Alleluia! Christ is risen! We ask the Father for all the good things He has promised us. He loves us for the sake of Jesus Christ His Son who sits at His right hand. We are not alone, but we have peace through Jesus who has overcome the world.
We are back open, still following the advice and guidelines of the health department, doing our best to help keep each other healthy. If you aren’t feeling well, if you are in one of the at-risk groups, or if you still feel safer at home, make sure you still catch the livestream on Facebook.
If you are following at home, here is the bulletin:
Alleluia! Christ is risen! We sing a new song because He has done marvelous things.
We are back open, following the health department and CDC advice and guidelines. If you aren’t feeling well, if you are in one of the risk groups, or you feel safer at home, make sure you still catch the livestream on Facebook.
If you are following at home, here is the bulletin:
“For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though He cause grief, He will have compassion according to the abundance of steadfast love, for He does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.”
Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
[Jesus said] “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”
John 16:22
Music
Collect of the Day
Almighty God, You show those in error the light of Your truth so that they may return to the way of righteousness. Grant faithfulness to all who are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s Church that they may avoid whatever is contrary to their confession and follow all such things as are pleasing to you; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Prayer of the Church
Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.
Almighty and eternal God, worthy to be held in reverence by all people everywhere, we give You humble and sincere thanks for the innumerable blessings You have bestowed on us without any merit or worthiness on our part. We praise You especially for preserving for us Your saving Word and the Holy Sacraments. Grant and preserve to Your Holy Church throughout the world purity of doctrine, and provide faithful pastors to preach Your Word with power. Help all who hear the Word rightly to understand and truly to believe it. Send laborers into Your harvest, and open the door of faith to those who do not know You. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Heavenly Father, in mercy bring to repentance the enemies of Your Church, and grant them amendment of life. Protect and defend Your Church in all tribulation and danger, and sustain with Your Spirit our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world who experience persecution. Strengthen us and all fellow Christians to set our hope fully on the grace revealed in Christ, and help us to fight the good fight of faith, that in the end we may receive the salvation of our souls. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Loving God, bestow Your grace on all nations of the earth. Bless especially our country, its inhabitants and all who are in authority. Let Your glory dwell in our land, that mercy and truth, righteousness and peace may abound in all places. Bless also all who serve in our armed forces, that they may serve with integrity and honor. Protect the doctors, nurses, first responders and scientific researchers who are working to address the pandemic. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Compassionate Lord, graciously defend us from all calamity by fire and water, from war and pestilence, from scarcity and famine, and from every other evil. Protect and prosper all who labor in their rightful callings, and let all useful arts flourish among us. Be the God and Father of the lonely and the forsaken; the helper of the sick, needy and unemployed; and the comforter of the distressed and those who sorrow. Look with mercy especially upon those who have requested our prayers, [including _____________,] that they may ever cling to Jesus as their sure and certain hope. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Grant Your Holy Spirit to those who come to the Lord’s table this day, that they may receive the very body and blood of Jesus Christ in sincere repentance and firm faith, and to their abundant blessing. Look with kindness on those who cannot gather, and bring them together again at Your table soon. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer. Father, as we are strangers and pilgrims on earth, help us by true faith and a godly life to prepare for the world to come, doing the work You have given us to do while it is day, before the night comes when no one can work. And when our last hour comes, support us by Your power and receive us into Your heavenly Kingdom; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.
Pieter Brueghel the Younger-The Good Shepherd, 1616
Collect of the Day
O God, through the humiliation of Your Son You raised up the fallen world. Grant to Your faithful people, rescued from the peril of everlasting death, perpetual gladness and eternal joys; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Cranach the Younger, Weimar Altarpiece,
Hymns
Prayers
Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.
