Worship with Communion March 7, 2021 the Third Sunday in Lent

THE GATHERING

Bowl & Flame (Mt. Tabor, 9:00 AM Download bulletin here: MT Bulletin 3-7-2021 L3)

Gathering Music: “Sanctuary” Campfire Songbook p. 36 ~ Pastor Scott (Trout Lake, 10:45 AM)

Welcome and Announcements

Prelude: “Be Thou My Vision”  (Mt. Tabor, Recorded, 9:00 AM)

Prelude: “Softly and Tenderly” arr. Joel Raney (Trout Lake, 10:45 AM)

 Call to Worship 

The heavens declare the glory of God,

The skies proclaim the work of God’s hands.

Jesus tells us to love our God with all our heart, soul, and might.

We try to return God’s love in our daily lives.

Let us pray:

Prayer of the Day

In our struggle to free ourselves from our self-centered ways, we often forget that your love for us is already at work in our deepest hurt. Help us, dear God, to draw ever closer to you in this time of Lent and always, so that we may grow into being our best selves through your love and the love of your son, Jesus Christ.  Amen

Hymn of Preparation: “Sanctuary” Coffeehouse Songbook p. 18 ~ Pastor Scott (Mt. Tabor, 9:00 AM)

Presbyterian Hymnal: #339 “Be Thou My Vision” (Trout Lake, 10:45 AM)

Invitation to Healing

The gift of God’s grace is lavished upon us, through the life and death of the risen Lord. Trusting in the love and goodness of God, let us seek wholeness.

Prayer of Healing

Merciful God, we confess that we have not always remembered to live by your commandments.  We often  place our trust in self-preservation rather than in your enduring love.  We bring false idols into the temple of our hearts. Forgive us, we pray. Overturn the tables of our false allegiances and replace them with true love of you and our neighbors through Jesus Christ, our Lord.      Please continue in prayer:

Kyrie: Glory to God Hymnal #437 “You Are the Lord, Giver of Mercy” ~ 9 AM only Pastor Scott

Assurance and Passing of the Peace

Friends, believe this Good News: God is One and God is Three – Love constantly flowing in, out, and through; the gift of Jesus Christ for me and for you. For this we say: Thanks be to God!

Since God has loved us through Christ, let us love one another. Please share a sign of peace with those with whom you are worshiping.

Sung Response: Glory to God Hymnal #544 “Bless the Lord” (3x) ~ 9 AM only: Pastor Scott

Celebrating Joys: Where we have seen God at work

Sung Response: “The Thank You God Song” ~ Pastor Scott 

THE WORD

Prayer of Illumination:

Merciful God, your Commandments show us the way of truth and life.  Create in us hearts that are dedicated to you and put your Holy Spirit within us, so that we may receive your grace and declare your praise forever; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hebrew Scripture: Exodus 20:1-17

“The Word of the Lord” “Thanks be to God”

Epistle Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

“The Word of the Lord” “Thanks be to God”

Gospel Reading: John 2:13-22

“The Gospel of the Lord” “Praise to you O Christ”

Participatory Reflection on John 2:13-22 ~ Facilitated discussion (Mt. Tabor 9:00 AM)

Reflection: “Temple Disturbances” ~ Pastor Scott Crane, (Trout Lake 10:45 AM)

Please spend several moments in silent reflection

RESPONSE TO THE WORD 

Hymn of Response: PH #521, GtG #523 “You Satisfy the Hungry Heart” ~ 9 AM only: Pastor Scott

Affirmation of Faith:  ~ Adapted from the Confession of 1967, 9.31

To be reconciled to God is to be sent into the world as God’s reconciling community. This community, the church universal, is entrusted with God’s message of reconciliation and shares God’s labor of healing the enmities which separate people from God and from each other.

Interactive Intercessory Prayers of the People  ~ adapted from Iona Abbey

Call and response: “Lord in your mercy,” “Hear our prayers”

The Lord’s Prayer: “…debts…debtors…”

Invitation to Present Our Offerings

Offering of Thanksgiving with Poetry: “Late Ripeness” ~ Czeslaw Milosz[1]

Invitation to the Lord’s Supper

The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts! We lift them up to the Lord! Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Celebrating the Lord’s Supper

This is the joyful feast of the people of God!

We come from north and south from east and west to sit at table in the kingdom of God.

This is the Lord’s table. Our Savior invites those who trust him to share the feast he has prepared. It is a right and joyful thing to offer thanks to you, O God, the source of all creation. Your holy energy flows in animals and plants, makes them move, and gives them desire to live. You brought forth the world in love, and in your great love creation finds at last its proper end. And so with the hosts of heaven we join the everlasting hymn of praise:

Glory to God Hymnal #552 “Holy, Holy, Holy” ~ 9 AM only: Pastor Scott

You fill our world with glory and light, and yet our mortal eyes cannot behold so bright a truth. Therefore in time you sent us Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Come to me and never be hungry.” We give you thanks that on the night before he died, Jesus took bread, and after giving thanks to you, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: “Take, eat.  This is my body given for you.  Do this in remembrance of me.”

Jesus also said: “I am the vine, you are the branches.”  “Believe in me and never thirst.” After supper, he poured the cup and said: “This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.  Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.” Great is the mystery of faith:

Glory to God Hymnal #553 “Christ Has Died; Christ Is Risen” ~ 9 AM only: Pastor Scott

According to Christ’s commandment:

We remember his death, we proclaim his resurrection, we await his coming in glory.

Let us pray together:

Gracious God, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these your gifts of bread and cup, that the bread we break and the cup we bless may be the communion of the body and blood of Christ.  Calling on the power of the Holy Spirit, we ask: That we may be made one with the risen Christ and with all God’s people; that we may be faithful as Christ’s body in ministry in the world, that we may live in anticipation of the fullness of God’s realm.

Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor are yours, almighty God, now and forever. Amen!

All has been prepared and the table awaits.  These are the gifts of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God!

Communion of the People

Prayer after Communion

Let us pray together:

Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world
in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

SENDING

Closing Hymn: Coffeehouse Songbook #T9, Glory to God Hymnal #205 “Live in Charity”

Charge:

The Lord Jesus said: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34).

Benediction:

“Deep Peace be with you, Light Eternal shine upon you; like clear flowing springs within you, may the Breath of the Wind stir your souls.  May Love hold you, may Spirit guide you, all the days of your life.” ~ stc

 Friends, this worship has ended, let our service in the world and to one another begin.

Congregational Song “Go Now in Peace” ~ a capella (Mt. Tabor 9:00 AM)

“Go now in peace, Go now in peace.  May the love of God surround you,

Everywhere, Everywhere; You may go.”

Congregational Song “Let There Be Peace on Earth” (Trout Lake 10:45 AM)

Lenten Study Questions: Third Sunday in Lent March 7, 2021

Trout Lake First Presbyterian Church’s Lenten Bible Study on the John passage will be Monday, March 8^th at 10:00 AM in TLPC’s Zoom room.

Read John 2:13-22 again, and be prepared to journal some reflections on the following:

• If you were in the crowd, how would you have reacted to Jesus?
• What if you were a money changer?
• What if you were a disciple present?
• If there was one central message from this text that speaks to your heart, what would it be?
• Think about your life for a moment. Is there anything as large and insurmountable in your life that you could stand up to as Jesus stood up to the religious establishment of his day? What is it? What is keeping you from standing up to it?

[1] Malcolm Guite, The Word in the Wilderness: A Poem a Day for Lent and Easter (London: Canterbury Press Norwich, 2014), 77.