Fourth Sunday in Lent Order of Service
Women’s History Month
03-10-2024 10:00AM “Hybrid” Worship
+ Repentance Through God’s Mercy +
CONFESSION OF OUR SINS:
L My sisters, my brothers, it’s a fact – all of us are caught in sin.
The Bible speaks the truth: “There is no one who is righteous… All have turned away from God.” (Romans 3:10, 12)
C It’s not just who we ARE but who we AREN’T.
It’s not just what we DO but what we DON’T DO.
“Sin” is all about our separation from God, our shortcomings, where our thoughts and actions take us.
O Lord, I confess that I am a sinner. Please forgive me!
L We all experience the effects of sin.
It’s easy to recognize sin’s reality in our lives and in the lives of others.
The Bible says that we once were helpless and hopeless, more dead than alive, all because of sin.
C My sin and your sin will always lead to
disruption and destruction,
anxiety and addiction,
fear and frustration,
hurt and harm,
despair and death.
O Lord, I pray for your mercy. Please forgive me!
L Pass it on: Sin does not have the final word – God does.
The bold truth is that we are worthy of judgment and condemnation, punishment and destruction at the hands of God.
But the greater truth about God is found in this –
those outstretched arms nailed to the cross at Calvary, gasping a final breath.
C For God so loved the world that God gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.
Now that’s some GOOD news!
O Lord, I thank you for your mercy! I want to live!
OPENING SONG: “Down at the Cross” Brown #72
THE PRAYER OF THE DAY:
Steadfast, faithful, covenant God,
you so loved the world that you sent Jesus,
and Jesus so loved us that he suffered and died like a criminal on a cross.
Help us to believe in Jesus with all our heart, to think right, to do right, and to love right. Amen.
+ Renewal Through God’s Word +
FIRST READING: NUMBERS 21:4-9
[God’s fourth covenant: healing to those who look upon the bronze serpent. God forgives those who repent.]
21:4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way.
21:5 The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.”
21:6 Then the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died.
21:7 The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
21:8 And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.”
21:9 So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.
SECOND READING: EPHESIANS 2:1-10
[Brought from death to life as a gift of grace in Jesus Christ. We are saved not by what we do but by what God has done.]
2:1 You were dead through the trespasses and sins
2:2 in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.
2:3 All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else.
2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us
2:5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved–
2:6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
2:7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God–
2:9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast.
2:10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
GOSPEL VERSE:
“Lord, let my heart be good soil, open to the seed of your word.
Lord, let my heart be good soil, where love can grow and peace is understood.
When my heart is hard, break the stone away.
When my heart is cold, warm it with the day.
When my heart is lost, lead me on your way.
Lord, let my heart, Lord, let my heart, Lord, let my heart be good soil.”
THE GOSPEL: JOHN 3:14-21
[Jesus was lifted up like a “snake on a pole” to save us from judgment and death!]
3:14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
3:15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
3:17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
3:18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
3:19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.
3:20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed.
3:21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”
SONG SELECTION: ALL SAINTS CHOIR
THE SERMON: Pastor Neil or Pastor Gwen
SONG RESPONSE: “Lift Him Up” Brown #227
AN AFFIRMATION OF OUR FAITH (together):
We believe that God has created this world,
has created humanity,
has created each of us.
We believe that God so loved the world,
so loved all people,
so loved us,
that God gave, Jesus, the Son, to save us from sin and death,
to save us from the ways of this world and the Devil in it,
to save us from ourselves.
We believe that Jesus suffered for us in his living,
sacrificed for us in his dying, and
was raised for us in resurrection victory.
We believe that the resurrection victory of Jesus is our resurrection victory,
our only hope and salvation, and
our invitation to new, abundant, and everlasting life. Amen.
THE PRAYERS… We pray that THE WAY OF THE CROSS will continue to impact our lives and world.
+ Revival Through God’s Meal +
INSTALLATION OF OUR 2024 CHURCH COUNCIL… LEADING AND SERVING GOD’S FAITH COMMUNITY!
OFFERING [In gratitude for God’s mercy, in thanksgiving for love that will not let us go, we seek to respond in a way that reflects both our personal joy and our generous commitment to tell the story of salvation to others.]
SONG SELECTION: ALL SAINTS CHOIR
THE OFFERTORY SONG: “I Know It Was the Blood”
- I know it was the blood… I know it was the blood… I know it was the blood for me.
One day when I was lost, he died upon the cross… I know it was the blood for me.
- It was my Savior’s blood… (3) They pierced him in the side… (4) He’s coming back again…
OFFERING PRAYER (from PSALM 51) by the Communion Assistant:
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence, or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain me with your bountiful spirit.
Then I will teach other sinners your ways; and I will eagerly sing of your goodness. Amen.
THE PREFACE:
L The Lord be with you. C And also with you.
L Lift up your hearts! C We lift them up in love for God!
L Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. C It is right to give God our thanks and praise.
L The Lord delivers us from sin and death… C … and grants us salvation and eternal life!
THE EUCHARISTIC WORDS by the Celebrant, who recalls and re-enacts Jesus’ Holy Meal.
THE LORD’S PRAYER (spoken)
COMMUNION AND BLESSINGS… All believers in Christ are welcome at the Lord’s Table! We will have “continuous distribution” with wafers and either wine or grape juice. CHRIST IS PRESENT IN BREAD AND WINE – HIS OWN BODY AND BLOOD – TO SAVE YOU FROM YOURSELF!
COMMUNION SONGS: Brown #128 Brown#150
THE COMMUNION BLESSING by the Celebrant after all have communed.
POST-COMMUNION PRAYER by the Communion Assistant.
+ Righteousness Through God’s Spirit +
THE BENEDICTION by the Pastor… God calls us to “return home” to faithful discipleship!
CLOSING SONG: “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me” Brown #66
- I want Jesus to walk with me… I want Jesus to walk with me.
All along my pilgrim journey, Lord, I want Jesus to walk with me.
- In my trials, Lord, walk with me… In my trials, Lord, walk with me.
When my heart is almost breaking, Lord, I want Jesus to walk with me.
- When I’m in trouble, Lord, walk with me… When I’m in trouble, Lord, walk with me.
When my head is bowed in sorrow, Lord, I want Jesus to walk with me.