Evangelical Lutheran Church in Worthington, PA

04/07/2023

Welcome

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We are The Church on the Hill. W. Main St, Worthington. Join us at 11 am Sundays.

12/22/2021

Come visit us on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve (Friday) service @ 5pm.
Christmas Day (Saturday) No service
Sunday (day after Christmas) -Normal service.

"I bring you good news of great joy to all people." Luke 2:10

04/02/2021

April 2, 2021 Good Friday
ELWorship, pp. 262-265
"The Seven Last Words
of Jesus on the Cross"
PRAYER OF THE DAY: Merciful God, your Son was lifted up on the cross to draw all people to himself. Grant that we who have been born out of his wounded side may at all times find mercy in him, Jesus Christ, our savior and Lord, who live and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

READINGS:

Isaiah 52:13 -- 53:12 -- He Was Pierced for Our Transgressions --
13. Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. 14. As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—15. so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. 53 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2. For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9. And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 10. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 11. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see[k] and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

The Seven Last Words of Jesus
as He Hung Dying on the Cross

At our last Bible Study discussion, we decided to use the Seven Last Words as the scripture for our discussion, and we present our discussion for your Good Friday meditation from Noon to 3 p.m. as Jesus hung on the Cross and died for us. Depending on how long you choose to prayerfully meditate upon each of these seven word groups, our Good Friday Service may take anywhere from 30 minutes to three hours to complete.
The last words of anyone are to be taken with respect and sacredness. But when Jesus speaks His final words from the Cross, they take on a special significance. He has taught us not only how to live, but today, on Good Friday, how to die.
Dalton Good and our Music Director, Dr. James Hooks, have listed a few questions to facilitate discussion, but other comments from our Bible Study group are included also in this summary and response from Pastor Will:

1. Father, Forgive Them. (Luke 23 : 34)

A. What term do you usually use to address God?

When the Disciples asked Jesus how to pray, He started out by saying: "Our Father in Heaven...." Not all of us had very good fathers here on Earth, but our Father in Heaven created us out of nothing but selfless love, gave His only begotten Son Jesus to Redeem us and the Holy Spirit to sanctify us. Perhaps the best depiction of Our Father in all of Holy Scripture is that of the amazing and loving and forgiving Father in the parable of The Prodigal Son. That's good enough for us, but Jesus went even further by addressing Our Father in Heaven with the most loving and intimate name found in all of Hebrew Scriptures, "Abba," which translates roughly as "Daddy."

Meditation: How does that term help you to better understand the relationship between you and God?

B. Who was the most responsible for killing Jesus?

This is a tough one, because the Irish families I married into would say "Italians," because it was really a Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, who condemned Jesus to death by turning the Savior of the World over to an "angry mob." But the ones most responsible for killing Jesus are so-called "Christians" like you and me, because on the feast of Epiphany 2021, the true colors of the white supremacists who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6th were fully revealed as a racist and Nazi-like "angry mob," intent upon the desecration and destruction of the Temple of Democracy and the murders of Capitol police (one of whom died in the Assault, many who were brutally injured, some of whom quit the force and two who subsequently committed su***de), as well as their intent to murder such mild-mannered and decent people as the Speaker of the House and the Vice-President of the United States.

Meditation: Let us go deeply inside ourselves and honestly ask ourselves if we have ever been part of an "angry mob," guilty of the American Original Sin of deep-seated racism.

2. This Day You Will Be with Me in Paradise. (Luke 23 : 43)

A. Why did one of the criminals insult and mock Jesus?

Tradition has it that "Dismas" was the good thief hanging on a cross to the left of Jesus, and "Gestas" was the bad thief who hung on a cross on the other side of Jesus. Gestas was not a believer. He insulted and mocked Our Lord for his own selfish aims, to try to get Jesus to get him off that old rugged cross, if, indeed, He were the Son of God.

Meditation: Why do you and I insult and mock Jesus when things don't go our way? Why do we blame God for our suffering and misfortunes? Rabbi Harold Kushner explains why bad things happen to good people, and how God weeps for us and with us as Nature takes its course, as the rain falls on both the just and the unjust.

B. Did the other thief actually confess his sins?

Not really, but Dismas did believe in Jesus, and for that act of believing, Jesus said Dismas would be with Him TODAY in Paradise.

