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Amazing
Grace
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A Series of Services
for Lent, Holy Week
and Easter
LEADER’S GUIDE
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Amazing
Grace
A Series of Services for Lent, Holy Week and Easter
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Leader’s Guide
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Amazing
Grace
A Series of Services for Lent, Holy Week and Easter
Index
Notes......................................................................................................................................................5
Newsletter/Bulletin Notices....................................................................................................... 6-15
Ash Wednesday Service: Amazing Grace for the Repentant.............................................16-50
Week 1: Amazing Grace for the Tempted............................................................................. 51-79
Week 2: Amazing Grace for the Healed............................................................................. 80-104
Week 3: Amazing Grace for the Free................................................................................. 105-129
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Week 4: Amazing Grace for the Filled.............................................................................. 130-154
Week 5: Amazing Grace for the Faithful...........................................................................155-179
Palm Sunday Service: Amazing Grace for the World.....................................................180-209
Maundy Thursday Service: Amazing Grace for the Servant......................................... 210-242
Good Friday Service: Amazing Grace for the Thief.......................................................243-272
Easter Sunday Service: Amazing Grace for the Grieving..............................................273-305
Music Guide........................................................................................................................... 306-407
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Amazing
Grace
A Series of Services for Lent, Holy Week and Easter
Notes
In this 10-service Amazing Grace series for Lent, Holy Week and Easter on CD-ROM, parishioners
will listen in each week as witnesses of the Passion of Christ tell of the ways in which they observed,
experienced and encountered the amazing grace of God found in Christ and his cross. Each service
includes a dramatic monolog that serves as a first-person account of God’s grace in action, which
parishioners can apply to their own lives of faith as they reflect on the life, death and resurrection of
Christ during this sacred season.
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The CD includes a .pdf of the entire series, text of the orders of service, prayers, monologs, sermons,
children’s sermons, and hymns in .rtf (rich text format) and PowerPoint documents of all ten services
with text (with a copyright release) for use on screens.
By Don Neidigk. Cover image: Shutterstock. © 2015 Creative Communications for the Parish, 1564 Fencorp Dr., Fenton, MO 63026. 800-325-9414.
www.creativecommunications.com. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.
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Amazing
Grace
A Series of Services for Lent, Holy Week and Easter
Week One Service
Amazing Grace for the Tempted
Complete Script For Worship Leaders
• The Theme Verse is read silently by the congregation before the service or aloud by the
pastor at the start of the service:
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Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
Matthew 4:10
• The Invocation and Opening Statements are read responsively by the pastor and the
congregation:
PP In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit,
CC Amen.
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PP He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
CC He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge.
PP When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble.
CC With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.
• The Opening Hymn is sung by the congregation to the tune Munich 76 76 D:
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I lay my sins on Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God;
He bears them and frees us from the accursed load.
I bring my guilt to Jesus to wash my crimson stains
Clean in his blood most precious till not a spot remains.
I lay my wants on Jesus; all fullness dwells in him;
He heals all my diseases; my soul he does redeem.
I lay my griefs on Jesus, my burdens and my cares;
He from them all releases; he all my sorrows shares.
I rest my soul on Jesus, this weary soul of mine;
His right hand me embraces; I on his breast recline.
I love the name of Jesus, Immanuel, Christ the Lord;
Like fragrance on the breezes his name abroad is poured.
• The Confession is spoken responsively by the pastor and the congregation:
PP With humble and repentant hearts, let us confess our sins unto God our Father.
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CC O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me,
O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is
greatly troubled. But you, O Lord—how long? Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the
sake of your steadfast love. For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give
you praise? I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my
couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my
foes.
• The Absolution is spoken responsively by the pastor and the congregation:
PP Our Lord Jesus said, “If you forgive the sins of anyone they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness
from anyone, it is withheld.” On the basis of your confession and the Lord’s promise, I forgive you all
your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
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CC Amen. Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my
weeping. The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer.
