Welcome We extend the hand of Christian fel-lowship to all who come to worship. May our prayers and the hearing of God’s word make our burdens lighter, our hearts encouraged, and our souls refreshed. Visitor information pack-ets are available on the counter locat-ed in the Narthex. We encourage all visitors to take one.

All are welcome for coffee and doughnuts in Fellowship Hall be-tween services.

(9:00 a.m.)

PRELUDE “Now the Green Blade Riseth” arr. by Franklin Ritter WELCOME/SHARING GOD’S PEACE/SURELY THE PRESENCE Screen

CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS Bulletin — Page 4 CALL TO WORSHIP GATHERING HYMN “Alleluia! Jesus Is Risen!” #377 ELW APOSTOLIC GREETING KYRIE/HYMN OF PRAISE p. 98-100 ELW PRAYER OF THE DAY

Eternal God, giver of all good gifts: You have brought us to this milestone in the life of your congregation. With gratitude to you we remember the planning, the years of working together, the gifts, the sense of common purpose that we have shared in this task. Be present with us now as we rejoice in its completion; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

SPECIAL MUSIC Youth Choir WE HEAR GOD’S WORD CHILDREN’S TIME HYMN “We All Are One in Mission” #576 ELW PSALM 116:1-4, 12-19 (read responsively) Bulletin — Page 4

Gospel Acclamation p. 102 ELW P: The Good News according to Acts, Chapter 6 C: Glory to You, O Lord SCRIPTURE Acts 6:1-7a The Good News of our Lord! C: Praise to You, O Christ

SERMON Bishop Terry Brandt HYMN OF THE DAY “Built on a Rock” #652 ELW RESPONSE APOSTLES’ CREED Bulletin — Page 4 OFFERING “Resting in Jesus” Ben Logan OFFERTORY “Create in Me a Clean Heart” #186 ELW PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH LORD’S PRAYER “Our Father in Heaven …” Bulletin — Page 4 THANKSGIVING FOR RETIREMENT OF DEBT Bulletin—Page 2 SENDING BENEDICTION AND “THREE-FOLD AMEN HYMN “On Our Way Rejoicing” #537 ELW DISMISSAL P. Go in peace and serve the Lord. C. Thanks be to God. POSTLUDE “The Strife Is O’er” arr. by Edward Broughton

April 30, 2017 3 Easter

Ann Jacobson, Sonja Kjar, Tim Stoa

Bethlehem Lutheran Church is a faith community that gathers to hear, teach and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Sunday, April 30 Bishop Terry Brandt

Burning of the Mortgage 9:00 am Worship 10:00 am Christian Education 10:00 am Communion in the Chapel 10:45 am Worship

Wednesday, May 3 Last Day of Christian Education

6:00 pm Worship in the Chapel 6:00 pm Christian Education

Sunday, May 7 Communion at Both Services

Last Day of Christian Education 9:00 am Worship 10:00 am Christian Education 10:05 am New Member Session 10:45 am Worship

Sunday, May 14 New Member Sunday

Senior Recognition Sunday 9:00 am Worship 10:00 am Christian Education 10:00 am Communion in the Chapel 10:00 am New Member & Senior Reception 10:45 am Worship

Welcome to Worship! If you are a guest here, let us know.

A word about Bethlehem’s worship: We have two Sunday worship services. The 9:00 a.m. service usually features or-gan accompaniment; the 10:45 service features piano accom-paniment. Christian education classes for PreK through Grade 7 are held Sunday mornings at 10:00 a.m. and Wednesday evenings at 6:00 p.m. throughout the school year. We also offer a Wednesday evening worship service at 6:00 p.m. For more information, check our website — www.blcfargo.org. You may also call the church office, 235-6522.

The Friendship Sheet is a way for us to take note of who worships with us each week. Please put your full name and any other information you want us to have. Pass the Friend-ship Sheet down the pew and back and leave it near the aisle so an usher can pick it up later. Thank you. Children’s Worship Bags are available for use by your youngster during services. They are located on the coat rack over the stairway (directly outside of the sanctuary). At the end of the service, put the bag on the ushers’ table at the back of the sanctuary so it may be refilled for the next service. Bulletin Announcements If you have information for the Sunday bulletin, please contact the office by 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. In An Effort to Conserve Paper we ask that after the 9:00 a.m. service you take home only one bulletin per fami-ly. Extras can be returned to the ushers’ table at the back of the church to be used for the 10:45 a.m. service. Thank you.

Prayer Concerns Please be sure to call the office or talk with a pastor as to how you/your loved one are doing. We begin each month with an updated list.

Prayers For the Community of Faith: Members Hospitalized/Requesting On-Going Prayer: Virgil Andersen, Lois Berg, Arla Carlson, Phil Larson, Keri Leach, Joel Peterson, Lorraine Sparke, Pete Thrall, Maria Winters.

