St Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church

313 4th Street, Manistee, MI 49660

website: StPaulsManistee.com

facebook: SPLCManistee

Pastor Dennis Himm (810) 252-5821

March 8, 2026 Lent 3

EXACTLY WHAT I NEED: Water

WELCOME – We will be using the RED HYMNAL today.

HYMN 338 “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say” – please stand for last stanza

SERVICE OF WORD - page 38

PRAYER OF THE DAY:

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy, be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Sing) Amen.

FIRST LESSON: Exodus 17:1-7

In his grace, God gives undeserving people water from a stone.

1 The entire Israelite community set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin as the Lord had commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2So the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why are you quarreling with me? Why are you testing the Lord?” 3 But the people were thirsty for water there, so they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you ever bring us up out of Egypt to let us, our children, and our livestock die of thirst?” 4 Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me!” 5 The Lord said to Moses, “Go in front of the people, and take the elders of Israel with you. Also take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6Watch me. I will stand there in front of you on the rock in Horeb. You are to strike the rock. Water will come out of it, and the people will drink.” Moses did that in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He named the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

P: The Word of the Lord.

C: Thanks be to God.

SECOND LESSON: Romans 5:1-8

God’s love is poured into my heart like living water.

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we also have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice confidently on the basis of our hope for the glory of God. 3 Not only this, but we also rejoice confidently in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces patient endurance, 4and patient endurance produces tested character, and tested character produces hope. 5And hope will not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us. 6For at the appointed time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7It is rare indeed that someone will die for a righteous person. Perhaps someone might actually go so far as to die for a person who has been good to him. 8 But God shows his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

P: The Word of the Lord.

C: Thanks be to God.

VERSE OF THE DAY:

NOTE: Alleluias are omitted during the season of Lent.

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.”.

GOSPEL: John 4:5-26

Jesus calls a Samaritan woman to faith, providing living water for her soul.

4 He had to go through Samaria. 5So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the piece of land Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6Jacob’s well was there. Then Jesus, being tired from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8(His disciples had gone into town to buy food.)

9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” she said, “you don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do you get this living water? 12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his animals.” 13 Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I will give him will never be thirsty ever again. Rather, the water I will give him will become in him a spring of water, bubbling up to eternal life.” 15 “Sir, give me this water,” the woman said to him, “so I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16 Jesus told her, “Go, call your husband, and come back here.” 7“I have no husband,” the woman answered. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say, ‘I have no husband.’ 18 In fact, you have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 “Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews insist that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will not worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But a time is coming and now is here when the real worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for those are the kind of

worshippers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (the one called Christ). “When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.” 27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised that he was talking to a woman. Yet no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking to her?” 28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back into town. She said to the people, 29 “Come, see the man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” 30 They left the town and came to him. 31 Meanwhile, the disciples kept urging him, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But Jesus said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 Then the disciples said to each other, “Did anyone bring him something to eat?” 34 Jesus told them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘Four more months and the harvest will be here’? Pay attention to what I am telling you. Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are already ripe for harvest. 36 The reaper is getting paid and is gathering grain for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together. 37 Indeed in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap a harvest for which you did no hard work. Others have done the hard work, and you have benefitted from their labor.” 39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony: “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them. And he stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of his message. 42 They told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said. Now we have heard for ourselves. And we know that this really is the Savior of the world.”

P: The Gospel of the Lord.

C: (sung) Praise be to you, O Christ!

HYMN 339 “Today Your Mercy Calls Us”

SERMON: John 4:5-26 sermon by Circuit Pastor John Eich

APOSTLES’ CREED - page 41

PRAYER & LORD’S PRAYER (Traditional)

HYMN 339 “Today Your Mercy Calls Us”

PRAYER - page 43 C: (sung) Amen.

BLESSING - page 44 C: (sung) Amen. Amen. Amen.

BLESSING (sung) Amen. Amen. Amen.

HYMN 316 “O Jesus, Blessed Lord to Thee”

ANNOUNCEMENTS & REFRESHMENTS

THANKOFFERING BASKET BY DOOR

The members of St Paul's & the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) have joined together to

do the Lord’s work here and around the world. Our guests may but are not expected to participate in this offering which supports our church’s ministry.

PLEASE SIGN OUR GUEST BOOK IF YOU ARE VISITING.

It’s located in the entryway by the stairs going to the basement.

MIDWEEK LENTEN WORSHIP: You are cordially invited to join the members of Redeemer, Scottville, for their Wednesday Lenten worship service at 1:30 pm. This no luncheon this week.

Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version ® (EHV ®)