Meditation: Belief trumps Confession of our sins every time. Sola Fide! Also, we had much discussion about any thief, like Dismas, being "a good thief." Think of Bernie Sanders who wants "income redistribution" or Robin Hood who stole from the rich and gave to the poor.

3. Woman, Behold Your Son. (John 19 : 26-27)

I like this Last Word group best of all. Here's Good Ole Jesus on the Cross, bleeding like a stuck hog, and yet He wants to make sure His mommy is taken care of in her old age. He also wants to make sure John, "the beloved apostle," has a Jewish Mother like He did, so Johnny takes Mary up to safety in Ephesus among nice people who took good care of Theotokos, the Mother of God, while John had to spend time in jail on the Isle of Patmos paying it forward by writing the mystical Gospel of John.

Meditation: Do you love, honor and obey your mother? If not, you might want to reflect on the 4th Commandment in the Decalogue and repent. She who must be obeyed is like a Jewish Mother who always gets her way. Always

A. Of all the disciples, why was John at the cross?

The simple answer is, like any good reporter, get the Good News first hand for Eyewitness News and the Gospel bearing his name, but also because JOHN was "the apostle whom Jesus loved" the most of all, according to the Gospel of John.

B. Does this last word have implications for our own personal family relationships?

By all means. Every one of my five daughters are daddy's girls, and both of my sons are momma's boys and that's the way God made them, male and female, but they are all our best friends forever, especially our grandchildren.

Meditation: At His Last Supper last night, Jesus gave us a new commandment, that we love one another as much as He loved us, so much that we would give up our lives for others like Jesus did.

4. My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me? (Mark 15 :34)

A. What does this tell us about the mental and emotional state of Jesus?

That Jesus may have been fully divine, but He was also fully human. In your darkest hours, haven't you felt like that? I certainly did when I lost my first-born child, Aimee, mother of a 9-month old special needs child of whom she said was "my whole world," one of her last words before she died at age 21 of an asthma attack on top of an epileptic seizure,

Meditation: Those who go before us are always with us as long as we love them with all our heart. Reflect on that big Beatitude: "Blessed are those who mourn."

B. In what sense was Jesus forsaken, and why must he be forsaken at this time?

You gotta remember that Jesus was steeped in Scripture, and on the Cross, in His darkest hour, He was just quoting two of Dark David's Psalms: Ps. 22:1 and Ps. 42:9.
He felt forsaken at this time, because He had suffered crucifixion much worse than Dismas and Gestas, neither of whom got 40 lashes with a barbed whip nor a crown of of thorns.

Meditation: Think about all the suffering Jesus must have gone through for us, but also realize that He will rise from the dead in three days, just as we will rise again from the dead into eternal life.

5. I Thirst. (John 19 : 28)

A. What is the significance of the sponge being offered to Jesus?

That was to fulfill Scripture again: Psalm 69:21
They gave me poison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Meditation: Whip out your Bible right now and read about
Jesus and the Woman of Samaria
in Chapter 4 of the Gospel of John and contemplate what Jesus meant by Living Water.

B. Would it make or have made a difference if Jesus did not have to suffer on the cross?

Don't get hung up on all those encrustations of Scripture like "Ransom Theory" or "Atonement." I can't imagine Jesus making a deal with Satan to triumph over sin. The simple fact of Scripture is that Christ died for our sins so that we might have a chance for eternal life with Him in Heaven.

Meditation: Memorize John 3:16 now and forever.

6. It Is Finished. (John 19 : 30)

A. What did Jesus come to accomplish? What was his prime directive?

Jesus came to accomplish our salvation.
His prime directive was to believe in Him.

Meditation: Think about how Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah, had completed His mission, given to Him by Our Father in Heaven to do His will. Even in the Garden of Gethsemane, Just asked Our Father to take this cup of suffering away from Him, "but Thy will, not Mine, be done."

B. Jesus was willing to suffer to finish his mission. How willing should we be to completing our mission?

Our mission in this life is the same: to do the will of God, not the will of our lower self.
We should be positive and grateful that we find such happiness in doing God's will by serving others rather than serving ourselves.

Meditation: Goto Mark 15:37 and Matthew 27:59 and reflect on how this word group of only two words is like a cry of great triumph over evil and sin.

7. Father, Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit. (Luke 23 : 46)

A. What would you have felt like had you witnessed the crucifixion?

Elated and grateful. While the Passion and Death of the Lamb of God seems so gruesome, it is such Good News for sinners like me.