For all who have been baptized at the still waters of the font, that they would remain in the green pastures of the Holy Church, where they want for nothing and have their souls restored as their Good Shepherd ever cares for their every spiritual need, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
For all pastors in Christ, especially Matthew, our Synod president; _____________, our district president; and _____________, our circuit visitor, that through their preaching and teaching we would be led in the paths of righteousness for the sake of Christ’s name, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
For the members of this parish and all Christians everywhere, that we would receive strength to resist sin and temptation in our lives, fearing no evil as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, knowing that our Good Shepherd is with us to heal and comfort us, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
For steadfast faith in Jesus Christ, a cheerful hope in His mercy, and a sincere love for God and neighbor, which disease and distance can never destroy, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
For those whom God has placed in authority over us, especially Donald, our president; _____________, our governor; and all who make, administer and judge our laws, that they would be protected and work prudently in their response to the pandemic, serve with integrity and honor in all tasks, and seek the common good of all, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
For the sick and suffering, for the lonely and unemployed, and for all who have requested our prayers, [including _____________,] that they would be well cared for and restored to health, and given grace to accept their time of tribulation with courage and hope, knowing that they always remain in their Good Shepherd’s loving arms, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
For those who come to the table their Lord and Shepherd has prepared for them, that they would receive the Holy Sacrament of His true body and blood in faith, and to the eternal nourishment of their souls, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
For those who by illness or precaution are kept from the table, that they may trust in the voice of their Good Shepherd and enjoy soon the pasture of Christ’s Sacrament together with the rest of His sheep, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
For goodness and mercy to follow us all the days of our lives, that we would, together with the saints who have gone before us, dwell in the house of the Lord forever, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
Into Your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy; through Your Son, Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for us, and who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves, O my people….And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people, and I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live
These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.
John 20:31
Hymns to listen to:
Prayers
Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.
Almighty God, You brought us up out of the Egypt of hell and into the Zion of Christ’s Church through the Red Sea of the baptismal font. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit, that as we continue to wend our way through the wilderness of this sinful world, we would long for the pure spiritual milk of Your Word and receive the sustenance we need, until we are brought to the Promised Land of the life of the world to come. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Gracious God, Your Son appeared to His disciples in His resurrected flesh to ordain them and to send them out into the world, that repentance and the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name. Continue to raise up for us faithful men to serve in the Office of the Holy Ministry, and sustain those whom You have sent with courage and endurance. Bless their service among Your people who, with St. Thomas, confess Jesus as their Lord and God. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Loving God, You sent Your Son to proclaim liberty to the captive, and You delivered the apostles from imprisonment according to Your will. Remember those who are imprisoned or held captive, whether justly or unjustly. Deliver them according to Your wisdom and mercy, and grant that they might hear Your Word and rejoice with penitent hearts that they are set free from sin, death and the devil. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Merciful God, remember those who have wandered from the household of faith. Faithful to Your promises, work all things in their lives to remind them of their need for Your unending grace and steadfast love, that they might return to the faith and rejoice in Your Son who has died and is risen for them. As You sustained the exiles in Babylon, so sustain Your scattered Church until all may gather together again at Your table. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Almighty God, You appoint rulers and officials for the sake of order and peace. Bless those whom You have placed in authority over us at the federal, state and local levels. Give to them the desire to serve with integrity and honor, and to work for the benefit of all. Protect them, give them health, and direct them wisely in their response to the ongoing pandemic. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Gracious God, look with mercy upon all who suffer in this vale of tears; those isolated, ill or endangered from the coronavirus; and those we remember now [especially _____________]. Provide them with loving and compassionate care, and comfort them with the reminder that everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world, and that, believing that Jesus is the Christ, they have life in His name. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Into Your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy; through faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Ninevah Hears God’s Word, Repents and Lives: Jonah 3
Fear Not! The Lord Has Taken Away Your Judgment-Zepheniah 3
The Son of Man Stands with His People in the Fiery Trial-Daniel 3
Sermon (based on John Chrysostom’s Easter Homily)
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
This is the night when You brought our Fathers our of bondage in Egypt and led them through the Red Sea on dry ground.
This is the night when all who believe in Christ are delivered from bondage to sin and are restored to life and immortality.
This is the night when Christ, the Life, arose from the dead. The seal of the grave is broken and the morning of the new creation breaks forth out of night.
This is the night when all wickedness is put to flight and sin is washed away.
