ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH AND EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION CENTER A Congregation of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod GOD’S VISION: OUR MISSION BUILDING AND STRENGTHENING RELATIONSHIPS WITH JESUS CHRIST AND EACH OTHER

CHURCH: 204 S. GRANT STREET, HINSDALE, IL 60521 PHONE: 630.323.0384 FAX: 630.323.0694 EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION CENTER: 204 S. GRANT STREET, HINSDALE, IL 60521 PHONE: 630.323.0065 FAX: 630.323.0694 1 WWW.ZIONHINSDALE.ORG THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION ESTABLISHED BY CHRIST 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 Our congregation believes that Holy Communion is a gift of Christ to His Church. The apostle Paul wrote, “A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself” (1 Corinthians 11:28-29). Out of loving concern for the communicants and from our understanding of the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions, we request that those who commune here: 1. Be Baptized Christians 2. Have received special instruction on the essence and significance of the Lord’s Supper. 3. Are mature enough to examine themselves, recognizing their sin and their need for God’s grace through His special means. 4. Profess the “real presence” of Christ in this Sacrament, that is, confessing the true presence of Christ’s body in the bread and His blood in the wine. 5. Have faith in the Savior’s words, “Given and shed for you.” 6. Recognizing that participation at our table indicates public agreement with our understanding of this blessed Sacrament. Holy Communion is celebrated each 1st, 3rd, and 5th Sunday.

Uninstructed children are invited to come forward with their parents to receive a blessing. IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS TO REVIEW Q. Do you acknowledge your sins and are you willing to turn from them with the aid and assistance of the Holy Spirit? A. Yes, I acknowledge my sin and seek the Lord’s mercy. 1 John 1:8-9 Q. Do you believe that God, for Jesus’ sake, has forgiven you all your sins? A. Yes, Christ died for me, and suffered the punishment that I deserve. Isaiah 53:4-6; Romans 6:21, 23 Q. Do you believe that the Lord offers Christians His body and blood in, with, and under the bread and the wine for the strengthening of faith and the forgiveness of sins? A. Yes, I believe the Scripture which teaches, “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?” 1 Corinthians 10:16 Q. Should Christians with weak faith receive the Sacrament? A. The Sacrament is especially offered for those weak of faith. Isaiah 42:3; John 6:37 FOR WHERE THERE IS FORGIVENESS OF SINS, THERE IS ALSO LIFE AND SALVATION

Non-Alcoholic Fruit of the Vine Persons who have a preference for no alcohol are invited to receive Holy Communion using non-alcoholic grape juice. The juice is located in the center circle of each2 individual tray and is lighter in color. SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT March 20, 2011 9:00 AM

WELCOME FRIENDS AND GUESTS! We are delighted that you are here, and so is the Lord! We hope that your time in worship will encourage and strengthen your relationship with God. We share the greatest hope through the One who loves you most – Jesus Christ! We invite all worshipers today to fill out the Fellowship Pew Pad during the offering portion of worship. You are also invited to make a prayer request on the blue card, which is in the pew rack and then place the card in the offering plate or hand them to an usher. We pray God’s blessings upon you and invite you to worship with us every Sunday morning at 9:00 am.

AS WE GATHER A promise is a commitment, a contract by a person to another person to do or not to do something. To “break” a promise is to fail to follow through on your otherwise well- intended word. Broken promises can hurt or even kill relationships. A wonderful thing about God is not only that He has made great, important promises, but that He has never and will never break His promises. Today, the proof of God's faithfulness is in the promises He made to Abram thousands of years before the fulfillment of those promises in the cross, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and in your coming to faith in Christ. By faith in Jesus, “all the promises of God find their Yes in Him” (2 Corinthians 1:20), and we become not only children of Abraham, the true Israelites, but the children of God! In Christ all our former broken promises and sin are forgiven and taken away and we are given the sure hope in all the promises of God. The paraments are purple. It is a somber color in keeping with the penitential nature of the Lenten Season yet it is also the color of royalty, reminding us that Jesus Christ, who struggled so hard to win our salvation, is none other than our heavenly King.

RINGING OF THE BELL

3 PRELUDE

GREETING AND ANNOUNCEMENTS ENTRANCE HYMN “Today Your Mercy Calls Us” – LSB 915 (Rise for verse 4) INVOCATION and OPENING SENTENCES Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. People: Amen.

