WELCOME
PRELUDE To God Be the Glory – Vandall
Grace Erichsen & Elissa Hock-Wimmer, piano
*CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: May we find courage to travel through the Lenten wilderness – courage to live by faith and to follow our call.
People: May we find hope as we continue our journey – hope for a better world, and hope that inspires us to work for God’s kingdom.
Leader: Throughout these forty days, may we be enlightened by God’s truth – the truth that guides our steps and opens us to new horizons.
People: In this Lenten season, may we enrich our relationships – our relationship with God and our relationships with one another.
Leader: May God equip us to love and serve all people – all who are hungry and thirsty, all who yearn for peace, and all who share the planet with us.
People: Let us be faithful in all that we do, for great is God’s faithfulness toward us.
*HYMN OF PRAISE Great Is Thy Faithfulness #276
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever will be.
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
PRAYERS OF CONFESSION (Unison)
God of faithfulness
and forgiveness,
by the costly grace
revealed in the
life of Your Son,
You can deliver
us from the evil
which has
corrupted our lives. As we pray for Your mercy, we ask that You would redeem
us from the sins we despise as well as those we too often tolerate. Cleanse us
from the sins we confess as well as those we have not yet recognized. Forgive us, O God,
and wash away
the stain of our
sin and the dust
of our despair.
Anoint us
with Your
immeasurable
love, and make
us new once more,
so that we would
open our hearts
to Your healing
and follow You
with joy, for
we ask it in
the name of
Jesus Christ
our Lord.
(Silent)
ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS (adapted from Psalm 130:3-4)
Leader: If the LORD should mark iniquities, who could stand?
People: But there is forgiveness with God, so that the LORD may be revered.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel:
People: Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven!
MINUTE FOR MISSION Hunger Walk
The Hunger Walk’s mission to eliminate hunger in our community has made a difference as the following statics show:
– In 2020, 17.3% of our neighbors were considered nutritionally deprived (26. 2% were children).
– In 2021, 13.8% of our neighbors were considered nutritionally deprived (19.1% for children).
We can celebrate our part in helping to improve the lives of our neighbors, as we continue to support the mission to end hunger for all.
SCRIPTURE Isaiah 43:8-13
8 Bring forth the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears! 9 Let all the nations gather together, and let the peoples assemble. Who among them declared this, and foretold to us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to justify them, and let them hear and say, “It is true.” 10 You are my witnesses, says the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. 11 I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior. 12 I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses, says the LORD. 13 I am God, and also henceforth I am He; there is no one who can deliver from my hand; I work and who can hinder it?
SCRIPTURE John 12:1-11
1 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” 6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” 9 When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.
MEDITATION The Problems That Jesus Causes
ANTHEM On Eagle’s Wings – Joncas / Schrader
Grace Erichsen, soloist
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH from A Declaration of Faith, 4.3
Jesus Christ overthrew evil powers that enslaved and degraded people,
yet he made no use of power to protect himself.
He healed those who were sick in body and mind,
yet he did not avoid pain and suffering for himself.
He commanded his followers to place loyalty to him above loyalty to family and country,
yet he lived among them as a servant.
Jesus taught with authority, challenging many time-honored customs and ideas,
yet he submitted to humiliation and death without a word on his own behalf.
He forgave sinners, yet he was counted among sinners.
We recognize the work of God in Jesus’ power and authority.
He did what only God can do.
In both his majesty and lowliness, Jesus is the eternal Son of God, God himself with us.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Lord, Who is in us here on earth,
Holy is Your name in those who share their bread and their song.
Your kingdom come, which is a generous land that flows with milk and honey.
Let us do Your will, standing up when all are sitting down,
and raising our voice when all are silent.
You are giving us our daily bread in the songs of creation and the miracle of the corn.
Forgive us for keeping silent in the face of inequality,
for burying our dreams,
for not sharing bread and wine, love and land, among us, now.
Do not let us fall into the temptation
of shutting the door through fear;
or resigning ourselves to hunger and injustice;
of taking up the same arms as the enemy;
but deliver us from evil.
Give us the perseverance and the solidarity to look for love,
even if the path has not yet been trodden, even if we fall;
so we shall have known Your Kingdom which is being built for ever and ever. Amen.
INVITATION TO GIVE Lenten “Super 6” Food Collection – Canned Beef Stew
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
*HYMN Lift High the Cross #371
Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim
Till all the world adore His sacred name.
Come, Christians, follow where our Savior trod,
The Lamb victorious, Christ, the Son of God.
Refrain
Each newborn servant of the Crucified
Bears on the brow the seal of Christ who died.
Refrain
O Lord, once lifted on the glorious tree,
Your death has brought us life eternally.
Refrain
So shall our song of triumph ever be:
Praise to the Crucified for victory.
Refrain
*BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE Were You There? – Vandall