FOLLOWINGTHE LEADOF JESUS

Lent is, first of all, about God baptizing us into a life of faithful discipleship.  Lent attests to the power of the cross through word and water, bread and wine to conform the lives of God’s people to the image of Christ. Lent prepares us and leads us to the life-giving cross which ends not in death but resurrection. The tone of this Lenten order of worship—in the midst of its call to turn, repent, and be cleansed of sin— is one of promise and hope. Sunday after Sunday the Scripture Readings reflect God’s promises. These promises are centered in the fact that God sends Jesus not to condemn the world but to invite, seek, heal, and raise those entombed in tradition, culture, sickness, and death. Over and over we will see, hear, touch, and taste, how the impossible difficulties of sin are met with the promise of God’s saving action.

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

WE REMEMBER OUR BAPTISMS, CONFESS OUR FAITHLESSNESS, 

AND HEAR GOD’S FAITHFUL PROMISE OF FORGIVENESS

Pastor: Let us return to our gracious and merciful God,

remembering God’s life-giving promises declared at our baptisms,

and confessing our need for God’s continual healing.

Ever-loving God,

People: through the gift of baptism 

you give new birth to your children

by water and the Spirit.

Yet we seem to remember only that we

come from dust and return to dust.

We forget that we are also born from grace.

We prefer to hide in our darkness,

rather than receive your gracious light and life.

We thirst for all those things and desires that can never satisfy.

We are blind to all the ways you invite us to come and see your goodness.

We wander from your promises and

find ourselves entombed in the ways of death.

We use your gifts to our own ends,

are reluctant to share these gifts with others,

and treat the gifts of your creation with carelessness.

Turn us again, O God.

Renew us.

Forgive us our sin,

and gather us again into your abundant life.

Pastor: A world cut off from God can never hope to be a place of life.

But God is not cut off from us.

God so loved the world that having sent the Son, Jesus,

we are gathered into God’s embrace of forgiveness and abundant 

life.

We are reconciled to God.

Once lost, we are now found.

Once dead in sin we are now alive.

For the sake of Jesus Christ,

I declare to you the good news that

grace, mercy, forgiveness, and peace are yours.

People: Amen.

GATHERING

WE RESPOND TO GOD’S CALL WITH PRAISE AND PRAYER,
AND PREPARE TO HEAR GOD’S WORD OF LIFE

GREETING

Pastor: From our God who loves us with an everlasting love

who brings forth a new creation in Christ,

who leads us by the Spirit in the wilderness,

grace, love and abundant peace be with you all.

People: And also with you

KYRIE                                                                                                                                [click on the link below]                                                 https://youtu.be/b8WdyJHLUgg

Kyrie eleison  Lord have mercy,

Christe eleison  Christ have mercy

Kyrie eleison  Lord have mercy

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Pastor: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Pastor: Let us pray:

People: God of the covenant, in the mystery of the cross you promise everlasting life to the world.  Gather all peoples into your arms, and shelter us with your mercy, that we may rejoice in the life we share in your Son through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

WORD

THE CHURCH HEARS THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD ACTING
IN THIS AND EVERY TIME AND PLACE

FIRST READING 

Genesis 15::1-12, 17-18

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.’ But Abram said, ‘O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’ And Abram said, ‘You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.’ But the word of the Lord came to him, ‘This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.’ He brought him outside and said, ‘Look towards heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. 

Then he said to him, ‘I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.’ But he said, ‘O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?’ He said to him, ‘Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon.’ He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. 

When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire-pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 

SECOND READING  

Philippians 3:17-4:1

Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation so that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved. 

THE GOSPEL

Pastor: The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the thirteenth chapter.

People: Glory to you, O Lord.

Luke 13:31-35                                                                                                                          At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’ He said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox for me, “Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.” Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” ’

Pastor: The Gospel of the Lord.

People: Praise to you, O Christ.

SERMON

[click on the link below]

HYMN OF THE DAY

“We Sing To You, O God”

We sing to You O God
The Rock who gave us birth
Let our rejoicing sing Your name
In all the earth
To You O God let songs be raised
In joyful hymns our feast of praise

We wandered far from home
Out in a desert land
You shielded with Your love
Our fearful pilgrim band
You kept us safe within
Your arms and sheltered us
Against the storm

You bear us through the world
An eagle to her young
Who rises on her wings and
Bears us toward the sun
We ride the vaults of light
And air and trust in Your unfailing care

O God eternal God
We hide within Your wings
The everlasting arms to whom
Our praises ring
Your Word is true
Your way is just
You are the God in whom we trust

APOSTLES’ CREED

Pastor: Let us confess our faith in the words of the Apostles’ Creed.

All:       I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

              I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s 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 to the dead.

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

      and the life everlasting. Amen.