Pastor: The LORD our God remembers His covenant forever, People: the word that He commanded, for a thousand generations.

Pastor: My help comes from the LORD, People: who made heaven and earth. Psalm 105:8; 121:2 EXHORTATION Pastor: Today, while we hear the great promises of God first given to Abram of old, we recall the promises we have made to others – to spouse, to children, to friends, and co-workers – and to God, especially those promises we have broken that have proved our unfaithfulness. Apart from God's mercy and grace our sin cripples even our best intentions and we fail in our love of God and of neighbor. Therefore let us confess our sin and run for refuge to the only God who promises forgiveness and new life in Jesus Christ, His Son, our Lord. Silence is kept to reflect on God’s holiness and His grace. CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION Pastor: Together we pray, People: Almighty God, have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and give us new life according to Your own word and promise. Amen. Pastor: The Word of God declares: “Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” Romans 4:8 Therefore, upon this, your confession, I, by virtue of my office, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, I announce the grace of God unto all of you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. People: Amen. Thanks be to God!

4 KYRIE ≈ Lord, Have Mercy (Sung – LSB Page 186) People: Lord, have mercy upon us, Christ, have mercy upon us, Lord, have mercy upon us. Mark 10:47 COLLECT OF THE DAY Pastor: O God, You see that of ourselves we have no strength. By Your mighty power defend us from all adversities that attack the body and from all evil thoughts that assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. People: Amen.

OLD TESTAMENT Genesis 12:1-8 (God's Promises to Abram) Reader: The first reading is from the book of Genesis, the 12th chapter. The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him. From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. Reader: This is the Word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God. (Responses are spoken)

EPISTLE Romans 4:1-8, 13-17 (Promises call forth faith) Reader: The New Testament epistle is from the book of Romans, the 4th chapter.

5 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about – but not before God. What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring – not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed – the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. Reader: This is the Word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God.

Please rise

PSALM 121

Reader: I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? People: My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. Reader: He will not let your foot slip – he who watches over you will not slumber; People: indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. Reader: The LORD watches over you – the LORD is your shade at your right hand; People: the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. Reader: The LORD will keep you from all harm – he will watch over your life;

6 People: the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. All: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen. GOSPEL John 3:1-17 (The promise of your Baptism.)

Pastor: The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the third chapter.

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven – the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Pastor: In many and various ways, God spoke to His people of old by the prophets. People: But now in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son.

7 HYMN OF THE DAY “The Gospel Shows the Father’s Grace” – LSB 580

SERMON

 PROFESSION OF FAITH from the Second Part of the Smalcald Articles written by Martin Luther in 1537 and recorded in The Book of Concord (The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church)

All: The first and chief article is this, that Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins, and was raised again for our justification, and He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world; and God has laid on Him the iniquities of us all. Likewise: All have sinned and are justified without merit – freely, and without their own works or merits – by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood. Now, since it is necessary to believe this, and it cannot be otherwise acquired or apprehended by any work, law, or merit, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us. Of this article nothing can be yielded or surrendered. For there is none other name under heaven, given among men whereby we must be saved. And upon this article all things depend which we teach and practice. Amen!

PRAYERS Pastor: Lord, remember us in Your kingdom and teach us to pray:

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 forever and ever. Amen.

SHARING GOD’S BLESSINGS: THE OFFERING Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. – 1 John 3:18

8 Because we value your presence in worship and desire to serve you as best as we can, please use this time to complete the Fellowship Pew Pad and pass it to your neighbor. Prayer requests may be made by filling out the blue card in the pew rack in front of you and placing it in the offering plate.

ADULT CHOIR “God So Loved the World” – John Stainer + SACRAMENT + GREETING Pastor: The Lord be with you. 2 Timothy 4:22 People: And also with you.

Pastor: Lift up your hearts. Colossians 3:1 People: We lift them to the Lord.

Pastor: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. Psalm 136 People: It is right to give Him thanks and praise.

PROPER PREFACE Pastor: It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God. You bid Your people cleanse their hearts and prepare with joy for the paschal feast. Renew our zeal in faith and life, and bring us to the fullness of grace that belongs to the children of God. Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You and saying:

SANCTUS ≈ Holy, Holy, Holy (Sung – LSB page 208) Isaiah 6:3; Matthew 21:9

Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth adored; Heav’n and earth with full acclaim shout the glory of Your name. Sing hosanna in the highest, sing hosanna to the Lord; Truly blest is He who comes in the name of the Lord!