• The Prayer of the Day is read by the pastor:
PP Let us pray. Father in heaven, we celebrate your amazing grace! Your Son Jesus Christ struggled with
temptation as we do, yet did not sin. Through faith in his name, his victory is ours. By the power of
your Spirit, move us to serve you with sincere and repentant hearts. For this we offer you praise and
thanks in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Savior, who is ever one God with you and the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
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• The Old Testament Reading, Genesis 3:1-15, is spoken by the pastor or other worship
leader:
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PP Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the
woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You
shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest
you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when
you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when
the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the
tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her
husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they
were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the
sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid
themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God
called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the
garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you
were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The
woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God
said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me,
and I ate.” The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all
livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the
days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her
offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
• The Epistle Reading, Hebrews 4:14-16, is spoken by the pastor or other worship
leader:
PP Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let
us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then
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with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in
time of need.
• The Gospel Reading, Matthew 4:1-11, is spoken by the pastor or other worship leader:
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PP Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting
forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the
Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil
took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the
Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to
him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took
him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he
said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him,
“Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you
serve.’” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
• The Children’s Sermon is delivered by the pastor or other worship leader:
Items needed: baseball-size stones, enough fresh dinner rolls for each child
PP Hello, everyone! Right now we are in the season of Lent, the weeks before Holy Week and Easter.
Lent is a time to remember how Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead. Lent is also a time
to be sorry for our sins and follow Jesus. But Satan often tempts us to sin. So thank God, Jesus was
tempted in our place and won the battle against Satan for us!
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Just before Jesus began teaching and healing people, he went out into the desert to pray and get ready
for his work. He fasted—that means he didn’t eat—for 40 days, trusting God to take care of him.
There was no food in the desert. That’s when the devil came to him and said to Jesus, “If you are the
Son of God, command these stones to become bread.” Jesus really was the Son of God. He didn’t have
to prove that to the devil. And he could turn rocks into bread if he wanted to. After all, Jesus made
the rocks.
Take this rock, for example. (Show the rock.) Jesus could turn it into a loaf of bread. But Jesus was
taking our place in the desert. If he failed, we would fail with him. If he won, we would win with
him. Jesus won! He told the devil, “Man does not live on bread alone but by every word that comes
from the mouth of God.”
Now, through faith in Jesus, his victory is our victory. Because Jesus won, we are winners too! When
all the temptations were over, and Jesus had beat them all, the devil left Jesus, and angels came and
helped him. I wonder if they brought him food? We don’t know about that, but I did bring some food
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for you. (Give everyone a dinner roll.) This bread can remind you that even though Jesus was tempted
by the devil, Jesus defeated him for us all. You can eat your roll with a happy heart knowing that
because Jesus won, the devil will always lose. Through faith in Jesus, we are winners.
Let’s pray: Thank you, Jesus, for facing temptation for me. You took on the devil and won. When I
am tempted and fail and sin, please forgive me. Help me trust you in everything. In your name I pray.
Amen.
• The Sermon Hymn is sung by the congregation to the tune Meinem Jesusm Lass’ Ich
Nicht (Darmstadt) 78 78 77:
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Jesus sinners doth receive; oh, may all this saying ponder
Who in sin’s delusions live and from God and heaven wander!
Here is hope for all who grieve: Jesus sinners doth receive.
We deserve but grief and shame, yet his words, rich grace revealing,
Pardon, peace and life proclaim; here our ills have perfect healing.
Firmly in these words believe: Jesus sinners doth receive.
I, a sinner come to thee with a penitent confession.
Savior, mercy show to me; grant for all my sins remission.
Let these words my soul relieve: Jesus sinners doth receive.
Now my conscience is at peace; from the Law I stand acquitted.
Christ hath purchased my release and my ev’ry sin remitted.
Naught remains my soul to grieve: Jesus sinners doth receive.
• The Dramatic Monolog Sermon is delivered by the pastor:
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PP Call me Angelo. I know that’s not a very creative handle, especially when compared to Michael or
Gabriel, those great champions of the heavenly host. I’m just one member of that vast angel pool God
calls on to do whatever he says whenever he pleases.
I’ve been around since the beginning. God created thousands upon thousands of angels to worship
at his throne and do his bidding. But some of our ranks became discontented at always serving and
worshiping and obeying. They rebelled. They fell from the lofty place to which God had raised them.