Friends/Family Members Sick or Hospitalized: Denise An-derson (daughter-in-law of Marie Anderson), Kari Anderson (niece of Jean Schossow), Barbara Glover (friend of Laurie Asmus), Lainey Lee-Johnson (granddaughter of Bob & Kristi Lee), Julie Kottsick (friend of Betty Opheim), Marvin Nitsch-ke (father of Tammy Binder), Bruce Opheim, Jr. (son of Betty Opheim), James Rheault (brother of Kathy Thompson), Mere-dith Walker (cousin of Judi Pogatshnik), Rodger Whitford (friend of Leao & Gayle Erfle), Bill Wiekamp (father of Kim-berly Easter).

A Word About Our Prayer Concerns During 2017 we will be lifting up a different congregation in the Fargo confer-ence each week. April 30 — St. Peter Lutheran Church, Leonard. Baptism (11:45) Mason Carter Vetsch, son of Brian & April Vetsch. Sponsors: Alan & Trisha Anderson, Gerald & Mindy Fleischfresser. Bulletins are given by Katie Wangstad in honor of her par-ents’ 57th wedding anniversary. Communion Servers are needed for the first Sunday of each month. If you can help in this capacity, a sign-up sheet is located on the bulletin board outside the church office.

Annual Quilt Sale Today! Proceeds are used to purchase materials necessary to continue with the program. Quilts and lap robes are donated each year to the VA Hospital, New Life Center, nursing homes, Salvation Army, Churches United, Rape & Abuse Crisis Center, and Ronald McDonald House. Monetary donations are given to the church. All quilts priced as marked. Lost and Found A table has been set up in the Narthex with many lost and found items on them. Please be sure to take a look. Thank You The fundraiser held for me April 23 was a suc-cess. We received matching funds. Thank you also for your continued prayers. — Keri Leach

Youth News Youth Groups:

WNA (5th-7th Grades) We resume on April 19. JAM (3rd & 4th Grades) Skate City, April 29. God Squad (8th-12th Grades). April 23 at 4:00 p.m.

4th

Graders! We want to invite YOU to come check out WNA on Wednesday nights, April 19 through May 10. This is a great time to learn a little more about our youth group before you officially join next schoolyear! Each night we share a snack, a fun lesson, and a game and would LOVE to see you there! — Lexy, Emily, and the WNA kids 3rd-7th Grade Youth Event Skate City Church Night! Sunday, May 7, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. The cost is $3 for BLC youth and $5 for friends. Meet at Skate City in Fargo.

Thanksgiving for Debt Retirement P: On this occasion we celebrate both the completion of a

significant goal and the beginning of new ventures in faith. Let us give thanks for God’s gifts and pray for God’s continuing wisdom and guidance in the mission of Christ that we share.

(Mortgage is burned)

C: Eternal God, you have brought us to a day of cele-

bration in the life of this congregation. You have accompanied us in times of excitement and

discouragement; you have guided us in our visions and plans; and you have given us the joy of working together for the sake of the gospel. We rejoice in the completion of a task that was begun with trust in your promise, and we give thanks for all whose cour-age, energy, and resources have contributed to its fulfillment.

In the days ahead, use us and our gifts in new ways.

Send us forth renewed in the life of baptism, so that we continue to live together as your faithful people, carry out the ministry of word and sacrament, pro-claim Christ in word and deed, serve all people in his name, and strive for justice and peace in all the earth; through the same Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Bethlehem Lutheran Church / 613 16th Street South / Fargo, North Dakota 58103 Office—701-235-6522 / Warm Line—701-235-6548

www.blcfargo.org

April 30—May 10

SUNDAY, APRIL 30 Bishop Terry Brandt Burning of the Mortgage 9:00 a.m. Worship 10:00 a.m. Christian Education 10:00 a.m. Communion in the Chapel 10:45 a.m. Worship MONDAY, MAY 1 Pastor Tim’s Day Off 6:00 p.m. Cub Scouts 7:00 p.m. SA TUESDAY, MAY 2 9:00 a.m. Staff Meeting WEDNESDAY, MAY 3 Last Day of Christian Education 9:00 a.m. Quilting 5:30 p.m. Youth Choir 6:00 p.m. Bell Choir 6:00 p.m. Worship in the Chapel 6:00 p.m. Christian Education 7:00 p.m. Senior Choir 7:00 p.m. W.N.A. (5th-7th Grades) THURSDAY, MAY 4 6:00 p.m. Girl Scouts FRIDAY, MAY 5 7:30 a.m. M.E.A.T.T. SATURDAY, MAY 6 11:00 a.m. Gluten Intolerance Support Group SUNDAY, MAY 7 Communion at Both Services Last Day of Christian Education 9:00 a.m. Worship 10:00 a.m. Christian Education 10:00 a.m. New Member Session/Fireside Room 10:45 a.m. Worship 6:00-8:00 p.m. 3rd-7th Grade Event @ Skate City MONDAY, MAY 8 Pastor Tim’s Day Off 3:15 p.m. BeFrienders 6:00 p.m. Cub Scouts 7:00 p.m. SA TUESDAY, MAY 9 9:00 a.m. Staff Meeting 6:00 p.m. Ministry Board WEDNESDAY, MAY 10 9:00 a.m. Quilting 5:30 p.m. Youth Choir 6:00 p.m. Bell Choir 7:00 p.m. Senior Choir 7:00 p.m. W.N.A. (5th-7th Grades)

