4^th Sunday in Lent

March 30, 2025, 9:30 a.m. in the Chapel and on Facebook Live

Classic Communion Service

We honor the Kumeyaay Nation, on whose ancestral lands we have made our home.

Holy Communion will be part of this service. Here at Gethsemane we practice open communion, meaning all who believe in the power of Jesus Christ to bring salvation are welcome to join in. In our Lutheran understanding, both sacraments—Baptism and Holy Communion—are best conducted among the gathered assembly. If you are present on this live-stream, you are present in our assembly. The body of Christ is not limited by place or time, so even if you are on the replay of this service, you are part of our assembly. Any bread and any wine or grape juice will do. If you are celebrating as a family or group, please feel free to break the bread into the right number of portions or have a separate piece for each person. Same with the cup. You may have one cup for all or each member gathered uses a separate cup. We believe the Christ is fully present in both Word and Sacrament, in both the bread and the wine/grape juice so if you only have one or the other, or even if you refrain from communion, you are not missing out on the grace of God. We understand both the Word and Sacraments as the means of grace. Remember it is not the type of bread or wine, nor is it the quantity, but it is your faith in taking the elements that is the window for the Holy Spirit to enter your life.

In the interactive part of the liturgy, the leader’s part is in regular text. The people’s response is in bold. All people are welcome to sing along with the songs where the lyrics are printed.

GATHERING

WELCOME 

“Now We Join in Celebration”               ELW #462 

1    Now we join in celebration

      at our Savior’s invitation,

      dressed no more in spirit somber,

      clothed instead in joy and wonder;

      for the Lord of all existence,

      putting off divine transcendence,

      stoops again in love to meet us,

      with his very life to feed us.

2    Lord, as round this feast we gather,

      fill our hearts with holy rapture!

      For this bread and cup of blessing

      are for us the sure possessing

      of your loving deed on Calv’ry,

      of your living self, our vict’ry,

      pledge of your unfailing presence,

      foretaste here of heav’nly gladness.

3    Lord, we share in this communion

      as one fam’ly of God’s children,

      reconciled through you, our brother,

      one in you with God our Father.

      Give us grace to live for others,

      serving all, both friends and strangers,

      seeking justice, love, and mercy

      till you come in final glory.

 

Text: Joel W. Lundeen

Text © Joel W. Lundeen, admin. Augsburg Fortress.

 

PROMISE OF FORGIVENESS

Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God,

who forgives all our sin,

whose mercy endures forever.

Amen.

Beloved in Christ,

God’s arms are always stretched open wide

to welcome the wandering ones home.

In ☩ Christ our sins are forgiven.

We have a place in God’s house forever.

Let us return to God, confessing where we have fallen short in the assurance of God’s abiding love.

Silence is kept for reflection.

Compassionate One,

you are slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,

but our lives do not always reflect you

and your love for the world.

We do not show others the tender compassion

you have shown to us.

We do not welcome others with the radical hospitality

you grant to all people.

We oppress others,

even though you have set us free again and again.

We squander the abundant gifts of the earth.

Transform our lives

and guide us again in the way of the cross.

Amen.

Now, being freed from that which weighs us down, receive our worship and praise. 

GREETING

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

And also with you.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

God of compassion, you welcome the wayward, and you embrace us all with your mercy. By our baptism wrap us with your grace, and feed us at the table of your love, through Jesus the Christ, our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

 

“Create in Me a Clean Heart”                  ELW #186

      Create in me a clean heart, O God,

      and renew a right spirit within me.

      Cast me not away from your presence,

      and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

      Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

      and uphold me with your free Spirit.

 

WORD

CHILDREN’S MESSAGE

CHOIR ANTHEM                                                                      “My Jesus, I Love Thee”

LUKE 15:1-32

Jesus tells a parable about a son who ponders his father’s love only after he has spurned it. The grace he receives is beyond his hopes. That same grace is a crisis for an older brother who believes it is his obedience that has earned his place in the father’s home.

SERMON                                                                                                       Pastor Karla

 

“Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound”       ELW #779 vss 1, 3, 4

1    Amazing grace! how sweet the sound

      that saved a wretch like me!

      I once was lost, but now am found;

      was blind, but now I see.

3    Through many dangers, toils, and snares

      I have already come;

      ’tis grace has brought me safe thus far,

      and grace will lead me home.

4    The Lord has promised good to me;

      his word my hope secures;

      he will my shield and portion be

      as long as life endures.

Text: John Newton, 1725-1807, alt., sts. 1-4; anonymous, st. 5

 

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Sung Response:      “Lord, Listen To Your Children Praying”                   ELW #752

 

      Lord, listen to your children praying,

      Lord, stir your Spirit in this place;

      Lord, listen to your children praying,

      send us love, send us pow’r, send us grace.

Text: Ken Medema, b. 1943

Text © 1973 Hope Publishing Company, Carol Stream, IL 60188. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

MEAL

OFFERING OUR GIFTS FOR THE MISSION AND MINISTRY OF GOD’S CHURCH

We have prayed. We have sung.  We have heard the Word. Now, being thankful for the ministry we are called to do, we are invited to offer ourselves; our time, talents and treasure in faithful witness of the good things God has done for us and in confidence that our worship extends beyond this place and time. Your financial contributions are gratefully accepted to further the life and ministry of Gethsemane Lutheran. Thank you.

 

EUCHARISTIC PRAYER AND WORDS OF INSTITUTION

LORD’S PRAYER

One: And now, join me in praying as Jesus taught us…

All: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come, your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,

now and forever.

Amen.

DISTRIBUTION

POST COMMUNION BLESSING

SENDING

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

BLESSING

 

“Build a Longer Table”                ACS #1062

1    Build a longer table, not a higher wall,

      feeding those who hunger, making room for all.

      Feasting together, stranger turns to friend,

      Christ breaks walls to pieces; false divisions end.

2    Build a safer refuge, not a larger jail;

      where the weak find shelter, mercy will not fail.

      For any place where justice is denied,

      Christ will breach the jail wall, freeing all inside.

3    Build a broader doorway, not a longer fence.

      Love protects all people, sparing no expense.

      When we embrace compassion more than fear,

      Christ tears down our fences: all are welcome here.

4    When we lived as exiles, refugees abroad,

      Christ became our doorway to the reign of God.

      So must our tables welcome those who roam.

      None can be excluded; all must find a home.

Text: David Bjorlin, b. 1984

Text © 2018 GIA Publications, Inc., giamusic.com. All rights reserved.

 

OUR DECLARATION OF MISSION

You are the body of Christ.

We are the body of Christ in the world!

So go in peace

To explore the faith

Live in peace

To express our faith to others

Share the peace

By inviting others to join us on this journey.

WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST IN THE WORLD, SO LET’S GO IN PEACE

AND CARE FOR OTHERS AS GOD CARES FOR US.

THANKS BE TO GOD. 

 

The Promise of Forgiveness, Reading synopsis, Prayer of the Day, and cover art from Sundays and Seasons. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Please visit our Web site at www.augsburgfortress.org. All music is used with permission under CCLI #3225965.

Joshua 5:9-12

By celebrating the Passover and eating the produce of the promised land instead of the miraculous manna that had sustained them in the desert, the Israelites symbolically bring their forty years of wilderness wandering to an end at Gilgal.

Psalm 32

Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord. (Ps. 32:11)

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

One way to describe the gospel is the promise that in Christ everything is transformed into newness. All mistakes, all deliberate sins, all old history is reconciled with Christ’s resurrection. This is Paul’s strong message to the congregation in the city of Corinth.