Good morning and welcome to the broadcast of the Divine Service at Zion Lutheran Church in Chippewa Falls.
To help you follow along, the Order of Worship for today's service is available under the radio tab on our website, ZionLCMSCF.org.
The Lord bless you today through the hearing of His word.
Good morning.
Welcome to our worship service.
This is the fifth Sunday in Lent, Utica service.
And a couple of announcements, actually a save bunch to the end of the after the service, but Carol Gale's aunt, Florence Ziggler, film broker likes will include Florence and our prayers.
Probably need to include Carol with all the people she's caring for.
And then Sermon is based on one written by Reverend John Coopman in Mankato, Minnesota.
With that, let's begin with their opening hymn, 440, Jesus, I Will Ponder Now.
the the
you
Peace of conscience.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Beloved in the Lord, let us draw near with the true heart and confess our sins unto God, our Father, beseeching him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness.
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord.
O Almighty God, merciful Father, I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto you all my sins and iniquities, with which I have ever offended you, and justly deserved your temporal and eternal punishment.
But I am heartily sorry for them, and sincerely repent of them.
And I pray you of your boundless mercy, and for the sake
of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of your beloved son, Jesus Christ.
To be gracious and merciful to me, a poor, sinful being.
Upon this, your confession, I by virtue of my office as a called and ordained servant of the word, announce the grace of God unto all of you.
And in this stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
I'll just see.
The Lord be with you 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 Jesus Christ your son our Lord who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit
One God, now and forever.
After these things, God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, and he said, here am I. He said, take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.
So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son, Isaac.
And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him,
On the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.
Then Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey.
I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.
And Abraham took the word of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son.
And he took in his hand the fire and the knife.
So they went, both of them together.
And Isaac said to his father, Abraham, my father.
And he said, here are my, my son.
He said, Behold the fire in the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?
Abraham said, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.
So they went both of them together.
When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.
Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham.
And he said, here am I. He said, do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him.
For now I know that you fear God.
Seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.
Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns.
And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
So Abraham called the name of that place the Lord will provide as it is said to this day on the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided This is the word of the Lord
Deliver me from my enemies
The epistles
from Hebrews chapter 9.
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come Then through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands that is not of this creation He entered once for all into the holy places not by means of the blood of goats and calves But by means of his own blood thus securing an eternal redemption or if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and
with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
Therefore, he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them.
from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
We stand in honor of the gospel.
The holy gospel according to Saint John the 8th chapter.
Jesus said to them, if God were your father, you would love me.
For I came from God and I am here.
I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.
Why do you not understand what I say?
It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.
You are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires.
He was a murderer from the beginning and has nothing to do with the truth because there is no truth in him.
When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.
Which one of you convicts me of sin?
If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?
Whoever is of God hears the words of God.
The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.
The Jews answered him.
Are we not right in saying that you are Samaritan and have a demon?
Jesus answered I do not have a demon, but I honor my father and you dishonor me Yet I do not seek my own glory.
There is one who seeks it and he is the judge Truly, I say to you if anyone keeps my word he will never see death The Jews said to him and we know that you have a demon Abraham died as did the prophets yet you say if anyone keeps my word he will never taste death
Are you greater than our father Abraham who died?
And the prophets died.
Who do you make yourself out to be?
Jesus answered, if I glorify myself, my glory is nothing.
It is my father who glorifies me, of whom you say he is our God.
But you have not known him.
I know him.
If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you.
But I do know him, and I keep his word.
Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day.
He saw it and was glad.
So the Jews said to him, you are not yet 50 years old and have you seen Abraham?
Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.
So they picked up stones to throw at him.
But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
This is the gospel of the Lord.
Together we confess our faith is written in the words of the Nicene Creed I believe in one God the Father Almighty Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible and in one Lord Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God Begotten of his father before all worlds God of God light of light very God very God
Begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.
He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again,
according to the scriptures, and descended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father.
And he will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified.
who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe in one holy Christian, an apostolic church.
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
Grace to you in peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ amen Yet I do not seek my own glory there is one who seeks it and he is the judge God is the judge You've probably heard some say don't judge me only God judge me and that's entirely true God will judge all of us However, people usually say that meaning they don't want anyone to be critical
of them, maybe their lifestyle, their behaviors, and they think God's judgment will be lenient and easy, but that's not the case.
We read in Hebrews, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Jesus told us that he is the judge and the Lord will judge his people.
Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.
Indeed, the wages of sin is death, and we are the heirs of
Adam and Eve's sin and also the heirs of death.