Meditation: Psalm 31:5 says:
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.
Will you be able to say that as one of your last words in life?

B. Why is faith so important during the dark chapters of our lives?

That's what life is all about. Without faith in Jesus the Messiah, our lives have no purpose or meaning whatsoever.

Meditation: So, where do we go from here? When things go dark in our lives, as they are in mine right now as I finish this in Room 560 of a hospital ward awaiting some tricky surgery, we can turn to our faith in Jesus our Savior, the Light of the World, or we can curse the darkness. I choose to believe in Jesus as my Savior and Redeemer. Amen

Choral Response: Jesus, Remember Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGB2E0NzO2A&ab_channel=MichelleSherliza

JESUS, REMEMBER ME - YouTube
Created by: Michelle Sherliza, OPMusic by: Taize
www.youtube.com

Psalm 22: 1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

04/01/2021

April 1, 2021 -- Maundy Thursday
Night worship, Evening Tenebrae
"Seated at Our Lord's Last Supper"
Sermons & Responses by Pastor Will
Hymns & Intros by Dr. James Hooks,
ELCWorthington Music Director
Maundy Thursday is an alternate name for Holy Thursday, the first of the three days of solemn remembrance of the events leading up to and immediately following the crucifixion of Jesus. The English word "Maundy" comes from the Latin mandatum, which means "commandment.
As recorded in John's gospel, on his last night before his betrayal and arrest, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and then gave them a new commandment: to love one another as he had loved them (John 13:34). This is why services on this night generally include the washing of feet or other acts of physical care as an integral part of the celebration. However, because of the surge this week in covid-13 cases and hospitalizations, we meet online and ask you to wash the feet of a family member or friend to show that Jesus has called you to serve rather than be served. If you are alone this noonday, wash your own feet, because you are entering Holy Ground.
While John's gospel does not record the institution of the Lord's Supper among the events of this night, the other gospels do. This is why Christians have traditionally observed this night both at the basin (footwashing) and at the Lord's Table (Holy Communion). However, because of the contagion associated with this pandemic, we turn to other traditions that recognize Spiritual Communion, asking Jesus to come and dwell in union with us this Holy Hour.

Confession: Almighty God, merciful Father, I, a troubled and penitent sinner, confess to you all my sins and iniquities with which I have offended you and for which I justly deserve punishment. But I am sorry for them, and repent of them, and pray for your boundless mercy. For the sake of the suffering and death of your son, Jesus Christ, be gracious and merciful to me, a poor sinful being: Forgive my sins, give me your Holy Spirit for the amendment of my sinful life, and bring me to life everlasting. Amen.

Pastoral Response:
God gives us grace and more grace.
Be assured of this truth, that in Christ you are forgiven!

READINGS:

First Lesson: Exodus 12:1-4 (5-10) 11-14
The First Passover Instituted
12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: 2 This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. 4 If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. 7 They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. 10 You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
14 This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.

Psalm 116
Thanksgiving for Recovery from Illness
1 I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my supplications.
2 Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I pray, save my life!”
5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
6 The Lord protects the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your rest,
for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling.
9 I walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
10 I kept my faith, even when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted”;
11 I said in my consternation,
“Everyone is a liar.”
12 What shall I return to the Lord
for all his bounty to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord,
14 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.
16 O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.
You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!

Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26
The Institution of the Lord’s Supper
23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

VERSICLE: Return to the Lord , your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and abounding in steadfast love.

Holy Gospel: John 13:1-7, 31b-35.
Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet
13 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

