Welcome

Opening Litany[1]:
We each have a right to be here, a right not based on our righteousness but on God’s free grace.
O give thanks to our God who is good, whose saving love endures forever.

Let those who are redeemed by God declare it, rescued from trouble and gathered from many lands;
From the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, give thanks to God who is always good!

Confession and Forgiveness:
Blessed be the holy Trinity, + one God, the keeper of the covenant, the source of steadfast love, our rock and our redeemer.
Amen.

God hears us when we cry, and draws us close in Jesus Christ. Let us return to the one who is full of compassion.

Silence is kept for reflection.

Fountain of living water,
pour out your mercy over us. Our sin is heavy, and we long to be free.  Rebuild what we have ruined and mend what we have torn.  Wash us in your cleansing flood.  Make us alive in the Spirit to follow in the way of Jesus, as healers and restorers of the world you so love.  Amen.

Beloved, God’s word never fails. The promise rests on grace: by the saving love of Jesus Christ, the wisdom and power of God, your sins are + forgiven, and God remembers them no more. Journey in the way of Jesus.
Amen.

Prayer of the Day:
Let us pray.
O God, rich in mercy, by the humiliation of your Son you lifted up this fallen world and rescued us from the hopelessness of death. Lead us into your light, that all our deeds may reflect your love, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

First Reading: Ephesians 2:1-10
¹You were dead through the trespasses and sins ²in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. ³All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. ⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us ⁵even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— ⁹not the result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Gospel: John 3:15-21

This is the Holy Gospel according to John, the 3rd chapter.
Glory to you, O Lord.

¹⁴And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

¹⁶“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

¹⁷“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. ²¹But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.

Children’s Sermon

Sermon

Hymn of the Day

Apostle’s Creed:
Let us confess our faith using the Apostle’s Creed:
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.*
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come 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.

Prayers of Intercession:
Coloring Page: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QvE5i3MXnetkJoAUFDUj5M43c2Hm-4Xz/view?usp=sharing

Relying on the promises of God, we pray boldly for the church, the world, and all in need.

Prayers continue with each petition ending:

. . . Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.

We entrust ourselves and all our prayers to you, O faithful God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Sharing of the Peace

Announcements

Offering
https://tithe.ly/give_new/www/#/tithely/give-one-time/468062

Sending Litany[2]:
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Let those who know they are redeemed celebrate it!
Those who have been reclaimed from deep trouble!

Though we were as good as dead, God made us alive with the grace of Christ through whom we are rescued and healed.

O give thanks to God for such unswerving love, for such wonderful deeds for the children of earth.

Lord’s Prayer:
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us pray as Jesus taught us saying:
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.

Benediction:
You are what God made you to be:
Created in Christ Jesus for good works,
Chosen as holy and beloved,
Freed to serve your neighbor.

God bless you + that you may be a blessing, in the name of the holy and life-giving Trinity.
Amen.

Dismissal:
Go in peace. Share the good news.
Thanks be to God!

 

Prayer Requests:
Larry Erb, family and friends of Judy Connolly, family and friends of Clifford Fry, Glen Van Dyke, Kay Hilkert, Darv Krouse, Brenda Krouse, family and friends of Pete Shearer, Tom Burns, Megan Brodsky, family and friends of Frank Danowsky, Bob Keifer, Peg Swinehart.

 

Portions reprinted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, copyright 2006.  Used by permission of Augsburg Fortress, license #SBL09796L.  Music reprinted from the ELW, by permission of OneLicense, license #A712349.  Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.   Used by permission.

[1] Written by Bruce Prewer, and posted on Bruce Prewer’s Homepage. http://www.bruceprewer.com/

[2] Written by Bruce Prewer, and posted on Bruce Prewer’s Home Page.  http://www.bruceprewer.com/.