Monthly Mission Motif

April – ELCA Global Mission & Disaster Response

This month we focus on the work we can only do together as the ELCA, which means nearly 10,000 congregations across the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands working together to do God’s work with our hands in Christ’s name for the life of the world. The ELCA mission statement is: Marked with the cross of Christ forever, we are claimed, gathered and sent for the sake of the world. We are the church that shares a living, daring confi-dence in God's grace. Two ways we are sent to respond with grace and compassion are Global Mission & Disaster Re-sponse. Walking and working together, we seek to accompany more than 80 companion churches in other countries to participate in God’s reconciling mission through proclamation and service. Our living, daring confidence in God’s grace propels us, along with our companions, to say “yes” to a world searching for re-newal and wholeness. As part of a global Lutheran community, we gratefully receive the witness of global brothers and sisters whose faith, hospitality, resilience and zeal energize us and our own congregations. In response, we share our gifts and talents to address the root causes of poverty and hunger and meeting hu-man needs, fight malaria and HIV and AIDS, build communities that coexist in peace, and prepare women and men to preach the good news of Jesus Christ throughout the world. Learn more at www.elca.org/Our-Work/Global-Church/Global-Mission Lutheran Disaster Response brings God’s hope, healing and renewal to people whose lives have been disrupted by disasters in the United States and around the world. When the dust settles and the headlines change, we stay to provide ongoing assistance to those in need. These are the recent places where Lutherans are responding: South Sudan relief, Hurricane Matthew, Louisiana Gulf Coast flooding, Africa drought, West Virginia flooding, Nepal earth-quake, Middle East and Europe refuge crisis, AMMPARO: Pro-tecting migrant minors. Learn more at www.elca.org/Our-Work/Relief-and-Development/Lutheran-Disaster-Response A portion of our congregational financial offering each week

go to support these ministries, along with special offerings.

April 30, 2017 — 10:45 a.m.

WELCOME/SHARING GOD’S PEACE CALL TO WORSHIP Youth Choir CONFESSION & FORGIVENESS Pastor: Blessed be the holy Trinity, one God, the fountain of

living water, the rock who gave us birth, our light and our salvation.

People: Amen.

Pastor: Let us come into the light, the revealing and healing light of God.

Silence is kept for reflection.

Pastor: God of grace and glory,

All: you have brought us through the night of sin and into the light of Jesus’ resurrection. Yet our lives are still shadowed by sin. Make us alive in Christ, O God. Make us new as you make all things new. Rescue us from evil and the gloom of sin, renew us in grace, and restore us to living in your holiness, through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord. Amen.

Pastor: Rejoice with all creation around God’s throne! The light of the risen Christ puts to flight all evil deeds, washes away sin, restores innocence to the fallen, casts out hate, brings peace, and humbles earthly pride. Jesus Christ loves you and frees you from your sins by his blood. To him be the glory and dominion forever and ever!

All: Amen. 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/HYMN OF PRAISE p. 213-215 ELW PRAYER OF THE DAY

Eternal God, giver of all good gifts: You have brought us to this milestone in the life of your congregation. With gratitude to you we remember the planning, the years of working together, the gifts, the sense of com-mon purpose that we have shared in this task. Be pre-sent with us now as we rejoice in its completion; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

CHILDREN’S TIME HYMN “We All Are One in Mission” #576 ELW PSALM 116:1-4, 12-19 I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my sup-plications. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I pray, save my life!”

What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord, I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones. O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord! SCRIPTURE Acts 6:1-7a SERMON Bishop Terry Brandt “Built on a Rock” #652 ELW 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 res-urrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. OFFERING PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen. THANKSGIVING FOR RETIREMENT OF DEBT Bulletin — p. 2 THE BENEDICTION “On Our Way Rejoicing” #537 ELW Leader: Go in peace. Serve the Lord. People: Thanks be to God. Accompanist: Alvina Deyle The Confession and Forgiveness is from Sundays & Seasons, copyright © 2016 Augs-burg Fortress.