Author: Dennis Hacker

Philadelphia Lutheran Church
“Church of Brotherly Love”
March 22,2026
fifth Sunday in lent
52 Pinewood Road
Granite Falls, NC 28630
Pastor Leonard Bolick
Kim Ledford, Music Director Judy Parker, Organist

We welcome you to worship today! May God richly bless you as we worship together. If you are visiting for the first time, please sign the guest register in the front entrance of the church.

Gathering music
P: welcome and announcements
Prelude “andantino” franck

(Remain seated during the prelude.).

GATHERING: We have been gathered by the Holy Spirit.
*(As the music begins, we are invited to stand, facing the procession of the cross.)
*Gathering Hymn “restore in us, o god” Elw #328
*confession and forgiveness
(All may make the sign of the cross, the sign marked at baptism, as the minister begins.)
P: Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God,
who forgives all our sin,
whose mercy endures forever.
Amen.
Let us confess our sin before God, who removes our guilt
and blots out all offenses.
(Silence is kept for reflection.)
Gracious God,
have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.
For seeking worldly delights that deceive us and dishonor you:
Gracious God,
have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.
For desiring self-reliance instead of hungering for your word:
Gracious God,
have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.

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

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*(Denotes when congregation stands.)
(Bold italicized print denotes when congregation speaks.)

For failing to recognize your coming reign,
and for hindering the work of the Spirit: Gracious God,
have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.
For drawing from the well of self-serving ambition,
and for disdaining the living water Christ offers:
Gracious God,
have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.
For disregarding voices from the margin,
and for distrusting signs of your healing and hope in the world:
Gracious God,
have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.
For dwelling in tombs of self-pity and discontent,
and for disregarding Christ’s call to come forth to life:
Gracious God,
have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.
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.
Amen.

*Kyrie

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*Prayer of the Day
P: The Lord be with you.
And also with you.

(The congregation may be seated.)

Children’s message

first Reading Ezekiel 37: 1-14
Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones is a promise that Israel as a nation, though dead in exile, will live again in their land through God’s life-giving spirit. Three times Israel is assured that through this vision they will know that “I am the Lord.”
A reading from Ezekiel, the thirty-seventh chapter
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

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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.”
The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Second Reading romans 8: 6-11
For Paul, Christian spirituality entails living in the reality of the Holy Spirit. The driving force behind our actions and values is not our sinful desire for self-satisfaction but the very Spirit by which God raised Jesus from the dead and will also raise us from the dead.
A reading from Romans, the eighth chapter
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, then the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of

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righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Cantor: psalm 130 (sung 2 X 2; Cantor 2; Congregation 2)
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 than 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 plen- | teous redemption. 8 For the Lord shall | redeem Israel from | all their sins.

* Gospel Acclamation

Holy Gospel (The congregation may remain seated.) john 11: 1-45
Jesus is moved to sorrow when his friend Lazarus falls ill and dies. Then, in a dramatic scene, he calls his friend out of the tomb and restores him to life.
The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the eleventh chapter
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

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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.
Praise to you, O Christ

Sermon Pastor Leonard Bolick

*hymn of the day “what wondrous love is this” elw#666

P: And now as we respond to God’s Word, we confess our faith through the words of the Nicene Creed:

*Nicene Creed
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the virgin Mary, and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

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with the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Assisting Minister: Reconciled by God’s mercy and sustained by God’s presence, let us pray for the world and its needs.
(A brief silence.....we kneel or sit.)
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.
Your mercy is great.
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.
Your mercy is great.
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.
Your mercy is great.
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 (especially). Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.

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We pray for this assembly. Ready the hearts and spirits of all preparing to be baptized. Deepen our wonder at the mystery of your resurrection and life. Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
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.
Your mercy is great.
P: Are there any other prayer requests?
P: Receive our prayers, O God, through Jesus Christ, our strength and salvation.
Amen.

*Sharing of the Peace (We acknowledge one another with a bow or a nod...)
The peace of Christ be with you always.
And also with you.
Offering (You may remain seated.)
(Giving to those in need, is a sign of the giving of our whole selves.in grateful response for all God’s gifts.)
Offertory “jesus christ, our saviour” bach-dupre

*P: Lord's Prayer
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. (Assembly may sit.)

P*Blessing
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,
X bless you now and always.
Amen.

hymn: “the glory of these forty days” elw # 320

Lenten focus

Reflection pastor leonard bolick

Hymn “it is well with my soul” elw# 785

Dismissal-assisting minister
Go in peace. Believe the good news.
Thanks be to God.

Postlude “chorale-o sacred head, once wounded” bach-schreiner

The altar flowers are given to the Glory of God and in
honor of Dominic Clark’s Birthday by Mike & Malinda Clay

The sanctuary lamp is given to the Glory of God and in memory of George & Rebecca Smith by Revonda Heavner

Sunday Servants march 22nd
Assisting Minister..........................................................................................Leah Isley
Lay Reader......................................................................................................Leah Isley
Ushers ………………................................................James McGee & Rodney Setzer
Greeter.....................................................................................................James McGee
Acolyte………………..…………...............................................................Kelly Taylor
Crucifer.............................................................................................Amanda Pritchard
Tabulators………………...............................................................Ron & Lisa Herman
Altar Guild……..............……...................…........................Leah Isley & Malinda Clay
Presenters......................................................................... ............Dale & Stacie Myers
Children’s Message.................................................................................Katie Hamann

There will be a covered dish meal in the fellowship hall after the morning worship service today.

This Week’s Opportunities
Sunday 9:00 a.m. Sunday School
10:00 a.m. Worship
Covered dish meal in the fellowship hall following the
morning worship service.
Monday 10:00 a.m. Staff Meeting
Tuesday 5:00 p.m. Girl Scouts
Wednesday 10:00 AM Quilting
Thursday 6:00 p.m. Al-Afam
Friday 7:00 p.m. AA
Saturday 10:00 a.m. Al-Anon

Update to Easter Events
The men historically cook the Easter morning breakfast every year. James McGee is looking for volunteers to assist with preparing the meal. See James if you are interested.
The children will have an Easter egg hunt following the breakfast on Easter morning. Items needed for hunt: Individually wrapped candy or monetary donations for the purchase of candy. See Judy Parker if you have cash donations or any questions. There is a tub in the narthex for candy donations beginning today.

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 Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Amen

After the Epiphany#

Sunday ##