How holy is this night when innocence is restored to the fallen and joy is given to those downcast.
How blessed is this night when man is reconciled to God in Christ.
Did anyone deliberately seek this video out to hear the Good News of Easter? Let them enjoy the beautiful life giving Words of God.
Is anyone weary from sitting through all of the Holy Week devotions poorly livestreamed on Facebook? Receive your wages. Those who toil from the first hour their due reward, and those who come afterward, join with gratitude in the Easter celebration!
Is anyone fearful of the plague that stalks the earth? Let him take heart in Christ who has risen as the first fruits of death in the promise that we also will rise from death with Him.
Is anyone still unafraid of death? Let His confidence be in Christ, and let Him serve His neighbor with the Love of our Risen Lord and Savior.
Let no one grieve at his poverty, or the threat of loss, for the riches of the Kingdom of God are revealed to us in Christ. Let no one despair that he has fallen into sin again and again, for forgiveness itself has risen from the grave. Let no one be afraid of death, for the death of our Lord is the perfect Love that drives out fear and sets us free.
He destroyed death by dying.
He destroyed hell by descending to it in victory.
Hell is mocked, it is destroyed, its sting is gone. It took a man and discovered God. It thought it had earth and it found heaven. Satan bit off more than he knew, and was destroyed.
Christ is risen and death is defeated!
Christ is risen and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is risen and life is freed!
Christ is risen and all tombs will be empty, for Christ having risen from the dead is the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be power and glory forever and ever. Amen!
Service of Holy Baptism
On this holiest of nights, the whole Church of our Lord Jesus Christ recalls His death and burial, rejoicing with great joy in the Gospel of His glorious and mighty resurrection from the dead. The apostle Paul says:
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Let us pray.
Almighty and eternal God, according to Your strict judgment You condemned the unbelieving world through the flood, yet according to Your great mercy You preserved believing Noah and his family, eight souls in all. You drowned hard-hearted Pharaoh and all his host in the Red Sea, yet led Your people Israel through the water on dry ground, foreshadowing this washing of Your Holy Baptism. Through the Baptism in the Jordan of Your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, You sanctified and instituted all waters to be a blessed flood and a lavish washing away of sin.
We pray that You would behold us all according to Your boundless mercy and bless us with true faith by the Holy Spirit, that through this saving flood all sin in us, which has been inherited from Adam and which we ourselves have committed since, would be drowned and die. Grant that we be kept safe and secure in the holy ark of the Christian Church, being separated from the multitude of unbelievers and serving Your name at all times with a fervent spirit and a joyful hope, so that, with all believers in Your promise, we would be declared worthy of eternal life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Do you renounce the devil? Yes, I renounce him.
Do you renounce all his works? Yes, I renounce them.
Do you renounce all his ways? Yes, I renounce them.
Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth?
Yes, I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
Do you believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son?
Yes, I believe in Jesus Christ, His 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 into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?
Yes, I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
The almighty God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given you the new birth of water and of the Spirit and has forgiven you all your sins, strengthen you with His grace to life + everlasting. Amen.
Litany of the Resurrection
O Lord, have mercy.
O Christ, have mercy.
O Lord, have mercy.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, hear us.
Paschal Lamb, who was offered for us and has taken away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
Who was crucified for our transgressions and raised for our justification, have mercy on us.
Who foretold Your passion saying, “The Son of Man must be crucified and on the third day rise again,” have mercy on us.
Who destroyed death by dying, and by rising to life again brought life and immortality to light, have mercy on us.
Whose resurrection was first announced by an angel to the women, have mercy on us.
Who appeared to Mary Magdalene and was worshiped by her, have mercy on us.
Who revealed Yourself to the two disciples on the Emmaus road and made Yourself known to them in the Scriptures and in the breaking of the bread, have mercy on us.
Who appeared to the disciples, bestowing on them Your peace and Your Spirit, have mercy on us.
Who showed Your wounded hands and side to the apostle Thomas that he too might believe, have mercy on us.
