father and your mother so that you may spend many days on the land that the Lord your God is giving to you.

¹³You shall not commit murder.

¹⁴You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵You shall not steal.

¹⁶You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

¹⁷You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.

Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father.

Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, and became fully human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who in unity with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Offering

Electronic Giving! You can give your offerings from your smartphone with the GivePlusChurch app, which can be downloaded for free at Google Play or the App Store. You can also give at holytrinitylutheranwyoming.com by clicking the Offerings link at the top of the page or scan the QR code below. If you have any questions about any of these options, please contact Dave Conrad at dconrad765@gmail.com or 616-406-7172

Prayer of the Church

Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name,

thy kingdom come,

thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who

trespass against us;

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom

and the power and the glory

forever and ever. Amen.

The Sacrament

P: The Lord be with you.

C: ♬ And also with you.

P: Lift up your hearts.

C: ♬ We lift them up to the Lord.

P: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

C: ♬ It is right to give him thanks and praise.

P: Praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In love he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. He made his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ. To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and thanks and honor and glory for ever and ever.

♬ Holy, Holy, Holy

Ho-ly, ho-ly, ho-ly is the Lord of hosts.

The whole earth is full of your glo-ry.

You are my God, and I will ex-alt you.

I will give you thanks, for you have be-come my sal-va-tion.

Ho-ly, ho-ly, ho-ly is the Lord of hosts.

The whole earth is full of your glo-ry.

Words of Institution

P: Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night he was betrayed, took bread; and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying “Take and eat; this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

P: The peace of the Lord be with you always.

C: ♬ A-men.

♬ O Christ, Lamb Of God

O Christ, Lamb of God,

you take a-way the sin of the world;

have mer-cy on us.

O Christ, Lamb of God,

you take a-way the sin of the world;

have mer-cy on us.

O Christ, Lamb of God,

you take a-way the sin of the world;

grant us your peace.

A-men.

Song of Thanksgiving 530 vv. 1,2&5 Hark! The Church Proclaims Her Honor

1 Hark! The Church proclaims her honor, And her strength is only this:

God has laid his choice upon her, And the work she does is his.

2 He his Church has firmly founded; He will guard what he began.

We, by sin and foes surrounded, Build her walls as best we can.

5 Onward, then, without despairing! Calm we follow at his Word,

Thus through joy and sorrow bearing Faithful witness to our Lord.

Text: Samuel Preiswerk, 1799-1871; tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1827-78, alt.

Prayer

P: Hear the prayer of your people, O Lord, that the lips which have praised you here may glorify you in the world, that the eyes which have seen the coming of your Son may long for his coming again, and that all who have received in his true body and blood the pledge of your forgiveness may be restored to live a new and holy life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C: A-men.

Blessing

M: Brothers and sisters, go in peace. Live in harmony with one another. Serve the Lord with gladness.

The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.

The Lord look on you with favor and give you peace.

C: (sing) Amen. Amen. Amen.

Closing Hymn: 286 The Law Commands and Makes Us Know

1 The law commands and makes us know What duties to our God we owe,

But ’tis the gospel must reveal Where lies our strength to do his will.

2 The law uncovers guilt and sin And shows how vile our hearts have been;

The gospel only can express Forgiving love and cleansing grace.

3 What curses does the law pronounce Against the one who fails but once!

But in the gospel Christ appears, Pard’ning the guilt of num’rous years.

4 My soul, no more attempt to draw Your life and comfort from the law.

Flee to the hope the gospel gives; The one who trusts the promise lives.

Text: Isaac Watts, 1674-1748, alt.