SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT March 16, 2025
Immanuel Ev. Lutheran Church
Wisconsin Synod
Pastor Rev. Christopher Oehlke Pastor’s Phone: 1-262-909-7827
Organist Karen Davis, Mindy Kane, Church Telephone 763-682-4573
Lorraine Roush Email pastor@myimmanuel.org
WELCOME, VISITORS: We are glad you could be with us and we welcome you back any time. Please sign our “Welcome” card found in the pew holders or sign the guest book in the narthex/entry.
Before Communion
Lord, I am not worthy to be a guest at your holy table. But you are the friend of sinners, and you will not cast me out. This bread is your body, which bore my sins upon the tree. This wine is your blood, which purifies me from all guilt. At your invitation, I come rejoicing. Receive me, my Savior. Amen.
THE COMMON SERVICE
Beginning on Page 15 in the Hymnal.
HYMN (#416) “How Firm a Foundation”
M: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: (Sung) Amen.
CONFESSION OF SINS
M: Beloved in the Lord: let us draw near with a true heart and confess our sins to God our Father, asking him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness.
C: Holy and merciful Father, I confess that I am by nature sinful and that I have disobeyed you in my thoughts, words,
and actions. I have done what is evil and failed to do what is
good. For this I deserve your punishment both now and in eternity. But I am truly sorry for my sins, and trusting in my Savior Jesus Christ, I pray: Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.
LORD, HAVE MERCY
C: (Sung) Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
M: God, our heavenly Father, has been merciful to us and has given his only Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Therefore, as a called servant of Christ and by his authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: (Sung) Amen.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
M: The Lord be with you.
C: (Sung) And also with you.
M: Let us pray: Almighty God, you see that we have no power to defend ourselves. Guard and keep us both outwardly and inwardly from all adversities that may happen to the body and all evil thoughts that may assault and hurt the soul; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: (Sung) Amen.
THE WORD
FIRST LESSON Jeremiah 26:8-15
8 But as soon as Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the Lord had commanded him to say, the priests, the prophets and all the people seized him and said, “You must die! 9 Why do you prophesy in the Lord’s name that this house will be like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted?” And all the people crowded around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord. 10 When the officials of Judah heard about these things, they went up from the royal palace to the house of the Lord and took their places at the entrance of the New Gate of the Lord’s house. 11 Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and all the people, “This man should be sentenced to death because he has prophesied against this city. You have heard it with your own ears!” 12 Then Jeremiah said to all the officials and all the people: “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the things you have heard. 13 Now reform your ways and your actions and obey the Lord your God. Then he Lord will relent and not bring the disaster he has pronounced against you. 14 As for me, I am in your hands; do with me whatever you think is good and right. 15 Be assured, however, that if you put me to death, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on those who live in it, for in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.” (NIV)
M: The Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
PSALM OF THE DAY (Sung) Psalm 42 (page 82)
SECOND LESSON Philippians 3:17-4:1
17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. 4 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends! (NIV)
M: The Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
VERSE OF THE DAY
M: Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:8)
GOSPEL Luke 13:31-35
After the announcement of the Gospel, the congregation sings:
C: (Sung) Glory be to you, O Lord!
31 At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”
32 He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ 33 In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!
34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 35 Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” (NIV)
M: The Gospel of the Lord.
C: (Sung) Praise be to you, O Christ!
NICENE CREED
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and became fully human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate.
He suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who in unity with the Father and the Son
is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
HYMN OF THE DAY (#434) “Lord, You I Love with All My Heart”
SERMON TEXT Philippians 3:17-4:1
SERMON THEME “Look out! Look up! Look forward!”
After the sermon, the congregation stands and sings:
C: (Sung) 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 unto me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with your free Spirit. Amen.
OFFERING – Please leave offering in the plate as you depart.
PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH
M: Heavenly Father, you loved the world and gave your Son to
liberate us from sin and death by his obedient death on the cross.
C: We confess that without your love we are lost.
M: Lord of the Church, we thank you for the treasure of the gospel. By your Spirit, keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
C: Strengthen our determination to do what pleases you, no
matter what the danger or the cost.
M: Let us pray for those who carry a cross in the name of Christ and face ridicule and persecution for the sake of the kingdom: missionaries and chaplains, young people who stand up for what is right in the face of pressure to do what is wrong, and all who pay a high price for their faith and their values as Christians.
C: By your Spirit, O Lord, grant them patience and endurance.
M: Let us pray for those who carry heavy burdens in life: the sick and the chronically ill, the depressed and the lonely, those torn by conflict in personal relationships, those victimized by war and injustice, and all who face the terrors of life with a heavy heart.
C: Grant them peace, O Lord, and in your mercy, be their guardian and friend, their comfort and hope.
M: Let us pray for those who care for others: pastors and counselors; physicians and nurses; social workers and caring friends; all who feed the hungry, comfort the hurting, and stand beside the dying.
C: Strengthen them in their work, O Lord, and do not let them become weary in doing good.
Special prayers and intercessions may follow.
M: Hear us, Lord, as we bring you our private petitions.
Silent prayer.
M: Help us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Keep us faithful even to the point of death, that we may receive the crown of life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
C: Amen.
