ORDER OF WORSHIP
PRELUDE
CALL TO PRAYER
God, you loved the world so much that you embraced it in all its suffering in your beloved Son Jesus Christ, who sought the way of the cross that he might come to Easter and offer us the way back to you.
We thank you for this space apart, not just on this Sunday morning but in the weeks that are to come – space to become more receptive to the incredible promise of new life: life to challenge all that is deathly in our world, life to challenge all that is dull in our hearts.
Help us to use this time, not just in prayer at worship, but in the thoughtfulness in which we go about these coming days, listening for your voice in all we do, as you challenge the habits that restrict us and the assumptions that close our minds.
Help us also to be aware of others who at this time are examining themselves, whether from religious duty or because they have reached a turning point, in a career, or in a relationship, or in a crisis. Give us an ear that listens that we may find the words to sustain and the openness to learn through Jesus Christ, our deliverance and our hope. Amen.
HYMN OF PRAISE Ask Ye What Great Thing I Know
Ask ye what great thing I know that delights and stirs me so?
What the high reward I win? Whose the name I glory in? Jesus Christ, the crucified.
Who is life in life to me? Who the death of death will be?
Who will place me on his right, with the countless hosts of light? Jesus Christ, the crucified.
This is that great thing I know; this delights and stirs me so:
faith in him who died to save, him who triumphed o'er the grave: Jesus Christ, the crucified.
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
SCRIPTURE 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.
For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
A TIME OF SILENT PRAYER
HYMN OF PRAYER At the Name of Jesus Every Knee Shall Bow
At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, every tongue confess him King of glory now;
’tis the Father’s pleasure we should call him Lord, who from the beginning was the mighty Word.
Humbled for a season, to receive a name from the lips of sinners unto whom he came,
faithfully He bore it, spotless to the last, brought it back victorious when from death he passed.
In your hearts enthrone him; there let him subdue all that is not holy, all that is not true.
Crown him as your captain in temptation's hour; let his will enfold you in its light and power.
PASTORAL PRAYER
SCRIPTURE John 2:13-22
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
This is the Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God!
SERMON
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH A Lenten Affirmation
We believe that our lives are held within the encircling love of God, who knows our names and recognizes our deepest needs. We believe that Christ is the divine Child of the living God, and that his grace is like living waters that can never be exhausted. We believe in the birthing, renewing, enabling Spirit of God who yearns over our welfare as a mother yearns for her child. We believe that God is in the arid desert as well as in green pastures, and that hard times and disciplines are also loving gifts. We believe that our journey has a purpose and a destination, and that our path leads to a human glory we cannot yet imagine. We believe that in the church we are fellow pilgrims on the road, and that we are called to love one another as God loves us. This is our faith and we are humbled to profess in Jesus the Christ. Amen.
INVITATION
Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another. Therefore, let us confess our sin before God and one another.
CONFESSION AND PARDON
Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. We have failed to be an obedient church. We have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love, and we have not heard the cry of the needy. Forgive us, we pray. Free us for joyful obedience, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hear the good news: Christ died for us while we were yet sinners; that proves God's love toward us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven! Glory to God. Amen.
CELEBRATING OUR GIFTS
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
DOXOLOGY
Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him all creatures here below.
Praise him above ye heavenly hosts; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth...
And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ…
And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving, as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith. Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet. Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father, now and for ever. Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
RECEIVING THE BREAD AND CUP
ANTHEM
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
HYMN OF PROMISE Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross
Jesus, keep me near the cross; there a precious fountain,
free to all, a healing stream, flows from Calvary's mountain.
In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever, till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.
Near the cross! O Lamb of God, bring its scenes before me;
help me walk from day to day with its shadow o'er me.
In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever, till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.
BLESSING
POSTLUDE
PRELUDE
CALL TO PRAYER
God, you loved the world so much that you embraced it in all its suffering in your beloved Son Jesus Christ, who sought the way of the cross that he might come to Easter and offer us the way back to you.
We thank you for this space apart, not just on this Sunday morning but in the weeks that are to come – space to become more receptive to the incredible promise of new life: life to challenge all that is deathly in our world, life to challenge all that is dull in our hearts.
Help us to use this time, not just in prayer at worship, but in the thoughtfulness in which we go about these coming days, listening for your voice in all we do, as you challenge the habits that restrict us and the assumptions that close our minds.
Help us also to be aware of others who at this time are examining themselves, whether from religious duty or because they have reached a turning point, in a career, or in a relationship, or in a crisis. Give us an ear that listens that we may find the words to sustain and the openness to learn through Jesus Christ, our deliverance and our hope. Amen.
HYMN OF PRAISE Ask Ye What Great Thing I Know
Ask ye what great thing I know that delights and stirs me so?
What the high reward I win? Whose the name I glory in? Jesus Christ, the crucified.
Who is life in life to me? Who the death of death will be?
Who will place me on his right, with the countless hosts of light? Jesus Christ, the crucified.
This is that great thing I know; this delights and stirs me so:
faith in him who died to save, him who triumphed o'er the grave: Jesus Christ, the crucified.
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
SCRIPTURE 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.
For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
A TIME OF SILENT PRAYER
HYMN OF PRAYER At the Name of Jesus Every Knee Shall Bow
At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, every tongue confess him King of glory now;
’tis the Father’s pleasure we should call him Lord, who from the beginning was the mighty Word.
Humbled for a season, to receive a name from the lips of sinners unto whom he came,
faithfully He bore it, spotless to the last, brought it back victorious when from death he passed.
In your hearts enthrone him; there let him subdue all that is not holy, all that is not true.
Crown him as your captain in temptation's hour; let his will enfold you in its light and power.
PASTORAL PRAYER
SCRIPTURE John 2:13-22
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
This is the Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God!
SERMON
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH A Lenten Affirmation
We believe that our lives are held within the encircling love of God, who knows our names and recognizes our deepest needs. We believe that Christ is the divine Child of the living God, and that his grace is like living waters that can never be exhausted. We believe in the birthing, renewing, enabling Spirit of God who yearns over our welfare as a mother yearns for her child. We believe that God is in the arid desert as well as in green pastures, and that hard times and disciplines are also loving gifts. We believe that our journey has a purpose and a destination, and that our path leads to a human glory we cannot yet imagine. We believe that in the church we are fellow pilgrims on the road, and that we are called to love one another as God loves us. This is our faith and we are humbled to profess in Jesus the Christ. Amen.
INVITATION
Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another. Therefore, let us confess our sin before God and one another.
CONFESSION AND PARDON
Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. We have failed to be an obedient church. We have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love, and we have not heard the cry of the needy. Forgive us, we pray. Free us for joyful obedience, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hear the good news: Christ died for us while we were yet sinners; that proves God's love toward us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven! Glory to God. Amen.
CELEBRATING OUR GIFTS
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
DOXOLOGY
Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him all creatures here below.
Praise him above ye heavenly hosts; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth...
And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ…
And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving, as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith. Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet. Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father, now and for ever. Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
RECEIVING THE BREAD AND CUP
ANTHEM
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
HYMN OF PROMISE Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross
Jesus, keep me near the cross; there a precious fountain,
free to all, a healing stream, flows from Calvary's mountain.
In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever, till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.
Near the cross! O Lamb of God, bring its scenes before me;
help me walk from day to day with its shadow o'er me.
In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever, till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.
BLESSING
POSTLUDE
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