Mount Calvary Lutheran Church
April 11, 2021 The Second Sunday of Easter
**INVOCATION (Matthew 28:19)
**CONFESSION/ABSOLUTION (1 John 1:8-9)
Pastor: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
People: But, if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
(silence for reflection and self examination)
Pastor: Let us then confess our sins to God our Father.
People: Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve your present and eternal punishment. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways to the glory of your most Holy Name. Amen.
Pastor: Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake….
** INTROIT (Psalm 81)
Pastor: As newborn babes, Alleluia,
People: desire the pure milk of the Word. Alleluia. Alleluia.
Pastor: Sing aloud to God our strength;
People: shout for joy to the God of Jacob!
Pastor: In distress you called, and I delivered you;
People: I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
Pastor: I am the Lord your God,
People: who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Pastor: with honey from the rock
People: I would satisfy you.
All: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen.
Pastor: As newborn babes, Alleluia,
People: desire the pure milk of the Word. Alleluia. Alleluia.
**KYRIE ELEISON
Pastor: …in peace let us pray to the Lord:
People: Lord, have mercy.
** GLORIA IN EXCELSIS (to be sung)
Pastor: Glory be to God on high
People: and on earth peace, good will toward men. We praise you, we bless you, we
worship you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory. O
Lord God, heav’nly King, God the Father Almighty. O Lord, the only
begotten Son, Jesus Christ; O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy; who takes away the sin of
the world, receive our prayer, who sits at the right hand of God the Father,
have mercy. For you only are holy; you only are the Lord; you only, O
Christ, with the Holy Spirit, are most high in the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
**PRAYER FOR TODAY
Almighty God, grant that we, who have celebrated the Lord’s resurrection, may by Your grace confess in our life and conversation that Jesus is Lord and God; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
HYMN ~ LSB#464 The Strife Is O’er, the Battle Done
ref Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
1 The strife is o’er, the battle done;
Now is the victor’s triumph won;
Now be the song of praise begun.
Alleluia!
2 The pow’rs of death have done their worst,
But Christ their legions hath dispersed.
Let shouts of holy joy outburst.
Alleluia!
3 The three sad days have quickly sped,
He rises glorious from the dead.
All glory to our risen Head!
Alleluia!
4 He broke the age-bound chains of hell;
The bars from heav’n’s high portals fell.
Let hymns of praise His triumph tell.
Alleluia!
5 Lord, by the stripes which wounded Thee,
From death’s dread sting Thy servants free
That we may live and sing to Thee.
Alleluia! Refrain
OLD TESTAMENT LESSON Ezekiel 37:1-14
37 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”
THE EPISTLE 1 John 5:4-10
4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.
Alleluia & Verse LSB 205
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Holy Gospel John 20:19–31
P The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the twentieth chapter.
C Glory to You, O Lord.
19On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.”
24Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
26Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
P This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C Praise to You, O Christ.
Apostles’ Creed
C I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life T everlasting. Amen.
SERMON HYMN It is Finished
1 There’s a line that is drawn through the ages
On that line stands an old rugged cross
On that cross, a battle is raging
To gain a man’s soul or it’s loss
2 On one side, march the forces of evil
All the demons, all the devils of hell
On the other, the angels of glory
And they meet on Golgotha’s hill
3 The earth shakes with the force of the conflict
And the sun refuses to shine
For there hangs God’s Son, in the balance
And then through the darkness he cries
It is finished, the battle is over
It is finished, there’ll be no more war
It is finished, the end of the conflict
It is finished and Jesus is Lord
4 Yet in my heart, the battle was still raging
Not all prisoners of war had come home
These were battlefields of my own making
I didn’t know that the war had been won
5 But then I heard the king of the ages
Had fought all the battles for me
And that victory was mine for the claiming
And now praise his name, I am free
It is finished, the battle is over
It is finished, there’ll be no more war
It is finished, the end of the conflict
It is finished and Jesus is Lord
THE MESSAGE
OFFERTORY
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with your free Spirit
SONG ~ “Then Came the Morning”
1 They all walked away, nothing to say
They’d just lost their dearest friend
All that He said, now He was dead
So this was the way it would end
The dreams they had dreamed were not what they’d seemed
Now that He was dead and gone
The garden, the jail, the hammer, the nail
How could a night be so long?
Then came the morning
Night turned into day
The stone was rolled away
Hope rose with the dawn
Then came the morning
Shadows vanished before the sun
Death had lost and life had won
For morning had come
2 The angel, the star, the kings from afar
The wedding, the water, the wine
Now it was done, they’d taken her Son
Wasted before His time
She knew it was true, she’d watched Him die too
She’d heard them call Him just a man
But deep in her heart she knew from the start
Somehow her Son would live again Refrain
PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL & LORD’S PRAYER
PREFACE
Pastor: The Lord be with you.
People: And with your spirit.
Pastor: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them to the Lord.
Pastor: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is good and right so to do.
Pastor It is truly, good, right and salutary…
People: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth. Heaven 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 & PEACE OF THE LORD
**AGNUS DEI
O Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy on us. O Christ the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy on us. O Christ the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world; Grant us your peace. A–men.
DISTRIBUTION
POST-COMMUNION CANTICLE
People: Lord, now 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. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Pastor: O give thanks to the Lord for He is good!
People: And His mercy endures forever.
BENEDICTION (Numbers 6:24-27)