Worship for Sunday, March 29, 2020
The Fifth
Sunday in Lent
Sunday,
March 29, 2020
VIDEOS FOR THIS DAY:
Opening Hymn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpQo_3_q5dc
Homily For the Day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn008sUBGpk
Closing Hymn ELW 666: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQRNlVBv1o8
Closing Hymn ELW 666: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQRNlVBv1o8
OUR WORSHIP FOR TODAY
THE OPENING SENTENCE
The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth
keep silence before him.
OPENING HYMN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpQo_3_q5dc
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Almighty God, your Son came into the world to free
us all from sin and death. Breathe upon us the power of your Spirit, that we
may be raised to new life in Christ and serve you in righteousness all our
days, 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: Ezekiel 37:1-14
The hand of the Lord came
upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the
middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all round them; there were
very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, ‘Mortal,
can these bones live?’ I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’ Then he said to me,
‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the
Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you,
and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon
you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and
you shall know that I am the Lord.’
So I prophesied as I had
been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling,
and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews
on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was
no breath in them. Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy,
mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four
winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’ I
prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived,
and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
Then he said to me,
‘Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, “Our bones are
dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.” Therefore prophesy,
and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and
bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the
land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves,
and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within
you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall
know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.’
PSALM: Psalm 130
Out of the depths
I cry to you, O Lord;
O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my
supplication.
If you were to keep watch over sins,
O Lord, who could stand?
Yet with you is forgiveness,
in order that you may be feared.
I wait for you, O Lord; my soul waits;
in your word is my hope.
My soul waits for the Lord more than those who
keep watch for the morning,
more than those who keep watch for the morning.
O Israel, wait for the Lord, for with the Lord
there is steadfast love;
with the Lord there is plenteous redemption.
from all their sins.
SECOND READING: Romans 8:6-11
To set the mind on the
flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this
reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit
to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please
God.
But you are not in the
flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who
does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in
you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of
righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in
you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies
also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
THE HOLY GOSPEL: John 11:1-45
Now a certain man was
ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was
the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair;
her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, ‘Lord, he
whom you love is ill.’ But when Jesus heard it, he said, ‘This illness does not
lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be
glorified through it.’ Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister
and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer
in the place where he was.
Then after this he said
to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judea again.’ The disciples said to him,
‘Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there
again?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk
during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But
those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.’ After saying
this, he told them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there
to awaken him.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he
will be all right.’ Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they
thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly,
‘Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may
believe. But let us go to him.’ Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his
fellow-disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’
When Jesus arrived, he
found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was
near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha
and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was
coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus,
‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I
know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your
brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again
in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection
and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and
everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ She
said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God,
the one coming into the world.’
When she had said this,
she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, ‘The Teacher
is here and is calling for you.’ And when she heard it, she got up quickly and
went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the
place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling
her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought
that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was
and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been
here, my brother would not have died.’ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews
who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply
moved. He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and
see.’ Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’ But some
of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this
man from dying?’
Then Jesus, again greatly
disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.
Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to
him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.’
Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the
glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said,
‘Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I
have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may
believe that you sent me.’ When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice,
‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with
strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind
him, and let him go.’
Many of the Jews
therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
HOMILY FOR THE DAY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn008sUBGpk
THE APOSTLES’ 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
Turning our hearts to God
who is gracious and merciful, we pray for the church, the world, and all who
are in need.
A brief silence.
God of life, bind your
faithful people into one body. Enliven the church with your Spirit and bless
the work of those who work for its renewal. Accomplish your work of salvation
in us and through us, for the sake of the world. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
God of life, you love the
world you have made and you grieve when creation suffers. Restore polluted
lands and waterways. Heal areas of the world ravaged by storms, floods,
wildfires, droughts, or other natural disasters. Bring all things to new life.
Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
God of life, show
redemption to all who watch and wait with eager expectation: those longing for
wars to cease, those waiting for immigration paperwork to finalize, those
seeking election, and those in dire need of humanitarian relief. Come quickly
with your hope. Hear us, O God. Your
mercy is great.
God of life, you weep with
those who grieve. Unbind all who are held captive by anxiety, despair, or pain.
Fill us with compassion and empathy for those who struggle, and keep us
faithful in prayer. Hear us, O God. Your
mercy is great.
God of life, we give thanks
for opportunities for this congregation to collaborate with our community in
caring for the needs of our neighbors. Strengthen our ties with other local
congregations, agencies, and services. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
God of insight, during Christ’s ministry on Earth,
you showed your power and caring by healing people of all ages and stations of
life from physical, mental, and spiritual ailments. Be present now to people
who need your loving touch because of COVID-19. May they feel your power of
healing through the care of doctors and nurses.
Take away the fear, anxiety, and feelings of isolation from people
receiving treatment or under quarantine. Give them a sense of purpose in
pursuing health and protecting others from exposure to the disease. Protect
their families and friends and bring peace to all who love them. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
God of insight, we lift to You our concern for
people who are more likely than others to become severely ill from COVID-19 —
the elderly and people with chronic health conditions. Protect them from harm
and be their comfort in this time of uncertainty. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
God of insight, we seek Your wisdom daily. Be with
people making decisions that affect the lives and futures of our families,
communities, countries, and the wider world. Inspire and invigorate people
developing better tests to diagnose the virus, vaccines to prevent it, and
protocols and communication to eliminate the disease’s spread. May truth and
empathy be the touchstones of people setting policies for our protection. Hear
us, O God. Your mercy is great.
God of insight, you call out to those who are asleep and awaken
them to new life with you. We give thanks for your saints. Join us together
with them as your children in this world and the next. Hear us, O God. Your
mercy is great.
According to your steadfast love, O God, hear these and all our
prayers as we commend them to you; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
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,
Concluding Prayer A Prayer of St.
Chrysostom
Almighty God, you have given us grace
at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and
you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or
three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them:
Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and
petitions as may be
best for us; granting us in this
world knowledge of your
truth, and in the age to come life
everlasting.
Amen
CLOSING
PETITION FOR BLESSING
May the God of hope
fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy
Spirit. Romans 15:13 Amen
CLOSING HYMN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQRNlVBv1o8
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