Sermon: Rev. Dr. William Lawbaugh
"Seated at Our Lord's Last Supper"
When Our Lord Jesus would gather His disciples for supper, the most sacred meal of the day, when families get their only chance to commune with one another, there was always prayer, Holy Scripture and a hymn, like a Psalm if not song or the music of a lyre or a harp. At our house outside Washington, after blessing the gifts of food and drink and fellowship, we would hope the mashed potatoes would make it all the way around the table as our seven kids would begin to share their joys of the day and divide their sorrows. Supper is always the best hour of the day, a virtual holy communion.
On the night He was betrayed, Jesus may have felt a tinge of melancholy since this was His Last Supper, but let us look closely at John's account. They were celebrating a Feast Day! I would like to imagine that these devout Jewish men and women were celebrating Passover with a fatted lamb for supper, in honor of the Lamb of God in their midst. That's our First Reading, from the Book of Exodus.
Then what does Jesus do? According to our Second Lesson, this doomed Man gives Thanks to Our Father in Heaven for His daily bread! My buzzword this year is "gratitude," and when I think of Our Lord giving Thanks when only He knows He is going to suffer and die a horrible death the next day, it causes me to tremble and turn to our Psalm 116 to ask:
What shall I return to the Lord
for all his bounty to me?
Well, did you know that the word Eucharist comes from the Greek word "eucharistia" which means, literally, "thanksgiving"? Eucharist is another term for "the Lord's Supper" or Holy Communion, the body and blood of Jesus, and a Paul tells us in our Second Reading, this is when Jesus instituted His Holy Eucharist. He told us to do this in memory of Him, and we do, every time we gather on Sunday mornings. except when a pandemic hits.
Finally, like any big shot, Jesus could have ordered His groupies to bow down and kiss His feet. You and I would have, in a Minnesota minute; at least I would. Instead, what does Jesus do? He grabs a towel and a bucket of water and begins to wash our dirty, dusty feet! Good God Almighty.
What's going on here? Peter, the heir apparent to head up the kingdom of God once Jesus passes away, says "No way is the Son of God gonna wash my smelly feet. Wash my hands and my head also." Poor Peter, who always sticks his foot in his mouth, is so touched by this gesture of humility, that when he went to his own crucifixion, he is said to have asked his killers to crucify him upside down because he did not feel worthy enough to die like His Lord and Savior. That's the point of our Holy Gospel tonight: Even if you are a big shot, get off your high horse and serve other people, especially those children and their mothers huddled on our southern border, risking their lives to get a crack at a better life, like those Dreamers did. Or maybe I could invite that aged Asian-American widower across the street to my rental for supper sometime. Lamb anyone? Amen

HYMN OF THE DAY: Where Charity and Love Prevail -- Omer Westendorf (1916-1997) was one of the leading composers following the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council. At age 20, he received his master’s degree in music at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and for most of his professional musical career served as organist and choirmaster at St. Bonaventure Church in Cincinnati. The text draws directly on John 13:34, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another." The first stanza stresses that those gathered in Christ are “brought together by Christ’s love.” The second stanza states that we learn charity through Christ’s “grateful joy and holy fear;” thus we naturally “love Christ in return.” The fourth stanza continues this line of thought by offering the petition that “strife should be unknown” and “all contention [should] cease. The fifth stanza recalls the Scripture, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). Dr. Hawn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7vSCcbgAEI&ab_channel=SalemLutheranChurchCatonsville-MD

TENEBRAE:
Go out into the night,
contemplating what Jesus faced on that fateful Friday.
Make note of what you experienced this evening.
May you be continually transformed into the image of Christ.
Just as Jesus honored God by placing God’s will above his own,
may God be glorified through our lives.
Be of good courage!
Trust in God in whom we have salvation and hope.

CLOSING PRAYER: Pastor Will
Eternal God, in the sharing of a meal, your Son established a new covenant for all people, and in the washing of feet he showed us the dignity of service. Grant that by the power of your Holy Spirit these signs of our life in faith may speak again to our hearts, feed our spirits, and refresh our bodies, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Psalm 122:
Song of Praise and Prayer for Jerusalem
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
2 Our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem—built as a city
that is bound firmly together.
4 To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 For there the thrones for judgment were set up,
the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
7 Peace be within your walls,
and security within your towers.”
8 For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will say, “Peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.

BIBLE STUDY: Tune in tomorrow for Good Friday worship from noon to 3 p.m. devoted entirely to the Seven Last Words of Jesus on the Cross.

Where Charity and Love Prevail by the Salem-Faith Virtual Choir from 13 September 2020 joint on-line worship of Salem Lutheran Church in Catonsville, MD, and...

03/28/2021

March 28, 2021: Palm Sunday
"Hosanna in the Highest Heaven!"
A Sermon by Pastor Will Lawbaugh
Hymns, Intros by Dr. James Hooks,
Music Director for ELCWorthington

Palm Sunday is a celebration for honoring Jesus Christ's victorious entry into Jerusalem. While this was a joyful, special occasion for his followers, this event took place towards the end of his days on Earth before being crucified.

