February 21, 2021 - The Struggle against the Enemy
“Tested by families, for families (and others too). Church at Home is an interactive, weekly worship service to be held from the safety of your own home. Each service will be centered around one theme and will have 3 songs, readings, and prayers, a short (4-5 min) message for children, and a longer (10 min) message for the whole family.”
Thank you for joining us for our Church at Home service!
Directly below in English and here in Spanish is an at-home worship service to be held with the family or as an individual or small group. Included are links to songs and pastoral messages (English, Spanish, Bilingual, and children's message) which will be made available every Saturday on Youtube. The head of the household can lead (L) and others can respond (C) or everyone can take turns. Use the links for the songs and messages at the appropriate time. Please do not feel pressured to go through the whole thing in one sitting. Rather, use each element of this service so that it serves as a blessing to you and your family.
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May God bless your Church at Home worship service this week.
Pastor William Dunn
The Struggle
Against the Enemy
The road to the cross was a struggle. This Lenten season, we see Jesus descend the mount of glory so that he could enter a valley of suffering. He would be rejected by his people and betrayed by his disciple. Satan tempted him to give up, but he pressed on to the cross for you. Hebrews 2:18 says, “Indeed, because he suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.“ The struggle was real.
The Christian life is a struggle. The struggle is real. Faith in Christ doesn’t make us exempt from difficulties. But faith in Christ does give us strength to press on. This Lenten season, we will meditate on the words of the Psalm writers, who put the struggle of the believer into poetry and prayer. They cried out to God when they struggled against their enemies, against temptation, against guilt, and against the perspective that this life is unfair. The Psalm writers were able to press on in the struggle because they knew that their God was in control. They knew and prophesied that the promised Savior was coming. Their struggle is our struggle. Their hope is our hope. Their God is our God. This is a Savior who entered our struggle to win the victory over the struggle, to equip us for our struggle. The struggle is real. The struggle is good.
Opening Song - Speak, Oh Lord
Invocation
L. In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C. Amen.
Confession and Absolution
We begin the service by recognizing how we have fallen short of God’s will and desire for our lives, and we receive the good news that we are forgiven in Jesus Christ.
L. Let us approach God with a true heart and confess our sins, asking him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to forgive us.
C. Lord of life, I confess that I am by nature dead in sin. For faithless worrying and selfish pride, for sins of habit and sins of choice, for the evil I have done and the good I have failed to do, you should cast me away from your presence forever. O Lord, I am sorry for my sins. Forgive me, for Jesus’ sake.
L. Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. In his great mercy, God made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in our sins. Hear the word of Christ just as he proclaimed to the paralytic: "Take heart, your sins are forgiven.” Let us take this forgiveness to heart and proclaim it to each other in the name of the Father, and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Prayer of the Day
L. Lord our strength, the battle of good and evil rages within and around us, and our ancient foe tempts us with his deceits and empty promises. Keep us steadfast in your Word, and when we fall, raise us up again and restore us through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C. Amen.
First Lesson - Genesis 22:1-18
God commands Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac, and Abraham shows his faith by being willing to sacrifice his beloved son according to God's command.
1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He called to him, “Abraham!” Abraham answered, “I am here.”
2 God said, “Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains there, the one to which I direct you.”
3 Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, along with Isaac his son. Abraham split the wood for the burnt offering. Then he set out to go to the place that God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.
5 Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go on over there. We will worship, and then we will come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and loaded it on Isaac his son. He took the firepot and the knife in his hand. The two of them went on together.
7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father?”
He said, “I am here, my son.”
He said, “Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them went on together. 9 They came to the place that God had told him about. Abraham built the altar there. He arranged the wood, tied up Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
11 The Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!”
Abraham said, “I am here.”
12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy. Do not do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
13 Abraham looked around and saw that behind him there was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 Abraham called the name of that place “The LORD Will Provide.” So it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
15 The Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “I have sworn by myself, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your descendants greatly, like the stars of the sky and like the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the city gates of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
Psalm of the Day - Psalm 3
A psalm by David. When he fled from Absalom, his son.
1 O LORD, how my foes are multiplying!
Many are rising up against me!
2 Many are saying about my life,
“There is no salvation for him in God.”
Interlude
3 But you, O LORD, are a shield for me.
You are my glory and the one who lifts up my head.
4 With a loud voice I cry out to the LORD,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.
Interlude
5 I lie down, and I sleep.
I awake, because the LORD sustains me.
6 I will not be afraid of the thousands of people
who line up against me on all sides.
7 Rise up, O LORD! Save me, my God!
Yes, you will strike all my enemies on the jaw.
The teeth of the wicked you will break.
8 Salvation belongs to the LORD.
Your blessing rests on your people.
Interlude
Second Lesson - Romans 8:31-39
In one of the most comforting sections of the Bible, Saint Paul expresses in a very logical and clear way the confidence we have as Christians in this world. Because of the vicarious work of Jesus Christ, nothing can now separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Through the death of Jesus Christ, God has declared us innocent and gives us heaven. There is no one who can condemn us before God. Victory is ours.
31 What then will we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him?
33 Who will bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies! 34 Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus, who died and, more than that, was raised to life, is the one who is at God’s right hand and who is also interceding for us! 35 What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 Just as it is written:
For your sake we are being put to death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Gospel - Mark 1:12-15
Christ as our substitute suffered the same temptations as we do, but without sinning. The perfection of Jesus Christ is already ours for the love of God, which declares us innocent by the merits of Jesus Christ himself, who defeated the devil with his perfect life and innocent death on the cross.
12 The Spirit immediately sent Jesus out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels were serving him.
14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. 15 “The time is fulfilled,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near! Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
Children's Message
Song - He Will Hold Me Fast
English Sermon -or- Bilingual Sermon
Confession of Faith - The Apostles' Creed
We speak the truths of the faith that have united the church for thousands of years.
I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
I believe 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 is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there 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 everlasting. Amen.
Offering
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Online Connection Card
Please use the link to connect with us online! Let us know that you worshiped with us or submit a prayer request.
General Prayer
Use this time to pray to God about anything that is on your heart and mind. Remember who God is and how he describes himself in the Bible. Focus on his eternal perspective. Consider not only your own life, but also the lives of others. Finally, pray with confidence knowing that God hears you, and pray in the name of your savior, Jesus Christ.
The Lord's Prayer
Pray the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread; forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us; lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.
The Blessing
Just as God told Aaron to bless his people in this way, we ask God’s blessing on us as we go forth in our lives.
L. The Lord bless us and keep us.
The Lord make his face shine on us and be gracious to us.
The Lord look on us with favor and ☩ give us peace.
C. Amen