Bulletin – Sunday, March 10, 2024 – Fourth Sunday in Lent

Sunday, March 10, 2024
Fourth Sunday in Lent

We Gather as People of Faith

Welcome

Announcements

Call to Worship

One:   O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.
All:      Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those he redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

One:   Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.
All:      And let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices, and tell of his deeds with songs of joy.

Hymn – “Come, Let us Sing of a Wonderful Love” (VU #574)

Come, let us sing of a wonderful love,
Tender and true, tender and true,
Out of the heart of the Father above,
Streaming to me and to you
Wonderful love, wonderful love
Dwells in the heart of the Father above.

Jesus the Saviour this gospel to tell
Joyfully came, joyfully came,
Came with the helpless and hopeless to dwell,
Sharing their sorrow and shame,
Seeking the lost, seeking the lost,
Saving, redeeming at measureless cost.

Jesus is seeking the wanderers yet;
Why do they roam? Why do they roam?
Love only waits to forgive and forget;
Home, weary wanderers, home!
Wonderful love, wonderful love
Dwells in the heart of the Father above.

Come to my heart, O thou wonderful love!
Come and abide, come and abide,
Lifting my life till it rises above
Envy and falsehood and pride:
Seeking to be, seeking to be
Lowly and humble, a learner of thee.

Candle Liturgy

One:   It’s Sunday morning. Last week, with all its demands is over. The coming week, with yet another round of challenges and demands, is not quite here. I invite you to close your eyes and be in the moment. No matter where you are in your thoughts and feelings—relieved about what you have accomplished, anxious about what’s left undone, concerned about people or projects—no matter where you are in your journey this day—I encourage you to set it all aside and consider where you are right now. Whatever is true for you right now, in this moment, whether it be joy or sadness, gratitude or anxiety, let it come forward. When it is fully present, then listen…for God is present in these moments, too. God meets you where you are and calls you forward, moment by moment, guiding you slowly but surely toward transformation.

(Silent Time)

One:   As we extinguish this light, we acknowledge the darkness and pain caused by the lack of basic needs—lack of food, of shelter, of education, of healthcare, of love.

(A candle is extinguished)

One:   Let us pray:
All:      Loving God, we thank you that you are with us, and that we may call upon you no matter where we are, or what we are feeling. Keep us mindful of your presence and trusting in your promise—that you are working with us in the moment-by-moment unfolding of our lives. Amen.

Prayer of Approach and Confession

Gracious and merciful God, into this place we bring with us the struggles of our week, the burdens that we carry, the things we have said and done that haunt us. Whether these are new burdens, or ones from long ago, they lie between us and you, between how we feel and how you want us to feel, as your children. Hear the confessions of our hearts, we pray, and assure us that we are heard, and understood, and loved anyway, forgiven through the sacrifice of your Son and our Saviour, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Words of Assurance

The good news of the Gospel is that, when we turn to God with broken hearts and ask for another chance, we are forgiven, always and forever. Thanks be to God for such a gift.

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

Open our hearts and minds to the words we hear and sing, we pray, O God, asking for your Spirit to help us understand the meaning of what we encounter this day. Amen.

Scripture Reading:        Numbers 21:4-9

⁴ From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom, but the people became discouraged on the way. ⁵ The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” ⁶ Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. ⁷ The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. ⁸ And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” ⁹ So Moses made a serpent of bronze and put it upon a pole, and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

Scripture Reading:        John 3:14-21

¹⁴ And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

¹⁷ “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Those who believe in him are not condemned, but those who do not believe are condemned already because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. ²¹ But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

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

Anthem – “Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
Now I see, now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

My chains are gone, I’ve been set free,
My God, my Savior has ransomed me,
And like a flood, his mercy reigns;
Unending love, amazing grace.

The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.

My chains are gone, I’ve been set free.
My God, my Savior has ransomed me,
And like a flood, his mercy reigns;
Unending love, amazing grace.

My chains are gone, I’ve been set free.
My God, my Savior has ransomed me.
And like a flood, his mercy reigns;
Unending love, amazing grace.
Unending love, amazing grace.

Meditation – “Snakes and Healing”

Hymn – “There is a Wideness in God’s Mercy” (VU #271)

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy life the wideness of the sea;
There’s a kindness in God’s justice which is more than liberty.

There is no place where earth’s sorrows are more felt that up in heaven;
There is no place where earth’s failings have such gracious judgement given.

There is plentiful redemption in the blood that Christ has shed;
There is joy for all the members in the sorrows of the Head.

Troubled souls, why will you scatter like a crowd of frightened sheep?
Foolish hearts, why will you wander from a love so true and deep?

For the love God is broader than the measures of the mind,
And the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.

We Respond to God’s Word

An Invitation to Share

As we have freely received, let us return a portion to God of our time, our talents and our resources, as the offering is now brought forward.

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

Prayers of the People

We Go Into God’s World

Hymn – “God of the Bible” (MV #28)

God of the Bible, God in the Gospel
Hope seen in Jesus, hope yet to come,
You are our centre, daylight or darkness,
Freedom or prison, you are our home.

Fresh as the morning, sure as the sunrise,
God always faithful, you do not change.
Fresh as the morning, sure as the sunrise,
God always faithful, you do not change.

God in our struggles, God in our hunger,
Suffering with us, taking our part,
Still you empower us, mothering Spirit,
Feeding, sustaining, from your own heart.

Fresh as the morning, sure as the sunrise,
God always faithful, you do not change.
Fresh as the morning, sure as the sunrise,
God always faithful, you do not change.

Not by your finger, not by your anger
Will our world order change in a day,
But by your people, fearless and faithful,
Small paper lanterns, lighting the way.

Fresh as the morning, sure as the sunrise,
God always faithful, you do not change.
Fresh as the morning, sure as the sunrise,
God always faithful, you do not change.

Hope we must carry, shining and certain
Through all our turmoil, terror and loss,
Bonding us gladly one to the other,
Till our world changes facing the Cross.

Fresh as the morning, sure as the sunrise,
God always faithful, you do not change.
Fresh as the morning, sure as the sunrise,
God always faithful, you do not change.

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.