Zion Lutheran Church, Enola PA

ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH, ENOLA PA SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2021 10:15 am ... ANNOUNCEMENTS, JOYS, CONCERNS CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS We gather in the Triune name of God: who gives us their Word, whose promise makes us one people, who seals and delivers us. AMEN In this season of Lent, we hear the stories of how God has formed us out of dust and ash and promises into God’s own people. But time and again our commitment crumbles, and we are scattered by sin. Beloved, let us return to God, confessing what tears us apart so that God can put us back together. A brief silence. God, we confess that we have sinned. We have turned away from you, away from one another, into ourselves. We have allowed our love of you to be supplanted by the fear of other things: death, suffering, weakness, want. Our fear has fragmented the bond of our common humanity, so we do not love one another as you first loved us. Help us. Promise us that even this brokenness can be made well. Siblings in Christ, listen to this good news: God knew of our brokenness even before we knew it ourselves. In accordance with the ancient promise, God became dust: Jesus Christ came among us, to live and die and rise again. For his sake, God forgives us all our sins. For his sake, God renews all God’s promises. For his sake, God remakes us as the body of Christ for the sake of the world. Thanks be to God! SHARING OF THE PEACE Having been reconciled to God through our confession, let us be reconciled to one another. The peace of Christ be with you always. And also with you. We share a sign of peace with our fellow worshippers. APOSTOLIC GREETING The presiding minister and the congregation greet one other. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you always. And also with you. PRAYER OF THE DAY Let us pray. O Faithful God, give us the faith of Abram and Sarai, who said yes to a renaming that bound them to a promise you made but had not yet fulfilled. We too hold a promise, and wait for you to come again, to make all things well, to wipe away every tear from our eyes. Come, our Way, our Truth, our Life. AMEN FIRST READING: Romans 4:13-25 Paul presents Abraham as the example for how a person comes into a right relationship with God not through works of the law but through faith. Though Abraham and Sarah were far too old for bearing children, Abraham trusted that God would accomplish what God had promised to accomplish. A reading from Romans: 13The promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. 16For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, 17as it is written, I have made you the father of many nations)in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become the father of many nations, according to what was said, So numerous shall your descendants be. 19He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22Therefore his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness. 23Now the words, it was reckoned to him, were written not for his sake alone, 24but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification. The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. SECOND READING: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 As with Noah, God makes an everlasting covenant with Abraham and Sarah. God promises this old couple that they will be the ancestors of nations, though they have no child together. God will miraculously bring forth new life from Sarah’s womb. The name changes emphasize the firmness of God’s promise. A reading from Genesis: 1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. 2And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous. 3Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, 4As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 5No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 6I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 15God said to Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. SERMON HYMN OF THE DAY ELW #769 If You But Trust in God to Guide You 1. If you but trust in God to guide you with gentle hand through all your ways, you'll find that God is there beside you when crosses come, in trying days. Trust then in God's unchanging love; build on the rock that will not move. 2. What gain is there in anxious weeping, in helpless anger and distress? If you are in your Savior's keeping, in sorrow will he love you less? For Christ who took for you a cross will bring you safe through ev'ry loss. 3. The Lord our restless hearts is holding, in peace and quietness content. We rest in God's good will unfolding, what wisdom from on high has sent. God, who has chosen us by grace, knows very well the fears we face. 4. Sing, pray, and keep God's ways unswerving, offer your service faithfully. Trust heaven's word; though undeserving, you'll find this promise true to be. This is our confidence indeed: God never fails in time of need. APOSTLES’ CREED United in our faith in the Triune God, let us with the whole church confess our faith. 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 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 PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION / LORD’S PRAYER Each petition ends with: O God of grace, hear our prayer. The prayers conclude: Into your hands, God of abundant grace, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your mercy, through Jesus Christ, our Savior, who taught us to pray, saying Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever. AMEN BENEDICTION / DISMISSAL Leave this place, my friends, with the certain knowledge that our creating, redeeming and sustaining God goes with you, equipping you with wisdom and grace to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ. AMEN Marked with the cross of Christ, go forth to love and serve the Lord. Thanks be to God. COPYRIGHT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Hymns, scripture texts and portions of the liturgy found in Evangelical Lutheran Worship reprinted from sundaysandseasons.com, 2020 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #SA003732. Readings from Readings for the Assembly 1995, 1996, 1997 Augsburg Fortress. Citations from the Revised Common Lectionary 1992 Consultation on Common Texts. Scripture quotations from NRSV Bible, Copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Confession and Forgiveness and the Prayers of the Day for Lent used by permission of the authors by Barn Geese Worship and are licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, License #A-713091. All rights reserved.

We look forward to seeing you TOMORROW, Sunday, February 28, as Zion's family gathers to worship for the Second Sunday in Lent. Our Facebook page will go live ...at 10:10am. Here is the Zoom link for those who want to join us that way, beginning at 9:50 am (please note time). Worship begins at 10:15am. Pastor Gwenn Trout is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. (NOTE: This is a NEW Zoom meeting, so do not use previous ones!!) Topic: ZION ENOLA SUNDAY WORSHIP Time: Sunday, February 28, 2021 Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87040143451 To join by telephone, call (long distance) 1-301-715-8592, then enter the Meeting ID: 870 4014 3451

Pastor Gwenn Trout, Zion Lutheran Church, leads this first service of the "Wilderness Wanderings" series for the season of Lent sponsored by the Upper West Shor...e Ecumenical Ministerium. Today's topic is "God provides - even in the wilderness" and utilizes Exodus chapter 16. The YouTube link is below, or you can watch it on the Ministerium's facebook page, West Shore Ecumenical Ministerium. See more

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WEDNESDAY EVENING LENTEN SERVICES: You are invited to join our Lutheran siblings from St. Paul Enola, St. Stephen New Kingstown and St. Paul New Cumberland for ...an evening series during Lent. The services will be held via Zoom and Facebook Live at 7pm each Wednesday beginning tomorrow, February 24. These past months of the pandemic have taught us the importance of healing and wholeness of body, mind and spirit. But this same year has revealed the wide divisions among political parties, races, sexes, ideologies, and in many more ways. How can we address healing in those areas as well? This Lenten series, Healing and Hope, is based on Psalm 103 and will help us to pay attention to the many aspects of our lives together that are in need of God’s healing touch. February 24 Series Introduction Led by: Pastors Matthew Best, Pam Illick, Jennifer Richards, & Gwenn Trout & Ms. Carol Caring Here’s the link for worship https://us02web.zoom.us/j/410597064 You can also find it by going to St. Stephen's website (www.ststephenlc.org) and clicking on the icon for worship and it will connect you automatically.