LORD’S PRAYER
C: 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.
THE SACRAMENT
PREFACE
M: The Lord be with you.
C: (Sung) And also with you.
M: Lift up your hearts.
C: (Sung) We lift them up unto the Lord.
M: Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God.
C: (Sung) It is good and right so to do.
M: It is truly good and right that we should at all times and in all places give you thanks, O Lord, holy Father, almighty and everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who brought the gift of salvation to all people by his death on the tree of the cross, so that the devil, who overcame us by a tree would in turn by a tree be overcome. Therefore, with all the saints on earth and hosts of heaven, we praise your holy name and join their glorious song:
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY
C: (Sung) Holy, holy, holy Lord God of heavenly hosts:
heav’n and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he, blessed is he, blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest.
WORDS OF INSTITUTION
M: Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night he was betrayed, took bread; and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his
disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant,
which is poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
M: The peace of the Lord be with you always.
C: (Sung) Amen
O CHRIST, LAMB OF GOD
C: (Sung) O Christ, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world;
have mercy on us.
O Christ, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world;
have mercy on us.
O Christ, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world;
grant us your peace. Amen.
DISTRIBUTION
DISTRIBUTION HYMNS (#417) “I’m But a Stranger Here” (#771S) “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light”
THANKSGIVING
SONG OF SIMEON
C: (Sung) Lord, now you let your servant depart in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.
M: O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
C: (Sung) And his mercy endures forever.
M: We give thanks, almighty God, that you have refreshed us with this holy supper. We pray that through it you will strengthen our faith in you and increase our love for one another. We ask this in
the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: (Sung) Amen.
M: The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.
The Lord look on you with favor and (+) give you peace.
C: (Sung) Amen. Amen. Amen.
HYMN (#462) “Oh, that the Lord Would Guide My Ways”
Prayer after Communion
O blessed Savior Jesus Christ, who has given yourself to me in this holy sacrament, keep me in your faith and favor. As you live in me, may I also live in you. May your body and blood preserve me in the true faith to everlasting life. Amen.
SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT March 16, 2025
THE SCHEDULE
Tues., March 18 2 p.m., Tuesday Bible Class
7 p.m., Church Council Meeting
Wed., March 19 5-6:30 p.m., Soup Supper
7 p.m., Lenten Service
Thurs., March 20 6:30 p.m., Catechism Class
Fri., March 21 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Red Cross Bloodmobile
Next Sunday, March 23, Greeters: Gutknecht Family
OUR FATHER’S BUSINESS
THANK YOU to Pastor Bruce Janisch for sharing God’s Word with us this morning and conducting our service. Pastor Oehlke is leading worship at Mt. Olive, Delano.
LENTEN SERVICE: The theme for this year is “Kyrie Eleison,” drawn from the Penitential Psalms. On Wednesday Pastor Josh Mayer will preach on Psalm 32, “We Repent—Because God Hides Us.”
The Benzers and Bakkes are again hosting the Soup Suppers from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Consider lending a helping hand with the weekly
clean-up.
BLOODMOBILE: Our first Red Cross Bloodmobile will be this Friday, March 21. Please talk to Julie Durr if you volunteered as a helper. The date appears on the Red Cross website so you can register at redcrossblood.org and enter Immanuel Lutheran Church Buffalo to schedule an appointment. (Walk-ins welcome as time/space allows.)
EASTER GARDEN: We will again offer an opportunity to help decorate the church for Easter. If you would like to purchase a plant (or two), there are pink sign-up sheets on the counter in the narthex. For $10 each, a plant will be place “In Memory/Honor of” on a bulletin insert (and then after Easter, the plant will be yours to take). While we can’t be specific, there will be a variety of Easter Lily, Asiatic Lily, hyacinth, daffodil and tulip plants. Deadline to order will be March 30.
WEST SACRED CONCERT: West Lutheran High School is inviting us to their 2025 Sacred Concert, “Rest in the Risen Lord,” featuring Lent and Easter music. It will be performed at 2 p.m. this afternoon at the school in Plymouth, 3350 Harbor Lane N.
THRIVENT CHOICE DOLLARS: The Thrivent Choice program provides Thrivent members an opportunity to support charitable activities such as Immanuel. Choice Dollars must be directed by March 31. If you have any questions, contact your Thrivent representative or Julie Gutknecht. According to the 2024 financial report, we received $1,350 last year.
LWMS BUS TRIP TO TULSA: The Minnesota Valley LWMS circuit is hosting a bus trip to the Tulsa OK convention in June.
The 5-day trip leaves Minnesota on June 25, returning after the 2025 convention on June 30. See the west bulletin board for details and registration information.
MEDITATIONS entitled “Point Me Heavenward” have arrived with daily devotions for March 2 through May 31. Large print editions are also available. Feel free to take additional copies of either version to share.
ATTENDANCE AT THE LORD’S HOUSE:
Sunday, March 9 68
Wednesday, March 12 44
FOR THE LORD’S WORK: March 9: General Fund-$3,220.60; West-$10; Salem-$12; Fishers-$10. Missions: March 5-$330; March 9-$280; March 12-$490 (YTD-$3,860).
