Prepared for Homebound Participant Use with Live or Recorded Service Online / 1 April 2020

“Offer Yourself, O Priest”/ Midweek Lent Service 6 / Immanuel Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 597, Laurel, NE 68745

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The Order of Vespers

Stand

Lent Versicles

L O Lord, open my lips,

L Make haste, O God, to deliver me;

Psalmody: Psalm 38 (v.1-4, 9-11, 15, 18, 20-22)

        1O Lord, rebuke me not in your | anger,*
        nor discipline me | in your wrath!
2For your arrows have sunk | into me,*
        and your hand has come | down on me.
3There is no soundness in my flesh
        because of your indig- | nation;*
there is no health in my bones
        because | of my sin.
4For my iniquities have gone o- | ver my head;*
        like a heavy burden, they are too heav- | y for me.
9O Lord, all my longing is be- | fore you;*
        my sighing is not hid- | den from you.
10My heart throbs; my strength | fails me,*
        and the light of my eyes—it also has | gone from me.
11My friends and companions stand aloof | from my plague,*
        and my nearest kin stand | far off.

Sit

Readings

Old Testament Reading Jeremiah 8:4–12

        4“You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord:
When men fall, do they not rise again?
        If one turns away, does he not return?
5Why then has this people turned away
        in perpetual backsliding?
They hold fast to deceit;
        they refuse to return.
6I have paid attention and listened,
        but they have not spoken rightly;
no man relents of his evil,
        saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turns to his own course,
        like a horse plunging headlong into battle.
7Even the stork in the heavens
        knows her times,
and the turtledove, swallow, and crane
        keep the time of their coming,
but my people know not
        the just decrees of the Lord.

        8“How can you say, ‘We are wise,
        and the law of the Lord is with us’?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribes
        has made it into a lie.
9The wise men shall be put to shame;
        they shall be dismayed and taken;
behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord,
        so what wisdom is in them?
10Therefore I will give their wives to others
        and their fields to conquerors,
because from the least to the greatest
        everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
from prophet to priest,
        everyone deals falsely.
11They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
        saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
        when there is no peace.
12Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
        No, they were not at all ashamed;
        they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among the fallen;
        when I punish them, they shall be overthrown,
says the Lord”.

Epistle Reading 1 Corinthians 1:18–31

18The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

20Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Responsory (Lent) LSB 231

L Deliver me, O Lord, my God, for You are the God of my salvation.

L In You, O Lord, do I put my trust, leave me not, O Lord, my God.

L Deliver me, O Lord, my God, for You are the God of my salvation.

Gospel Reading Matthew 7:24–29

24“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

28And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

Sermon: “You are Priests Made Wise by the Foolishness of the Cross”

Stand

Antiphon (Common) LSB 231

L Let my prayer rise before You as incense,

Canticle Hymn (to the tune of the Common Doxology)

599 O Gracious Lord, with Love Draw Near

1 O gracious Lord, with love draw near
To these, Your children gathered here;
The Spirit’s gift in them renew:
The gift of faith that clings to You.

2 Sustain the work You have begun
In these united to Your Son,
For in that pure baptismal flood
They have been cleansed by Jesus’ blood.

(continued on next page)

3 Deliver them from ev’ry wile,
From all that would their hearts beguile,
From worldly ways and Satan’s lies,
That they may not Your Word despise.

4 Lord, keep them firm in their intent
To You, Your Word and Sacrament.
O make them bold, their faith to share
And make them strong, each cross to bear.

5 O Father, grant that by Your grace
They may Your will each day embrace;
With fruits of faith their lives now bless,
Till they at death Your name confess.

6 Then robed in white before Your throne,
Your holy saints, by You foreknown—
Predestined, called, and justified,
Shall, crowned in light, be glorified.

Sit

Offering (Offerings for Immanuel Lutheran Church may be sent to P.O. Box 597, Laurel, NE 68745

or visit https://www.immanuellutheranlaurelne.com/page/donate-online )

Prayer

Kneel/Stand

Kyrie LSB 233

Lord’s Prayer

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.

Introduction to Collects LSB 233

L O Lord, hear my prayer.

Collect: During an epidemic

Almighty God, heavenly Father, give us grace to trust You during this time of illness and distress. In mercy put an end to the epidemic that afflicts us. Grant relief to those who suffer, and comfort all that mourn. Sustain all medical personnel in their labors, and cause Your people ever to serve You in righteousness and holiness; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Collect: For all the sick and distressed

Merciful God, graciously take into Your fatherly care the sick and needy, those who are widowed and orphaned, the homeless and homebound, the lonely and forgotten, and all who are in any trouble, temptation, anguish of labor, peril of death, or any other adversity (especially [name(s)]). Comfort them, O God, with Your Holy Spirit that they may patiently endure their afflictions and acknowledge them as a manifestation of Your fatherly will. Preserve them from faintheartedness and despondency, and help them to seek You, the great physician of their souls. If any pass through the valley of the shadow of death, do not allow them in the last hour, for any pain or fear of death, to fall away from You, but let Your everlasting arms be underneath them, and grant them a peaceful departure and a joyful entrance into Your eternal kingdom in the resurrection of all flesh; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Collect: For the Church

Almighty God, grant to Your Church Your Holy Spirit and the wisdom that comes down from above, that Your Word may not be bound but have free course and be preached to the joy and edifying of Christ’s holy people, so that in steadfast faith we may serve You and, in the confession of Your name, abide unto the end; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Collect for Peace

L O God, from whom come all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works, give to us, Your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be set to obey Your commandments and also that we, being defended from the fear of our enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Stand

Benedicamus LSB 234

L Let us bless the Lord.

Benediction LSB 234

P The grace of our Lord + Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Acknowledgments

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.