WELCOME
PRELUDE Down at the Cross – Lorre
*CALL TO WORSHIP (adapted from Psalm 63:1-4)
Leader: O God, You are our God, and we constantly yearn for Your presence.
People: We have experienced You in the sanctuary, beholding Your power and glory.
Leader: Because Your steadfast love is better than life, our lips will praise You.
People: So we will bless You as long as we live; we will lift up our hands and call on Your
name.
Leader: God is our help, and God’s right hand upholds us.
People: In the shadow of God’s wings let us sing for joy, and let us praise the God of the
sparrow and the God of the whale.
*HYMN OF PRAISE God of the Sparrow #272
God of the sparrow God of the whale God of the swirling stars
How does the creature say Awe How does the creature say Praise
God of the earthquake God of the storm God of the trumpet blast
How does the creature cry Woe How does the creature cry Save
God of the rainbow God of the cross God of the empty grave
How does the creature say Grace How does the creature say Thanks
God of the hungry God of the sick God of the prodigal
How does the creature say Care How does the creature say Life
God of the neighbor God of the foe God of the pruning hook
How does the creature say Love How does the creature say Peace
God of the ages God near at hand God of the loving heart
How do your children say Joy How do your children say Home
PRAYERS OF CONFESSION (Unison)
Gracious and merciful God, although You desire our conversion to a different world, we
would rather preserve the world as it is.
Although You call us to defend the least among us, we usually prefer to admire the
greatest.
Although You summon us to serve You faithfully at all times and in all places, we
frequently confine our faith to the services in our sanctuaries.
Forgive us, Lord, for our failure to discern and fulfill Your call for our lives.
Cultivate our lives with Your mercy,
and renew us by Your grace,
so that in receiving new eyes to see rightly, new ears to hear wisely, and new hearts
to love compassionately,
we may produce the fruits of righteousness that You expect from disciples of
Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose name we pray. (Silent)
ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS (adapted from Romans 5:6-8)
Leader: While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
People: God’s love is conveyed to us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel:
People: Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven!
MINUTE FOR MISSION Mission Committee
SCRIPTURE Isaiah 55:1-11
1 Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 3 Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. 4 See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. 5 See, you shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
SCRIPTURE Luke 13:1-9
1 At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them — do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”
6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7 So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ 8 He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”
MEDITATION The Gospel of the Second Chance
ANTHEM Amazing Grace – Keveren
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH adapted from the Iona Community, Scotland
We have heard about You, God of all power.
You made the world out of kindness, creating order out of confusion;
You made each one of us in Your image; Your fingerprint is on every soul.
So we praise You and worship You.
We have heard about You, God who is revealed in Jesus Christ:
the carpenter who left His tools and trade; the healer who let Himself be wounded;
the revolutionary on whom soldiers spat not knowing they were fouling the face of God;
the Savior who died and rose again.
So we praise You and worship You.
We have heard about You, God revealed through the Holy Spirit.
You broke the bonds of every race and nation to let God speak in every tongue;
You converted souls and emptied pockets;
You showed how love made all things new and opened the doors to change and freedom.
So we praise You and worship You.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER
. . . Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will
be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our
debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.
INVITATION TO GIVE Lenten “Super 6” Food Collection – Canned Tuna
PRAYER OF DEDICATION (unison)
Benevolent God, who sees all that we too often overlook,
open our eyes to discern how we may most faithfully serve You and our fellow human
beings in the world.
Grant that the gifts of our lives would be a meaningful offering,
and the work of our hands would help to build Your kingdom.
Multiply all that we present to You today,
so that the hungry may be fed,
the poor may be sustained,
and all the earth would be embraced in Your inclusive love,
for the glory of Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen.
*HYMN Live Into Hope #332
Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart, in my heart,
Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart.
In my heart, in my heart,
Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart.
Lord, I want to be more loving in my heart, in my heart,
Lord, I want to be more loving in my heart,
In my heart, in my heart,
Lord, I want to be more loving in my heart.
Lord, I want to be more holy in my heart, in my heart,
Lord, I want to be more holy in my heart.
In my heart, in my heart,
Lord, I want to be more holy in my heart.
Lord, I want to be like Jesus in my heart, in my heart,
Lord, I want to be like Jesus in my heart.
In my heart, in my heart,
Lord, I want to be like Jesus in my heart.
*BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE Pie Jesu – Faure