APRIL 28, 2024

Hymn Sing      Supplemental Hymnal

     #   3     Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken

     # 68     O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

     # 81     You Are My All in All

Call to Worship

Hymn     # 428     O Worship the King          (Gray Psalter Hymnal)

Confession of Sin and Assurance of Pardon

“The Lord, the Lord, is a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” 

— Exodus 34:6-7a

Psalter     Psalm 23     (NRSVUE)          Mike Bergmann

1The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;

3he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.

4Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.

Prayer for Illumination                                                   

Old Testament Reading     Ezekiel 34:1-6, 11-16, 23-24, 31  

       34 The word of the LORD came to me: 2Mortal, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: To the shepherds—thus says the LORD GOD: Woe, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3You eat the fat; you clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatted calves, but you do not feed the sheep. 4You have not strengthened the weak; you have not healed the sick; you have 

not bound up the injured; you have not brought back the strays; you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and 

scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them.

       11For thus says the LORD GOD: I myself will search for my sheep and will sort them out. 12As shepherds sort out their flocks when they are among scattered sheep, so I will sort out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them into their own land, and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. 14I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the LORD GOD. 16I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strays, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.

       23I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them; he shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I the LORD have spoken.

       31You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, says the LORD GOD.

Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.

Congregation: Thanks be to God for His Word.

Anthem     Arise and Come to Jesus

Come ye sinners, poor and needy

Weak and wounded, sick and sore

Jesus ready stands to save you

Full of pity, love and pow’r

Chorus:

Arise and come to Jesus

He’ll embrace you in his arms

In the arms of our dear Savior

O there are ten thousand charms

Come ye thirsty, come and welcome

God’s free bounty glorify

True belief and true repentance

Every grace that brings you nigh

Come ye weary, heavy laden

Lost and ruined by the fall

If you tarry till you’re better

You will never come at all

Blessed are the eyes that see him

Blest are ears that hear his voice

Blessed are the souls that trust him

And in him alone rejoice

Children’s Sermon

Hymn     Insert     There Is a Fountain

New Testament Reading     John 10:1-21

       10 “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

       7So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who came before me are thieves and bandits, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

       11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

       19Again the Jews were divided because of these words. 20Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?” 21Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Sermon          Pastor Andrew Winter