Witnesses to Christ: Nicodemus

Our journey following Jesus to the cross has ended. Christ’s work on the cross is finished. On this Holy Saturday, we wait, watch, and pray. Our attention this evening is focused on Jesus’ burial and coming resurrection. We watch as Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea bury Jesus in a new tomb. We see that Jesus’ words spoken to Nicodemus in John 3 are bearing fruit. Nicodemus has followed Jesus and is born again from above as a new creation. On this Easter Vigil, we remember our Baptism, and we remember when we were born again by water and the Spirit and made Christ’s new creation.

Service for Holy Saturday, the Vigil of Easter

Rev. Gregory Mech, pastor | April 16, 2022 | Immanuel Lutheran Church – Joplin, Missouri | 7:00 pm

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Special thanks to all who helped to make this broadcast possible today:
Rev. Gregory Mech, DCE Jason Glaskey, organist Betty Lingenfelter, Altar Guild, Board of Elders, and all of our volunteers!

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The Vigil of Easter

+ Service of Light +

INVOCATION

P In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C Amen.

INVITATION

P Beloved in the Lord, on this most holy night, our Lord Jesus passed over from death to life. This is the Passover of the Lord. 

COLLECT

P Let us pray.
O God, You are like a refiner’s fire, and Your Spirit enkindles the hearts of Your faithful people with the fire of Your love. Bless, we implore You, those who keep this joyful Easter festival that, burning with desire for life with You, we may be found rightly prepared to share in the Feast of Light which has no end; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C Amen.

P Christ Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, the beginning and the ending,
C the Alpha and the Omega.
P His are time and eternity; His are the glory and dominion, now and forever.
C By His wounds we have healing both now and forever. Amen.
P May the light of Christ, who is risen in glory from the dead, scatter all the darkness of our hearts and minds.
C Once we were in darkness, but now we are in the Light, even Jesus Christ, our Lord.

PREFACE DIALOGUE

P The Lord be with you.
C And also with you.
P Lift up your hearts.
C We lift them to the Lord.
P Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
C It is right to give Him thanks and praise.

EASTER PROCLAMATION

P It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places, with all our heart and mind and voice, praise You, O Lord, holy Father, almighty everlasting God, and Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. For He is the very Paschal Lamb who offered Himself for the sin of the world, who has cleansed us by the shedding of His precious blood. This is the night when You brought our fathers, the children of Israel, out of bondage in Egypt and led them through the Red Sea on dry ground. This is the night when all who believe in Christ are delivered from bondage to sin and are restored to life and immortality. This is the night when Christ, the Life, arose from the dead. The seal of the grave is broken and the morning of the new creation breaks forth out of night. Oh, how wonderful and beyond all telling is Your mercy toward us, O God, that to redeem a slave You gave Your Son. How holy is this night when all wickedness is put to flight and sin is washed away. How holy is this night when innocence is restored to the fallen and joy is given to those downcast. How blessed is the night when man is reconciled to God in Christ. Holy Father, accept now the evening sacrifices of our thanksgiving and praise. Let Christ, the true light and morning star, shine in our hearts, He who gives light to all creation, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C Amen.

The Pascal Candle is carried into the church. We find our seats.

+ Service of Holy Baptism +

BAPTISMAL ADDRESS

P On this holiest of nights, the whole Church of our Lord Jesus Christ recalls His death and burial, rejoicing with great joy in the Gospel of His glorious and mighty resurrection from the dead. The apostle Paul says:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

THE FLOOD PRAYER

P Let us pray.
Almighty and eternal God, according to Your strict judgment You condemned the unbelieving world through the flood, yet according to Your great mercy You preserved believing Noah and his family, eight souls in all. You drowned hard-hearted Pharaoh and all his host in the Red Sea, yet led Your people Israel through the water on dry ground, foreshadowing this washing of Your Holy Baptism. Through the Baptism in the Jordan of Your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, You sanctified and instituted all waters to be a blessed flood and a lavish washing away of sin.

We pray that You would behold us all according to Your boundless mercy and bless us with true faith by the Holy Spirit, that through this saving flood all sin in us, which has been inherited from Adam and which we ourselves have committed since, would be drowned and die. Grant that we be kept safe and secure in the holy ark of the Christian Church, being separated from the multitude of unbelievers and serving Your name at all times with a fervent spirit and a joyful hope, so that, with all believers in Your promise, we would be declared worthy of eternal life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
C Amen.

PROFESSION OF FAITH The Baptismal Creed

P Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth?
C Yes, I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
P Do you believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son?
C Yes, I believe in Jesus Christ, His 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 into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
P Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?
C Yes, I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
P Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.

Worshipers may choose to come to the font to anoint their foreheads with the sign of the cross. 

BLESSING

P The almighty God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given you the new birth of water and of the Spirit and has forgiven you all your sins, strengthen you with His grace to life everlasting.
R Amen.

THE PEACE

P Peace be with you.
C Amen.