TODAY IN OUR PRAYERS

Bill, Carol, Curtis, and Christine Buchkowsky, Teri Peterson, Wayne Turner, Janet Gregory, Marge McMillan, Kyrie Parimi, John Beaven, Doris Turner, Hilda Anderson, Linda Wolfe, Naomi, Bev Gregory, Dale Robinson, Bryan Matschke, Audrey Hedlin,  Mona Neher, Carl Rausch, Oma Ywo, Joan Schock, Owen Peterson, Lux Matschke, the family of Norm Gregory, the family of Mary Anderson (Evelyn Robson’s mother), the family of Joel Zimmerman, the family of baby Mavrick Gallant (Bev Gregory’s great-grandson), the family of Ray Johnson (the brother of Doris Turner), and the family of Katherine Meger (Joshua Bratvold’s great grandmother), the family of Lois Jenkins (Ann Salmon’s mother), the family of Dunja Yousif (former member of King of Glory), and the family of Helen Neher (Carol Sarich’s mother)

We remember the missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada, the children and people buried in unmarked graves at residential schools and First Nation lands, and all those who have suffered the trauma of residential schools, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,the people of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Venezuela, Hong Kong, the Palestinians and Israelis, the civil war in Ethiopia, Myanmar, the Rohingya Muslim refugees and the ethnic Karen of Myanmar, Lebanon, all at the Mexico/United States border seeking refuge, the people of Haiti suffering from earthquake, hurricane, and political disasters, those in northwestern Washington, and southern B.C.,  and New South Wales and Queensland, Australia devastated by torrential rains and flooding, the communities in the Philippines ravaged by typhoon Rai, the people of Tonga whose communities are destroyed by volcano and tsunami, the people of Madagascar recovering from four cyclones and drought, the people of Brazil recovering from flooding and mudslides, those in the United States, Canada, and throughout the world caught up in racism and injustice and the resulting violence, and those throughout the world, in Canada, in our province, and in our community still threatened by the coronavirus and fearful of the omicron variant.

THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE OF FAITH

 [The congregational response after each petition is:  “ GRANT US YOUR PEACE.”]

Pastor:  As we journey with Jesus to the cross, the tree of life, witnessing to the transformation of life that comes with faith, repentance and forgiveness, let us pray for the renewal of the Church and the restoration of the whole world to the life of God, saying, “O God, in your compassion” and responding, “Grant us your peace.”

Petitioner: Merciful God, we sometimes doubt and often resist your desire to protect and to save us, yet you persist.  Sustain your people by your Spirit working through your Word and sacraments.  Protect us from the danger and threat of doubting your promise and give us the boldness to follow your way of grace and love.  O God, in your compassion …

Petitioner:   Righteous God, bring peace to all the peoples who strive over Jerusalem — Israel, the Palestinians, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Iran, and Lebanon.  Restore your blessing promised to Abraham and Sarah for all the nations so that mercy, peace, and justice might reach to the ends of the earth.  O God, in your compassion …

Petitioner:   Praiseworthy God, you show us how to live in joy and peace.  Form us to be a people marked by gratitude and generosity.  Lead us all through our times of barrenness and blindness to see that Christ emptied himself in death so that we might know God’s love and mercy for all creation.  O God, in your compassion …

Pastor:   Comforting God, your grace sustains all whose hearts are broken and you supply every human need.  Nurture the faith of those tested by doubt, despair, illness, conflict, loss, and grief with your comforting presence.  We remember especially before you ….  Give them a spirit of endurance and may they dwell securely in your embrace.  O God, in your compassion …

Petitioner:   God of new life, renew the creation, so that barren fields and burdened cities may become a blessing to all generations in every place.  Renew all people that the goodness of creation might bear witness to your love for all that is yours.  O God, in your compassion …

Petitioner:  God of wholeness, gather the people of Resurrection, Trinity, and King of Glory into a unity of ministries, so that we may boldly spread the good news of new life in Jesus Christ and may be both a prophetic witness and a pastoral presence in a needy world.  O God, in your compassion …

Petitioner:   Sustaining God,  Jesus through his suffering death shows us a new way of love and invites us to love one another as he loves us.  Plant this Word in our hearts, so that in its power and love our love may not grow cold in your service, nor that we may be tempted to leave you, but in faith, cling to the cross and its way to life.  O God, in your compassion …

Pastor:  Gracious God, hear us as we pray.  As you have made us and redeemed us, so now sustain us with your hope, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

People:  Amen.

THANKSGIVING

THE COMMUNITY PRAISES GOD FOR THE GRACIOUS GIFTS OF CREATION
AND THE SAVING DEEDS OF JESUS CHRIST

THE GREETING AND SHARING OF PEACE

Pastor: Sisters and brothers, rejoice, encourage one another, live in peace.
God through Christ has given us the gift of reconciliation.

People: Therefore, let us be reconciled to God and to one another.

Pastor: The peace of the Christ be with you always.

People: And also with you.

(If with others greet one another with a gesture of peace, using these or similar words: “Christ’s peace be with you.”)

THE OFFERING

(We worship God with the offering of our selves, our time, our talents, and our possessions.)

