Bulletin – Sunday, March 13, 2022 – Second Sunday in Lent

Sunday, March 13, 2022
Second Sunday in Lent

Approach

Lighting the Lenten Candle

During Lent, we remember the events that led up to the crucifixion. Jesus had come to bring hope and light to the world, but at every step there were those who could not accept the power of the light. He came to meet people’s needs, but there were those who misunderstood the kind of needs that Jesus meant to fill. Because he would not do what they wanted, they rejected him. Yet even in the Jerusalem where Jesus knew he would face rejection, Jesus came riding in bringing light and love. We light his candle to remember light and love in the face of hatred and rejection.

Call to Worship

One:   If God is a hen,
All:      we are under God’s wing.

One:   If God is a table,
All:      we each have a seat.

One:   If God is a house,
All:      we are safe from the storm.

One:   If God is a party,
All:      we’re invited to dance.

One:   If God is a melody,
All:      our names are the lyrics.

One:   If this is God’s house,
All:      then all are welcomed. All are loved. All belong. Let us worship our Holy God.

Hymn – “Let Us Build a House”

Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live,
A place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive.
Built of hopes and dreams and visions, rock of faith and vault of grace;
Here the love of Christ shall end divisions:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

Let us build a house where prophets speak, and words are strong and true,
Where all God’s children dare to seek to dream God’s reign anew.
Here the cross shall stand as witness and as symbol of God’s grace;
Here as one we claim the faith of Jesus:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

Let us build a house where all are named, their songs and visions heard
And loved and treasured, taught and claimed as words within the Word.
Built of tears and cries and laughter, prayers of faith and songs of grace;
Let this house proclaim from floor to rafter;
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.

Prayer of Approach and Confession

Family in faith, we come to this time today, approaching God humbly, called into community to live, to love, to work together for the coming of God’s kingdom.

We come to this time to confess not so that we are wallowing in our own guilt. Instead, we come to confession because we know that change starts with being honest. So in a desire to grow and change, let us offer this prayer to God who has always loved us like a mother hen.

So often we are like the Pharisees who tried so hard to stop Jesus. They didn’t understand that he was trying to do and so they worked against the coming of God’s kingdom. Jesus could not be stopped, Jesus said, “I will keep on. I will keep on healing, I will keep on teaching, I will keep on preaching. I will flip the table on injustice. I will keep on treating every person like a child of God. I will keep on believing that this world can change.”

So when we become like those Pharisees, when we forget what Jesus tried to do, when we stop living into what Jesus tried to do, we ask for your forgiveness and we pray that we too might keep on until God’s promised day comes. Amen.

Words of Assurance

Response:

Fill my cup, Lord,
I lift it up, Lord,
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul.
Bread of heaven, feed me ‘til I want no more.
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole.

Time for All Ages

Hymn – “Great is Thy Faithfulness”

Great is thy faithfulness, God our Creator,
There is no shadow of turning with thee;
Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;
As thou hast been thou forever wilt be.
Great is they faithfulness! Great is the faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed they hands hath provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, ever to 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 they faithfulness! Great is the faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed they hands hath provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, ever to me!

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
Strength for today and fright hope for tomorrow—
Wondrous the portion thy blessings provide.
Great is they faithfulness! Great is the faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed they hands hath provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, ever to me!

The Word

Scripture Reading:           Psalm 27

¹ The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? ² When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh—my adversaries and foes—they shall stumble and fall. ³ Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident. ⁴ One thing I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple. ⁵ For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock. ⁶ Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD. ⁷ Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me! ⁸ Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!” Your face, LORD, do I seek. ⁹ Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help. Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation! ¹⁰ If my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will take me up. ¹¹ Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. ¹² Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and they are breathing out violence. ¹³ I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. ¹⁴ Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!

Scripture Reading:           Luke 13:31-35

³¹ At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” ³² He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. ³³ Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ ³⁴ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! ³⁵ See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God!

Meditation – “Under God’s Wing”

Anthem – “Under His Wings”

The Response

Prayers of the People

One:   That Lent may bring a return to the covenant in which we love God and our neighbour as Jesus teaches, we passionately pray:
All:      God, renew the face of the earth.

One:   That Lent may be a time for truth, justice, and peace in the decisions of state, national and world governments, we passionately pray:
All:      God, renew the face of the earth.

One:   That Lent may be a time for each household to strengthen bonds of love and communication, we passionately pray:
All:      God, renew the face of the earth.

One:   That Lent may be a time of hope and healing of each one of us a time when we might feel the mothering love of God, as the hen who gathers her young under her wing. We lift up to you today those who we hope will feel your nurturing presence in their lives today as we lift up…we passionately pray:
All:      God, renew the face of the earth.

One:   Hear our prayers, O God, we join to them our promise to live in Jesus’ way of love. Amen.

Hymn – “God, Make Us Servants of Your Peace”

God, make us servants of your peace:
Where there is hate, may we sow love;
Where there is hurt, may we forgive;
Where there is strife, may we make one.

Where all is doubt, may we sow faith;
Where all is gloom, may we sow hope;
Where all is night, may we sow light;
Where all is tears, may we sow joy.

Benediction

As you leave this place, may you be awestruck by the beauty of this world. May you laugh, and may it be contagious. May you overflow with love for those around you. May you be bubbling over with hope and quick to point out joy.

And in all of your living, breathing, and being, may you find yourself full to the brim with God’s Holy Spirit, and may it change your life. In the name of the Lover, the Beloved, and Love itself—go in peace, full to the brim. Amen.

Response

Peace for the nations, peace, peace.
Peace for the nations we pray.
Following the path of One of peace,
We work for healing, we work for peace;
Peace for the nations today.