FAITH LUTHERAN CHURCH (Missouri Synod) Gradual: (Psalm 77.14, 15; Psalm. 100. 1,2a, 4a, 3) Pastor Gerhard Grabenhofer Organist: Marianne Grabenhofer P: You are the God who does wonders; 71 W. First St. Corning, NY Phone: 962-4970 C: You have declared Your strength among the peoples. [email protected] www.faithlutherancorning.org P: With Your arm You have redeemed Your people, Quinquagesima [50 Days until ]—07 February 2016 C: the sons of Jacob and Joseph. “For the Lord God will help Me; therefore I will not be disgraced; therefore P: Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! I have set My face like a flint, and I know I will not be ashamed.” Isaiah 50.7 C: Serve the Lord with gladness; ORDER OF SERVICE—Order of Holy Communion—hymnal pg. 15 P: Enter into His gates with thanksgiving. C: Know that the Lord, He is God; THE PREPARATION P: It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; Pre-service prayers (hymnal pg. 4; 102-109; 118; 170) C: We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Hymn #652 I Lay My Sins on Triple Hallelujah [Omitted until Easter] At the final stanza, the congregation turns facing the processional cross Invocation hymnal pg. 15 Gospel: Luke 18. 31-43 pg. 21 Confession/ Absolution pg. 15-16 31 And taking the twelve, Jesus said to them, “See, we are going up to THE SERVICE OF THE WORD Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the : (Psalm 31.2b, 3, 1) prophets will be accomplished. 32 For he will be delivered over to the P: Be my Rock of refuge, C: a fortress of defense to save me. Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. 33 And P: For You are my rock and my fortress; after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” 34 But C: Therefore, for Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me. they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, P: In You, O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be ashamed. and they did not grasp what was said. C: Deliver me in Your righteousness. 35 As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside Gloria Patri [Glory to the Father] pg. 16 begging. 36 And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 And he cried out, Kyrie [Lord] pg. 17 “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 And those who were in front Gloria in Excelsis [Glory in the highest] [Omitted until Easter] rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 And Jesus stopped and commanded him to Salutation/ Collect pg. 19 be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, 41 “What do you P: O Lord, we implore You, mercifully hear our prayers, and, having set us want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” 42 And free from the bonds of sin, defend us from all evil; through Jesus Christ, Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” Your Son, our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, ever 43 And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. one God, world without end. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

Old Testament Isaiah 42. 5-7 Nicene Creed pg. 22 5 Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to Hymn #59 Hail To The Lord’s Anointed 6 the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: “I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will Sermon: Isaiah 42. 5-7 7 give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the Jesus’ Journey To The Cross eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the 1. Its difficulty prison those who sit in darkness.” 2. Its blessing for us [Silence for meditation following sermon] Offertory pg. 22 promises, and bring healing to them as You will and know to be best. Lord, in Offering Your mercy, hear our prayer. STEWARDSHIP NOTE: Luke 18:35 “As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man Remember, Lord, those who come to the holy altar this day to receive the was sitting by the roadside begging.” Who isn’t a beggar? All that we have medicine of immortality in the Holy Eucharist. Fill all who partake of Your Son’s is a gift of God. We are all beggars before Him. Knowing this can leave us very body and blood with His life and love, that they may depart in His peace, with nothing but thankfulness in our hearts. This thankful acknowledgment which surpasses all understanding. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer. Remember, Lord, Your promise to fill the wedding banquet of Your Son and His of all the Lord's gifts that forms the basis of our generous giving. Bride, the Church, with guests clad in white robes. For those who have gone before us and now rest from their labors, we give You thanks and praise. Bring THE RECEPTION OF NANCY PARRISH INTO MEMBERSHIP us, with them, to the day of our Lord’s glorious return, that we may all receive the eternal inheritance You have prepared for us. Lord, in Your mercy, hear The Prayer of the Church our prayer. Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people Into Your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your according to their needs. mercy, through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord. Amen. Brief silence Remember, Lord, Your promise to be a rock of refuge for Your baptized THE SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT children. Be gracious to us. Create in us humble and contrite hearts, that we Preface pg. 24-25 might always cry out to You for mercy. Fill us with Your love. Grant us renewal Sanctus (Holy) pg. 26 by Your Holy Spirit, that we may always abide in Jesus Christ, our Savior, The Lord’s Prayer and Words of Institution pg. 27 beholding His glory in His Holy Word and Sacraments and being made well by Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) pg. 28 the same. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer. The Distribution of our Lord’s true body and blood for the forgiveness of sin Remember, Lord, Matthew, our Synod president; Chris, our district president; Carl, our circuit visitor; and our pastor. Make Your face shine on them, that, and the strengthening of faith through their faithful service, the eyes of those blind to Your mercies may be opened and see the salvation they have in Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord. REGARDING HOLY COMMUNION: Our attention is now beginning to be Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer. turned toward and the penitential season of . Ashes Remember, Lord, our nation and its leaders. Guide them in the direction You are a sign of repentance and sorrow and also a reminder of our human would have them go, that peace and prosperity, truth and justice, religion and mortality. As the upcoming season of Lent reminds us of our sin, it is with piety may dwell in our land. Remember also those who serve in our armed repentant joy that we are also reminded of our forgiveness through Jesus’ forces, that they would serve with integrity and honor. Lord, in Your mercy, sacrifice on the cross. Intending to amend our sinful lives, we receive with hear our prayer. thankfulness the forgiveness Jesus has promised to give us in His Holy Remember, Lord, the widows and the orphans, the lonely and downtrodden, Supper. As this Sacrament also expresses oneness in doctrine, the churches the poor and destitute, and our brothers and sisters in Christ who are shut-in of our Missouri Synod have promised to practice closed communion. and unable to attend Divine Service with us. Be a mighty fortress for them, Therefore we invite to this holy Sacrament members in good standing of surrounding them with Your compassion and care. Fill us with loving and this or another congregation of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. generous hearts to be Your instruments of mercy on their behalf, and send Your pastors to bring Christ to them wherever they are. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer. Nunc Dimittis (Now You dismiss) and Thanksgiving pg. 29 Remember, Lord, those who are sick, hospitalized, in treatment, undergoing Benediction pg. 31 surgery or recovering especially those of our congregation or dear to us. Hymn #410 Jesus, Lead Thou On The congregation faces the processional cross as it leaves Comfort them with Your presence, sustain their faith through Your gracious TELL THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT JESUS ANNOUNCEMENTS: OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 42. 5-7 There are two matters here, ignorance and Today--Voters’ Meeting after service impotence, because apart from Christ there is nothing but darkness and Tuesday—Bible Study 6 pm dungeon. Who can always believe that, when we seem to be seeing and in Wednesday—Ash Wednesday Service 7 PM paradise? Yet here you will see that there is nothing but darkness and Thursday—Bible Study 9.30 am dungeon. Away with free will! It is not enough to shine. One must also see —Holy Communion preceded by Morning Prayer and act. Nor is it enough to burn. Thus here, too, all lights apart from Christ WEDNESDAY EVENING LENT SERVICES BEGIN 17 FEBRUARY AT 7 PM are darkness, as is free will. Afterwards there is also captivity. [Luther] PLEASE PRAY FOR: Virginia Butler, Dan Fraser, Jonna Holden, Shirley Olinger, Tom Pawlak, Walt & Karen Weiner. Since, therefore, we were as though blind before, and when we sat as  though enclosed by the prison house of foolishness in the darkness, not knowing God and his truth, we were enlightened by him who adopted us Welcome to Faith! God’s House is your home. The members of Faith by his gracious treatment (his will in our favor). And when he had freed us Lutheran are glad to have you join us as we gather around the Word and from evils and bonds and brought us into the light of wisdom, he Sacraments of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here is where we find our source of recognized us as theirs of his heavenly kingdom. [Lactantius] forgiveness and life before God. It is our prayer that you also may rejoice in the precious message of the Gospel of our Lord: “But God, Who is rich in EPISTLE: 1 Corinthians 13 Paul’s concept of love is not to be equated with mercy, loved us with such a great love. He made us who were dead in sins the modern sentimental notion of love, which often becomes an excuse for alive with Christ. You have been saved by grace” (Eph. 2. 4, 5). Visitors, various aberrations. The love romanticized and glorified by modern culture please be sure to sign the Guest Book in the entry. Pastor Grabenhofer is self-seeking. It is rooted in the self and its needs and emotions. Even in stands ready to serve you in any way consistent with his office. the church, devilishly subtle arguments sometimes twist the concept of  love in a self-serving way. The condemnation of favorite sins is “unloving,” CHURCH YEAR NOTES: Before the 40 days of Lent, which is a time of self- while a libertine accommodation of sin is “showing Christian love” examination and penitence, is the short, three Sunday season of Pre-Lent (contrast that with 1 Corinthians 5). A resolute insistence on biblical truth is which ends Tuesday. These weeks serve as a countdown to Easter. This is “unloving,” while doctrinal error is tolerated “in the Spirit of Christ’s love.” seen in the names of these Sundays. Today is called Quinquagesima, which The royal road of Christian love, on the other hand, is marked by unselfish is a Latin word telling us there are 50 days until Easter. As we look ahead to service in fidelity to Christ and His Word. [[Lockwood] Easter’s joy we are seeking to strengthen our faith. God’s unconditional love for us in Christ gives us strength to examine ourselves honestly during GOSPEL: Luke 18. 31-43 Since it is Jesus, the all-knowing God, who is Lent. Whatever sins we recognize in ourselves cannot separate us from walking to His death. He had a clear and distinct conception of the main God’s love for us in Christ Jesus. events of His coming passion. That is why His suffering and death has such  great value for us. But the announcement was not understood by His PRAYER: Lord God, heavenly Father, through Your Son, Jesus Christ, You disciples, it remained hidden to them because flesh and blood cannot graciously opened the eyes of the blind (Luke 18.42) to let them see the comprehend the word of the cross. God Himself must reveal it to u. light. We poor sinners beseech You to enlighten our hearts by Your [Stoeckhardt] precious Word so that through Christ, Your Son, who died for us on the As soon as the word sounds: Receive your sight, [the blind man] believes it. cross and paid for our sins, we may learn to know You rightly and, in all Therefore, what he believed now happens to him. That is the first lesson trials and temptations, look only to Your gracious help and mercy, seek which we should learn from this gospel, namely, to believe the Word of them in faithful prayer and in this way find comfort and rescue from the God with complete, trustful heart, without wavering. [Luther] devil, sin and death, and so be saved. Amen.