Satan, sometimes called Lucifer, was their leader. Michael the archangel fought against them.
The war in heaven was so horrific human language can’t describe it and so the details have never been
revealed to you. But to St. John in his Revelation a window was opened through which he could peer
and catch just a glimpse of the awful event. Here’s what he says: “Now war arose in heaven, Michael
and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was
defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown
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down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he
was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” (Revelation 12:7-9)
That ended the rebellion in heaven. There never was and never will be any chance that Satan can
defeat the eternal and almighty God. But that doesn’t mean he just goes away, conceding his loss.
No, he keeps at it, hammering away at whatever is dear to God. And that would be the creation, the
world, and especially that which is most precious to the Creator, human beings.
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All of creation is precious to God. He’s the Master Planner, the Designer, the Maker, the Sustainer
of all things. But most precious of all, more precious even than angels like me, is humanity, people,
you, his highest creation. Of all that God created, only Adam and Eve were made in his image, holy
and beautiful, each a unique echo and reflection of himself, able to see God and speak with him face
to face. Even the holy angels cover their faces in the presence of God, but not Adam and Eve when he
formed them and breathed into them his own spirit of life.
So, of course, Satan chose them for his target. If he could deceive Adam and Eve, tempting them to
doubt God’s love and thus disobey him, Satan could destroy what God cherished most and claim
victory for himself. He could set himself up as the king of a world created by God but fractured and
corrupted by the sin he introduced. That was Satan’s strategy.
It would appear to have worked. Adam and Eve were deceived. They were tempted. They fell. They ate
fruit from the one tree God denied them in the Garden. The consequences for their sin were just as
God had told them, a life of struggle, of suffering and eventual death.
But even in Eden, after what looked like a victory for Satan, God revealed, ever so cryptically, his
plan to redeem his fallen creation. Far in the future the serpent would strike at a descendant of the
woman, wounding him, but that descendant would in turn deal a crushing blow to the serpent’s head
(Genesis 3:15).
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That brings me to another scene of temptation, not a lovely garden of plenty this time, but a barren
wilderness. Yes, Satan had claimed the world as his kingdom, but it was never really his. It was still
the property of its Maker, and its fallen children were still the love of God’s heart. What happened
there in the wilderness would be part of the battle to win you back to God.
The battle to win back God’s highest creation, humanity, was announced again and again by the
prophets. The Messiah would come, the Anointed One, the divine Son of God himself. He would do
battle with Satan and his demon horde and vanquish them forever. But it would not be like the epic
war that took place in heaven at the dawn of creation. It would be a quiet war that would hardly be
noticed. It would begin small, like a mustard seed.
Every Sunday school child knows how the quiet war began. A baby was born to a virgin in
Bethlehem. Gabriel was there to announce it. I was there with the angel chorus to sing the good news
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to shepherds. And so was Satan; but he was there to oppose it. Herod was his servant, the king who
thought he was looking after his own interests.
But it wasn’t just Herod’s kingdom that the infant Jesus threatened. It was the devil’s. Satan knew
that should the Child survive, Satan’s dominion would be lost. So Satan attacked with full fury,
slaughtering innocent little boys, using Herod’s soldiers to carry out his brutality. But the Child
escaped. The beachhead for the invasion by the Kingdom of God was secured.
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It’s not my purpose to tell you of the stories of Jesus’ childhood and manhood. Suffice it to say that
he grew up as a normal boy in a normal family with normal brothers and sisters. He was every bit as
normal as you or anyone in your family or any neighbor or friend you’ve ever had. He had the same
needs, the same emotions, the same growing pains, as anyone else. In fact, like every other human
being he was susceptible to temptation.
Satan knew that. Temptation was where he had scored his first great victory and introduced suffering
and death into the world. Having succeeded once, he would try it again. This time the stakes were
much higher. This time it was winner take all; the victory of Satan and your enslavement to sin and
death forever, or the victory of Jesus and your forgiveness and freedom forever.
The two met on an isolated battlefield. There was no one there to help Jesus. Yes, I was there with
other holy angels, but we were not there to intervene. We were there to watch, to see the outcome.
