14.03.23 Lent 3A English

Hymn:  I will praise you, O God, from my soul (John Bell)* 

Call to Worship
Song:  Christ healed the darkness of my mind (Fred Pratt Green / ARLINGTON, David Haas)
Prayer of Confession
Song of Praise:  The matriarchs’ God and ours (Barbara Moss / LEONI, Yigdal)**

Prayer of the Day in words of Oscar Romero***

Gospel Acclamation (EM)

Gospel Reading: John 9:1-41

Sermon
Song:  Praise the one who cleared the darkness (Rusty Edwards / NETTLETON, John Wyeth’s Repository of Sacred Music)
Affirmation of Faith in words of Oscar Romero***

Prayer Song:  God, fill our cup to overflowing (John Bell)*
Silent Meditation
Prayers of the People
Announcements

Offerings (regular and food)

Song:  Romero (Oscar Romero / Michael Glenn Bell & Duane W. H. Arnold)***
Prayer of Thanksgiving

Songs:  Oh children of the light (Farsi, English by EM)

Ewe thina (South Africa)

*seasonal for Lent

**seasonal for Women’s History Month

***honoring the anniversary of the death of Archbishop Oscar Romero (March 24)


Forces:
Soprano
Piano/Organ

March 23, 2014

3^rd Sunday in Lent

Please stand, all who are able.

Song

//I shall praise you, O God, from my soul;//

though my song be at odds with the will of earthly gods,

I shall praise you, O God, from my soul.

//I shall bow down before heaven’s throne;//

and with joy I’ll confess your great love and faithfulness.

I shall bow down before heaven’s throne.

//God, your promise is raised above heaven;//

you replied to my please, giving hope and strenth to me.

God, your promise is raised above heaven.

//Let the monarchs of earth know your name;//

let them learn of your ways and respond in fear and praise.

Let the monarchs of earth know your name.

//Though exalted, God cares for the poor;//

and God notes if the proud walk the paths God disallowed.

Though exalted, God cares for the poor.

Call to Worship and Invocation

One:  We awake each day, loving God, to a world which is packed with good and beautiful things.

We are grateful for this morning’s early sunlight, slanting our way with cheerful warmth;

All: the aromas and tastes of our food and drink at breakfast,

and the sensual rituals of bathing and dressing in clean clothes.

One: We are grateful for the things that gave us pleasure on the way to church;

All: the young translucent leaves on trees and the glory of spring blossom;

the rich diversity of life in our city.

One: We are grateful for the people arriving at other churches that we passed on the way;

All: for the pleasing sight of our own church coming in to view,

and the privilege of gathering among friends intent on worship.

One: We are grateful for the music and singing which gets us involved and lifts out spirits,

All: the voices of fellow believers who lead prayers and read lessons,

and the Gospel of Christ as fresh as when it was first proclaimed.

One: Most generous God, we have awoken again on this Lord’s Day to a world which speaks volumes about your providence and grace. Please accept the thanks we give you, and the lives we offer to you in gratitude. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All: Amen!

Please be seated

Song

1.  Christ healed the darkness of my mind

the day he gave my sight to me:

it was not sin that made me blind;

it was no sinner made me see.

2.  Let others call my faith a lie,

or try to stir up doubt in me:

look at me now! None can deny

I once was blind and now I see!

3.  Ask me not how! But I know who

has opened up new worlds to me:

this Jesus does what none can do-

I once was blind, and now I see.

Prayer of Confession

NOT ON PPT

Coming together, face to face with God and with one another, and seeking to live into full and perfect reconciliation, we recognize that we have sometimes fallen short of our aspirations and seek forgiveness.  Let us pray.

 One:  O God,
All:  we confess the blindness that is not even aware of sinning;
One:  the pride that dares not admit that it is wrong;
All:  the selfishness that can see nothing but its own will;
One:  the righteousness that knows no fault;
All:  the callousness that has ceased to care;
One:  the defiance that does not regret its own sins;
All:  the evasion that always tries to make excuses;
One:  the coldness of heart that is too hardened to repent.
All:  God, we are sinners; be merciful to us.

—Silent reflection—

One:  All our problems

All:  We send to the cross of Christ

One:  All our difficulties

All:  We send to the cross of Christ

One:  All the devil's works

All:  We send to the cross of Christ

One:  All our hopes

All:  We set on the risen Christ

One:  Christ the Sun of righteousness shine upon us and scatter the darkness from before our path: and the blessing of God Almighty, Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, be among us, and remain with us always.

All:  Amen.  Thanks be to God!

Please stand, all who are able.

Song of Praise

The matriarchs' God and ours
who leads us onward still,
inspire our hearts, unite our minds
to work God's will.
Rock, Saviour, Maker, Lamb,
we sing your praise anew;
the Mother, Father, great 'I am',
we worship you.