OFFERTORY SONG

“Create In Me”

[click on the link below]

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

Let me be like you in all my ways.

Give me your strength,

Teach me your song,

Shelter me in the shadow of your wings.

For we are your righteousness.

If we die to ourselves and live through your death,

We shall be born again to be blessed in your love.

OFFERTORY PRAYER

Pastor: Let us pray.
God our abundant Giver,

People: you provide us with every gift of creation,

and you quench our thirst with living water.

You have not fed us with bread alone,

but with words of grace and life.

Receive these tokens of your goodness to us.

May our lives be bread for the hungry

and streams in the wilderness,

signs of the abundance of your grace

in Jesus Christ.  Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Pastor: Lord, remember us in your kingdom, and teach us to pray:

People: 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.

Save us from the time of trial

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours,

now and forever. Amen.

SENDING

ALL RECEIVE THE BLESSING OF GOD, LEAVE IN PEACE,
AND ARE SENT OUT TO SERVE

BENEDICTION

Pastor: God give you the strength to raise up the cross of Christ,

wisdom to follow in the cross of Christ,

and the guidance of the Spirit to carry the cross of Christ

into our world.

People: Amen.

CLOSING HYMN

“The God of Abraham Praise”

The God of Abraham praise,
Who reigns enthroned above;
Ancient of everlasting days,
And God of Love;
I am the One I AM!
By earth and Heav’n confessed;
I bow and bless the sacred name
Forever blessed.

The God of Abraham praise,
At whose supreme command
From earth I rise—and seek the joys
At your right hand;
I all on earth forsake,
Its wisdom, fame, and power;
And you my only portion make,
My shield and tower.

The God of Abraham praise,
Whose all sufficient grace
Shall guide me all my pilgrim days,
In all my ways.
You deign to call me friend,
You call yourself my God!
And you shall save me to the end,
Thro’ Jesus’ blood.

Your promise you have sworn;
I on your oath depend,
I shall, on eagle wings upborne,
To Heav’n ascend.
I shall behold your face;
I shall your power adore,
And sing the wonders of your grace
Forevermore.

DISMISSAL

Pastor: Reconciled to God through the life-giving cross of Christ,

let us go out into the world in peace..

People: Thanks be to God.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

TODAY AT KOG                                                                                         

THIS WEEK AT KOG

COMING UP AT KOG

– Thursday, March 17, Church Council, 7:30 via Zoom

King of Glory will hold our regular in-person worship services—following the synod protocols recommended—on a weekly basis at the regular time 6:30 p.m.  Of course, should there be any significant changes with regard to the pandemic situation the Church Council will revisit the issue.

Thank you from Canadian Lutheran World Relief for your contributions to their various aid programs in Canada and throughout the world.

February, March and Year-to-Date Budget and Contribution Report for KOG

2022 Budget:  $48,854       Monthly Budget:  $4,071.17     Weekly Budget:  $939.50

2021 income/expenses: $7,868.83

January income/expenses: $7,868.83

Weekly contributions for February:  February 6: $103     February 13: $660 

February 20: $180   February 27: $1200

Weekly contributions for March:  March 6: $650 

St. David’s Trinity United Church

ST. PATRICK’S DAY STEW SUPPER   

Thursday, March 17^th

(Curbside Pick-up from 3:30-5:30)

Tickets: $15/meal includes 12 oz. beef stew, dinner roll, shamrock cookie

Gluten free options are available.  

Extra dinner rolls and cookies are provided for children’s shared meals.

You may order your tickets through Interac e-transfer to st.davidstrinityuc@sasktel.net or by cash or cheque during office hours

(catered by Mulberry’s Catering)

Lenten Mid-week services for the 7 ELCIC churches will again be on Zoom. 

The Zoom information including the link for our Lenten services is the same one as last year, which is the following:

Topic: Saskatoon 7 ELCIC Lenten services

Time: Wednesdays at 7:30 PM

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89600870712?pwd=YjlxOEE5bUFyUE81QUp0bGJpQXNKdz09

Meeting ID: 896 0087 0712

Passcode: 093604

Or phone:

       +1 647 374 4685 Then Meeting ID then Passcode

Meeting ID: 896 0087 0712

Passcode: 093604

Offerings.  

(Please no cash for mail security reasons)

Send your contributions to:  King of Glory Lutheran Church

    3318 Merritt Street

    Saskatoon, SK  S7M 3P6

Thank you for your generosity.

Checklist and Guidelines for Re-opening Worship Services

Disinfect/sanitize worship space and entrance etc before the service

One person preps worship materials [pastor]

Six feet distancing recommended

No sharing of pencils, pens, etc.

No serving of food or beverages

Try not to use the washrooms

Open doors and windows if possible

Use/wear face masks, but you may sing quietly recommended

Hand sanitizer available

No physical contact (e.g. sharing of the peace, no passing of offering plate)

Communion procedure: distribution in a way that maintains physical distancing

Disinfect/sanitize worship space and entrance etc after the service