So Jesus, alone, faced Satan in combat for the life of the world. The temptations that attacked his
needs as a human being, his identity as the Son of God, his natural desire to live and avoid the agony
of the cross. For Jesus, these temptations didn’t come when he was well fed and safe and rested and
living in Paradise, as it was when Adam and Eve were tempted. No, these temptations came as Jesus
was exhausted, starving, thirsty and alone in a desert.
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For forty days he had eaten nothing. “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become
loaves of bread,” the tempter mocked him (Matthew 4:3). If you are the Son of God? Of course he
was the Son of God! And he who made the stones could certainly turn them into bread if he wanted
to.
What will Jesus do? This was a very real temptation. Remember that though Jesus was the Son of
God, he was also human, just like you.
Here’s how he answers, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes
from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:3-4) Life is more than food, Jesus is saying. Life is believing
in and trusting God’s promises. And there in the wilderness that is what Jesus does in your place,
making up for all your failures to believe in and trust God.
Another temptation comes. “The devil took him to the holy city [Jerusalem] and set him on the
pinnacle of the temple and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down,’ for it is
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written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest
you strike your foot against a stone’” (Matthew 4:5-6).
Say what you will about Satan, he’s a fast learner. If Jesus turns the sword of Holy Scripture against
him, then Satan will just use the same weapon against Jesus. That’s what’s he’s doing here. He’s using
God’s own Word to spin his web of deception.
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But Jesus is no fool. He sees through this trick. Yes, God is always there for his people as they go
through the threatening perils of life. But he doesn’t bless their foolish and dangerous behavior. You
just might find the angels taking a break. So Jesus replies, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the
Lord your God to the test’” (Matthew 4:7).
Then there’s the last temptation, perhaps the most powerful one. Jesus knows what’s ahead for
him. He knows that the price of redemption for the world and his own return to the right hand of
the Father is the horror of Good Friday. The betrayal of Judas, the trials with false witnesses, the
denial of Peter, the whip, the thorns, the nails, the cross, separation from his father, the grave—
incomprehensible suffering lies ahead for Jesus, but he must bear it if sinners are to be saved and
Paradise restored. It would be so much easier just to call in sick, refuse the suffering and take the
devil’s next offer, a very rich one.
Now the devil takes Jesus to a high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and their
glory; their wealth, their power. “All these I will give you,” he says, “if you will fall down and worship
me” (Matthew 4:9).
This would be so easy. This is exactly the sort of offer Satan has used to entrap the children of God for
centuries. In the days of the Roman Empire, Christianity was illegal; you could lose your property,
your family and your life if you were baptized. But, said, Caesar, “If you will just worship my statue, if
you’ll just burn a little pinch of incense before it, I’ll leave you alone. All your suffering will go away.
You can live happily ever after.” Thousands died rather than do it. Thousands more worshiped before
the statue.
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These oaths to Caesar are really just examples of people bowing down to Satan so they can get ahead,
so they can keep their jobs, so they can be successful. If you were put in the position of taking an oath
like that, what would you do? If it meant losing your life or property or livelihood or family if you
didn’t take the oath, what would do?
I’m not human—I’m just a holy angel. But I’ve observed human nature for a very long time. I suspect
that many if not most of you would take the oath, in effect falling down and worshiping Satan. Many
of you, to your shame, would fail.
But what about Jesus? What does he do when faced with that choice, a choice of ease and luxury and
power on the one hand, or incomprehensible loss, suffering and death on the other?
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Munich 76 76 D
Tune...........................................................................................................................Munich
76 76 D
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• The Opening Hymn is sung by the congregation to the tune Munich 76 76 D:
I lay my sins on Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God;
He bears them and frees us from the accursed load.
I bring my guilt to Jesus to wash my crimson stains
Clean in his blood most precious till not a spot remains.
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I lay my wants on Jesus; all fullness dwells in him;
He heals all my diseases; my soul he does redeem.
I lay my griefs on Jesus, my burdens and my cares;
He from them all releases; he all my sorrows shares.
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I rest my soul on Jesus, this weary soul of mine;
His right hand me embraces; I on his breast recline.
I love the name of Jesus, Immanuel, Christ the Lord;
Like fragrance on the breezes his name abroad is poured.
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