Who appeared to seven disciples on the Sea of Tiberias, bringing a miraculous catch of fish, have mercy on us.
Who appeared to Peter and to the Twelve, to over 500 disciples, to James and to all the apostles, and to Paul on the Damascus road, have mercy on us.
Who commissioned Your Church to make disciples of all nations by baptizing and teaching them, have mercy on us.
By Your glorious resurrection from the dead, good Lord, deliver us.
By Your victory over sin and death, good Lord, deliver us.
By the majesty of Your risen body, good Lord, deliver us.
We poor sinners implore You to hear us, Lord Jesus.
That we may daily die and rise with You in our Baptism and walk in the freedom of Your forgiveness, grant us, good Lord.
That we may set our minds on things above and not on earthly things, serving others as we have been served by You, grant us, good Lord.
That we may dwell with You forever in the new creation as citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, together with all the saints, grant us, good Lord.
Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.
Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, grant us Your peace.
O Lord, have mercy.
O Christ, have mercy.
O Lord, have mercy. Amen.
Easter Acclamation
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
We love to have a scapegoat. A kicker misses a last second field goal, and all everyone remembers is that moment, and forgets all the shortfalls and mistakes that led up to it. Humanity gets to the end of the second world war and we can pin everything on Hitler, as a demonic terror, and forget about all of the individual human decisions and actions that led the world to that dark place.
Even today, depending on where you turn for your news, you see people placing the blame for this pandemic and all of its death-toll and economic destruction on Trump, or on China, or this or that state governor or those kids out partying. We ignore that so much of our trouble stems from the systems of economy that we actively participating in, demanding low-prices always and that someone else do the work. We enjoy the benefits of globalism even while it threatens our lives and our local economies.
Even that, though, is just an earthly example of the point I’m trying to make. We lay the blame somewhere else. This woman you gave me gave me some fruit and I ate. The serpent tempted me and I ate.
Scripture does not let us go. It does not let us get away that easy. When the seed of sin is planted, and it grows, and bears fruit, its fruit is bitter and black with the taste of death. When death comes, it carries its accusation with it: “I am the wages of your sin. I am what you deserve. You were taken from the dust. And to dust I will return you.”
We look for someone to pin everything on so that we can escape. It doesn’t work. Death will get its man.
We can’t pin our sins on anyone else. But someone else willingly had them nailed into Him. A scapegoat will not work, so we are given the Lamb of God.
Listen to the sounds of the hammer driving the nails through flesh, shattering bone, and finally sinking into the wood. Each stroke of that hammer is our sin, having its wages paid out. Every time you worshipped yourself instead of your God. Every lie you told to keep people from seeing your failures. Every sexual act that defiled your marriage bed. Every time you yelled at your parents. Every time you wished for different children than those God had given you. Every time you saw someone in need and kept right on going. All your hatred. All your pride. All your greed. All your gossip and back-biting. All your selfishness. All your doubting of God. All your hatred and neglect of His Holy Word and your disregard of His Sacrament. Every single last one.
Can you imagine being one of those who tortured Jesus in His final hours? Who hit Him, spat in His blessed face, hurled insults and wagged their heads, pressed the thorns into His temples, drove the nails, lifted the cross, pierced His side? To be one of those, and to see His eyes. His anguish, His pain, His love. That must’ve been the most haunting of all, to look on Him with hate and see the love in His eyes.
Love stretched out His arms and received everything our sin deserved. Stroke by stroke. And then the cross was lifted, the would creaked and He cried out as the weight of the world, the weight of your sin wrenched the ligaments in His shoulders and collapsed His diaphragm. He who knew no sin became sin. He took the weight. And in that moment feel it now. The weight is gone from you. He cried out to His Father. He gave up His Spirit. He breathed His last. He closed His eyes in darkness. He has taken your sin so that you might become the righteousness of God.
