Welcome

Welcome to our Mid-Week Lenten Service. During our Mid-Week services, we focus on the “hands of Jesus”—hands that brought healing, forgiveness, and life. His hands reached out to save Peter from drowning, to heal the sick, to feed the hungry, and were pierced for our sins. His hands still hold us today. Also, we invite you to join us for worship on Sundays as we explore the Red Letter Challenge—a call to live out the words of Jesus. May His hands and Words guide and transform us.

 

Please Stand

 

Invocation and call to worship

P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen.

 

P: Lord, as we continue this Lenten journey together,

C: Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.

 

P: May Your life-giving words,

C: Continue to transform our lives, that we might follow You with grateful hearts.

 

P: Lord, hold us fast in Your hands,

C: For no one can snatch us from Your grip.

 

P: We remember Your hands, O Lord, they were pierced for our sins,

C: That through Your suffering, we might be made whole.

 

P: "Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

C: Your words heal our hearts and renew our spirits.

 

P: "It is finished."

C: Through Your final words on the cross, You completed the work of our salvation, offering us the gift of eternal life.

 

P: "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me."

C: Your words challenge us to live sacrificially, yet they give us the strength to do so in Your power.

 

P: Guide us through your Word, the words that bring life,

C: For Your words transform us from the inside out. Amen

Please Sit

 

God Loved the World So, That He Gave LSB #571 vs. 1-2, 5

                                                                                                                    

1 God loved the world so that He gave
His only Son the lost to save,
That all who would in Him believe
Should everlasting life receive.

 

2 Christ Jesus is the ground of faith,
Who was made flesh and suffered death;
All then who trust in Him alone
Are built on this chief cornerstone.

 

5 If you are sick, if death is near,
This truth your troubled heart can cheer:
Christ Jesus saves your soul from death;
That is the firmest ground of faith.

 

Text: Heiliges Lippen- und Hertzens-Opffer, c. 1778, Stettin; tr. August Crull, 1845–1923, alt.
Text: Public domain

 

Please Sit

 

Confession and Absolution

 

P: In the Scriptures, we see the hand of the Lord take on literal meaning in the person of Jesus Christ. Through His hands, He brought healing, forgiveness, and life. Yet, we also confess that we have used our own hands for sinful purposes. Like those who delivered Jesus into the hands of men, we too have fallen short in our words, actions, and thoughts. We come now to before God with humble hearts, acknowledging that we have sinned and fallen short of His glory.

 

C: Heavenly Father, we confess that we have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed. We have used our hands for selfish gain, for harm, and for sin. We have failed to follow the example of Your Son, Jesus, who used His hands to serve and save. Forgive us for the ways in which we have rejected Your grace and failed to live in the mercy of Your hands. We turn to You for healing, forgiveness, and renewal.

 

P: Almighty God, in His great mercy, has not only seen our sin, but He has sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to take on human hands and lay down His life for us.

Jesus, with His hands pierced for our sins, has taken the punishment we deserve, and through His resurrection, He offers us forgiveness, life, and salvation.

As a called and ordained servant of the Word, I announce to you that all your sins are forgiven, in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

C: Thanks be to God for His mercy and grace!

 

Please Stand

 

Gospel Reading – Matthew 8:1-17

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean! ”Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment. When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him. When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.”

P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.

C: Praise to You O Christ!

 

Please Sit

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SERMON HYMN

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Glory Be to Jesus LSB #433 vs. 1-3,6

 

1 Glory be to Jesus,
Who in bitter pains
Poured for me the lifeblood
From His sacred veins!

 

2 Grace and life eternal
In that blood I find;
Blest be His compassion,
Infinitely kind!

 

3 Blest through endless ages
Be the precious stream
Which from endless torment
Did the world redeem!

 

6 Lift we, then, our voices,
Swell the mighty flood;
Louder still and louder
Praise the precious blood!

 

Text: Italian, c. 18th cent.; tr. Edward Caswall, 1814–78, alt.
Text: Public domain

 

SERMON Jesus’ hands bring healing

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OFFERTORY

 

All Depends on Our Possessing LSB #732 vs. 1-2, 6

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1 All depends on our possessing
God’s abundant grace and blessing,
Though all earthly wealth depart.
They who trust with faith unshaken
By their God are not forsaken
And will keep a dauntless heart.

 

2 He who to this day has fed me
And to many joys has led me
Is and ever shall be mine.
He who ever gently schools me,
He who daily guides and rules me
Will remain my help divine.

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6 If my days on earth He lengthen,
God my weary soul will strengthen;
All my trust in Him I place.
Earthly wealth is not abiding,
Like a stream away is gliding;
Safe I anchor in His grace.

 

Text: Andächtige Haus-Kirche, 1676, Nürnberg; tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1827–78, alt.
Text: Public domain

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Please Stand

 

LORD’S PRAYER

P: Let us pray together the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray:

C: 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

P: The grace of our Lord + Jesus Christ,

the love of God the Father,

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.

C: Amen.

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CLOSING HYMN

 

Come unto Me, Ye Weary LSB #684 vs. 1-3

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1 “Come unto Me, ye weary,
And I will give you rest.”
O blessèd voice of Jesus,
Which comes to hearts oppressed!
It tells of benediction,
Of pardon, grace, and peace,
Of joy that hath no ending,
Of love that cannot cease.

 

2 “Come unto Me, ye wand’rers,
And I will give you light.”
O loving voice of Jesus,
Which comes to cheer the night!
Our hearts were filled with sadness,
And we had lost our way;
But Thou hast brought us gladness
And songs at break of day.

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3 “Come unto Me, ye fainting,
And I will give you life.”
O cheering voice of Jesus,
Which comes to aid our strife!
The foe is stern and eager,
The fight is fierce and long;
But Thou hast made us mighty
And stronger than the strong.

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Text: William C. Dix, 1837–98, alt.
Text: Public domain

 

 

 

 

Serving Today:

Pastor Jim Bretthauer

Organist: Dan Barber, D.M.

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