This bulletin includes the order of service for the Season of Lent. The items in bold italics are intended for audience response.
Opening Hymn
Opening Sentence & Prayer
Bless God, who forgives all our sins.
God’s mercy endures through everything.
God of growth and transformation, you promise us abundant new life. Teach us to welcome the discomfort and challenge of growth as part of the meaning of picking up our cross to follow you. Help us to carry our share of the world’s burden so all may know your liberating love. Amen.
(Silent Reflection)
Kyrie
Confession of Sin
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and one another, that we may turn towards God and begin our effort towards repentance.
Holy God, have mercy on us and forgive us. We have set our customs above your law and have placed our faith in authorities other than you. We have insisted on our own comfort to the neglect and indifference of our neighbors. We have acted to preserve our own self-interest in the face of suffering. We have lacked creativity and compassion when envisioning solutions to the challenges many of your children face.
We are sorry. We humbly repent. Grant us the gift of hearts that grieve injustice, greed, hatred, and fear. Make us steadfast in faith and give us the courage to follow you, carrying our cross. Amen.
Hear the promise of God, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist: you are saved by faith and your sin is forgiven. Through God’s love, mercy, and justice, and by God’s choosing, you have been set free from sin. Now, with renewed hearts, let us serve others and honor the world God made, knowing the good news we have received is for all people. Amen.
Collect of the Day
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.
Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Ministry of the Word
Old Testament
Exodus 20:1-17
A reading from the book of Exodus
1-2 God spoke all these words:
I am God, your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
out of a life of slavery.
3 No other gods, only me.
4-6 No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. Don’t bow down to them and don’t serve them because I am God, your God, and I’m a most jealous God, punishing the children for any sins their parents pass on to them to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation of those who hate me. But I’m unswervingly loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments.
7 No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter; God won’t put up with the irreverent use of his name.
8-11 Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don’t do any work—not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day.
12 Honor your father and mother so that you’ll live a long time in the land that God, your God, is giving you.
13 No murder.
14 No adultery.
15 No stealing.
16 No lies about your neighbor.
17 No lusting after your neighbor’s house—or wife or servant or maid or ox or donkey. Don’t set your heart on anything that is your neighbor’s.
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Psalm
We follow the responsive recitation method for the Psalm, where the leader alternates verses with the congregation. The items in bold italics are intended for audience response.
Psalm 19
1-2 God’s glory is on tour in the skies,
God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.
Madame Day holds classes every morning,
Professor Night lectures each evening.
3-4 Their words aren’t heard,
their voices aren’t recorded,
But their silence fills the earth:
unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.
4-5 God makes a huge dome
for the sun—a superdome!
The morning sun’s a new husband
leaping from his honeymoon bed,
The daybreaking sun an athlete
racing to the tape.
6 That’s how God’s Word vaults across the skies
from sunrise to sunset,
Melting ice, scorching deserts,
warming hearts to faith.
7-9 The revelation of God is whole
and pulls our lives together.
The signposts of God are clear
and point out the right road.
The life-maps of God are right,
showing the way to joy.
The directions of God are plain
and easy on the eyes.
God’s reputation is twenty-four-carat gold,
with a lifetime guarantee.
The decisions of God are accurate
down to the nth degree.
10 God’s Word is better than a diamond,
better than a diamond set between emeralds.
You’ll like it better than strawberries in spring,
better than red, ripe strawberries.
11-14 There’s more: God’s Word warns us of danger
and directs us to hidden treasure.
Otherwise how will we find our way?
Or know when we play the fool?
Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!
Keep me from stupid sins,
from thinking I can take over your work;
Then I can start this day sun-washed,
scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.
These are the words in my mouth;
these are what I chew on and pray.
Accept them when I place them
on the morning altar,
O God, my Altar-Rock,
God, Priest-of-My-Altar.
Epistle
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
A reading from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians
18-21 The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. It’s written,
I’ll turn conventional wisdom on its head,
I’ll expose so-called experts as shams.
So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn’t God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered stupid—preaching, of all things!—to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation.
22-25 While Jews clamor for miraculous demonstrations and Greeks go in for philosophical wisdom, we go right on proclaiming Christ, the Crucified. Jews treat this like an anti-miracle—and Greeks pass it off as absurd. But to us who are personally called by God himself—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God’s ultimate miracle and wisdom all wrapped up in one. Human wisdom is so cheap, so impotent, next to the seeming absurdity of God. Human strength can’t begin to compete with God’s “weakness.”
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Gospel
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
Glory to you, Lord Christ.
John 2:13-22
13-14 When the Passover Feast, celebrated each spring by the Jews, was about to take place, Jesus traveled up to Jerusalem. He found the Temple teeming with people selling cattle and sheep and doves. The loan sharks were also there in full strength.
15-17 Jesus put together a whip out of strips of leather and chased them out of the Temple, stampeding the sheep and cattle, upending the tables of the loan sharks, spilling coins left and right. He told the dove merchants, “Get your things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a shopping mall!” That’s when his disciples remembered the Scripture, “Zeal for your house consumes me.”
18-19 But the Jews were upset. They asked, “What credentials can you present to justify this?” Jesus answered, “Tear down this Temple and in three days I’ll put it back together.”
20-22 They were indignant: “It took forty-six years to build this Temple, and you’re going to rebuild it in three days?” But Jesus was talking about his body as the Temple. Later, after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this. They then put two and two together and believed both what was written in Scripture and what Jesus had said.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Christ.
Sermon
The Prayers
A Contemporary Creed
We believe in one God, the Almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
Source of all life and all love.
We believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son,
Fully God, fully human,
Savior of the world,
The risen King of kings.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
The very breath and power of God,
Sustainer of our life in Christ.
