St Ansgar Lutheran Church, London

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Sunday Morning

We invite you to join us for the following worship services:

Sundays
10:30 a.m. Worship service

Hand sanitizer will be available at the entrance and other locations in the church for
your use.

Washrooms will be available for use.

In the service: The service will be shown on the screen. The offering will not be gathered and presented, but there will be an offering plate at the back of the sanctuary where you can put your offering as you enter or leave. Pastor David distributes the communion wafers and an Assisting Minister distributes wine or grape juice in individual glasses.

We have coffee and fellowship time available again in Luther Hall after the service.

We will continue to evaluate our worship service procedures on a monthly basis.

LENT 5, MARCH 22, 2026.

St. Ansgar Lutheran Church, Outline for Worship (with Sermon)
Sunday, March 22, 2026 – Fifth Sunday in Lent
ELW Holy Communion Setting 5

GATHERING

WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS

BRIEF ORDER FOR CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
P: Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God, who forgives all our sin,
whose mercy endures forever.
C: Amen.

P: Let us confess our sin before God, who removes our guilt and
blots out all offenses.

Silence is kept for reflection.

P: Gracious God,
C: have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.

P: For seeking worldly delights that deceive us and dishonour you:
Gracious God,
C: have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.

P: For desiring self-reliance instead of hungering for your word:
Gracious God,
C: have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.

P: For failing to recognize your coming reign, and for hindering
the work of the Spirit: Gracious God,
C: have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.

P: For drawing from the well of self-serving ambition, and for
disdaining the living water Christ offers: Gracious God,
C: have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.

P: For disregarding voices from the margin, and for distrusting signs
of your healing and hope in the world: Gracious God,
C: have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.

P: For dwelling in tombs of self-pity and discontent, and for disregarding
Christ’s call to come forth to life: Gracious God,
C: have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.

P: God’s steadfast love, grace, and forgiveness abound.
Through faith, the free gift of God, you have been clothed in the
righteousness of Christ.
In the name of ☩ Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. The Spirit of
the One who raised Christ from the dead dwells in you, pours God’s
love into your hearts, and gives you life and peace.
C: Amen.

ENTRANCE HYMN – Oh, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing (ELW #886)

GREETING
P: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion
of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
C: And also with you

KYRIE
A: In peace, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.

A: For the peace from above, and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.

A: 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.
C: Lord, have mercy.

A: For this holy house, and for all who offer here their worship and praise,
let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.

A: Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.
C: Amen.

PRAYER OF THE DAY
P: Let us pray.
P: Almighty God, your Son came into the world to free us all from sin and death.
Breathe upon us the power of your Spirit, that we may be raised to new life in
Christ and serve you in righteousness all our days, through Jesus Christ, our
Saviour and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and forever.
C: Amen.

WORD

FIRST READING: Ezekiel 37:1-14
1 The hand of the LORD came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit
of the LORD and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.
2 He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they
were very dry. 3 He said to me, "Mortal, can these bones live?" I answered,
"O Lord GOD, you know." 4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones,
and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5 Thus says the
Lord GOD to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.
6 I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover
you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know
that I am the LORD." 7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as
I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came
together, bone to its bone. 8 I looked, and there were sinews on them,
and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was
no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy,
mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the
four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live."
10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them,
and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. 11 Then he said to me,
"Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are
dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.' 12 Therefore prophesy,
and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am going to open your graves, and
bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the
land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your
graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 14 I will put my spirit
within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you
shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken and will act," says the LORD.

A: The word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.

Psalm 130
1 Out of the depths
I cry to you, O Lord;
2 O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.
3 If you were to keep watch over sins,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 Yet with you is forgiveness,
in order that you may be feared.
5 I wait for you, O Lord; my soul waits;
in your word is my hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord more that those who keep watch for the morning,
more than those who keep watch for the morning.
7 O Israel, wait for the Lord, for with the Lord there is steadfast love;
with the Lord there is plenteous redemption.
8 For the Lord shall redeem Israel
from all their sins.

SECOND READING: Romans 8:6-11
6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit
is life and peace. 7 For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile
to God; it does not submit to God's law-- indeed it cannot, 8 and those who
are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in
the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have
the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, though
the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who
raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through
his Spirit that dwells in you.

A: The word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
C: Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

GOSPEL
P: The Holy Gospel according to John 11:1-45
C: Glory to you, O Lord.