Readings: Mark 11:1-11
or John 12:12-16, Isaiah 50:4-9a, Psalm 31:9-16 (5), Philippians 2:5-11, Mark 14:1-15:47
or Mark 15:1-39[40-47]

PRELUDE: Based on hymn tune Ellacombe. SBH #308, R. Dye, organist at the First Presbyterian Church, Boise, Idaho, plays a Prelude for Palm Sunday, "Hosanna, Loud Hosanna," composed by J. Wayne Kerr.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDNqumnO4Zs&ab_channel=AvondaleUnitedMethodistChurch

OPENING PRAYER: Palm Sunday Prayer (from ELCA-Prayer Ventures):

Everlasting God, like your Son and Servant, Jesus Christ, riding into Jerusalem, help us to go where you've called us boldly and confidently. Prepare us for what lies before us, however difficult the journey may be. Amen.

OPENING HYMN: All Glory, Laud, and Honor, ELW #344. This hymn is traditionally sung on Palm Sunday. Though the words, of course, reference the passages of Scripture about the Triumphal Entry and were written for that day. The first lines nearly quote Paul in his letter to Timothy when he praises the Lord (1 Tim. 1:17). The last four lines remind us of Jesus’ lineage to David (Mat. 1:1-17). He is the One foretold who will save us, who has saved us! (Madelyn Rose Craig).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvDCMvNktqk&ab_channel=JohnWesleySlider

FIRST READING: Isaiah 50:4-9 The Servant’s Humiliation and Vindication
4 The Lord God has given me
the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain
the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens—
wakens my ear
to listen as those who are taught.
5 The Lord God has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious,
I did not turn backward.
6 I gave my back to those who struck me,
and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting.
7 The Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
8 he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries?
Let them confront me.
9 It is the Lord God who helps me;
who will declare me guilty?
(All of them will wear out like a garment;
the moth will eat them up.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with sighing;)

PSALM 31:9-16
Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
my eye wastes away from grief,
my soul and body also.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my misery,
and my bones waste away.

11 I am the scorn of all my adversaries,
a horror to my neighbors,
an object of dread to my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street flee from me.
12 I have passed out of mind like one who is dead;
I have become like a broken vessel.
13 For I hear the whispering of many—
terror all around!—
as they scheme together against me,
as they plot to take my life.

14 But I trust in you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hand;
deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
16 Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your steadfast love.

Second Lesson: Philippians 2:5-11
5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
7 but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
8 he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.

9 Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION: Musical Settings by Owen Alstott

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory! Christ became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above ev'ry name.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTBBHvIordE&ab_channel=4wombnuggets

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION TEXT: Pastor Will
“Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!"

GOSPEL: Mark 11:1-11 Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
11 When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a c**t that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” 4 They went away and found a c**t tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, 5 some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the c**t?” 6 They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. 7 Then they brought the c**t to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. 9 Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

“Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

11 Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

SERMON: Rev. Dr. William Lawbaugh
"Hosanna in the Highest Heaven!"
We are on a roll in our incredible effort to find the Good in the "Good News" of the Gospels, even in the darkest moments of Jesus as we begin Holy Week today.
Last Sunday, I summed up the last two weeks of our good news of salvation with these words at the very end of my sermon: "So, when Jesus is lifted up on the Cross, the central symbol of Lutheran theology, He will draw ALL people to His mystical body. Those who truly believe (Sola Fide) are promised eternal life, as we saw last week in the Good News gospel about John 3:16. Amen." So be it.
Palm Sunday is the pinnacle of Joy for Jesus and the Twelve Apostles as Jesus mounts an unbroken c**t at Bethpage near the Garden of Gethsemane, overlooking the Holy City of Jerusalem where He will be tried by the High Priests of the Temple, convicted by the crazed mob (that most resembles the white supremacists this year who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Epiphany Day), given 40 lashes with a barbed whip under Pontius Pilate, stripped of all His garments in the portico, crowned with bloody thorns, forced to carry His own heavy cross up Calvary in front of His own mother and the women of Jerusalem, nailed to the cross, lifted high, mutter seven last words and die. Yet, for this brief shining moment as we head into Holy Week, we sing: "Hosanna!"
This whole scenario of unspeakable Joy, we read, was set up by the Savior of the World, Jesus Himself, not by the love-starved mob, some of whom spread their cloaks upon the stony pathway for the frightened c**t, others who cut palm branches from a nearby field and spread them on the padded roadway. No, Jesus had it all pre-arranged with some dude in "the village ahead of you." My guess is His bff Lazarus who lived with his sisters Martha and Mary in the village of Bethany, and the two disciples He sent there to untie the c**t must have been His cousins James and John who were there when Jesus raised Lazarus from his stinky tomb a few days earlier.
With those strains of "All Glory, Laud and Honor" echoing in our minds and the words penetrating our hearts , let us now visualize the King of Kings riding a wild c**t down the hill to His death and mighty resurrection from the grave hewn out of rock by another one of His secret friends, Joseph of Arimathea. It had to be a c**t, because any king who came to bring war would ride in on a fierce stallion, but a king who comes to bring peace rides into town on a c**t or donkey, humbly seeking reconciliation and concord.
Jesus is no ordinary king. He is the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah, Savior of a broken World. And so, we sing "Hosanna!" which is derived from the Hebrew word "Hoshana," which means "savior" as a personal noun or "to save or rescue" as a verb. Get it?
But wait! There's more to this cry of Hosanna. In the Bible, Hosanna is used only when referring to Jesus Christ, in particular when He is called "the Son of David." A similar expression of Hoshana occurs in the Davidic Psalm 118 when David cries out, in verse 25:

Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!

That's the NRSV translation, our Lutheran and Episcopal standard, but I prefer the maverick translation found in The Message version of the Bible:

Salvation now, God. Salvation now!
Oh yes, God—a free and full life!
Amen

CLOSING PRAYER: Pastor Will
Sovereign God, you have established your rule in the human heart through the servant-hood of Jesus Christ. By your Spirit, keep us in the joyful procession of those who with their tongues confess Jesus as Lord and with their lives praise him as Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

BIBLE STUDY:
Your Bible Study group decided not to meet during Holy Week, so I will get no input on my short and sweet sermon for Easter Sunday. However, as you see from the ELCA outline below, we will all be in mourning this week because of the Passion and Death of Jesus on the Cross. Then, on Maundy Thursday, we will offer you a Tenebrae Service of Shadows here on Facebook to commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus and His Apostles. On Good Friday, we will offer you a three-hour meditation on the Seven Last Words of Jesus as He hung on the Cross, starting at noon but available all day on Facebook. Then, on Easter Sunday we will double our workload by meeting here again virtually on this page by 7 a.m., and re-opening for live and lively Sunday Services at 11 a.m. by Easter under strict COVID-19 guidelines, hopefully or eventually with purified air conditioning from a new electrostatic heat pump. Halleluiah!

Mon. Mar.29 — Monday in Holy Week.
Readings: Isaiah 42:1-9 Psalm 36:5-11 (7) Hebrews 9:11-15 John 12:1-11.
Prayer of the Day: O God, your Son chose the path that led to pain before joy and to the cross before glory. Plant his cross in our hearts, so that in its power and love we may come at last to joy and glory, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Gospel Acclamation: May I never boast of anything* except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Gal. 6:14) Color: Purple/Scarlet

Tue. Mar. 30 — Tuesday in Holy Week. (Pastor Will renews his vows with Bishops Kusserow and McConnell in Pgh)
Readings Isaiah 49:1-7 Psalm 71:1-14 (6) 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 John 12:20-36.
Prayer of the Day: Lord Jesus, you have called us to follow you. Grant that our love may not grow cold in your service, and that we may not fail or deny you in the time of trial, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Gospel Acclamation: May I never boast of | anything* except the cross of our Lord | Jesus Christ. (Gal. 6:14) Color: Purple/Scarlet

Wed. Mar. 31 — Wednesday in Holy Week.
Readings: Isaiah 50:4-9a Psalm 70 (1) Hebrews 12:1-3 John 13:21-32
Prayer of the Day: Almighty God, your Son our Savior suffered at human hands and endured the shame of the cross. Grant that we may walk in the way of his cross and find it the way of life and peace, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Gospel Acclamation: May I never boast of anything* except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Gal. 6:14) Color: Purple/Scarlet

CLOSING HYMN: Ride On, Ride On in Majesty, St. Drostane, SBH #73. The words of Ride on, Ride on in Majesty were written by Henry Hart Milman (1791-1868). He was ordained in 1816. The hymn refers to Matthew 21:1–17 and Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It has considerable dramatic irony. The hymn is sung to a variety of tunes, including St Drostane by John D***s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzij2hguD0Y&ab_channel=HolyTrinityCathedral
, Auckland, NZ

Opening Hymn - Eucharist - Palm Sunday 2020All hymns reproduced under LicenSing Licence #608057