We believe in the church, Christ’s body,
God’s family for the spiritually homeless,
Called to be Love and Light,
To pursue justice and show mercy,
To proclaim the Good News of Christ,
To work for the common good of humanity.
Amen.
Prayers of the People
At this time of great crisis for so many of your children and for our precious planet, we come to you God, imploring your help and inspiration.
In Lent, we remember how Jesus went into the desert for 40 days to pray. We pray that during this Lent we, too, take the time to look into our own values and our relationship with God. We pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We are all tempted to do wrong from time to time. We pray that we, like Jesus, have the strength to resist temptation and to do what is right. We pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Almighty God, Loving Father, we pray for the people of Ukraine and others afflicted by violence, for those suffering or afraid, for the wounded and the refugee. Be close to them and protect them. We pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for world leaders, that compassion, strength and wisdom guide them in their decision making. We pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for the better-off nations of the world, that in this and every moment of need, they may reach out in solidarity to their brothers and sisters. We pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for this beautiful Earth, that an unstoppable movement arise in a spirit of determination to protect it. We pray to the Lord.
Lord hear our prayer.
We bow our heads, close our eyes, and remember our own personal intentions, for those who have asked for our prayers, for those sick or suffering, for those that we now name silently or aloud. (Silence) We pray to the Lord.
Lord hear our prayer.
We remember those who have died – those whom we love, all those we do not know but who are precious in God’s sight, and those that we now name silently or aloud. (Silence) We pray to the Lord.
Lord hear our prayer.
We pray, Lord, that these our prayers, joined with those of people around the world, help guide those waging war on people and planet alike bring an end to this meaningless destruction and restore peace. We make these prayers through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
The Peace
Announcements
The Holy Communion
Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:2
During the Offertory, a hymn, psalm, or anthem may be sung.
Doxology
(Words: Isaac Watts (1674-1748), para. of Psalm 117; Music: Old 100th, melody from Pseaumes octante trois de David, 1551, alt.; harm. after Louis Bourgeois (1510?-1561?); Licensed for Use: CCLI Copyright License 20716203; CCLI Streaming License 20716210
Representatives of the congregation bring the people’s offerings of bread and wine, and money or other gifts, to the deacon or celebrant. The people stand while the offerings are presented and placed on the Altar.
The Great Thanksgiving
God is here
All is not lost
May our hearts be open
And able to receive
Let us give thanks for grace unending
That our world might one day be restored
We lift up our praise to you, Holy God of justice, who has promised to restore the beautiful Earth in which power is returned to those to whom it has been denied. God, who sent your son Jesus Christ to call for repentance from sin and proclaim freedom to the oppressed, in these forty days lead us into the desert of accountability. As Christ rejected The Deceiver while in the desert, call us to reject the demons of our time, cleansing the spirits of individualism and defensiveness, perfectionism and fear. Help us grow in wisdom and compassion that we may be the Body of Christ made whole once again. When we hide in our own comfort, challenge us. When we hoard power, humble us. When we see only one way, open before us new paths leading towards peace rooted in equity. As we prepare for the Easter feast, let us be joyful that you have prepared a seat for your whole human family and for all Creation at your table, calling us to join with angels and saints of every race and culture, praising you and saying:
Holy, holy, holy God, giver of gospel and law, heaven and earth reflect your beautiful diversity.
We adore you God. Blessed is the Savior who comes to bring the Holy Advocate into our world.
We adore you God.
God, our creator, you gave your only child to model for us the giving up of earthly power, radical love of neighbor, and sharing of all possessions, even giving up life and breath in the name of love.
On the night he was betrayed, our Savior took bread, and gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to the disciples saying “Take; eat; this is my body given over to you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
After supper, he took the cup and when he had given thanks, he shared freely, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this in remembrance of me.”
Let us proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
With this bread, strengthen us for the Lenten journey of self-reflection, repentance, and Atonement.
With this wine, fill us with the fire to follow your call to deny ourselves and pick up our cross, the struggles we ourselves must face.
Knowing Jesus came to proclaim Good News to the poor and to free the oppressed, surrendering life for our salvation, we remember Jesus’ sacrificial passion. We proclaim his resurrection and the defeat of death. We live into the hope that he will return to restore our divided and unbalanced world.
Send now, we pray, the breath of Your Wisdom to permeate these gifts of bread and wine, that we may take into ourselves the Holy Spirit who is truth and conviction.
Through, with, and in Jesus, unified in the Holy Spirit, our gratitude and praise are yours, O God, now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
And now, in the words that Jesus taught us, we pray:
Our Father, who art in heaven. hallowed be thy name. Thy Kindgom come. Thy 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. Lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Breaking of the Bread
Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
Therefore let us keep the feast.
These are the gifts of God for you, the people of God.
The congregation receives communion.
(AT THE COMMUNION: We encounter the Real Presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in this Sacrament of Holy Communion. All who desire a closer relationship with God are encouraged to come forward: for a Blessing or, if you are baptized, for the Bread and Wine. NOTE: Until all restrictions have been lifted, only the bread is offered for communion.)
(Please form a distanced line in the aisle and come forward to receive from the priest.)
Prayer after Communion
Holy God, through your death, we are fed with the bread of life. Let us follow your way to the cross, to be for others a sign of your compassion and life. As you have fed us, let us go out to be part of feeding the world. Amen.
Blessing
May God lead you to openness that grants understanding. May God guide you to accountability that begins restoration. May God inspire you to transforming love that celebrates all people and all creation.
Closing Hymn
Dismissal
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Credits
Disrupt Worship Project, adapted by Fletcher Harper https://www.disruptworshipproject.com/lent-2021-christ-have-mercy/
Contemporary Creed – https://brandonacox.com/modern-creed/Prayers of the People – https://acireland.ie/prayers-of-the-faithful-4-2-2/