First Service
SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT
Born Anew from Above
March 1, 2026
AS WE GATHER
“Born again” has become a catch phrase in our age. It is not merely that Jesus says one must be born again but born from above. This new birth happens not from human will or desire but solely from the love and act of God working by the Spirit. Baptismal water is the womb through which we are born again and born from above to the life that death cannot overcome and is eternal. As we make our way through Lent, we are constantly reminded of the truth of Luther’s explanation: we cannot by our own reason or strength believe in Christ, our Lord, or come to Him. The Spirit calls us to the font, gathers the baptized around His Word and Table, delivers us from the darkness of unbelief, and makes holy those who belong to the Lord. Thanks be to God!
+ PREPARATION +
HYMN Sing Praise to God the Highest Good LSB 819
Sing praise to God the highest good The author of creation
The God of love who understood Our need for His salvation
With healing balm our souls He fills And every faithless murmur stills
To God all praise and glory
We sought the Lord in our distress O God in mercy hear us
Our Savior saw our helplessness And came with peace to cheer us
For this we thank and praise the Lord Who is by one and all adored
To God all praise and glory
He never shall forsake His flock His chosen generation
He is their refuge and their rock Their peace and their salvation
As with a mother’s tender hand He leads His own His chosen band
To God all praise and glory
INVOCATION
Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION Psalm 121:1–2, 8
Pastor: From where does my help come?
People: My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Pastor: The Lord will preserve your going out and your coming in,
People: from this time forth and forevermore.
Silence for meditation and reflection.
Pastor: O almighty God, merciful Father,
People: I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You and justly deserved Your punishment now and forever. But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them, and I pray You of Your boundless mercy and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor, sinful being. Forgive me all my sins and grant me the power of Your Holy Spirit that I may amend my sinful life.
Pastor: Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
Pastor: May He who began this good work within you bring it to completion on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
People: Amen.
+ WORD +
KYRIE
Pastor: In peace let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For the peace from above and for our salvation let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the church of God, and for the unity of all let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For this holy house and for all who offer here their worship and praise let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.
People: Amen.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Pastor: Let us pray. O God, You see that of ourselves we have no strength. By Your mighty power defend us from all adversities that may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts that may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT READING Genesis 12:1–9 (God’s call to Abraham and His promise that Abraham would become the father of a great nation)
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. 6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. 9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
EPISTLE Romans 4:1–8, 13–17 (Abraham and his heirs are declared righteous by grace through faith.)
What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as 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.
HOLY GOSPEL John 3:1–17 (Except a man be born anew, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.)
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE
HYMN God Loved the World So That He Gave LSB 571
God loved the world so that He gave His only Son the lost to save
That all who would in Him believe Should everlasting life receive
Christ Jesus is the ground of faith Who was made flesh and suffered death
All then who trust in Him alone Are built on this chief cornerstone
Be of good cheer for God’s own Son Forgives all sins which you have done
And justified by Jesus’ blood Your Baptism grants the highest good
Glory to God the Father Son And Holy Spirit Three in One
To You O blessed Trinity Be praise now and eternally
SERMON
NICENE CREED
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made: who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And he will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe one holy Christian and apostolic Church, I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
GREETING/ANNOUNCEMENTS
OFFERING
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
Pastor: Let us come before the throne of God’s grace in the name of Jesus and bid Him on behalf of ourselves and all people as they have need.
For grace that with Abraham our father, we trust in the Lord for all things and this faith be counted unto us as righteousness, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For grace to trust in our Baptism from above and for the Spirit to enable us to show forth the fruits of this new life in words and works all the days of our lives, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For grace to enjoy a good government and good leaders who do what is good and right and honorable in the sight of the Lord and for the pursuit of peace among the people in our land and across the world, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For grace to proclaim with courage the Good News of our Lord’s death and resurrection and for the Spirit to open the hearts of those who hear that they might believe in Him whom the Father has sent, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For grace upon every pastor and church worker that they faithfully fulfill their vocations and for the Lord to raise up many who will follow them into the Lord’s service, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For grace to provide for the widow and the fatherless, the single and the married, the sick and those who suffer, the grieving and the dying, [especially . . .], that in their need they know the comfort of God’s presence and have confidence in His mercy to supply all that they need for this life and for eternal life, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For grace to receive with ready hearts and in repentance all the blessings of this Holy Communion and that the body and blood of our Lord be kept in holy hearts and lives until we receive the heavenly food on high, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For grace to enjoy the good fruits of the earth with thankful hearts, for grace to be generous with those in need, and for grace to love our neighbors as ourselves, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: Remembering faithful Abraham who was counted righteous by faith and giving thanks for those who have gone before us with the sign of faith and now rest from their labors, we pray You to bring us at last with them into the place of eternal light and life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Lord, have mercy. Amen.