March 8, 2009
Second Sunday in Lent
A joyful heart is good medicine. Proverbs 17:22a
Gathering of God's People
Announcements
Joys and Concerns
Greeting one another in Christian Love
God Calls Us
Prelude and Lighting of the Altar Candles
Greeting:
L: May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
P: And also with you.
*Hymns of Praise and Worship: O God Our Help in Ages Past
UMH 117
* Unison Call to Worship (Glen E. Rainsley in Touch Holiness
p. 58)
We gather this day to worship our God, whose words and ways
challenge us.
God invites us to lose our selfishness to find ourselves.
God calls us to be fools in the world to show forth
the wisdom of Christ.
God urges us to empty ourselves to discover life's
fullness.
God bids us to be obedient to a divine will so we
might know true freedom.
We come to worship our Creator, seeking to have
our faith challenged into growth.
We root our faith in worship seeking to find nourishment for
our spirits in this growing season of Lent.
God Calls Us to Care for Our Neighbors
*Hymn
Standing on the Promises UMH 374
Affirmation of God's Freeing Love (Holly W. Whitcomb in Touch
Holiness p. 211)
God's love frees me to be the person I am without having to
become more attractive, more intelligent, more popular.
God's love frees me to live in confidence, not needing to be
self-absorbed, but ready to listen and to hear the stories of
others. God's love frees me to take risks, to surprise
even myself with courage, sometimes to fall flat on my face-but
always to move onward with the knowledge that God is encouraging
me. God's love frees me to view the world not from the
standpoint of wealth gained or ambition achieved, but from the
perspective of relationships lived and human love shared.
God's love frees me to put my sins behind me, to know that no
sin is too great or too small to be left open and healed by God's
gentle touch. Thanks be to God! Amen.
Prayers of the People
Lord's Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us
not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the
kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Prayer Response The First Song
of Isaiah TFWS 2030
Surely, it is God who saves me;
I will trust in him and not be afraid.
For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense,
And he will be my Savior.
*Hymn
To God Be the Glory UMH 98
God Calls Us to Share
Preparation for giving
Most gracious God, prepare our hearts and minds to share your
love with the same abundance you have given us. Free us
from greed and self-pity. Grant us grateful and merciful
hearts. Amen
Offertory
*Doxology UMH 95
*Prayer of Thanksgiving
Your faithfulness to us is great indeed, O God. When
we are faithless, you are faithful. When we are ready to
give in and give up, you are willing to move us along.
When this life seems too much, you let us know your plans for
the future are for our good. Thank you that you love us
so much. We return to you, through the church, what you
have given us. Thank you. Bless these gifts and use
them that your kingdom might come among us. Amen.
God Calls Us to Tell God's Story
Anthem
Sermon
Health and Happiness
*Hymn
Victory in Jesus
UMH 370
God Calls Us to Go Into the World as the Changed and Redeemed
People of God
*Benediction
Lectionary readings for next week:
Exodus 20:1-17
Psalm 19
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
John 2:13-22
Passages for Lectio Divina:
A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries
up the bones. Proverbs 17:22
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians
5:16-18
I know that there is nothing better for people than to be
happy and to do good while they live. Ecclesiastes 3:12
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give
to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled
and do not be afraid. John 14:27
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you
trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power
of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)