March 22, 2009
Fourth Sunday in Lent
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: This Is My Father's World
UMH 144
* Invocation (Ruth C. Duck in Touch Holiness p.62)
Holy God, we come before you thankful that you love us as
we are. We are creatures of you hand; we are a community
formed by your Spirit. You are the potter; we are the clay.
With you sure and loving hands, shape us, through the grace of
Jesus Christ. Amen.
God Calls Us to Care for Our Neighbors
Preparation for Confession
L: We confess our sin, not so that God will forgive
us, but because we have a loving God who has already forgiven
us. We confess, not so that we will feel bad, but to be
released from those bad feelings. We confess because we
need to confess. There is great freedom in confession;
in giving all things over to God. Let us confess our sin
together before God and one another.
Prayer of Confession (James T. Fatzinger in Touch Holiness
p. 64)
Reconciling God, compassionate Christ, we realize that we
have often resembled enemy agents more than ministers of reconciliation.
With angry words and vindictive actions we have harmed our brothers
and sisters. We have dehumanized those we do not wish to
understand. We distance ourselves from those who disappoint
us or remind us of our own human frailty. Forgive us, O
God; lift us to a higher, holier purpose. Help us to draw
as close to each other as you drew to us in Christ. Help
us to regard persons no longer from a human point of view but
from the vantage point of the cross where all hostility was conquered,
all forgiveness assured. Amen.
Silent, personal confession
Words of Assurance
L: If we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just
will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
In the name of Jesus Christ your sins are forgiven!
P: In the name of Jesus Christ your sins are forgiven!
Hymn
Christ, from Whom All Blessings Flow v. 1-4 UMH 550
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 Lord of the Dance UMH 261
God Calls Us to Share
Preparation for giving - Hanadi's story
Offertory
*Doxology UMH 95
*Prayer of Thanksgiving
God of light and love, God of mercy and grace, we come to
you thankful for your great bounty of which we have received
so much. Help us, O God, to see, respect, and be content
with what we have, grateful that we have so much. And help
us Lord to hold it all loosely, recognizing that we are only
stewards of what we have, and not owners. Thank you for
your amazing grace and abounding love. Take now these gifts,
tithes and offerings, multiply and use them for the transformation
of the world, through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
God Calls Us to Tell God's Story
Anthem
Sermon Text Colossians 3:17, Colossians 3:23-24
Sermon
Happiness at Work
*Hymn
Forth in The Name, O Lord UMH 438
God Calls Us to Go Into the World as the Changed and Redeemed
People of God
*Benediction
Lectionary readings for next week:
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 119:9-16
Hebrews 5:5-10
John 12:20-33
Passages for Lectio Divina:
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all
in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father
through him. Colossians 3:17
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working
for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive
an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord
Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to
have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any
and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living
in plenty or in want. Philippians 4:12
'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The
second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There
is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:30-31
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not
know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends,
for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known
to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed
you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last. Then the
Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. John
15:15-16
A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries
up the bones. Proverbs 17:22
Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give
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