WORDS OF OUR LORD Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25

9 Pastor: Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said: “Take, eat; this is My + body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me.” In the same way also He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying: “Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My + blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” THE PEACE Pastor: The peace + of the Lord be with you always. People: Amen.

AGNUS DEI “Worthy the Lamb That Was Slain” – BOB 242 Worthy, the Lamb that was slain. Worthy, the Lamb that was slain, To receive glory and honor, wisdom and power. Worthy, the Lamb that was slain. Worthy, the Lamb that was slain. Worthy, the Lamb that was slain, To receive glory and honor, wisdom and power. Worthy, the Lamb that was slain. Copy right 1986 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music, c/o Integrity Music, Inc., . Used by permission. CCLI 1927162

DISTRIBUTION Our belief and practice concerning Holy Communion is written on page 2 of this worship folder. Reception of Communion indicates that you share our confession.

DISTRIBUTION HYMNS “Enter In” – BOB 49 Verse 1 Enter into His presence, enter into His love. Enter into the presence of the Lord by His blood. Enter into salvation by the blood of the Lamb. Enter into the throne room of the Great I Am. Verse 2 Enter into His presence and receive by His grace

10 The privilege to worship Him here in this place. Enter into His presence; let us bow before Him, Give Him glory and honor as we enter in. Enter into the throne room of God by the precious blood of the Lamb Praise Him, praise Him; Sing of His great love as we all enter in Repeat Verse 1 CCLI Song No. 4695200© 1998 Billy Christopher Billy Christopher For use solely with the SongSelect Terms of Use. All rights Reserved. www.ccli.com CCLI License No. 1927162 “Grace Alone” – BOB 77

Verse 1 Ev'ry promise we can make, ev'ry prayer and step of faith, Ev'ry diff'rence we will make is only by His grace Ev'ry mountain we will climb, ev'ry ray of hope we shine, Ev'ry blessing left behind is only by His grace. Chorus Grace alone which God supplies, strength unknown He will provide. Christ in us our cornerstone, we will go forth in grace alone. Verse 2 Ev'ry soul we long to reach, ev'ry heart we hope to teach, Ev'rywhere we share His peace is only by His grace. Ev'ry loving word we say ev'ry tear we wipe away, Ev'ry sorrow turned to praise is only by His grace. Repeat Chorus CCLI Song No. 2335524 © 1998 Maranatha! Music (Admin. by Maranatha! Music) Jeff Nelson | Scott Wesley Brown For use solely with the SongSelect Terms of Use. All rights Reserved. www.ccli.com CCLI License No. 1927162

“God Loved the World So That He Gave” – LSB 571

POST-COMMUNION BLESSING Pastor: The body and blood of the Lord strengthen and preserve you steadfast in the true faith to life everlasting. Depart with joy and with confidence in His peace. People: Amen.

BENEDICAMUS 11 Pastor: Let us bless the Lord People: Thanks be to God!

BENEDICTION Pastor: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. People: Amen. CLOSING HYMN “There Is a Redeemer” – BOB 211 Verse 1 There is a Redeemer, Jesus, God's own Son, Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Holy One.

Chorus Thank You, O my Father, for giving us Your Son; And leaving Your Spirit till the work on earth is done

Verse 2 Jesus, my Redeemer, Name above all names, Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, hope for sinners slain. (Chorus)

Verse 3 When I stand in glory I will see His face, And there I'll serve my King forever, in that holy place. (Chorus) CCLI Song No. 11483© 1982 Birdwing Music | BMG Songs, Inc. | Ears To Hear (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)ü(Admin. by BMG Music Publishing) Melody Green-Sievright For use solely with the SongSelect Terms of Use. All rights Reserved. www.ccli.com CCLI License No. 1927162

POSTLUDE

Evangelism: Winning and keeping souls for Christ! The word evangelism means preaching the Gospel. Evangelism is the way in which the saving words and works of the Lord Jesus 12are shared with people everywhere and it strives to help everyone grow in faith, hope, and love. This process includes evangelizing both those who are already members of the church, as well as reaching out to those who do not yet know the Lord or who no longer practice their faith. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. – Proverbs 11:30

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