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March 29, 2023
Worship Theme
Welcome to today’s service. This year’s theme for Lent is, “His Final Steps”. Tonight we give our attention to: “His Final Steps Led to His Enemies”.
Thank you to Pastor John Borgwardt from Living Word in Waukesha for leading us in worship this evening. We pray the Lord will richly bless our hour of worship.
Pastor’s Welcome
Invocation
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Psalm
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
His love endures forever.
Let Israel say:
“His love endures forever.”
Let the house of Aaron say:
“His love endures forever.”
Let those who fear the LORD say:
“His love endures forever.”
In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free.
The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
The LORD is with me; He is my helper.
I will look in triumph on my enemies.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes.
All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
They surrounded me on every side,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
They swarmed around me like bees,
but they died out as quickly as burning thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
I was pushed back and about to fall,
but the LORD helped me.
The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous:
“The LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!
The LORD’s right hand is lifted high;
the LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!”
I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the LORD has done.
The LORD has chastened me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
Open for me the gates of righteousness;
I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.
This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter.
I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.
3:30 Service
What Grace Is This – 395
5 What grace is this! Once wrapped in cloths
and gently laid in manger-trough,
he’s taken, dead, from wretched cross
and wrapped again for me.
6 What grace is this? How can it be?
He wears this raw humility
to lift me to eternity.
Such grace – sweet grace – for me.
6:30 Service
Reflections – Forgiven
Confession and Absolution
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
Let us confess our sins in the presence of God and of one another.
Almighty God, our heavenly Father,
we have sinned against you
in our thoughts,
in our words,
in our deeds,
and in all that we have not done.
Forgive us in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Deliver and restore us,
that we may rest in peace.
By the mercy of God we are redeemed by Jesus Christ,
and in him we are forgiven.
Let us rest in his peace until the rising of the sun,
when we shall serve him in newness of life.
Amen.
3:30 Service
Handchimes – O Sacred Head
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you are the stone the builders rejected that has become the cornerstone. We praise you for facing the fury of your enemies undaunted. Because you overcame death itself, we will not die but live, and we will always proclaim your marvelous deeds; for you live and rule with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Passion Reading – Calvary
M: Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus. He was passing by on his way in from the country. They seized him, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed Jesus, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them,
C: “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then ‘they will say to the mountains: “Fall on us!” and to the hills: “Cover us!” ‘For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
M: Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called Golgotha, they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. It was the third hour when they crucified him, along with the criminals – one on his right, the other on his left, and Jesus in the middle. Thus the Scripture was fulfilled which says,
C: “He was counted with the lawless ones.” Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
M: Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened above his head on the cross. The written charge against him read, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. The sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate,
Women: “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”
Men: Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
M: When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them. They cast lots to see what each would get. The undergarment remained. It was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
C: “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
M: This happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled which said, “They divided my garments among themselves and cast lots for my clothing.” So this is what the soldiers did. And sitting down, they kept watch over him there.
The people too stood watching. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying,
C: “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”
M: Even the rulers sneered at him. In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves.
C: “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself. Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ “
M: In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him heaped insults on him. The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said,
C: “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!”
M: One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him:
Men: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
M: But the other criminal rebuked him.
Women: “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
M: Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother,
C: “Here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.”
M: From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “EIoi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” – which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of those standing there heard this, they said,
C: “He’s calling Elijah.”
M: Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said,
C: “I am thirsty.”
M: A jar of wine vinegar was there. Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. But the rest said,
C: “Leave him alone now. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him and take him down.”
M: When he had received the drink, Jesus said,
All: “It is finished.”
M: Then he cried out again with a loud voice,
C: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
M: When he said this, he bowed his head and gave up his life. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified. The centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, said,
All: “Surely he was the Son of God!”
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Into your hands I commend my spirit.
Into your hands I commend my spirit.
You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.
Into your hands I commend my spirit.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Into your hands I commend my spirit.
God Was There on Calvary – CW 433
1 God was there on Calvary,
God the Father’s only Son,
dying that the world might live,
there on Calvary.
2 All the world on Calvary
crucified the Prince of life,
pierced the hands of God’s own Son,
there on Calvary.
3 Sin was there on Calvary,
all the sins of ev’ryone,
laid upon God’s sinless Lamb
there on Calvary.
4 Love was there on Calvary,
streaming from the heart of God,
reaching out for ev’ryone
there on Calvary.
5 Life was there on Calvary,
flowing from his wounded side,
spent that death itself might die
there on Calvary.
6 We were there on Calvary;
we were pardoned, saved, set free,
saved to live eternally –
blessèd Calvary!
Pastor Borgwardt’s Sermon – Luke 20:9-19
His Final Steps Led to His Enemies
He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.
“Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’
“But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”
When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!”
Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written:
“ ‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone’?
Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”
The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.
Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation – 920
Evening Thanksgiving
May God be with you all,
and also with you.
Let us sing our thanks to God;
it is right to give him thanks and praise.
Blessed are you, Creator of the universe –
from old you have led your people by night and day.
May the light of your Christ make our darkness bright,
for your Word and your presence are the light of our pathways,
and you are the light and life of all creation.
Amen.
Offering
Prayer
Abide with us, Lord, for it is evening and the day is almost over. Abide with us and with your whole Church. Abide with us in the evening of the day, in the evening of life, in the evening of the world. Abide with us in your grace and goodness, in your holy Word and sacrament, in your comfort and blessing. Abide with us when we are overcome by the night of sorrow and fear, by the night of doubt and affliction, by the night of bitter death. Abide with us and with all your people in time and in eternity.
Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and forever. Amen.
Final Blessing
Let us praise the Lord:
thanks be to God.
May God the Father bless us and keep us,
may Christ be ever light for our lives,
may the Spirit of Love be our guide and path,
for all of our days.
Amen.
Jesus, Grant That Balm and Healing – CW 404
1 Jesus, grant that balm and healing
in your holy wounds I find,
ev’ry hour that I am feeling
pains of body and of mind.
Should some evil thought within
tempt my treach’rous heart to sin,
show the peril, and from sinning
keep me ere its first beginning.
2 Should some lust or sharp temptation
fascinate my sinful mind,
let me think about your passion,
and new courage I shall find.
Or should Satan press me hard,
let me then be on my guard,
saying, “Christ for me was wounded,”
that the tempter flee confounded.
3 If the world my heart entices
with the broad and easy road,
with seductive, sinful vices,
let me weigh the awful load
you were willing to endure.
Help me flee all thoughts impure,
mastering each wild temptation,
calm in prayer and meditation.
4 Ev’ry wound that pains or grieves me
by your wounds, Lord, is made whole;
when I’m weak, your cross revives me,
granting new life to my soul.
Yes, your comfort renders sweet
ev’ry bitter cup I meet;
for your all-atoning passion
has procured my soul’s salvation.
5 O my God, my rock and tower,
grant that in your death I trust,
knowing death has lost its power
since you crushed it in the dust.
Savior, let your agony
ever help and comfort me;
when I die be my protection,
light and life and resurrection.