2 Lent '24

GATHERING SONGS “As the Deer”

CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS

Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.

Silence is kept for reflection.

Merciful Father,

we have sinned against heaven and before you.

We do not fully live as your sons and daughters.

We use your gifts to our own ends.

Forgive us and restore us,

that we may resist all that draws us away from you,

and be at peace with one another. Amen.

We are reconciled to God through Christ;

for his sake, God does not count our trespasses against us.

Once dead in sin, we are now alive to God.

Once lost, we now are found.

God clothes you in the finest robe of all,

the righteousness of ☩ Jesus Christ,

forgiving you all your sins

and making of you a new creation.

Amen.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

O God, by the passion of your blessed Son

you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life.

Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ that we may gladly suffer shame and loss

for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

THE FIRST LESSON: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.” Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.”

God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”

Word of God, word of life. Thanks be to God.

PSALM 22:23-31

You who fear the Lord, give praise! All you of Jacob’s line, give glory.

Stand in awe of the Lord, all you offspring of Israel.

For the Lord does not despise nor abhor the poor in their poverty;

neither is the Lord’s face hidden from them;

but when they cry out, the Lord hears them.

From you comes my praise in the great assembly;

I will perform my vows in the sight of those who fear the Lord.

The poor shall eat and be satisfied,

Let those who seek the Lord give praise!

May your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;

all the families of nations shall bow before God.

For dominion belongs to the Lord,

who rules over the nations.

Indeed, all who sleep in the earth shall bow down in worship;

all who go down to the dust, though they be dead, shall kneel before the Lord.

Their descendants shall serve the Lord,

whom they shall proclaim to generations to come.

They shall proclaim God’s deliverance to a people yet unborn,

saying to them, “The Lord has acted!”

THE SECOND LESSON: Romans 4:13-25

The promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.

For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”)—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.

Word of God, word of life. Thanks be to God.

THE GOSPEL FOR THE DAY: Mark 8:31-38

[Jesus] began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.

SERMON “Mindset” Pastor Phil Wold

HYMN OF THE DAY “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” #803

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

THE SIGN OF PEACE IS SHARED

The peace of Christ be with you always. And also with you.

THE OFFERING AND OFFERING PRAYER

Let us pray. Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things. Through your goodness you have blessed us with these gifts: our selves, our time, and our possessions. Use us, and what we have gathered, in feeding the world with your love, through the one who gave himself for us, Jesus Christ, our Savior and 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, forever and ever. Amen

BLESSING

SENDING SONG “We Praise You, O God” #870

SENDING

Go in peace. Share the good news. Thanks be to God.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.