Home Church, 2nd Sunday in Lent, March 13, 2022, Rev. Karen Hollis

Home Church, 2nd Sunday in Lent, March 13, 2022, Rev. Karen Hollis

We acknowledge these lands upon which we worship are the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation.

Whoever you are and wherever you are on life’s journey,

you are welcome here!

Preparing the Space Around Us

Welcome if you are gathering on zoom or if you are worshipping at home with the bulletin. We are one community and all part of the body of Christ. I invite you to prepare the space around you so that for the next hour you can be fully in this worship experience, not to keep out the realities of the world, rather to focus us in the midst of it all on God. If you need to go and get something or shift something around you, feel free. 

Preparing the Space within Us

Let us prepare now the space within us for a time of worship. I invite you to sit quietly, perhaps with feet on the floor, taking a couple of deep breaths and bring yourself into this moment. Open yourself to the presence of God who is with us and within us . . . as you intentionally open yourself to God, open yourself also to what you need from this time of worship.

Introit: Open Our Hearts  -  (Bedford United Church) MV#21

Open our hearts, open our minds.

Open our lives to you O loving God.

Greeting
One:  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, 

          and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

All:    And also with you       

Call to Worship                                                                  unsplash, adapted

One: The Beloved gathers us under Her wings,

All:    longing to protect us from violence.

One:  The Abundant God makes available every resources

All:    and leads us into a life of mutual care.

One:  Come, let us gather and worship the Holy, 

          our Guard and our Guide.

All:    We come in love, generosity and joy.

Opening Prayer                                             

Holy God, we come in gratitude for the extravagance of your love and the depth of your generosity, and the capacity of your grace to reach our whole selves. We come as students of these things that we might glimpse the world with your eyes and move through the world with your heart. Amen.

Hymn: This is God’s Wondrous World  -  VU #296

1 This is God's wondrous world,

and to my listening ears

all nature sings, and round me rings

the music of the spheres.

This is God's wondrous world;

I rest me in the thought

of rocks and trees, of skies and seas,

God's hand the wonders wrought.

2 This is God's wondrous world:

the birds their carols raise,

the morning light, the lily white,

declare their Maker's praise.

This is God's wondrous world:

God shines in all that's fair;

in the rustling grass or mountain pass,

God's voice speaks everywhere.

3 This is God's wondrous world:

O let me ne'er forget

that though the wrong seems oft so strong,

God is the Ruler yet.

This is God's wondrous world:

why should my heart be sad?

Let voices sing, let the heavens ring:

God reigns, let earth be glad!

Invitation to Confession

A reading from today’s psalm . . . “One thing I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.” As we enter this time of confession, you are invited to call to mind a barrier between you and God. 

Prayer of Confession -  Faith Practices, UCC, adapted

Merciful God, we come to you carrying heavy burdens that we do not need to carry. We haul around obstacles that keep us from living as the disciples and stewards that you call us to be. As we lay these before you, help us to let go of them. Forgive us for carrying them and help us to forgive ourselves. Freed from these burdens, may we live as the people you call us to be. We pray in the name of our Savior, who calls us to be faithful and who changes us. Amen.

Silent Prayer of Confession

Assurance of Grace 

It never fails to amaze me, the lightness that comes with putting down one’s burdens and the practice of forgiveness . . . being vulnerable enough with God to open to the gift of forgiveness. Receive this gift today. Thanks be to God.

Peace of Christ 

Please unmute your microphones for the passing of the peace.

Seeing as how we are reconciled with ourselves, reconciled with God, let us be reconciled with one another through the peace that surpasses all understanding.

          N-Z: The Peace of Christ be with you!

          A-M: And also with you!

First Reading: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 (NRSV)  -  Reader: Tim Leadem

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." But Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" And Abram said, "You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir." But the word of the LORD came to him, "This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir." He brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be." And he believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness. Then he said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess." But he said, "O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?" He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants, I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates...."

Second Reading: Psalm 27 (VU) -  Reader: Nancy Hetherington Peirce 

God is my light and my salvation, whom then shall I fear?

       God is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?

When the wicked close in to devour me,

       it is they, my enemies and my foes, who stumble and fall.

If an army should encamp against me, my heart shall not be afraid;

       if war should arise against me, even then I will not be dismayed.

