God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8 (Watchword)
Hymn of the Lutheran Church
- When in the hour of deepest need
We know not where to look for aid;
When days and nights of anxious thought
No help or counsel yet have brought,- Then is our comfort this alone,
That we may meet before Thy throne
And cry, O faithful God, to Thee
For rescue from our misery;- To Thee may raise our hearts and eyes,
Repenting sore with bitter sighs,
And seek Thy pardon for our sin
And respite from our griefs within.- For Thou hast promised graciously
To hear all those who cry to Thee
Through Him whose name alone is great,
Our Savior and our Advocate.- And thus we come, O God, today
And all our woes before Thee lay;
For sorely tried, cast down, we stand,
Perplexed by fears on ev’ry hand.- O from our sins, Lord, turn Thy face;
Absolve us through Thy boundless grace,
Be with us in our anguish still,
Free us at last from ev’ry ill,- That so with all our hearts we may
To Thee our glad thanksgivings pay,
Then walk obedient to Thy Word
And now and ever praise Thee, Lord.
Paul Eber 1511-1569 translated by Catherine Winkworth 1827-1878
M Savigny (1831-1905): Weinberge bei Müllheim im Markgräflerland
God´s Holy Word for this Sunday
The Introit teaches us to pray in a God pleasing way:
O Lord, I come before you in prayer. My God, I trust in you.
Psalm 25: 1-11
Please do not let me be humiliated; do not let my enemies triumphantly rejoice over me.
Certainly none who rely on you will be humiliated.
Those who deal in treachery will be thwarted and humiliated.
Make me understand your ways, O Lord. Teach me your paths.
Guide me into your truth and teach me. For you are the God who delivers me;on you I rely all day long. Remember your compassionate and faithful deeds, O Lord, for you have always acted in this manner.
Do not hold against me the sins of my youth or my rebellious acts.
Because you are faithful to me, extend to me your favor, O Lord.
The Lord is both kind and fair; that is why he teaches sinners the right way to live.
May he show the humble what is right. May he teach the humble his way.
The Lord always proves faithful and reliable to those who follow the demands of his covenant. For the sake of your reputation, O Lord, forgive my sin, because it is great.
Inspired the holy prophet Isaiah proclaims in God´s name:
I will sing to my love— a song to my lover about his vineyard. My love had a vineyard on a fertile hill. He built a hedge around it, removed its stones, and planted a vine. He built a tower in the middle of it and constructed a winepress. He waited for it to produce edible grapes, but it produced sour ones instead.
So now, residents of Jerusalem, people of Judah, you decide between me and my vineyard! What more can I do for my vineyard beyond what I have already done? When I waited for it to produce edible grapes, why did it produce sour ones instead?
Now I will inform you what I am about to do to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge and turn it into pasture, I will break its wall and allow animals to graze there. I will make it a wasteland; no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, and thorns and briers will grow there. I will order the clouds not to drop any rain on it. Indeed, Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the people of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight. He waited for justice but look what he got – disobedience! He waited for fairness but look what he got – cries for help!
Isaiah 5: 1-7
The holy apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ – St. Paul – writes to the Romans
Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have also obtained access into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory. Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous by his blood we will be saved through him from God’s wrath. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life? Not only this, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.
Romans 5: 1-11
Our holy Lord and Savior Jesus Christ says:
Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. Now this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God.
John 3:14-21
And again he spoke to them in parables (Sermon text)
A man planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went on a journey. At harvest time he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his portion of the crop. But those tenants seized his slave, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. So he sent another slave to them again. This one they struck on the head and treated outrageously. He sent another, and that one they killed. This happened to many others, some of whom were beaten, others killed. He had one left, his one dear son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and the inheritance will be ours!’ So they seized him, killed him, and threw his body out of the vineyard.
What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
Now they wanted to arrest him (but they feared the crowd), because they realized that he told this parable against them. So they left him and went away.
Mark 12:1-12
Sermon outline
- God demonstrates his love towards us: Love unheard!
- Sending his apostles, prophets and Son (Isaiah 5 and Mk.12)
- Our rejection and rebellion +
- He suffers and dies for us – satisfactorily – whilst we were still enemies – and becomes the cornerstone + John 3:14-21: Altar in St. Marys – just like the serpent in the desert was lifted up.
Prayer of the Church—Responsive Form (Reminiscere: 5.March 2023)
Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.
Lord God, You sent Your Son first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel before spreading the cover of Your wings over all nations. Move to jealousy those of Your ancient people who refuse the witness of the Messiah, and lead them by Your Spirit to receive Him in faith. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Lord God, You have knit Jew and Gentile — and all the nations of the world — into Your one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. Lead us ever more deeply into the unity You desire for Your people, that we may bear one another’s burdens in prayer and in works of mercy. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Lord God, Your people of old honored the affliction of Jacob by abstaining from the sinew of the thigh. Help us to honor our fathers in the faith who have suffered for the sake of Your precious Gospel, and set our hearts to follow their faithful and bold example. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Lord God, Your servant Jacob sent his family ahead that he might wrestle with You in prayer. Strengthen the hearts of fathers in our church, that they likewise would provide for their families and strive with You in prayer until they receive Your blessing. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Lord God, You watch over the ways of Your people and call us to please You. Lead us to control our bodies and to flee all immorality, that we might show a godly witness in this world and adorn Your Gospel with a holy life. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Lord God, help us earnestly to seek Your blessing, though it comes together with affliction. Give us eyes to see through these trials, which come from Your hand, to the endurance, character and hope they produce in Your children. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Lord God, You hear the cries of the severely oppressed and bless them with healing in Your appointed season. Comfort those who wait on You especially June, Lutz, Vadym, Kyril, Matt, Christoph, Friederike & Olly, Detlev & Biljana]. Increase their faith, and bring them through their trials. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Lord God, though it is not right to give the children’s bread to dogs or to cast pearls before swine, even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table. Receive us in Your mercy and enable all who commune to make the good confession, both of our sin and of You, our only Savior, that we may receive Your true body and blood and be forgiven. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
All these things and whatever else You know that we need, grant us, Father, for the sake of Him who died and rose again and now lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God forever. Amen.
The peace of the Lord be with You + Pax vobiscum +
The Lord bless Thee, and keep Thee:
The Lord make his face shine upon Thee, and be gracious unto Thee:
The Lord lift up his countenance upon Thee and give Thee peace.
Numbers 6,24-26 (4th Book of Moses)
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