1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her
sister Martha. 2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped
his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent a message
to Jesus, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." 4 But when Jesus heard it, he said,
"This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's glory, so that the Son of
God may be glorified through it." 5 Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and
her sister and Lazarus, 6 after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two
days longer in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said to the disciples,
"Let us go to Judea again." 8 The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were
just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?" 9 Jesus answered,
"Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not
stumble, because they see the light of this world. 10 But those who walk at night
stumble, because the light is not in them." 11 After saying this, he told them,
"Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him."
12 The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right."
13 Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he
was referring merely to sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.
15 For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go
to him." 16 Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us
also go, that we may die with him." 17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus
had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem,
some two miles away, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to
console them about their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,
she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus,
"Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now
I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him." 23 Jesus said to her,
"Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise
again in the resurrection on the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the
resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live,
26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
27 She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of
God, the one coming into the world." 28 When she had said this, she went back
and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, "The Teacher is here and is
calling for you." 29 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him.
30 Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where
Martha had met him. 31 The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her,
saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that
she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 When Mary came where Jesus was
and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died." 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the
Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and
deeply moved. 34 He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him,
"Lord, come and see." 35 Jesus began to weep. 36 So the Jews said, "See how
he loved him!" 37 But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes
of the blind man have kept this man from dying?" 38 Then Jesus, again greatly
disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.
39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man,
said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days."
40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see
the glory of God?" 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward
and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 I knew that you always
hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that
they may believe that you sent me." 43 When he had said this, he cried with a
loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet
bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them,
"Unbind him, and let him go." 45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come
with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

P: The Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to you, O Christ.

SERMON
John 11:1-45
Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the prayers of our hearts,
always be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our Strength, and our Redeemer.
AMEN

There is something in today’s Gospel lesson that bothers me. There is
something about the way Jesus does things that is disturbing to my modern
sensibilities. In our Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus has just escaped
being stoned by the Jews in Jerusalem. A messenger from Bethany arrives
with a message telling Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” Mary and
Martha are asking Jesus to come before something more serious happens
to their brother Lazarus. But Jesus does not seem to be concerned at all
when he hears the news.
Rather than rushing off to Bethany, he stays where he is across the Jordan
River. For two more days Jesus does not move from where he has been
staying. By the time Jesus does make the two-day journey to Bethany,
Lazarus is already dead. Jesus arrived four days after the funeral. You can
sense the blame and anger in Mary and Martha’s voices when Jesus finally
arrives. “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died,”
Martha declared.
Why would Jesus delay in responding to their request for help? Why would
Jesus allow them to go through the suffering, grief, and anger before he
goes to them? Why would you do this to friends you love? Well, unlike Mary
and Martha, we hear the reason in verse 4. “This illness does not lead
to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be
glorified through it.”
As disturbing as some of us find this, Jesus is saying that there is something
about his glory that can only be revealed through our death and resurrection.
That resurrection is only possible if death comes first. Obviously, we must
die before we can have new life. Sometimes, suffering is necessary before
we can be reborn.
In his book, Why Christian? Douglas John Hall writes, “One of the objects
of our journey in life is that we learn true hope...true hope, not false hope
or cheap hope...And true hope as distinct from mere optimism, is given only
to those who had profound exposure to hope’s opposite – despair. Real
salvation needs a hope that is not afraid to have a dialogue with despair.”
True hope is born out of suffering and struggle.
Several years ago, I read a true story about a man who found a chrysalis –
a caterpillar cocoon waiting to become a butterfly. He placed it in a jar and
set it on his desk and waited for days for this butterfly to emerge. After many
days of waiting, he saw a change happening. The chrysalis began pulsating,
squirming. Something was finally struggling to break free. This went on for
hours, and the man began to feel bad for the butterfly. All the effort the
butterfly was making to pierce the cocoon. So, he gets out a pair of scissors
and makes a small cut in the cocoon, and soon out emerges a beautiful
butterfly sitting on his desk. But the butterfly could not fly because it is in the
struggle of the butterfly trying to break free from the chrysalis that its wings
develop all their strength. It is in that fight with the cocoon that the blood
spreads to the ends of the wings, enabling the butterfly to take flight.
Jesus is saying that something similar happens to us. Struggling, suffering,
and a kind of death must precede the strength we need to take flight.
In John12:24, Jesus says, “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat
falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies,
it bears much fruit.” What does this mean for us? It means that while we
often pray for a deeper relationship with God, it scares us. Because if
we pray for wisdom, we know we may face trials. If we pray for patience,
there may be something big for which we have to wait. If we ask to know
God’s grace and mercy, we may have to first fall flat on our face in failure.
If we pray for joy, we could possibly first have to trudge through despair.
Sometimes there is no easier way for God’s glory to be revealed in our life.
Is this because God is vindictive or desires to cause harm, evil, or injury
to others? Does God will tragedies in our lives just to teach us something?
Absolutely not! God not only promises to walk with us through any tragedies
that may happen to us, but God also promises to use those tragedies,
when they happen, for the sake of rebirth in our lives.
We all know what happens when Jesus is done being interrogated by Mary
and Martha. Jesus said, “Your brother will rise again.” Now Mary and Martha
know this. Martha said, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on
the last day.” Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who
believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and
believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Jesus is not just saying that he has the power, even at this point, to raise
Lazarus from the dead. Jesus is not just saying that he has the power to get
us into heaven when we die. Jesus is saying that “I am the resurrection and
the life, and when you believe in me, your eternal life begins now, in the
present, amidst the struggles and trials we are facing as we speak. This is
not just about some future reward. I came so that when you lose your job,
when your loved one dies, when tragedy strikes and overwhelms you,
when your family falls apart, when you are feeling depressed, or when
your child gets sick, that in all the deaths there will be resurrection.”
That no matter how dusty and death-like things look, as the prophet Ezekiel
says it, “These dry bones can live!” Because the times of suffering and grief
in our lives are more often than not times of God’s greatest creativity –
to reshape us, remold us, to bring new birth to our lives.
Perhaps there are hundreds of deaths and resurrections woven into our
lives. God’s glory will be more profoundly revealed in each of these deaths
and resurrections as God walks with us, as we, in true hope, grow stronger.
And so, we can trust that, even in seasons of struggle, God’s goodness will
be found in the here and now.
AMEN