Or as it again says in Hebrews, if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there's no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.
Those who have departed from the faith and willfully sinned as if sin were unimportant or had no consequences will face the judgment of God.
And the judgment of God is much worse than the judgment of man.
Usually the judgment of man is just somebody disagreeing with us or telling us so.
The worst that a man can do is to kill us.
And that's pretty rare.
Even the Pharisees, the best they can do to Jesus to judge him was to try to throw stones at him.
And yet even they failed at that.
The judgment of man is actually quite tame in comparison to God's judgment.
God's judgment requires death and eternal condemnation.
The attempted sacrificing of Isaac is a very, it powerfully illustrates just this for us.
You remember the story of Abraham and Isaac, God, and many times promised
that Sarah would have a child through whom the Savior would eventually be born.
Abraham and Sarah had a hard time believing this promise, and Sarah even laughed at the prospect.
Yet they named their son Isaac, meaning he laughs.
You can imagine the joy and the laughter that this long-awaited son brought to Abraham and to Sarah.
But today we heard God instruct Abraham to offer up Isaac, his only son, the son of the promise whom he loved to offer him up as a burnt offering.
Abraham and Isaac immediately made their way up Mount Moriah.
It's important to note that Abraham was old.
He's well over 100.
Isaac had grown young man.
It was carrying the wood.
It wasn't a child that Abraham could easily manipulate or make him do anything to sacrifice him.
Isaac went willingly.
He was actually carrying the wood for his own sacrifice.
When Abraham bound him to the altar, Isaac willingly consented to this.
And why didn't they do this?
Want to die?
Was Abraham wanting to kill his son?
Well, not at all.
They willingly did this because they fully trusted God's promise to preserve Isaac, since through him eventually the Christ would be born.
They heard that word of God and believed that promise.
Abraham told his servants,
I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you."
Abraham wasn't going to come down the mountain alone, but he considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, Isaac.
He believed that Isaac, even though sacrifice would return alive, and he did.
Not because Isaac was worthy, but because God is merciful.
and he provided the lamb for the sacrifice.
As it says, and Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns.
And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
Abraham called the name of that place the Lord will provide.
As it is said to this day, the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.
In the end, Isaac, who appeared to be the Christ-like figure in the story, turned out to be spared from death.
Instead, the lamb.
The lamb was the Christ-like figure, and it was the substitute for Isaac taking his place and the judgment he deserved.
This illustration corresponds to Jesus.
Jesus is our substitute.
Jesus, the sinless.
spotless lamb of God, the only begotten Son, the beloved Son of the Father was offered up instead of us.
And the judgment of God was carried out upon Jesus.
He's our substitute.
And the judgment which we deserve was placed on Jesus.
And so we are forgiven.
We're forgiven our sins through the sacrifice of Christ.
God is the perfectly just judge, and justice was carried out.
It wasn't fair, since this isn't what either we or Jesus deserve, and yet, Jesus willingly went to the cross to be our substitute, since the Father loves us.
Jesus' sacrifice was made in our place.
When we bind ourselves to Jesus and his word, Jesus is our sacrifice.
As our Lord promises, truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.
The word of God is far from a burden for us, since through his blessed, his blessed word of God, Christ's sacrifice is made our own.
So how can we hold on to his word?
Well, St.
Patrick of yeah, St.
Patrick's Day just last week in his powerful hymn expounds upon keeping the word of God said I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity by invocation of the same Three and one and one and three I bind this day to me forever by power of faith Christ's incarnation
His baptism in the Jordan River, His cross of death for my salvation, His bursting from the spice tomb, His riding up the heavenly way, His coming at the day of doom, I bind unto myself today.
St.
Patrick boldly lived in Christ Jesus, since the word of God had been bound to him through baptism.
And the same Word of God guided and shielded him throughout his life.
Just to briefly illustrate what kind of power God's Word had on St.
Patrick's life, you may recall the story.
Patrick was in Irish.
He was English.
And as a child, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and taken back to Ireland as a slave.
With the help of God, he escaped.
He escaped his captors and he fled back home to England.
At that point, Patrick became a Christian, eventually a pastor, even a bishop.
And he vowed to return to Ireland so that he could convert the Irish who kidnapped him from paganism to Christianity.
As an old man, he finally had the opportunity to do just that.
He returned to Ireland.
Even though it was very dangerous and people urged him not to go because He knew that Christ in his word had been bound to him through baptism So he had nothing to fear and even death could scare him Upon his arrival he did bring the gospel to the people of Ireland and many were converted In a way he truly did chase the snakes meaning the demons
out of Ireland, and he helped usher in Christianity.
