Bulletin

Holy Cross Lutheran Church of Wartburg

5765 Maeystown Road – Waterloo, IL 62298

Pastor Dan Ostlund

Office: 618-939-7094 – cell 618-301-6358

Office: hcwartb@htc.net, Pastor: wartburg.pastor@gmail.com

Website: www.holycrosswartburg.com

Third Sunday in Lent

Our Service can be found on your radio at 87.9 FM

March 8, 2026

Guests Welcome! We are delighted that you are with us for worship this morning. Consider us your church home– at least for today. We hope we will see you again soon!

We celebrate Holy Communion: In this Supper of our Lord we receive the true body and blood of Jesus Christ under the earthly forms of bread and wine for the forgiveness of our sins and the strengthening of our faith. Since this Holy Communion is also a sign of how we commonly confess the Christian faith, we welcome to the Lord’s Table those who are confirmed members of congregations of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. If this is your first time communing with us, please speak with the pastor or an usher before the service begins. If you are a guest who has not been instructed concerning the Lord’s Supper and our church’s teaching, and desire to commune with us, we invite you to first attend our instructional classes.

Divine Service Setting 2 – page 167

Ringing of the Bell

Opening Hymn #684 Come unto Me, Ye Weary

Confession and Absolution

Please stand if you are able

The sign of the cross may be made by all in remembrance of their Baptism.

P In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C Amen.

P If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

C But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Silence for reflection on God’s Word and for self-examination.

P Let us then confess our sins to God our Father.

C Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment. For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the glory of Your holy name. Amen.

P Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C Amen.

Service of the Word

Introit Psalm 84:1–4; antiphon: v. 5

Blessèd are those whose strength is in you,
    in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
How lovely is your dwelling place,
    O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord;
    my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young,
    at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
Blessèd are those who dwell in your house,
    ever singing your praise!
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
    and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning,
    is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Blessèd are those whose strength is in you,
    in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

Kyrie LSB 168

A In peace let us pray to the Lord.

A For the peace from above and for our salvation let us pray to the Lord.

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.

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

A Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.

Gloria in Excelsis – omitted during Lent LSB 170

Salutation and Collect of the Day

P The Lord be with you.

C And also with you.

P Let us pray.

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 Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C Amen.

Sit

Old Testament Reading Exodus 17:1–7

1All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 3But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

A This is the Word of the Lord.

C Thanks be to God.

Gradual Hebrews 12:2

[O come, let us fix our eyes on] Jesus,
the founder and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Epistle Romans 5:1–8

1Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

A This is the Word of the Lord.

C Thanks be to God.

Please stand if you are able

Alleluia and Verse (Lent) LSB 173

Holy Gospel John 4:5–26

P The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the fourth chapter.

C Glory to You, O Lord.

5[Jesus] came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

7There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8(For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10Jesus 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.” 11The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

16Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

P This is the Gospel of the Lord.

C Praise to You, O Christ.

Sit

Hymn of the Day #849 Praise the One Who Breaks the Darkness

Sermon John 4: 5-26 “The Living Water We Need”

Please stand if you are able

Nicene Creed

C I believe in one God,

the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth

and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ,

the only-begotten Son of God,

begotten of His Father before all worlds,

God of God, Light of Light,

very God of very God,

begotten, not made,

being of one substance with the Father,

by whom all things were made;

who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven

and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary

and was made man;

and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.

He suffered and was buried.

And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures

and ascended into heaven

and sits at the right hand of the Father.

And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead,

whose kingdom will have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the Lord and giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son,

who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified,

who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church,

I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins,

and I look for the resurrection of the dead

and the life + of the world to come. Amen.

Prayer of the Church

Sit

Offering – “Jesus, Lamb of Calvary” – Women’s Choir

Please stand if you are able

Service of the Sacrament

If you are visiting and desire to receive Holy Communion, please see our

Communion statement on the front of our bulletin

Preface LSB 177

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.

P It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who overcame the assaults of the devil and gave His life as a ransom for many that with cleansed hearts we might be prepared joyfully to celebrate the paschal feast in sincerity and truth. Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You and saying:

Sanctus LSB 178

Lord’s Prayer LSB 179

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.

The Words of Our Lord

P Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said: “Take, eat; this is My + body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me.”

In the same way also He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying: “Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My + blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

Pax Domini LSB 180

P The peace of the Lord be with you always.

C Amen.

Agnus Dei LSB 180

Sit

Distribution

Distribution Hymns

#609 Jesus Sinners Doth Receive

#627 Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Savior

Dismissal

Please stand if you are able

Post-Communion Collect

A Let us pray.

O God the Father, the fountain and source of all goodness, who in loving-kindness sent Your only-begotten Son into the flesh, we thank You that for His sake You have given us pardon and peace in this Sacrament, and we ask You not to forsake Your children but always to rule our hearts and minds by Your Holy Spirit that we may be enabled constantly to serve You; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C Amen.

Benediction LSB 183

P The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.

The Lord look upon you with favor and + give you peace.

C Amen.

Closing Hymn #423 Jesus, Refuge of the Weary

Acknowledgments

Divine Service, Setting Two from Lutheran Service Book

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

OUR PRAYERS

For the sick and/or injured – Rich Brege (hospitalized), Howard Schmidt (cancer), Tiffany Schultheis (recovery from shoulder surgery), Jody Woodcock (recovering from surgery).

