The Lord’s Day, March 5, in the Lord’s Year 2023

Second Sunday in Lent

Please speak bold words and sing italicized words; * we invite you to stand as able.

Prelude & Quiet Prayer – five minutes before service (9:55-10:00 am)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins. His mercy endures forever.

* Hymn 457   Come, Thou Fount of Ev’ry Blessing                     NETTLETON

* Invocation

* Confession of Sin:  Gracious God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, you have promised to receive us when we come to you. 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 or our neighbors as we should. Forgive us, O God, and grant that in the Holy Spirit we may live and serve you in newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

* Declaration of Forgiveness in Christ:  If you have repented of your sin and turned in faith to Jesus Christ, I can declare through Christ’s atoning death and life-giving resurrection that you are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

* New Life in Christ:  If you love God, keep his commandments. After God had delivered the Israelites, he gave them The Ten Commandments:

[Deuteronomy 5:6 – ESV] “‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

7 “‘You shall have no other gods before me.

8 “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of

anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to the 1000th generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

11 “‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

12 “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

16 “‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

17 “‘You shall not murder.

18 “‘And you shall not commit adultery.

19 “‘And you shall not steal.

20 “‘And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

21 “‘And you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’

* Response (Hymn 611, verse 1)                                                             WALK WITH ME

In my trials, Lord, walk with me; in my trials, Lord, walk with me; when my heart is almost breaking, Lord, I want Jesus to walk with me.

    O Lord, open our lips, and our mouths shall show forth your praise.

*Gloria Patri (Hymn 735)                                            GLORIA PATRI (GREATOREX)

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.

* The Peace of Christ    The peace of Christ be with you. And also with you.

Announcements, Scripture Memory, & Catechism – see Bell Ringer

Hymnal 514   For God So Loved the World                                   FOR GOD SO LOVED

Prayer of Gathering (Collect for Lent II):  O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer for the Reading of the Holy Scriptures

Genesis 12:1-4a          Psalm 121                   The Word of the Lord.

Romans 4:1-5,13-17   John 3:1-17                 Thanks be to God.

Sermon – “Abraham, Father of Us All”             Series: The Romans Road

The Nicene Creed – hymnal page 846

Prayers of the People

Offering Tithes and Gifts

Offertory (Hymn 729)                                                                        HERR JESU CHRIST

All things are thine; no gift have we, Lord of all gifts, to offer thee; and hence with grateful hearts today, thine own before thy feet we lay.

* Doxology (Hymn 731)                                                                           OLD HUNDREDTH

Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below; praise him above, ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

* Offertory Prayer

Celebration of the Lord’s Supper

This is the table of the Lord, not of Ward Hill Church. Therefore, we invite to the Lord’s table all baptized persons who have confessed their sins and put their faith in Jesus Christ. Normally, you should also be in regular fellowship with, if not this church, a congregation in another location. If you do not wish to participate in the Lord’s Supper today, we understand and sincerely ask for God’s blessing on your life. Either way, we are thankful that you have been present with us this day in the house of the Lord.

Eucharistic Prayer and the Sanctus

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 our thanks and praise.

Praise be to you, Lord of heaven and earth. You have revealed your mercy towards your people in giving your only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. We give thanks for the redemption you have prepared for us through Jesus Christ. Let your Holy Spirit come into our hearts to enlighten us with a living faith. With your whole Church on earth and with all the saints and angels in heaven, we worship and adore your glorious name in this unending praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might, Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Consecration of the Elements & Ourselves:Discerning the Body of Christ

O God, sanctify by your Spirit this bread and wine, which you have given and human hands have made. Here we offer them to you, that through them we may partake of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. On the same night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is given for you.” In the same way, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to his disciples saying, “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. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Therefore, heavenly Father, we celebrate this supper in remembrance of your Son’s passion and death, his resurrection and ascension. We will eat of the Bread of Life and drink the Cup of Blessing until the day when he comes again in glory.

We ask you, O God, to remember the perfect and eternal sacrifice through which, in Christ, you have reconciled us with yourself. Grant that we may be united into one body and be made a perfect living sacrifice in Christ. Through him, and with him, and in him, by the power of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor are yours, almighty Father, forever and ever. And now we pray as our Savior taught us:

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 debts, as we forgive our debtors; 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.

Hymnal 261   What Wondrous Love Is This                                    WONDROUS LOVE

Holy Communion:Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ

The bread which we break is a sharing in the body of Christ. The cup for which we give thanks is a participation in the blood of Christ.

Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast.

The gifts of God for the people of God. Amen.

Please remain seated for the giving and the receiving of the Lord’s Supper.

Thanksgiving and Commission:Being the Body of Christ in the World

Let us give thanks. Almighty and eternal God, you have fed us with the Holy Communion of the body and blood of your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ; we thank you for this gift, by which you assure us that we are members of the mystical body of your Son and heirs through hope of your everlasting kingdom. So assist us by your Holy Spirit that we may grow daily in knowledge of your truth, and in faithfulness to your will, abiding in that fellowship in which all your saints have part; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory, world without end. Amen.

Go forth in peace to love and serve the Lord. Amen.

* Hymnal 460   Amazing Grace                                                              AMAZING GRACE

* Benediction

Postlude