The love of Christ shown in its fullness on the cross controls us. One has died. And because He has died, we have all died. And now in Him we live. Go from the cross new men and women. Forgiven. Free. Free from the slavery of living for yourself, free to live for Jesus who for your sake died and was raised. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
St. Paul writes to the church in Corinth that He delivered to them what He had received from the Lord, “that the Lord Jesus, on the night when He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the New Testament in My blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” (1 Cor 11:23-26)
I’m at something of a loss this holy week. I’m not able to deliver to you very much of what I have received from the Lord. We cannot celebrate the Lord’s Supper together as brothers and sisters, as the Body of Christ. How often did we take that for granted before? How often did we inwardly groan when we walked in to church and saw the communion vessels set on the altar? The very thought of an extra fifteen minutes in this place was unbearable. Now what would we give to be able to gather again? We told the Lord that we did not want His gifts more often, because it would make them less special. Now our Lord has taken His gifts away. It is God who establishes the authorities that have limited our ability to gather. It is the Lamb who opens the seal that sends forth the pale rider to kill with pestilence.
How much would we give to be able to join our voices with other people who love Jesus? But now we find ourselves in exile. And like the people of Israel in their captivity in Babylon, the songs just don’t sound right when we are exiled by ourselves. “How shall we sing the Lord’s songs in a foreign land?” (Psalm 137:4) they wondered. How shall we sing them by ourselves? we wonder.
Our church services are reduced to something you can scroll past, right after the memes about “Repost if you remember when phones had cords?” and right before “post something purple from your picture roll” comes this purple reminder of remember when we used to be able to go to Church.
Tonight is a night that shows us what we are missing. Like the disciples who were all scattered like sheep by the end of this night, we have each been scattered to our own places, hoping to evade death. We are missing gathering together, and we miss the gifts that we are used to receiving. We miss the Body and Blood of our Savior. Jesus says, “Come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He says to the weary, “Take eat, this is My Body, given for You! Take drink, this is My blood, shed for the forgiveness of Your sins.” He says to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise Him up on the last day. Whoever tastes and sees that I am Good, abides in Me and I in him.” Let the words of Jesus increase our hunger for His gifts so that we may receive them in joy when He once again permits us to enter His house.
Hope in God, for we will again praise Him! Our salvation and our God.
Let us learn from our Lord in this time of exile. We pray that He would wash us and make us clean, our hearts, souls, strengths, and minds, that we might have our share with Him. In this time, and especially in these three days we examine our lives, our homes, our families, our church, our community, and confess where we have not lived in the light of God’s Word, where we have brought death to ourselves and others by our lust, our sloth, our greed, our anger, and our pride. Wash us clean. And restore to us the joy of your salvation, O Lord. And strengthen us, that we may love each other as you have loved us. Pray with your families. Read God’s Word together. Prepare to join in the heavenly feast in His Kingdom.
Already we see His love at work. We pass on of the gifts that we have received from the Lord. People are delivering food to those who need it. Working to make sure that the sick and aged are cared for, that we have food to eat and water to drink. People who still have jobs and income seeking to help those who have seen theirs taken. And, though we may not be washing each other’s feet, we are washing our own hands in love for our neighbor. And in the love we show in earthly things, may it awaken a desire for the greater gifts which lead to life that has no end, life that was won for our Savior who laid down His life for us. Amen.
Livestreaming services is not great. It is what we have for now, but it is not ideal, and I can’t wait for it to be over. The Church is meant to be God’s people gathered together at a particular time and place, having God’s Word spoken into their ears together and joining together songs the grow from the lungs and throats God has given us with which to praise Him.
This weekend, the livestream will mostly consist of what works best at this point, and that will be the spoken sermon, and a few prayers.
The Word of God does not return void, so I continue to preach the Word and cast it on the waters in hopes that some will hear it and find comfort and life by it.
Music, on the other hand is such a part of what we do gathered together, and it is hard to do satisfactorily without the congregation. So instead of trying to do that poorly on the livestream, here are a couple of suggestions of music to listen to for your Holy Week Devotions.
If you would like to add your voice to God’s people singing this weekend, this is a project worthy of your time. Record yourself singing Easter hymns according to their directions, and they will make a video with everyone singing. They did one for Palm Sunday and it was really good!
