St Paul’s

Evangelical Lutheran Church

313 4th Street, Manistee, MI 49660

www.StPaulsManistee.com

facebook.com/SPLCManistee

March 9, 2025 Lent 1

ONE STANDS; EVERYONE ELSE SITS

WELCOME

HYMN 416 “How Firm a Foundation, O Saints of the Lord”

(Please stand for last stanza)

SERVICE OF THE WORD - pages 38-44

PRAYER OF THE DAY:

Lord our strength, the battle of good and evil rages within and around us, and our ancient foe tempts us with his deceits and empty promises. Keep us steadfast in your Word, and when we fall, raise us up again and restore us 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: 1 Samuel 17:4-11,32-40,45-51

One warrior from each nation stood and fought while everyone else sat. David’s victory over Goliath is as much a spiritual victory as a military one, for it teaches us that the battle is the Lord’s.

4A challenger who represented the Philistines came out from the camp of the Philistines. He was named Goliath of Gath. He was nine feet, six inches tall. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he wore scaled body armor, which was made of more than one hundred pounds of bronze. 6 He had bronze greaves on his shins and a bronze spear slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spearhead was made of fifteen pounds of iron. His shield bearer went out ahead of him. 8 He would stand up and shout to the armies of Israel, “Why have you come out to line up in battle formation? I am a Philistine, and you are servants of Saul, aren’t you? Choose a man to represent you, and let him come down to me. 9If he is able to fight with me and kill me, we will be your servants. But if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our servants, and you will serve us.” 10 The Philistine would say, “I defy the ranks of Israel today! Give me a man, and we will fight each other!” 11When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified….32 David said to Saul, “Do not let anyone lose heart because of this Philistine! Your servant will go and fight him.” 33 But Saul said to David, “You cannot go against this Philistine to fight with him, because you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior since he was a youth.” 34 David said to Saul, “Your servant has been taking care of his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after it and struck it and rescued the lamb out of its mouth. When the lion reared up against me, I grabbed it by its mane, struck it, and killed it. 36 Your servant struck both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has defied the ranks of the living God.” 37 David added, “The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go then! May the Lord be with you.” 38 So Saul dressed David in his own gear. He placed a bronze helmet on his head and dressed him in scaled body armor. 39 David strapped his sword over his gear. David tried to walk around in them, since he had never trained with this kind of equipment before. David said to Saul, “I cannot go in these, because I have never trained with them.” So David took them off. 40 Then David took his staff in his hand and picked five smooth stones out of the stream bed and put them into the pouch of his shepherd’s bag. He took his sling in his hand and approached the Philistine….45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Armies, the God of the ranks of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 Today the Lord will hand you over to me. I will strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth. Then all the earth will know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and all those gathered here will know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear, for the battle belongs to the LORD, and he will deliver you into our hand.” 48 Then, when the Philistine started advancing to attack David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 David put his hand into his bag, took a stone from it, shot it from his sling, and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown to the ground. 50 So David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone. He struck the Philistine and killed him, even though David did not have a sword in his hand. 51 So David ran, stood over the Philistine, took hold of his sword, drew it out of its sheath, killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52 The men of Israel and Judah got up, cheering loudly, and pursued the Philistines toward the entrance of the valley, all the way to the gates of Ekron. Fatally-wounded Philistines lined the road from Sha’araim all the way to Gath and Ekron. 53When the Israelites returned from pursuing the Philistines, they plundered their camp. 54 David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put the Philistine’s armor and weapons into his tent.

P: The Word of the Lord.

C: Thanks be to God.

PSALM 91 – page 100

Keep me, keep me as the apple of your eye. Hide me, hide me in the shadow of your wings.

SECOND LESSON: Hebrews 4:14-16

Jesus has stood in our place, facing every temptation that we have faced. Yet he did not sin.

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest, who has gone through the heavens, namely, Jesus the Son of God, let us continue to hold on to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin. 16 So let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

P: The Word of the Lord.

C: Thanks be to God.

VERSE OF THE DAY:

It is written: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”

GOSPEL: Luke 4:1-13

Weak and in the wilderness, Jesus stands against Satan’s temptations. He overcomes them, winning the victory for us.

1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2 where he was tempted by the Devil for forty days. He did not eat anything during those days. When they came to an end, he was hungry. 3 The Devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 4Jesus answered him, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’” 5 The Devil led him up to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 The Devil told him, “I will give you all this power and the glory of these kingdoms, because it has been entrusted to me, and I can give it to anyone I want. 7So, if you worship me, it will all be yours.” 8Jesus answered him, “It is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” 9 The Devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here, 10 because it is written: He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you. 11And, they will lift you up with their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” 12 Jesus answered him, “It says: ‘You shall not test the Lord your God.’” 13When the Devil had finished every temptation, he left him until an opportune time.

P: The Gospel of the Lord.

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

HYMN 359 “Jesus, My Great High Priest”

SERMON: Hebrews 4:14-16 “Serving on Your Behalf”

APOSTLES’ CREED - page 41

PRAYER & LORD’S PRAYER

HYMN 200 “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”

PRAYER - page 43 C: Amen. (sung)

BLESSING - page 43 C: Amen. Amen. Amen. (sung)

HYMN 203 “Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word”

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.

LENTEN WEDNESDAY WORSHIP – We will be joining the members of Redeemer, Scottville, for their Lenten series, “Reflection on Repentance.” Based on Psalm 51. Lunch begins at 12:30 with worship at 1:30 p.m.

BIBLE INFORMATION CLASS: Do you have the desire to learn more about God and the Bible? Are you interested in church membership? Then Pastor Himm has a class for you. It is free and there is no obligation. Contact Himm to set up a time for you.

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