3rd Sunday in LentLENT CALL TO WORSHIP P: People of the covenant: God does not remember us according to our sins and transgressions. C: God remembers us according to God’s own steadfast love! P: The God of our salvation teaches us right paths and leads us in truth. C: All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness; we put our trust in God. CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS P: Christ calls us to live lives in harmony with our God and our neighbors. Even our best efforts fall short. Yet our God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. Trusting that abundant mercy, let us confess our sin together. Silence for Reflection P: God of righteousness, we confess that have not kept your commandments. We bow down before idols, declaring our allegiance to other powers and principalities. We take your name in vain, using it to justify our own prejudices and opinions. We do not make adequate time to rest and remember your goodness, nor to revel in the delight of family and friends. We look the other way in the face of violence, oppression, sexual assault, and unjust economic practices. Our dishonesty and greed get the better of us. Yet you gave us commandments not for condemnation, but so that we might live in justice and joy. Purify us by your righteousness and enfold us in your grace. Sanctify our intentions and actions, that our lives may begin to reflect your Beloved Community. Amen. P: Hear these words from the Apostle Paul, “God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” The grace of Christ is sufficient for us. In Jesus Christ, + you are forgiven! C: Thanks be to God! HYMN “O Christ, Our King, Creator, Lord” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCKx1iG9U6g PRAYER OF THE DAY P: Gracious God, whose power is made perfect in weakness, whose wisdom appears as foolishness in this world, we thank you for the scandal of the cross. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, C: Amen. READING: Exodus 20:1-17 After escaping from slavery, the Israelites come to Mount Sinai, where God teaches them how to live in community. The Ten Commandments proclaim that God alone is worthy of worship. Flowing from God, the life of the community flourishes when based on honesty, trust, fidelity, and respect for life, family, and property. 1God spoke all these words: 2I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3you shall have no other gods before me. 4You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. 8Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. 12Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 13You shall not murder. 14You shall not commit adultery. 15You shall not steal. 16You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. SERMON Rev. Lori E.L. Kitzing https://youtu.be/LJ0E177jsJk PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION P: Liberating God, in love you have set us free: free to know and love you, free to follow and serve you. P: We praise you for your faithful love toward us, and for the many ways you have demonstrated that love to us. We see your love in the natural world around us. We see your love in the gift of Your commandments, that guide us into right relationship with you, and with the people around us. God, in your unfailing love, C: hear our prayer. P: Because we have experienced your love, we come before you with confidence, bringing our needs and the needs of our world. God, in your unfailing love, C: hear our prayer. P: We pray for those who live surrounded by violence—whether from war or political unrest, crime or domestic abuse. We pray for those who have been victims of violent crime, and for those whose loved ones have been injured or murdered. God, in your unfailing love, C: hear our prayer. P: We pray for those who find themselves involved in crime, whether by choice or through coercion; those caught up into gangs or prostitution, those who have turned to crime to pay for their addictions, those who are imprisoned. God, in your unfailing love, C: hear our prayer. P: We pray for our homes and families: for parents juggling the responsibilities of work and family, for husbands and wives whose marriages are breaking down. God, in your unfailing love, C: hear our prayer. P: We pray for the many people in our world who do not yet know you and have not experienced the new life that comes from knowing Christ Jesus; who search for purpose and meaning. God, in your unfailing love, C: hear our prayer. P: We pray for those who names rest on our hearts, especially Julie, Karla, Stephanie, Cammie, Nancy, Beverly, Micala, Murlene, Brian, and the family of Marilyn. God, in your unfailing love, C: hear our prayer. P: Merciful God, give us strength and courage to keep your commandments, to live in faithful obedience to your will. Guard our hearts and minds from all that might distract us from living out our commitment to You. Help us to find our true worth in knowing you more fully, and serving you more faithfully. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Cornerstone. C: Amen. LENT OFFERING PRAYER Financial gifts may be sent to the church. We are collecting unscented bottles of lotion for local nursing home residents. P: God our provider, you have not fed us with bread alone, but with words of grace and life. Bless us and these your gifts, which we receive from your bounty, through Jesus Christ our Lord. C: Amen. LORD’S PRAYER Spoken in Hindi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOdN5esbR_s BENEDICTION P: As you go, may Christ’s grace + nurture your heart, God’s justice guide your mind, and the Holy Spirit’s power fill your every breath, To the glory of our living Lord, C: Amen. HYMN “When I Survey the Wonderous Cross” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wxFQCvv1uk CHARGE P: Go And...Have the Conversation! So that you can better love God and your neighbor. C: Thanks be to God. Printed by permission oneliscense.net A-717495
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AuthorRev. Lori E.L. Kitzing Archives
April 2024
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