Midweek
Welcome to Grace!
Our mission at Grace is to teach the inspired and inerrant Word of God, to proclaim that Jesus Christ is the crucified and risen Savior of the world, and to nurture believers for lives of Christian service.
Check out the GRACE WEBSITE at www.GraceLutheranSAZ.org
SEASON OF LENT
The Lenten Season is observed during the six weeks prior to Easter. The traditional goal of Lent is to prepare believers for a proper celebration of the events of Holy Week, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The purple color of the altar paraments and vestments reminds us that Lent is also a season of repentance. The Bible tells us that repentance is always the divine work of the Holy Spirit through the Law and the Gospel. The Law crucifies the old Adam, the sinful nature within us, and the Gospel raises up the new man, the new creation in us. For us, the Lenten focus on the cross and suffering of Jesus is not aimed at an emotional response. It is a pointed proclamation and confession of the Law and the Gospel, a preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Lent is properly a season of repentance when it brings the cross to sinners and sinners to the cross of Christ as the fountain and source of forgiveness, life, and salvation.
This Lenten season, the theme for our midweek services is “His Final Steps.” Under this theme we are walking with our Savior on the final steps of his journey to the cross. How humbling and comforting to learn that Jesus knew exactly what lay ahead. Yet Jesus took his final steps to the cross for you and for me!
WORSHIP NOTES
The order of worship we will follow is printed in this worship folder for you to follow along and participate. You’ll notice that the service is a dialogue between God and us, his people. The pastor speaks to God along with the congregation and also speaks the Word of God to the people. The hymns we are using come from the blue Christian Worship hymnal, which is found in the hymnal racks in each pew. LARGE PRINT worship folders are now available for those who desire one.
Those wishing to leave an offering can do so at either exit today or give online at www.GraceLutheranSAZ.org/give. (You can also scan the QR code to the right to access the online giving page.) We would greatly appreciate a record of your attendance in our worship today. Please take a moment to sign the Friendship Register located in the red folder at the end of each row. Thank you!
PARKING
There is no cost to park in our parking lot during worship services. If you receive a citation by mistake, please let our office staff know so it can be cleared.
OPENING HYMN Jesus, Grant that Balm and Healing Christian Worship 404 Please stand
RESPONSIVE SENTENCES
Minister: In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit.
Congregation: Amen.
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
CONFESSION OF SIN
We confess together:
1 John 1:5-8
Father, I have sinned against you and am no longer worthy to be called your child. Yet in mercy you sacrificed your only Son to purge away my guilt. For his sake, O God, be merciful to me, a sinner, and in the joy of your Holy Spirit let me serve you all my days.
Silence for personal examination and confession
DECLARATION OF FORGIVENESS
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Upon this, your confession, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. 1 John 1:9 Thanks be to God. Amen.
PRAYER
Lord God, you are compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love. Fill us with the peace of your forgiveness so that our hearts may be set to obey your commandments; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Please be seated
RESPONSIVE READING FROM PSALM 8
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is a human being that you are mindful of him, a Son of Man that you care for him?
You have made him a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet.
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.
PSALM PRAYER
God our Father, we praise your name for the marvelous universe you have created, and we pray for humility to understand our role in it. Show us that your Son is the only man who can rule this world with true wisdom and power. Give us full confidence that all things are under the control of Christ, who lives and rules with you and the Holy Spirit as one God, now and forever. Amen.
36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane. He told his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and he began to be sorrowful and distressed. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to the point of death. Stay here, and keep watch with me.”
39 He went a little farther, fell on his face, and prayed. He said, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
40 He came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “So, were you not able to stay awake with me for one hour? 41 Watch and pray, so that you do not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to pass from me unless I drink it, may your will be done.” 43 Again he returned and found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 He left them again, went away, and prayed a third time. He said the same words as before. 45 Then he returned to his disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise. Let us go. Look, my betrayer is near.”
47 While Jesus was still speaking, suddenly Judas (one of the Twelve) arrived. With him was a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests and elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign: “The one I kiss is the man. Arrest him.” 49 Immediately he went to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.
50 Jesus said to him, “Friend, why are you here?”
Then they advanced, took hold of Jesus, and arrested him. 51 Suddenly, one of the men with Jesus reached out his hand, drew his sword, and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place, because all who take the sword will die by the sword. 53 Do you not realize that I could call on my Father, and at once he would provide me with more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But then how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen this way?”
55 At that same time Jesus said to the crowd, “Have you come out to arrest me with swords and clubs as if I were a robber? Day after day I was sitting in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. 56 But all this has happened so that the writings of the prophets would be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.
12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of robbers!”
14 The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the experts in the law saw the wonders he performed and heard the children calling out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant.
16 They said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?”
“Yes,” Jesus told them, “Have you never read, From the lips of little children and nursing babies you have prepared praise?”
17 He left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.
CONFESSION OF FAITH Luther's Explanation to the Second Article of the Apostles' Creed
I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord.
He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver but with his holy, precious blood, and with his innocent suffering and death.
All this he did that I should be his own, and live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as he has risen from death and lives and rules eternally.
This is most certainly true.
PRAYER
Almighty God, you have given us your only Son that he may be for us both a sacrifice for sin and an example of godly living. Give us grace that we may always receive the priceless gift of his redemption with sincere thankfulness and daily strive to walk in the blessed steps of his most holy life.
Amen.
MORNING PRAYER (10:00 AM)
O Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, you have brought us safely to this new day. Defend us with your mighty power, and grant that this day we neither fall into sin nor run into any kind of danger; and in all we do, direct us to what is right in your sight, through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.
EVENING PRAYER (7:00 PM)
Lord God, we thank you for this day of grace now drawing to a close. Stay with us and warm our hearts with your forgiving love in Christ. May your Word keep our faith burning brightly that we may walk in the light of your presence through the darkness of this world. In Jesus’ name, 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.
BLESSING
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.
2 John 3 Amen.
Please be seated
THOSE ASSISTING IN WORSHIP TODAY
Minister........................................................................................................................ Pastor Ryan Heiman
Accompanist........................................................................................................................... Beth Kassulke
Vocalist.................................................................................................................. Jeff Weinstein (7:00 PM)
Sound and Recording Technicians .............Jeremy Snavely, Danny Koehler, Sam Kassulke (7:00 PM)
Acknowledgements:
Scripture readings are taken from The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version® (EHV®) © 2018 The Wartburg Project. All rights reserved. wartburgproject.org
Created by Christian Worship: Service Builder © 2022 Concordia Publishing House. Software distributed in partnership with Northwestern Publishing House.