Prayer of the Day in words of Oscar Romero

NOT ON PPT

A Christian community is evangelized in order to evangelize. A light is lit in order to give light. A candle is not lit to be put under a bushel. It is lit and put up high in order to give light. That is what a true community is like. A community is a group of men and women who have found the truth in Christ and in his Gospel, and who follow the truth and join together to follow it more strongly. It is not just an individual conversion, but a community conversion. It is a family that believes, a group that accepts God. In the group, each one finds that the brother or sister is a source of strength and that in moments of weakness they help one another and, by loving one another and believing, they give light and example.

Gospel Acclamation

//Cantor:  Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

All:  Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.//

Cantor:  I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
all who believe in me will have the light of life.

//Cantor:  Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

All:  Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.//

Gospel Reading

John 9:1-41

INCLUDE THIS ON PPT THIS WEEK

Narrator: As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him,

All: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 

Jesus: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of the one who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 

Narrator: When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes.

Jesus: “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam”

Narrator: (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.  The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask,

All: “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 

Women: “It is he.”

Men: “No, but it is someone like him.”

The Man: “I am the man.” 

Women: “Then how were your eyes opened?” 

The Man:  “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” 

Men: “Where is he?”

The Man: “I do not know.”

Narrator: They brought to the religious leaders the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the religious leaders also began to ask him how he had received his sight.

The Man: “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” 

All: “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.  How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?”

Narrator: And they were divided.

All: “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”

The Man: “He is a prophet.” 

Narrator: The religious leaders did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them,

All: “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 

Parents: “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 

Narrator: His parents said this because they were afraid of the religiosu leaders; for the religious leaders had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” So for the second time they called the man who had been blind,

All: “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” 

The Man: “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 

All: “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 

The Man: “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”

All: “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 

The Man: “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 

All: “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?”

Narrator: And they drove him out.  Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said,

Jesus: “Do you believe in the Chosen One?”

The Man: “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” 

Jesus: “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” 

The Man: “Lord, I believe.”

Narrator: And he worshiped him.

Jesus: “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” 

All: “Surely we are not blind, are we?” 

Jesus: “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.”

Reader:  The gospel of Jesus Christ.

All:  Thanks be to God!

Sermon

Please stand, all who are able.

Song

1.  Praise the one who breaks the darkness

with a liberating light.

Praise the one who frees the prisoners,

turning blindness into sight.

Praise the one who preached the gospel,

healing every dread disease,

calming storms and feeding thousands

with the very bread of peace.

2.  Praise the one who blessed the children

with a strong yet gentle word.

Praise the one who drove out demons

with a piercing two edged sword.

Praise the one who brings cool water

to the desert’s burning sand.

From this well comes living water

quenching thirst in every land.

3.  Praise the one true light incarnate:

Christ who suffered in our place.

Jesus died and rose for many

that we may know God by grace.

Let us sing for joy and gladness,

seeing what our God has done.

Praise the one redeeming glory;

praise the one who makes us one.

Affirmation of Faith in words of Oscar Romero

One: It helps, now and then, to step back
and take the long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is beyond our vision.

All: We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of
the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete,
which is another way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

One: No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No programme accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

All: This is what we are about:
We plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.

One: We cannot do everything
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest.

All: We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders,
ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.

Amen.

Please be seated

Prayer Song

///God, fill our cup to overflowing

and give us grace to share

all that we are and are becoming,

shaped by your care.///

Silent Meditation

Prayers of the People

News of the People

Not on ppt:

Welcome cards

Service concludes with bilingual celebration

Home gathering sign ups

Coffee on Wilshire

Music at Noon

Men’s gathering 3/29

Farewell for Nancy Spear 3/30

Mission and Future sessions

Offerings

(regular and food)

Offertory Song

Romero (Michael Glen Bell & Duane W.H. Arnold)

sung by Elyse Willis

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Please stand, all who are able.

Song

Oh children of the light, together raise a joyful song.

With gladness and with gratitude sing praises unto God.

In Jesus’ holy presence raise your hands and hearts,

in praise and thanks to Jesus Christ, the savior of the world;

in praise and thanks to Christ, the savior of the world.

Oh children of the light, together raise a joyful song.

With gladness and with gratitude sing praises unto God.

You chosen ones of God, be bold and strong in faith;

Accept the victory of your God and claim it as your own;

accept the victory and claim it as your own.

Oh children of the light, together raise a joyful song.

With gladness and with gratitude sing praises unto God.

Beloved ones of God, into God’s pasture come,

in sorrow and in trouble call upon the Chosen One of God;

in good times and in bad, God hears your every prayer.

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Elyse:

////Ewe thina.////

Sizowa nyathela amadimoni.

All:

////We walk his way.////

Unarmed he faces forces of demons and death;

we walk his way.

////We walk his way.////

He breaks the bonds of hell, dying on the cross;

we walk his way.

////We walk his way.////

The tree of freedom blooms by his empty grave;

we walk his way.

////We walk his way.////