Bulletin – Sunday, March 3, 2024 – Third Sunday in Lent / Communion
Sunday, March 3, 2024
Third Sunday in Lent / Communion
We Gather as People of Faith
Welcome
Announcements
Call to Worship
One: The heavens are telling the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
All: Day-to-day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.
One: There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard;
All: Yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
Hymn – “Great is Thy Faithfulness” (VU #288)
Great is thy faithfulness, God our Creator;
There is no shadow of turning with tee;
Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;
As thou hast been thou forever wilt 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, 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 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, ever to 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-
Wondrous the portion thy blessings provide.
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, ever to me!
Candle Liturgy
One: There is so much during the day that clamours for our attention. Friends, family, work, classes, household tasks. And the noise! We are bombarded with sound, from the alarm that awakens us to the telephone, the radio, the television, the conversation that we have or overhear. Where is the time and place to listen for the still, small voice of God? Sometimes it seems that God would have to speak in a whirlwind to be heard above the clamor! Listen now. There is a place of quiet rest, and it is the place where God dwells within you. Close your eyes. Be aware of the place. In Lent we journey to the parts of ourselves known only to God, beneath the clamor. Let the story of Jesus reach us there. Let it teach us wisdom in our secret hearts.
(Silent Time)
One: As we extinguish this light, we acknowledge the darkness and pain of violence in the world and to the Earth.
(A candle is extinguished)
One: Let us pray:
All: Draw us together in your love, O God. May our restless hearts not resist you, but continue to search until they find their rest in you. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Prayer of Approach and Confession
God of all creation, we gather in this place to offer you our worship, and our prayers for ourselves and for others. In the midst of distraction, we ask for focus, in the clamour of many voices, we listen for your direction; in the midst of fear and despair, we seek hope and reassurance. We confess before you those things we have done, that we should not have done, those words we have spoken instead of remaining silent. We also confess our inaction and our silence, when we have let injustice go unchallenged, and allowed prejudice an undeserved voice. Give us the wisdom and strength we need to make better choices today, than we did yesterday, we pray, and ask for your forgiveness. Amen.
Words of Assurance
Sung Response – “How Deep the Peace” (MV #95)
How deep the peace, the confidence, of those whose wrongs are forgiven.
How deep the peace, the confidence, of those whose hearts are healed.
We Hear God’s Word
Prayer for Illumination
Hymn – “Ancient Words”
Holy words long preserved for our walk in this world;
They resound with God’s own heart,
O, let the ancient words impart;
Words of life, words of hope,
Give us strength, help us cope;
In this world where’er we roam,
Ancient words will guide us home.
Ancient words, ever true,
Changing me, and changing you;
We have come with open hearts,
O let the ancient words impart.
Holy words of our faith handed down to this age
Came to us through sacrifice
O heed the faithful words of Christ
Holy words long preserved for our walk in this world
They resound with God’s own heart
O let the ancient words impart.
Ancient words, ever true,
Changing me, and changing you;
We have come with open hearts,
O let the ancient words impart.
Scripture Reading: Psalm 19
One: The heavens declare the glory of God; and the vault of the sky reveals God’s handiwork.
All: One day speaks to another, and night shares its knowledge with night,
One: and this without speech or language; their voices not heard.
All: But their sound goes out to all the lands, their words to the ends of the earth.
Sung Refrain: The precepts of our God give joy to the heart.
One: In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun which comes out like a bridegroom from under the canopy, like an athlete eager to run the race.
All: Its rising is at one end of the sky, it runs its course to the other, and there is nothing that is hidden from its heat.
Sung Refrain: The precepts of our God give joy to the heart.
One: God’s law is perfect, refreshing the soul,
All: God’s instruction is sure, giving wisdom to the simple;
One: God’s precepts are right, rejoicing the heart;
All: God’s commandment is pure giving light to the eyes;
One: God’s fear is clean, enduring forever;
All: God’s judgements are true, every one of them righteous;
One: more desirable than gold, even much fine gold;
All: sweeter also than honey, pure honey from the comb.
Sung Refrain: The precepts of our God give joy to the heart.
One: By them is your servant warned;
All: for in keeping them there is great reward.
One: But who can discern unwitting sins?
