Bulletin – Sunday, March 16, 2025 – Second Sunday in Lent

Sunday, March 16, 2025, 2025
Second Sunday in Lent

We Gather as People of Faith

Welcome

Announcements

Call to Worship

One:   The peace of Christ be with you!
All:      And also with you.

One:   Let us journey together as Lenten pilgrims.
All:      We journey in faith and hope.

One:   We journey with Jesus.
All:      We journey, trusting in God’s love and grace.

Hymn – “Great is Thy Faithfulness” (VU #288)

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 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 thy portion the 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!

Lenten Candle Tenebrae

One:   Too often, we live unaware of God’s promises for us. We fail to grasp the reality of God’s presence in our world.
All:      Like Abraham and Sarah, we do not know if we can trust God’s promises.

One:   We are impatient and have trouble waiting for God. Our faith wavers. Thus, we muddle through life, suffering the consequences of our lack of attentiveness.
All:      We can’t wait, and take matters into our own hands, thinking we know better than God.

One:   We live with enormous amounts of waste in the name of convenience. We live with micro-aggressions and systemic racism. We live with war and poverty.
All:      We mourn our lack of faith and lack of trust that God is with us.

The second candle is extinguished

Sung Response – “Don’t Be Afraid” (MV #90)

Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger, my love is stronger than your fear.
Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger and I have promised, promised to be always near.

One:   Let us pray:
All:      O God, we pray for faith and trust in the covenant you have made with your people. We long to discover our authentic selves in this Lenten season and take up our new identities in covenant with you. Like Abraham and Sarah, we are expected to hear the word of God and to have faith that it is true. Help us to walk with you and continue to learn the important lesson that faith is difficult; faith demands perseverance, obedience, and trust even when we feel more comfortable in our doubts. Amen

Prayer of Approach and Confession

God, we confess that we are not always sure what has brought us here, to this time of worship. Perhaps we come to be with friends, to be in community. Perhaps we come from habit. Perhaps we come because, in a way we cannot explain, You have led us here. Perhaps we come because our hearts, our souls, our faith yearn for a moment of grace and blessing. God, confessing that we come for many reasons, we ask You to bless us here, so that in this time of worship we may have our faith deepened, our hope renewed and find new courage to love as companions of the risen Christ. Amen.

Words of Assurance

Sung Response – “And When You Call for Me” (MV #96)

And when you call for me, I have already answered.
And when you call for me, I am already there.

A Story for All

We Hear God’s 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; this I seek: 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.’”

May God speak to us through these readings of scripture.
Thanks be to God!

Hymn – “Under His Wings”

Under His wings I am safely abiding.
Tho’ the night deepens and tempests are wild,
Still I can trust Him; I know He will keep me.
He has redeemed me, and I am His child.

Under His wings, under His wings,
Who from His love can sever?
Under His wings my soul shall abide,
Safely abide forever.

Under His wings – what a refuge in sorrow!
How the heart yearningly turns to His rest!
Often when earth has no balm for my healing,
There I find comfort, and there I am blest.

Under His wings, under His wings,
Who from His love can sever?
Under His wings my soul shall abide,
Safely abide forever.

Under His wings – O what precious enjoyment!
There will I hide till life’s trials are o’er;
Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me.
Resting in Jesus, I’m safe evermore.

Under His wings, under His wings,
Who from His love can sever?
Under His wings my soul shall abide,
Safely abide forever.

Meditation

Anthem – “Trust in You”

Letting go of ev’ry single dream,
I lay each one down at Your feet.
Ev’ry moment of my wondering
Never changes what You see.
I’ve tried to win this war, I confess.
My hands are weary; I need Your rest.
Mighty warrior, King of the fight,
No matter what I face, You’re by my side.

When You don’t move the mountains I’m needing You to move,
When You don’t part the waters I wish I could walk through,
When You don’t give the answers as I cry out to You,
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You.

Truth is, You know what tomorrow brings.
There’s not a day ahead You have not seen.
So, in all things, be my life and breath;
I want what You want, Lord, and nothing less.
You are my strength and comfort;
You are my steady hand.
You are my firm foundation,
The Rock on which I stand.
Your ways are always higher,
Your plans are always good.
There’s not a place where I’ll go
You’ve not already stood.

When You don’t move the mountains I’m needing You to move,
When You don’t part the waters I wish I could walk through,
When You don’t give the answers as I cry out to You,
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You.

We Respond to God’s Word

An Invitation to Share

Offering Sung 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,
Than show our faith and hope and trust; your way we seek to live

Offering Prayer

Prayers of the People

Prayer Jesus Taught Us

All:      Our Father, who are in heaven, hallowed by thy name, thy kingdom come, they 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, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

We Go Into God’s World

Hymn – “Be Thou My Vision” (VU #642)

Be thou my vision, O joy of my heart;
Naught be all else to me save that thou art,
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, they presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom, my calm in all strife;
I ever with thee, and thou in my life;
Thou loving parent, thy child may I be,
Thou in me dwelling, and I one in thee.

Be thou my battle shield, sword for the fight;
Be thou my dignity, thou my delight,
Thou my soul’s shelter, thou my high tower,
Raise thou me heavenward,
O power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor vain empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always;
Thou and thou only, the first in my heart,
Great God of heaven, my treasure thou art.

Great God of heaven, after victory won;
May I reach heaven’s joys,
O bright heav’ns sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O ruler of all.

Benediction

Sung Response – “May the Christ who Walks on Wounded Feet”

May the Christ who walks on wounded feet travel with you all your journey through.
May you see Christ’s face in all you meet and may all you meet see Christ’s face in you.