Second Sunday in Lent
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
Second Sunday in Lent – Coronavirus
03-13-2022 10:00AM Worship
+ Repentance Through God’s Mercy +
INTRODUCTION TO OUR WORSHIP:
As you journey through life on this earth, are you moving toward God or away from God? Are you trusting God or resisting God? During these 40 days of Lent, may you comprehend the depth and yearning of God’s love for you, especially revealed by those dying arms stretched out on a cross. Our God is faithful, makes and keeps a covenant of love, and persists in offering grace and courage amid the dangers and uncertainties of life.
OPENING SONG: “The Lord Is My Light” Brown #61
CONFESSION OF OUR SINS AND FORGIVENESS:
L People of God, how Jesus has wanted to gather us under protective wings as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.
But we were not willing. In the midst of these 40 days of Lenten journey, let us repent and move in the right direction.
Let us confess…
C Dear God, I confess that I have strayed from under your wings.
I have turned from your sheltering love as if it counts for nothing.
I have rebelled against your guiding word and the messengers of your will as if I don’t need them.
I have preferred to wander around and to peck here and there looking for some small morsel, head down and clueless.
And I have even tried to fly out on my own, but haven’t gotten very high or far.
Now I realize and admit that I am cold and exposed and without defense.
Forgive me, Lord, for I have sinned and strayed away.
I have no excuses and no one or nothing else to blame. Amen.
L My friends, the heart of Jesus has been broken by our rejection of God’s love and mercy. Yet Jesus continues his journey toward Jerusalem, his journey toward the cross, and his journey toward us. He will not stop until he has brought us together, in safety and security, in mutual love and growing commitment, in a covenant that embraces today and tomorrow, earth and heaven. Like the wings of a mother hen, his outstretched arms on a cross above us offer us God’s tender and unfailing love. Through (+) Jesus Christ you are forgiven, trust God, try again, live faith, hope, and love.
Amen.
THE PRAYER OF THE DAY:
Let us pray. O God, we pray that we might accept the offer of Jesus to love us. He is truly our light and our salvation – whom shall we fear? May we stand firmly in his name, walk his talk, and love others as fervently as he has loved us. Amen.
+ Renewal Through God’s Word +
FIRST READING: GENESIS 15:1-12, 17-18 [Abraham didn’t quite understand…but trusted enough to still follow.]
15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
15:2 But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
15:3 And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.”
15:4 But the word of the LORD came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.”
15:5 He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
15:6 And he believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness.
15:7 Then he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.”
15:8 But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
15:9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
15:10 He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.
15:11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
15:12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him.
15:17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
15:18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates….”
SECOND READING: PHILIPPIANS 3:17 – 4:1 [In prison because of his faith, Paul trusts that his and every believer’s ultimate destination is “out of this world”.]
3:17 Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us.
3:18 For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears.
3:19 Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things.
3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
3:21 He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.
4:1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
GOSPEL VERSE:
“Lord, let my heart be good soil, open to the seed of your word.
Lord, let my heart be good soil, where love can grow and peace is understood.
When my heart is hard, break the stone away.
When my heart is cold, warm it with the day.
When my heart is lost, lead me on your way.
Lord, let my heart, Lord, let my heart, Lord, let my heart be good soil.”
THE GOSPEL: LUKE 13:31-35 [Neither Herod’s plotting nor Jerusalem’s resistance to maternal love will deter Jesus from his mission – which is suffering and death.]
13:31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.”
13:32 He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work.
13:33 Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’
13:34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
13:35 See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.'”
THE SERMON: Pastor Neil or Pastor Gwen
SONG SELECTION
AN AFFIRMATION OF OUR FAITH:
We believe that God has created this world,
has created humanity,
has created each of us.
We believe that God so loved the world,
so loved all people,
so loved us,
that God gave Jesus, the Son, to save us from sin and death,
to save us from the ways of this world and the Devil in it,
to save us from ourselves.
We believe that Jesus suffered for us in his living,
sacrificed for us in his dying, and
was raised for us in resurrection victory.
We believe that the resurrection victory of Jesus is our resurrection victory,
our only hope and salvation, and
our invitation to new, abundant, and everlasting life.
We believe that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
OFFERING [As a song proclaims, we cannot beat God’s giving, no matter how we try. But we can express our gratitude and extend the reach of God’s love to others through our generous contributions of who we are and what we have.]
THE OFFERTORY SONG: “I Know It Was the Blood”
- I know it was the blood… I know it was the blood… I know it was the blood for me.
One day when I was lost, he died upon the cross… I know it was the blood for me.
- It was my Savior’s blood…
- They pierced him in the side…
- He’s coming back again…
OFFERING PRAYER (from PSALM 51):
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence, or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain me with your bountiful spirit.
Then I will teach other sinners your ways; and I will eagerly sing of your goodness. Amen.
MUSIC SELECTION: “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross” Dennis Fortune Brown #73
THE PRAYERS… We pray that THE WAY OF THE CROSS will continue to impact our lives and transform the world!
THE LORD’S PRAYER
+ Righteousness Through God’s Spirit +
THE BENEDICTION by the Pastor… God calls us to “return home” to faith and discipleship!
CLOSING SONG: “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me”
- I want Jesus to walk with me… I want Jesus to walk with me.
All along my pilgrim journey, Lord, I want Jesus to 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.
- When I’m in trouble, Lord, walk with me… When I’m in trouble, Lord, walk with me.
When my head is bowed in sorrow, Lord, I want Jesus to walk with me.
GIVE to realign yourself with others. PRAY to realign yourself with God.
FAST to realign yourself with self.