All: O cleanse me from my secret faults.
One: Keep your servant also from presumptuous sins, lest they get the better of me.
All: Then shall I be clean and innocent of great offence.
Sung Refrain: The precepts of our God give joy to the heart.
All: Let the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O God, my strength and my redeemer.
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
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. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of the proclamation, to save those who believe. 22 For Jews ask for signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
Scripture Reading: John 2:13-22
13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, with the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 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.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church
Thanks be to God!
Sermon – “Looking for Elders”
We Respond to God’s Word
An Invitation to Share
Offering Response – “These Lenten Gifts We Bring”
These Lenten gifts we bring,
Our living faith expressed,
We offer them, most lovingly,
And thus our hearts are blessed.
O loving God receive
These gifts we gladly give,
That show our faith and hope and trust;
Your way we seek to live.
Offering Prayer
Communion
One: Let us stand, as we are able, and repeat together The United Church Creed.
All: We are not alone,
we live in God’s world.
We believe in God:
who has created and is creating,
who has come in Jesus
the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new,
who works in us and others
by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the Church:
to celebrate God’s presence,
to live with respect in Creation,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.
In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God.
One: The peace of Jesus Christ be with you all.
All: And also with you.
One: Let us share a sign of the peace with our neighbour.
Anthem – “How Beautiful”
How beautiful the hands that served
The wine and bread and the children of earth.
How beautiful the feet that walked
The long dusty roads and the hill to the cross.
How beautiful, how beautiful,
How beautiful is the body of Christ.
How beautiful the heart that bled,
That took all my sin and bore it instead.
How beautiful the tender eyes
That chose to forgive and never despise.
How beautiful, how beautiful,
How beautiful is the body of Christ.
See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
How beautiful the feet that bring
The sound of good news and the love of the King.
How beautiful the hands that serve
The wine and the bread and the children of earth.
How beautiful, how beautiful,
How beautiful is the body of Christ.
The Celebration of the Sacrament now begins:
One: Friends, this is the joyful feast of the people of God! They will come from east and west, and from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God.
One: According to Luke, when our risen Lord was at table with his disciples, he took bread, blessed, broke it and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him.
One: This is God’s table, not the table of the United Church of Canada. Our Saviour invites all those who trust him to hare the feast that he has prepared.
(The elements are unveiled)
One: As Jesus did on the same night which he was betrayed, serving in his name I take these elements of bread and wine to be set apart from all common uses to this holy use and mystery.
One: And as he gave thanks and blessed, let us come before God in prayer.
One: O God, gracious and holy, your power sustains all creation. In love you create all things and in mercy you redeem them. From age to age you gather people to serve you, to proclaim your glory and to reveal your presence in all the world. In the fullness of time you sent your Son, Jesus Christ, the true Shepherd of your people, in him we see your face and hear your word. In compassion he restored us and made us whole, laying down his life upon the cross and freely offering himself for all.
Unison Prayer after Communion
Creator God, You call Your world to peace, You call Your church to renewal, You call Your people to follow. Fill us with your Spirit and make all things new. By that same power, transform our fear into faith so that we may have courage to follow in the way of your kingdom. Through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord, Hallelujah! Amen!
We Go Into God’s World
Hymn – “Grace Alone”
Every promise we can make,
Every prayer and step of faith,
Every difference we will make
Is only by His Grace.
Every mountain we will climb,
Every ray of hope we shine,
Every blessing left behind
Is only by His grace.
Grace alone which God supplies,
Strength unknown He will provide.
Christ in us, our Cornerstone,
We will go forth in grace alone.
Every soul we long to reach,
Every heart we hope to teach,
Everywhere we share His peace
Is only by His grace.
Every loving word we say,
Every tear we wipe away,
Every sorrow turned to praise
Is only by His grace.
Grace alone which God supplies,
Strength unknown He will provide.
Christ in us, our Cornerstone,
We will go forth in grace alone.
Benediction
Response – “From This Place of Prayer and Praising”
From this place of prayer and praising,
Cross and table, well-worn pews,
God, we leave to work and witness,
Living every day for you.
Bless us on our Lenten journey,
Loving Parent, Holy Friend;
Spirit, guide your people onward
Till once more we meet again.
