FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT April 6, 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.
Prayer before Communion
Most gracious Lord, you bid me to approach your altar in confidence and hope. O sweet and friendly word in a sinner’s ear, that you, Lord God, invite the needy and the poor to the communion of your body and blood! You, the Lord of the Universe, have willed to come to me, a poor and lowly sinner, to live in me. Grant me grace at all times and in all places to give you hearty thanks for this marvelous gift. Amen
THE COMMON SERVICE
Beginning on Page 15 in the Hymnal.
HYMN (#528) “Christ Is Our Cornerstone”
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, by your great goodness, mercifully look upon your people that we may be governed and preserved evermore in body and 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 Isaiah 43:16-21
16 This is what the Lord says, who makes a road through the sea and a path through mighty waters, 17 who brings out the chariot and the horses, the army and the strong warrior. They will all lie down together. They will not get up. They are extinguished. Like a wick they go out. 18 Do not remember the former things. Do not keep thinking about ancient things. 19 Watch, I am about to do a new thing. Now it will spring up. Don’t you know about it? Indeed I will make a road in the wilderness. In the wasteland I will make rivers. 20 The wild animals, the jackals and ostriches, will honor me, because I am providing water in the wilderness, rivers in a parched wasteland, water for my chosen people to drink. 21 This people that I formed for myself will declare my praise. (EHV)
M: The Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
PSALM OF THE DAY (Sung) Psalm 73 (page 94)
SECOND LESSON Philippians 3:4b-14
4 even though I have grounds for confidence also in the flesh. If anyone else thinks that he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 in regard to zeal, persecuting the church; in regard to the righteousness that is in the law, blameless. 7 But, whatever things were a profit for me, these things I have come to consider a loss because of Christ. 8 But even more than that, I consider everything to be a loss because of what is worth far more: knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I have lost all things and consider them rubbish, so that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, which comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God by faith. 10 I do this so that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, 11 in the hope that in some way I may arrive at the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus also took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it yet, but there is one thing I do: Forgetting the things that are behind and straining toward the things that are ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal, for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (EHV)
M: The Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
VERSE OF THE DAY
M: The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. (Psalm 118:22)
GOSPEL Luke 20:9-19
After the announcement of the Gospel, the congregation sings:
C: (Sung) Glory be to you, O Lord!
9 He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to some tenant farmers, and went away on a journey for a long time. 10 When it was the right time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenant farmers beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed. 11 The man went ahead and sent yet another servant, but they also beat him, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 He then sent yet a third. They also wounded him and threw him out. 13 The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my son, whom I love. Perhaps they will respect him.’ 14 “But when the tenant farmers saw him, they talked it over with one another. They said, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him, so that the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 They threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. So what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy those tenant farmers and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “May it never be!” 17 But he looked at them and said, “Then what about this that is written: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone? 18 “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush the one on whom it falls.” 19 That very hour the chief priests and the experts in the law began looking for a way to lay hands on him, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people. (EHV)
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 (#382) “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less”
SERMON TEXT Luke 20:9-19
SERMON THEME “Christ our Cornerstone!”
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
Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.
O Lord, Your Son spoke the truth before His enemies even as they sought to trap Him in His words and deliver Him up to death. Rescue Your people from fear, and grant them courage to confess the truth, assuring them of deliverance in time of trouble. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, You gave Your Son to be rejected by sinners, that we may be welcomed into Your kingdom. Preserve Your Church in this life won by Christ, crucified and risen. Give faithfulness to the preaching of Your Word and the administration of Your Sacraments, and let Your people receive these gifts with penitence and faith. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, show Your compassion to all who suffer in our midst. Remind them continually of Your benefits, forgive all their iniquities, heal all their diseases and crown them with steadfast love. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, St. Paul counted all things as rubbish in order that he might gain Christ. Give us repentant hearts, that we would abandon all confidence in our flesh and so receive Your Son’s body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, help us to count all things as loss except Jesus and Him crucified. Draw us to Him through Word and Sacrament, that rejoicing in the righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus, we may forget what lies behind us and press on toward the goal. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, in Baptism You have shared Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection with us, that we might be raised from the dead. Preserve us from taking His sacrifice for granted. Encourage us to forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead, until we attain the resurrection from the dead; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. 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 (#392) “Not Unto Us” (#125) “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”
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 (#752S) “In Christ Alone”
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.
Personal Devotions?
Consider using the prayers and readings from each Sunday’s worship bulletin during your daily personal/family devotions—
–“Prayer of the Day”
–“Prayer of the Church”
–Re-read God’s Word and reflect upon it and how it applies to you.
–Review the sermon theme and text and its applications for you.
FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT April 6, 2025
THE SCHEDULE
Sun., April 6 2 p.m., Fishers making Tray Favors
Tues., April 8 6:30 p.m., Ladies Fellowship
Wed., April 9 5-6:30 p.m., Soup Supper
7 p.m., Lenten Service
Thurs., April 10 6:30 p.m., Catechism Class
Fri., April 11 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Immanuel Volunteer Day at Wise Penny—work as much as you’d like
Next Sunday, April 13, Greeters: Paul Johnson
OUR FATHER’S BUSINESS
LENTEN SERVICE: The theme for this year is “Kyrie Eleison,” drawn from the Penitential Psalms. On Wednesday Pastor Aaron Jensen will preach on Psalm 143, “We Repent—Remembering God’s Past Works.” 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.
FISHERS PROJECT: Fishers will meet at 2 p.m. on Sun,, April 6, to assemble tray favors for our Palm Sunday Breakfast.
HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE:
~April 13-Palm Sunday Worship-9:30 a.m. followed by breakfast
~April 17-Maundy Thursday Worship, 7 p.m.
~April 18-Good Friday Tenebrae Service, 7 p.m.
~April 20-Sunday Easter Service, 9:30 a.m.
HOLY WEEK HANDOUTS: “Passion History” and “Chronology of Easter” handouts are available on the table in the narthex.
LWMS-HANNAH CIRCUIT: Mark your calendar. The Spring Hannah Circuit rally will be on April 27 at Mt. Olive in Delano. There will be a plate offering to help support this program on the table in the narthex.
PASSOVER EVENT–An opportunity to enjoy an interactive, educational, and Christ-centered experience of the Passover. The program begins at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 13th at Redeeming Grace Lutheran Church in Rogers. Please RSVP with Pastor Oehlke or go to rglc.org no later than Sunday April 6th.
ATTENDANCE AT THE LORD’S HOUSE:
Sunday, March 30 74
Wednesday, April 2 27
FOR THE LORD’S WORK: March 30: General Fund-$1,652; Fishers-$15. Missions-$305 (YTD-$4,630).
Growing in Grace
To help apply the sermon text for today, ask yourself these questions:
~ What is the main thing that God teaches me in this passage?
~ What sin does God lead me to confess?
~ For what does God prompt me to give thanks?
~ What action does God want me to take?