One thing I have asked of God, for which I long:

that I may dwell in God’s house all the days of my life,

       to gaze on your beauty, O God, and to seek you in your temple.

For in the time of trouble you will give me shelter;

       you will hide me under the cover of your tent,

       you will set me high upon a rock.

And now you have raised my head above my enemies round about me.

       Therefore I will offer in your dwelling 

       a sacrifice with great gladness.

Hear my voice, O God, when I call; have mercy and answer me.

Your face, O God, I seek.

       Do not hide your face from me; 

       do not reject your servant in anger, 

       you who have been my helper.

Do not cast me off, or forsake me, O God my savour.

       Though my father and mother forsake me, 

       my God will take me up.

Teach me your way, O God,

       lead me on a level path, safe from those who lie in wait for me.

Do not give me up to the will of my enemies,

       for liars and false witnesses arise against me.

I believe that I shall see God’s goodness in the land of the living.

       Wait for God; be strong, and take courage; yest wait for God!

Gospel Reading -   Reader: Nancy Hetherington Peirce

One:  God be with you.            

All:    And also with you.

One:  The Good News of Jesus Christ according to Luke;

All:    Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 13:31-35 (CEV) 

At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “You had better get away from here! Herod wants to kill you.”Jesus said to them: Go tell that fox, “I am going to force out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and three days later I’ll be through.” But I am going on my way today and tomorrow and the next day. After all, Jerusalem is the place where prophets are killed. Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Your people have killed the prophets and have stoned the messengers who were sent to you. I have often wanted to gather your people, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you wouldn’t let me. Now your temple will be deserted. You won’t see me again until the time when you say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”

One: This is the Gospel of Christ; 

All:   Praise be to Jesus Christ

Reflection          

Silent Reflection

Affirmation of Faith 

Let us affirm our faith . . . 

You are the new song.

You are the next beat in my heart.

You are the praise and possibility. 

You are the present and the future.

I believe the Light of the World has come this day. 

I see it now in all days. 

Those gone and those to come aflame in love.

Your love wrapped in human form,

Your love learned in justice and in mercy,

Your love risen over death.

I believe love has come on this day.

I believe love has and will always come.                                             

Prayers of the People  -  Paddy Waymark

One: Challenging and Loving God,    

All:    Hear Our Prayers

Lord’s Prayer                                                 

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours

now and for ever. Amen.

Offering: Why I Give . . .  Charlie and Christine Blackburn 

Offering Prayer  

One:  Please join me in the doxology and offering prayer:

All:    Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

          praise God, all creatures high and low,

          give thanks to God in love made known:

          Creator, Word and Spirit, one.

One   Let us pray…

All:    In response to your abundant generosity, O God, we keep your blessings flowing through the work of our hands, the attitude of our hearts, and the resources that overflow from our care. We offer these in service of your kindom that the blessings may not end with us, but continue to serve this world in need. Amen

Hymn: We Cannot Own the Sunlit Sky  (Bedford United Church) MV #143

1 We cannot own the sunlit sky, 

the moon, the wild-flowers growing,

for we are part of all that is 

within life’s river flowing.

With open hands receive and share 

the gifts of God’s creation,

that all may have abundant life 

in every earthly nation.

2 When bodies shiver in the night 

and weary wait for morning,

when children have no bread but tears, 

and war horns sound their warning,

God calls humanity to wake, 

to join in common labour,

that all may have abundant life, 

oneness with their neighbour.

3 God calls humanity to join 

as partners in creating

a future free from want or fear,

life’s goodness celebrating,

that new world beckons from afar,

invites our shared endeavour

that all might have abundant life 

and peace endure forever.

Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory to God from generation to generation, in the Church and in Christ Jesus, for ever and ever. Amen.

Blessing  -  Iona Community

If you are with another person, you’re invited to bless each other, taking every other line.

One:  The Creator’s blessing be yours on your road, on your journey,           guiding you, cherishing you.

N-Z:   The Son’s blessing be yours, wine and water, bread and stories, feeding you, challenging you.

A-M:  The Spirit’s blessing be yours, wind and fire, joy and wisdom, comforting you, disturbing you.

All:    The Angel’s blessing be yours, on your house, on your living, guarding you, encouraging you. Let us walk together, a community on a journey sustained in God’s blessing. Amen!

One:  Let us go now in peace to love and serve the Lord.

All:    Thanks be to God! Alleluia!