March 29 | Lent 5

Above: Take Away the Stone  © 2010 John August Swanson | Eyekons

 

 

Gathering

 

Greeting

 

 

Call to Worship

Come to the Lord, who is rich in grace;
approach our God, who is full of mercy.
Praise God with all your heart
and glorify the name of the Most High forever.

Friends, our God has not left us alone.
Hold fast and believe in the God who is even now drawing us closer to himself.

 

 

Sing: Come Ye Sinners​

 

 

 

Sing: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty​

 

 

 

Call to Confession

In these days we see clearly how broken the world is,
and how vulnerable we all are to enemies we can’t even see.
An invisible virus has traveled the globe and infected hundreds of thousands of people,
disrupting lives and markets and livelihoods.
Many are afraid. Some are lashing out in anger; others are hiding in despair.
Who will call out to the Lord
and wait for the deliverance he has promised?

Psalm 130 gives us language for days like today.
Let’s listen together to the words of this psalm,
and confess to the Lord how we need him.

 

 

Prayer of Confession

Out of the Depths (Psalm 130) – Karl Digerness

 

 

Out of the depths I cry to Thee, oh Lord please hear my call
O Lord be merciful to me, at Thy throne of grace I fall

Out of the woeful depths I cry, from the depths of sin
Of evil done in days gone by, of evil now within

If Thou oh Lord should mark iniquities
Lord who could then draw near?
But here I find forgiveness with Thee that Thou may be feared

Lord from the depths I wait for Thee, my hope is in Thy Word
All through the night ’till day is nigh, my soul waits upon the Lord

Lord here I find Thy mercy now, as ever was with Thee
Before Thy throne of grace I bow Lord be merciful to me

O Israel cast your hope upon the Lord and in His Word do trust
He will redeem you from your sin and raise you from the dust

 

 

Words of Assurance

 

 The people of Israel lived in slavery – and the Lord delivered them.
They wandered lost in the desert for 40 years – but the Lord delivered them.
The nation of Israel was destroyed and thrown into exile. They mourned by the waters of Babylon – and the Lord delivered them.
Behold, the Lord has not let us out of his grasp.
He has proven his faithfulness again and again.
Wait for the Lord in faith! The Lord will restore us.

 

 

 

Word

Old Testament Reading: Ezekiel 37:1-14

The Valley of Dry Bones

37 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ² He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. ³ He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! ⁵ This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. ⁶ I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸ I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin 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 it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

¹¹ Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. ¹⁴ I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”

 

 

 

 

Gospel Reading: John 11:1-45 (NIV)
Click here to hear Johnny Cash read the passage (NKJV)

The Death of Lazarus

11 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ² (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) ³ So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

⁴ When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” ⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, ⁷ and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

⁸ “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”

⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. ¹⁰ It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

¹¹ After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

¹² His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” ¹³ Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

¹⁴ So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, ¹⁵ and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

¹⁶ Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus

¹⁷ On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁹ and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. ²⁰ When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

²¹ “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴ Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶ and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷ “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

²⁸ After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” ²⁹ When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

³² When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ³⁴ “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

³⁵ Jesus wept.

³⁶ Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead

³⁸ Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ³⁹ “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

⁴⁰ Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

⁴¹ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

⁴³ When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

⁴⁵ Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

 

 

Message: The Resurrection Parade

 

 

Explore Second Line
(you really should!)

 

 

Sing: And Can It Be

 

 

 

 

Prayer

Take time to pray for the needs of those gathered and the needs of the world. ​
Consider structuring your prayer in the following way: ​

• Offer a request or praise aloud, concluding with the words, “Lord in your mercy,”​
• And let the others respond, “Hear our prayer.”​

Or simply designate a family member to pray on your behalf.

As you close in prayer, reflect on the words the Lord gave to Ezekiel:
“Thus says the Lord your God: I am going to open your graves,
   and bring you up from your graves, O my people.”  — Ezekiel 37:12

 

 

Blessing

May God go before you to guide you.
May God go behind you to protect you.
May God go beneath you to support you, and beside you to befriend you.
Do not be afraid.
May the blessing of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
settle in among you and remain with you always.
Do not be afraid, But go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

Amen.

 

Sing (or dance): You Are Good  

 

 

Lord, You are good
And Your mercy endureth forever
Lord, You are good
And Your mercy endureth forever

People from every nation and tongue
From generation to generation

We worship you
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
We worship you for who you are

We worship you
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
We worship you for who you are
Who you are, who you are

You are good all the time
All the time You are good
You are good all the time
All the time You are good

 

 

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Other Resources

Lazarus Craft from Emily Bierma:

The story of Lazarus is an amazing miracle and I am so excited Pastor Laura is teaching us about it today. There is so much more to this story than just the resurrection of a dead guy. It reminds us when Jesus rose from the dead himself. We can see in this story that sometimes we don’t really understand what God is doing and sometimes things are hard… just like it was for Mary and Martha… but we have to remember that GOD IS ALWAYS AT WORK!

So… let’s do a craft together!

Supplies:

• Paper plate
• Markers or crayons
• Strips of paper or a paper bag
• Glue or a stapler
• Scissors

Directions:

1. Take your paper plate and cut eye holes in it to make a mask. Have a parent help you if needed.
2. Color one side of the plate to look like a rock
3. Flip to the other side and use strips of paper to show how Lazarus was wrapped in strips of cloth.
4. Now hold it up to your face with the rock side facing out. Then say, “Lazarus, come out!” just like Jesus did. Flip the paper plate over. and say Lazarus was resurrected.

Talk with your parents and family about how even when things are rocky… God is at work!!

Songs

• Mahalia Jackson sings When the Saints Go Marching In
• At the Name of Jesus
• Eternal Weight of Glory