When Patrick Boldly went to Ireland, the place where he had been enslaved as a child, he brought them the gospel of Jesus Christ.
He didn't hate his captors, instead he loved them.
He loved them enough to drive out paganism out of their hearts and to replace it with the gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ for them.
Even though it was a frightening place to go, and it wasn't safe for him to be there,
And he went unafraid because he knew that ultimately Jesus wins and when we're bound to Christ, we win with him.
Just as Abraham and Isaac willingly climbed the mountain, unafraid of the sacrifice, trusting that God would provide for them, so may we go forward unafraid, unafraid of the demon snares of sin, unafraid of troubles which we face.
Since the holy power of God goes with us Jesus willingly and gladly climbed Mount Calvary unafraid of the sacrifice awaiting him Because he knew that on the third day the father would raise him up again So also we face death unafraid because Jesus who is the great I am God of God light of light well
He has taken our place before the judgment seat, and he was punished in our place.
On that great and awesome day, the day of the Lord, when Jesus shall descend from heaven to judge the sheep and the goats, we will be judged.
Those who stand before God on their own merits will go to hell.
Those who stand before God bound to Christ, who hold onto the word of God,
shall never see death.
And we be those who are bound to Christ and numbered among the saints in paradise.
Amen.
And may the peace that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Amen.
Please stand for the offertory.
In peace, let us pray to the Lord, Lord of mercy.
To the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who by his death brought us to his holy hill and by his resurrection justified us in his sight, that he would lead us by the light and truth of his holy word to vindication in Christ in the face of all enemies of the gospel.
Let us pray to the Lord.
For this and all congregations, that the Lord would remember them, strengthen and defend his pastors and servants in the church, and cause his people rightly to fear his wrath and rejoice in his redemption.
Let us pray to the Lord.
For all fathers in the home and church, that our Heavenly Father would give them wisdom and fortitude, that he would make them faithful in teaching his word to the children entrusted to their care,
that all little ones would come to know their heavenly Father and live as true children of God.
Let us pray to the Lord.
For good government and faithful leaders that they would heed God's word and pursue righteousness and justice and for the Lord to bless and defend us against all destruction and teach us to be patient and faithful citizens of this land so that we would use ourselves and our resources wisely for the good of all.
Let us pray to the Lord.
For those in need, especially Vicki, Lynn, Anita, Lois, Lewis, Chuck, Marlis, Tim, Greg, Doris, Matthew, Megan, Mark, Ethel, Bob, Peter, Fred, Harold, Joan, Greg, Linda, Jaden, Rick, Thorfinn, Lacey, Marilyn, Marlene, George, Ann, Florence, and the family of Jeff Thomas.
that God would mercifully receive our prayers through the intercession of Jesus Christ, our great high priest, and that he would answer our petitions on account of the merits and mediation of his Son, our Savior.
Let us pray to the Lord.
For our communicants that gathered into his New Testament, they may be cleansed from sin through Christ's body and blood and set free from slavery to this world.
Let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, keep us steadfast in your word that we may not be deceived by that liar and murderer, the devil, but know your truth and so come to everlasting life through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Continue with the service of the
sacraments.
Let us give thanks unto the Lord our God.
It is sweet and bright so true.
It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times and at all places give thanks to you, Holy Lord, Almighty Father, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who overcame the assaults of the devil and gave his life as a ransom for many.
that with cleansed hearts, we might be prepared joyfully to celebrate the paschal feast in sincerity and truth.
Therefore, with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify your glorious name, ever more praising you and saying.
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.
Our Lord Jesus Christ on the night when he was betrayed took bread.
And when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, take, eat, this is my body, which is given for you, this due and remembrance of me.
In the same way also he took the cup after supper and when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying, drink of it all of you.
This cup is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.
This do as often as you drink it and remember it's of me.
The peace of the Lord be with you always.
Welcome to the table of the Lord.
Thank you for tuning in to the Divine Service at Zion Lutheran Church in Chippewa Falls.
May the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
If you have any prayer requests, please let us know.
You may call us at 715-723-6380 or stop by and visit 110 East Grand Avenue in Chippewa Falls.
If you're looking for a church home, we'll gladly tell you more about Zion or help you find a congregation near you.
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If you'd like to contribute, click the Give tab on our website, ZionLCMSCF.org, or send a check to Zion Lutheran Church Radio Fund, 110 East Grand Avenue, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, 54729.
Zion is a member of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Center.