Silence is kept for reflection.

HYMN OF THE DAY – What Wondrous Love Is This (ELW #666)

APOSTLES’ CREED
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
A: Reconciled by God’s mercy and sustained by God’s presence, let us pray
for the world and its needs.
A: God of our church, send forth your Spirit as we pray for our Bishops Larry
and Carla. Empower them with your wisdom to lead the church. We also pray
for the Thames Ministry area, especially Pastor Nadine Schroeder-Kranz and
the people of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Zurich. Hear us, O God.
C: Your mercy is great.

A: We pray for the church. Grant life and peace to all who gather in your name.
Breathe into us so that we may share your message of forgiveness, hope,
and love. Hear us, O God.
C: Your mercy is great.

A: We pray for creation. Renew landscapes that have dried up, prosper the work
of those who restore homes and habitats after natural disasters, and sustain
places where biodiversity thrives. Hear us, O God.
C: Your mercy is great.

A: We pray for the nations. Unbind leaders trapped by fear to act boldly for justice,
free all who live in places of war and violence, and guide refugees and asylum
seekers to safety. Hear us, O God.
C: Your mercy is great.

A: We pray for all people in need. Take away the stone of poverty that weighs
down so many. Console any who weep and heal all who are sick. We pray
especially for Beth, Jean, Mary Margaret, Kristine, Karen, Emma, Cathy, Lene,
Grethe, Lyra, Bud, Pastor Bob, and those others who are in our hearts.
Hear us, O God.
C: Your mercy is great.

A: We pray for this assembly. Open our hearts and spirits to remember
our baptism. Deepen our wonder at the mystery of your resurrection and life.
Hear us, O God.
C: Your mercy is great.

A: Merciful God, we pray for peace as war continues to rage in Ukraine and
in the Middle East. Shelter all living in fear; protect those seeking refuge in
neighbouring countries; sustain families separated by the horrors of war;
tend to those who are injured; comfort all who mourn their dead.
Direct your people into the way of peace. Hear us, O God.
C: Your mercy is great.

A: We offer our thanksgiving for all people who have died in faith. Give us faith
to trust in your power to redeem and save, and bring us up from our graves to
life in you. Hear us, O God.
C: Your mercy is great.

A: Receive our prayers, O God, through Jesus Christ, our strength and salvation.
C: Amen.

PEACE
P: The peace of Christ be with you always.
C: And also with you.

OFFERING PRAYER
A: O God, maker of heaven and earth, your steadfast love embraces
all creation. You send rain and sunshine to nourish the earth and bring
forth its bounty. Through these gifts of bread and wine, draw us into the
death and life of your Son, who calls us to bear witness to his saving work.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.
C: Amen.

LORD’S PRAYER
P: Lord, remember us in your kingdom and teach us to pray.
C: 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;
and 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.

BLESSING
P: Receive the blessing of the holy Trinity: God, who calls all things into
existence; Jesus Christ, who redeems us; and the Holy Spirit, whose breath
sustains creation, ☩ bless you now and always.
C: Amen.

SENDING HYMN - Abide with Me (ELW #629)

DISMISSAL
A: Go in peace. Believe the good news.
C: Thanks be to God.

DISMISSAL HYMN – Go Now in Peace
Go now in peace, never be afraid.
God will go with you each hour of every day.
Go now in faith, steadfast, strong and true.
Know He will guide you in all you do.
Go now in love, and show you believe.
Reach out to others, so all the world can see.
God will be there, watching from above.
Go now in peace, in faith, and in love.