Lenten Midweek 3 3/6/24
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34)
LENTEN MIDWEEK SERVICE
MARCH 6, 2024
IN THE NAME OF JESUS, WELCOME TO ST. PAUL’S!
VESPERS
7:00 p.m.
✠ ✠ ✠
PRELUDE
ENTRANCE VERSE (Stand) LSB 229
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare Your praise.
Make haste, O God, to deliver me;
make haste to help me, O Lord.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Praise to You, O Christ, Lamb of our salvation.
LENTEN HYMN Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted LSB 451
1 Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,
See Him dying on the tree!
’Tis the Christ, by man rejected;
Yes, my soul, ’tis He, ’tis He!
’Tis the long-expected Prophet,
David’s Son, yet David’s Lord;
Proofs I see sufficient of it:
’Tis the true and faithful Word.
2 Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning,
Was there ever grief like His?
Friends through fear His cause disowning,
Foes insulting His distress;
Many hands were raised to wound Him,
None would intervene to save;
But the deepest stroke that pierced Him
Was the stroke that justice gave.
3 Ye who think of sin but lightly
Nor suppose the evil great
Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed,
See who bears the awful load;
’Tis the Word, the Lord’s anointed,
Son of Man and Son of God.
4 Here we have a firm foundation,
Here the refuge of the lost:
Christ, the Rock of our salvation,
Is the name of which we boast;
Lamb of God, for sinners wounded,
Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded
Who on Him their hope have built.
FIRST READING (Be seated) Isaiah 59:1–2, 12–17
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
For our transgressions are multiplied before you,
and our sins testify against us;
for our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:
transgressing, and denying the Lord,
and turning back from following our God,
speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.
Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands afar off;
for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
and uprightness cannot enter.
Truth is lacking,
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
The Lord saw it, and it displeased him
that there was no justice.
He saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no one to intercede;
then his own arm brought him salvation,
and his righteousness upheld him.
He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and a helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
PSALM 130
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness, therefore you may be feared.
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope;
My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.
And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen.
RESPONSORY (Stand) LSB 231
Deliver me, O Lord, my God, for You are the God of my salvation.
Rescue me from my enemies, protect me from those who rise against me.
In You, O Lord, do I put my trust, leave me not, O Lord, my God.
Rescue me from my enemies, protect me from those who rise against me.
Deliver me, O Lord, my God, for You are the God of my salvation.
Rescue me from my enemies, protect me from those who rise against me.
GOSPEL READING Matthew 27:45–49
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.”
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
SERMON (Be seated)
HYMN (Stand) Jesus, In Your Dying Woes Sts. 10-12 LSB 447
10 Fourth Word: Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34
Jesus, whelmed in fears unknown,
With our evil left alone,
While no light from heav’n is shown:
Hear us, holy Jesus.
11 When we seem in vain to pray
And our hope seems far away,
In the darkness be our stay:
Hear us, holy Jesus.
12 Though no Father seem to hear,
Though no light our spirits cheer,
May we know that God is near:
Hear us, holy Jesus.
OFFERING (Be seated)
Offerings support the church’s mission work – both here and through our many partners. Offerings may be placed in the box at the sanctuary entrance or sent to the church through our website or the mail. Fellowship Cards help us welcome new people and track participation. Please fill one out and place it in the offering box following the service.
VESPER PRAYERS (Kneel) LSB 233-234
KYRIE LSB 233
Lord, have mercy;
Christ, have mercy;
Lord, have mercy.
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.
COLLECT
O Lord, hear my prayer.
And let my cry come to You.
O Lord God, You led Your ancient people through the wilderness and brought them to the promised land. Guide the people of Your Church that following our Savior we may walk through the wilderness of this world toward the glory of the world to come; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
COLLECT FOR PEACE
O God, from whom come all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works, give to us, Your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be set to obey Your commandments and also that we, being defended from the fear of our enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
BENEDICAMUS LSB 234
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
BENEDICTION LSB 234
The grace of our Lord ✠ Jesus Christ and the love of God
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Amen.
SENDING HYMN Before the Ending of the Day LSB 889
1 Before the ending of the day,
Creator of the world, we pray!
Thy grace and peace to us allow
And be our guard and keeper now.
2 From all the terrors of the night,
From evil dreams defend our sight;
Drive far away our wicked foe
That stain of sin we may not know.
3 O Father, this we ask be done
Through Jesus Christ, Thine only Son,
Who with the Holy Ghost and Thee
Both lives and reigns eternally.
Amen.
POSTLUDE
THOSE SERVING:
Greeter: Bob Juenger
Reader: Melissa Hecht
Acknowledgments
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2024 Concordia Publishing House.
451 Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted Text: Thomas Kelly, 1769–1855, alt.
Tune: Geistliche Volkslieder, 1850, Paderborn Text and tune: Public domain
447 Jesus, in Your Dying Woes Text: Thomas B. Pollock, 1836–96, alt. Tune: Bernhard Schumacher, 1886–1978 Text: Public domain Tune: © 1941 Concordia Publishing House. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License no. 110005326
889 Before the Ending of the Day Text: Latin, c. 5th–10th cent.; tr. John Mason Neale, 1818–66, alt. Tune: Benedictine plainsong, mode VI Text and tune: Public domain