Karen Brewer (health concerns – Carl Brewer’s sister-in-law), Cindy Kerr (cancer – Arlene Baum’s niece), Bill Keel (hospice – brother-in-law of Arlene Baum and Howard & Mike Schmidt), David Marler (cancer – Rejona Reichert’s brother-in-law), Susan McFadden (cancer – friend of Pastor & Deb), Dave Moore (cancer- Ron Braun’s niece’s husband), Herb Phillips – (stroke- cousin of Connie Kostecki), Debbie Strickland (cancer – cousin of Sharon Brewer), Leo David Trost (many health challenges/born with scoliosis – grandson of Kathy Bollinger), Beth Vincent (ALS – friend of Kenny & Radar), Janice Whelan (surgery-friend of Ron & Pearl Braun).

For those in Nursing Homes, the home bound, and those unable to be

with us in worship.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Serving Today

Organist: Barb Boeder

Elder Asst: Greg Reinhardt & Rob Mallon

Ushers: Rob Mallon & Tyler Kostecki

Acolyte: Kelsey Crook

Altar Care: Pearl Braun/Rejona Reichert

Serving Wednesday March 11^th 7:00

Organist: Barb Boeder

Acolyte: Kegan Schultheis

Altar Care: Pearl Braun/Rejona Reichert

Serving Next Sunday March 15^th 9:00

Organist: Connie Kostecki

Ushers: Kerry & Doug May

Acolyte: Colton Glessner

Altar Care: Pearl Braun/Rejona Reichert

This Week at Holy Cross

Today 9:00 a.m. Worship Service

10:00 a.m. Fellowship

10:15 a.m. Bible Study/Sunday School

Monday Pastor Day Off

Wednesday 5:00 p.m. Confirmation Class

6:00 p.m. Choir Practice

7:00 p.m. Wednesday Lenten Service

Thursday 9:30 a.m. Quilting

Sunday, March 15^th 9:00 a.m. Worship Service

10:00 a.m. Fellowship

10:15 a.m. Bible Class/Sunday School

Birthday

Howard Schmidt Mar. 8 Loren Muskopf Mar. 13

Flowers on the altar are given in memory of Derrick DeWilde. Derrick went to his Heavenly home on March 9, 2020.

Join us during the season of Lent for our series entitled, “For Us.” Beginning on Ash Wednesday, through Lent, and on Easter we will focus on the hymn, “O Love, How Deep.” Our midweek Lent services are on Wednesdays at 7:00 pm.

“For us” is not simply a pithy line to use because it is easy to repeat. It is a confession of who God is and what He brings in giving us His Son. It helps us understand why God would send His Son to die for us.

The phrase “for us” also captures much of the Reformation’s theological emphasis—and Luther’s understanding of Scripture in particular.

Luther went from searching for a righteous God and finding only stern rebuke to seeing God in the form of a little baby and as the one who became one of us for us so that we might become like Him.

Our Lenten preaching series hymn “O Love, How Deep” (LSB 544) was originally a twenty-three-stanza poem written in the fifteenth century by an unknown author. In the nineteenth century, an Anglican cleric named Benjamin Webb translated the hymn into English and then chose six stanzas for use in English hymnody. The doxological stanza was added later.

Some hymns tell a story, others teach, and still others create pictures in our minds of the great works of God. Some hymns do all three, weaving together a tapestry that is beautiful yet simple, wondrous yet easy to understand. “O Love, How Deep” is that kind of hymn.

Although it does not appear in the first stanza, the most pointed and beautiful language in the hymn is expressed in the phrase “for us.” The phrase is reminiscent of the language of the Nicene Creed: “Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven.”

Did you know that our churches encourage the continuing use of private confession and absolution? The Augsburg Confession, Article 11 says, “Our churches teach that private absolution should be retained in the churches…” One may be asking, “Should I feel forced or compelled to confess my sins privately to the pastor?” By no means. This is one of the abuses taken out of confession and absolution during the Reformation. Never would we want to make law out of gospel. Never would we want to make mandatory something placed in the realm of Christian freedom. Privately confessing your sins simply allow the confessor to name the sin that is troubling him or her so that they may hear the pastor directly say to them, “Your sin is forgiven because of Jesus’ death.” Know also that whatever you confess before the pastor always remains completely confidential. Since Lent is a penitential season, I encourage you to stop by the church, or give me a call, to set up a time to avail yourself of this gift we have as Christians. Blessings in Christ, Pastor

Missing some items?

Please check the narthex for the LOST & FOUND items. There are some items collected that have been left behind in church. There is a small red checker jacket, 1 child’s cup, black glove and a Tiger cap.

Trinity Lutheran Church – 503 E. Washington Millstadt invites the community for their Annual Spaghetti Dinner today, March 8^th

10:30 am to 2:30 pm. The menu includes all-you-can-eat spaghetti, plus bread sticks, salad (Papa Vito’s salad dressing), dessert and beverages. Carry-outs is available. The cost is $13 adults, $5 for children (ages 4-10) and FREE for children ages 3 and under. The building is walker, wheelchair, and stroller friendly

Other options to donate to church is to use the QR code to make a

donation to support Holy Cross Lutheran Church of Wartburg.

Thank you!

If you have any questions, contact Kathy Reifschneider 618-444-2188

Or kreifschneider4@gmail.com

Other ways to gift to Holy Cross Lutheran Church of Wartburg

Donate stock

How to donate stock to Holy Cross Lutheran Church of Wartburg in 3 simple steps:

1. Holy Cross Lutheran Church of Wartburg has a brokerage account set up with Edward Jones. Our financial advisor is Adam Brewer 618-939-7153.

2. Our brokerage account number is xxx-xx148. Provide this information to your broker to initiate the transfer. Keep in mind that brokerage firms tend to be extremely busy with tax donations and other end-of-year items every December, so it’s wise to get started before then, if possible. It’s also important to remember to report your stock donation, which is considered a non-cash charitable contribution, to the IRS with Form 8283. 3. You should report the donation for the tax year in which it was made.

Read more about charitable giving in this article from Thrivent.