Third Sunday in Lent Order of Service | 3-3-24
+ Repentance Through God’s Mercy +
CONFESSION OF OUR SINS:
L Let us gather once more to ponder the wisdom and law of God
Let us draw near again to share in God’s strength and power.
Let us admit our failure to hear and obey God by what we have done and by what we have left undone.
[Silence for reflection.] Let us confess….
C Eternal God, this is the truth:
You have commanded “DO NOT” and we have done.
You have decreed “DO” and we have not.
We set our own guidelines and follow our own wants and wishes away from your Word and your will. This kind of living has broken our lives, broken our relationships, broken this earth, and broken your heart.
We ask to be forgiven and freed, restored and renewed. Please, Lord!
L It doesn’t make sense that God would love us enough to deliver us from our old habits and destructive ways, from our sin and our failings. And it seems totally foolish and weak that the death of Jesus on a cross would be the solution to bring us forgiveness, grace, and new life. But Jesus died on the cross for our sins. And that, dear brothers and sisters, is our salvation and our hope! Hallelujah!
OPENING SONG: “Down at the Cross” Brown #72
THE PRAYER OF THE DAY:
Steadfast, faithful, covenant God,
through your Son you have overturned our old ways of believing and behaving;
and his death, resurrection, and promised return call us to live faithfully and to love fervently.
Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight,
O God, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
+ Renewal Through God’s Word +
FIRST READING: Exodus 20:1-17
[God’s third covenant: the gift of the law to a newly liberated community that is fresh from slavery and in need of guidance.]
20:1 Then God spoke all these words:
20:2 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;
20:3 you shall have no other gods before me.
20:4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
20:5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me,
20:6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
20:7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
20:8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.
20:9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work.
20:10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work–you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.
20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.
20:12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
20:13 You shall not murder.
20:14 You shall not commit adultery.
20:15 You shall not steal.
20:16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
20:17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
SONG SELECTION: ALL SAINTS CHOIR
SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
[Christ crucified: God’s foolish nonsense – revealed in weakness, humiliation, and death – is our amazing salvation!]
1:18 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.
1:19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
1:20 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?
1:21 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.
1:22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom,
1:23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
1:24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1:25 For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
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 2:13-22
[Jesus on a zealous rampage: cleansing and replacing the Temple.]
2:13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2:14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.
2:15 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.
2:16 He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”
2:17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
2:18 The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?”
2:19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
2:20 The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?”
2:21 But he was speaking of the temple of his body.
2:22 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.
THE SERMON: “Tools of Freedom” [A tribute to Black History Month]
SONG RESPONSE: “I Will Trust in the Lord” Brown #256
AN AFFIRMATION OF OUR FAITH (together):
I trust in God who has made me his own. I know that God loves me. To God I am as precious as his Son, Jesus Christ, who lived and died in obedience to his Father’s will. Jesus suffered our pain, and through his suffering and death has brought us into fellowship with God.
I know that God through his Spirit will give me strength when I am oppressed and weary… will give me love when I am afraid and lonely… and will guide his Church to make people free at last.
I know that God is present in the fellowship of those who trust him, and that God wants all people to be brought into that fellowship.
I know that nothing, not even death, can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Living in hope and trust, I will deny myself, take up my cross, and follow where Jesus leads. Amen.
THE PRAYERS… We pray that THE WAY OF THE CROSS will continue to impact our lives and world!
+ Revival Through God’s Meal +
OFFERING [God’s law, God’s will, and God’s Son Jesus challenge us to examine our priorities and to turn away from self- centered values. Are we that “foolish in the message of the cross” to boldly trust and obey?]
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 #237 Brown#240
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.