+ Service of Prayer +

LITANY OF THE RESURRECTION

A O Lord,
C have mercy.
A O Christ,
C have mercy.
A O Lord,
C have mercy.
A Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
C hear us.
A Paschal Lamb, who was offered for us and has taken away the sin of the world,
C have mercy on us.
A Who was crucified for our transgressions and raised for our justification,
C have mercy on us.
A Who foretold Your passion, saying, “The Son of Man must be crucified and on the third day rise again,”
C have mercy on us.
A Who destroyed death by dying, and by rising to life again brought life and immortality to light,
C have mercy on us.
A Whose resurrection was first announced by an angel to the women,
C have mercy on us.
A Who appeared to Mary Magdalene and was worshiped by her,
C have mercy on us.
A Who revealed Yourself to the two disciples on the Emmaus road and made Yourself known to them in the Scriptures and in the breaking of the bread,
C have mercy on us.
A Who appeared to the disciples, bestowing on them Your peace and Your Spirit,
C have mercy on us.
A Who showed Your wounded hands and side to the apostle Thomas that he too might believe,
C have mercy on us.
A Who appeared to seven disciples on the Sea of Tiberias, bringing a miraculous catch of fish,
C have mercy on us.
A Who appeared to Peter and to the Twelve, to over five hundred disciples, to James and to all the apostles, and to Paul on the Damascus road,
C have mercy on us.
A Who commissioned Your Church to make disciples of all nations by baptizing and teaching them,
C have mercy on us.
A By Your glorious resurrection from the dead,
C good Lord, deliver us.
A By Your victory over sin and death,
C good Lord, deliver us.
A By the majesty of Your risen body,
C good Lord, deliver us.
A We poor sinners implore You
C to hear us, Lord Jesus.
A That we may daily die and rise with You in our Baptism and walk in the freedom of Your forgiveness,
C grant us, good Lord.
A That we may set our minds on things above and not on earthly things, serving others as we have been served by You,
C grant us, good Lord.
A That we may dwell with You forever in the new creation as citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, together with all the saints,
C grant us, good Lord.
A Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,
C have mercy on us.
A Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,
C have mercy on us.
A Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,
C grant us Your peace.
A O Lord,
C have mercy.
A O Christ,
C have mercy.
A O Lord, 
C have mercy. Amen.

+ Service of the Word +

EASTER ACCLAMATION

P Alleluia! Christ is risen!
C He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

HYMN OF PRAISE LSB, p. 171

C This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia.
Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain, 
    whose blood set us free to be people of God.

Power and riches and wisdom and strength 
      and honor and blessing and glory are His.
This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia.

Sing with all the people of God, 
    and join in the hymn of all creation:
Blessing and honor and glory and might 
    be to God and the Lamb forever. Amen.
This is the feast of victory for our God.

For the Lamb who was slain has begun His reign. Alleluia, alleluia.

SALUTATION AND COLLECT OF THE DAY

P The Lord be with you.
C And also with you.

P Let us pray.
O God, You made this most holy night to shine with the glory of the Lord’s resurrection. Preserve in us the spirit of adoption which You have given so that, made alive in body and soul, we may serve You purely; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C Amen.

OLD TESTAMENT READING Isaiah 43:16–21

P The Old Testament Reading is from Isaiah, the forty-third chapter.

¹⁶Thus says the Lord,
who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,
¹⁷who brings forth chariot and horse,
army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
¹⁸“Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
¹⁹Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
²⁰The wild beasts will honor Me,
the jackals and the ostriches,
for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to My chosen people,
²¹the people whom I formed for Myself
that they might declare My praise.”

P This is the Word of the Lord.
C Thanks be to God.

EPISTLE 2 Corinthians 5:14–19

P The Epistle is from Second Corinthians, the fifth chapter.

¹⁴For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; ¹⁵and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.

¹⁶From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard Him thus no longer. ¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ¹⁸All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

P This is the Word of the Lord.
C Thanks be to God.

HOLY GOSPEL John 19:38–42

P The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the nineteenth chapter.
C Glory to You, O Lord.

³⁸After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away His body. ³⁹Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. ⁴⁰So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. ⁴¹Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. ⁴²So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

P This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C Praise to You, O Christ.

SERMON

PRAYER  

P Deliver us, Lord, from every evil of body and soul, and keep us steadfast in faith and fervent in hope, that while we await His coming in power and glory to finish His new creation, we may endure in hope and be persistent in prayer, calling upon You as He has taught us:

LORD’S PRAYER

PAX DOMINI

P The peace of the Lord be with you always.
C Amen.

COLLECT

P Let us pray.
Blessed Lord, You made the night day and released the captive from their death of sin through the glorious resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ. As He has trampled death and opened the grave, grant to us grace that we may no more live as children of darkness but of the light in Christ; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C Amen.

BLESSING

A Let us bless the Lord.
C Thanks be to God.

P The almighty and merciful Lord, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, bless and preserve you.
C Amen.

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