Midweek Lenten Service - 7 PM Central Daylight Time

Bethany Lutheran Church, 

Springdale, Arkansas

MidWeek Lenten Service

7 PM Central Daylight Time

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

 

The Hymn #142          A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth                                 
The Order of Vespers                                             p. 41

The Psalmody               Psalm 23
The Lection                            The Passion History

The Sermon Hymn #153       Stricken, Smitten                   

 
The Prayers

The Lord’s Prayer

The Collect for Grace                                            p. 45

The Hymn #562            Round Me Falls the Night

Prayers and Announcements

• Medical concerns - Kermit Way, Pastor Jim Shrader and Chris, Sarah Buck, Lito Cruz.
• Pray for our country, the faithful, and our Constitution.
• Potential floods.

Midweek Message

More than once I have pointed out the 500 or more references to sheep and shepherds in the Bible. My graduate students love to respond to this, because it comes to us easily from the many examples.

Jesus said when He was being arrested. "The shepherd will be struck and the sheep scattered." Zechariah 13:7 Like many predictions, this was not fulfilled until the divine calendar was fulfilled.

The 23rd Psalm is well known -- and so is Isaiah 53.

KJV 53 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

We have the benefits and blessings of being so far away from the rugged days so close to the puzzling Scriptures.

That should quell our worries about the present and future, because so much has happened and God has fulfilled all His Promises.

In fact, we can look forward to His predictions and the fulfillment of His love in so many ways. If that was so much for the Good Shepherd to accomplish, how much more can He do now?

True enough - we do not know the future, but more importantly, we know the past from the Scriptures. Those Scriptures are honored and respected (not by every source but certainly by 50% of Bibles, the KJV). 

We have certainty in the midst of truth and divine Promises. That leaves behind the fake prophecies of pagans and the corrupted claims of the weak or unwilling. Weak to face the complete truth, unwilling to face the 100% revelation of God and the kindly Shepherd we call the Good Shepherd.

The characteristics of the Shepherd are clearly taught. 

1. Jesus prayed all the time; He was often urged to get His work done.
2. Jesus taught the righteousness of faith - condemned the world for not believing.
3. Jesus taught the adults to accept the qualities of children, "Let the children come to me."
4. Jesus performed miracles great and small, among the few and multitudes.
5. Jesus sought out the weak, burdened, and suffering - the Good Samaritan.
6. Jesus revealed His sense of humor many times. John 9 is a humor chapter.

Midweek Lenten Service - March 19, 2025

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 

7 PM Central Daylight Savings Time

The Hymn #463    For All the Saints         
The Order of Vespers                                                p. 41

The Psalmody                          Psalm 24                  p. 128
The Lections                            The Passion History

                                                 
The Sermon Hymn #63     On Jordan's Bank

The Sermon –    For All the Saints

 
The Prayers

The Lord’s Prayer

The Collect for Grace                                            p. 45

The Hymn #554         Now Rest Beneath Night's Shadows

 Norma A. Boeckler

For All the Saints

The hymn is one of those beautiful descriptions of life for the Christian believer. The first thing I consider is the span from newborn to great-grandparent, then in-between. That covers so many areas of life.

It is funny how "saint" gets set aside for many other titles and descriptions. The bad guys always say, "I'm no saint," and the famous people often become saints, which become titles of cities, which become sports teams.

The basic name is "holy," which is perfect as a description by itself - through Justification by Faith, gaining access to God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Thousands of seriously warped people teach others that every single person on earthhas already been forgiven, even that they are guilt-free saints in Hell (an awkward, foolish claim).

The glitterings of robes and special hats and expensive jewelry take away the meaning of holy or saint. All those expenses are the opposite of what Jesus taught and exemplified, because He had nothing - but gave away His healing and His forgiveness. Holiness is from the Son of God, and that makes us saints in belonging to Him.

Our nature is to earn, to achieve, but faith is receiving what the Savior pours out on us. Parents and grandparents and great-grandparents say, "What a treasure! What a blessing! Look at how fragile and yet strong this baby is!" Just as the baby listens and responds to the adults, so the believer has the same attitude toward the Good Shepherd. 

In faith we listen and learn, no matter how old we are. The big strong disciples wanted to keep the children away from the Master, but Jesus said, "Let the children come to Me and do not forbid them, for to such belongs the Kingdom of God."

The greatest strength is not our experience, or honors, or anything else, but trust in Him who created heaven and earth as the Word, the Logos, the Son of God. My neighbor wanted to find a special flower in the midst of all the daffodils. She got down and said, "It is very short and perfumed." She knew about where it was but could not see it. Today I looked again there it was, tiny, fragile, almost invisible - Hyacinth!

Who decided this flower would be perfumed and special? My version looks like nothing but I can drop the tiny ones into a little plastic cup and deliver a few.

We are experiencing an unusual windstorm. Tomorrow the long stretch on Joye street will be littered with the limbs that gave up. The smallest flowers now springing up will even be found around the fallen branches, and they will start the next step.

"For All the Saints Who from Their Labors Rest"
by William W. How, 1823-1897

Tune - Sine Nomine - linked here

1. For all the saints who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confess,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest,
Alleluia! Alleluia!

2. Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress, and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

3. Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old
And win with them the victor's crown of gold.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

4. O blest communion, fellowship divine,
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

5. And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

6. But, lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of Glory passes on His way.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

7. From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Alleluia! Alleluia!

8. The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon, to faithful warriors cometh rest.
Sweet is the calm of Paradise the blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

Hymn #463
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Heb. 12:1
Author: William W. How, 1864, cento
Composer: R. Vaughan Williams, 1906, arr.
Tune: "Sine nomine"