Home Church 5th Sunday in Lent, April 3, 2022, Rev. Karen Hollis

Home Church 5th Sunday in Lent, April 3, 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: Create in Me a Clean Heart -Strathdee

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  -  UCC Worship Ways, adapted

One:  God of enthusiastic and joyful consent

All:    God of blessing, anointing, and pouring-over

One:  God of courage, creativity, and fragrance

All:    God of hugging, kissing, and dancing

One:  God of presence, silence, and simply being:

One:  We praise you with our bodies,

All:    We savor your extravagant Love with our Whole Selves.

Opening Prayer   -   UCC Worship ways, adapted

As you feel comfortable, you are invited to notice a place in your body where you feel a sense of safety or comfort. It could be anything from your big toe, to your elbow, to the breath moving out of your nose. You are invited to linger for a few moments with this place that feels safe in your body.

Spirit of the Living God, breathe, move, and wait with us. Speak to us through our intuition and bless the wisdom of our bodies. Amen.

Hymn: Behold, Behold!  -  Kanata United Church MV #115

Behold (behold), behold (behold)! 

I make all things new, 

beginning with you and starting from today.

Behold (behold), behold (behold)! 

I make all things new, 

my promise is true, for I am Christ the way.

Invitation to Confession - UCC Worship Ways

God, you call us to step more deeply into ourselves as we awaken to who you call us to be. Let us acknowledge our transgressions in stillness and in silence so that may prepare our hearts for change.

Silence

Prayer of Confession   -  Audry Asaad, adapted

Here in this season of deepening relationship with God, we are invited to bring our whole selves to this time of confession, with confidence in God’s grace. Let us pray:

From the love of my own comfort

From the fear of having nothing

From a life of worldly passions

Deliver us O God

From the need to be understood

And from a need to be accepted

From the fear of being lonely

Deliver us O God

From the fear of persecution

from the fear of being truthful

And from the fear of humility

Deliver us O God

Draw us close to you, O God.

Meet us in our places of hiding 

and help us acknowledge our truth 

that we may be set free.

Silent Prayer of Confession

Assurance of Grace 

God’s love and grace is impossible for us to comprehend or understand, but it is a gift to us. It is a gift to you. Receive today the extravagance that is God’s grace poured out for you. Thanks be to God!

Peace of Christ 

Please unmute your microphones for the passing of the peace.

One:  Where two or more are gathered, Christ is among us. He comes even now to teach healing and reconciliation through his peace.   Let us share it with one another.

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

A-M:  And also with you!

First Reading: Isaiah 43:16-21 (NRSV)  -  Reader: Don Butt

Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.

Second Reading: Psalm 126 (Inclusive Bible) -  Reader: Don Butt

When Our God brought us captives back to Zion,

we thought we were dreaming

       Our mouths were filled with laughter then,

       our tongues with songs of joy.

And from the nations we heard,

“Their God has done great things for them.”

       Yes – Our God has done great things for us,

       and we are filled with joy.

Now set our captive hearts free, Adonai!

Make them like streams in the driest desert!

       Then those who now sow in tears

       will reap with shouts of joy;

Those who go out weeping as they

carry their seeds for sowing,

       will come back with shouts of joy

       as they carry their harvest home.

Gospel Reading  -  Reader: Owen McCooey

One:      God be with you.       

All:        And also with you.

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

All:        Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

John 12:1-8 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?" (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, "Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."

 

One: This is the Gospel of Christ; 

All:   Praise be to Jesus Christ

Reflection   -  (attached)

Silent Reflection

Apostle’s Creed

Let us affirm our faith . . . 

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

          creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

Prayers of the People   -   Angela Nutter (attached)

One:  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:   Sandy Brydges

Offering Prayer  

Loving God, we give thanks for the many blessings we receive in community. May the gifts we offer help to pay forward these blessings to places of need in the world.

Hymn: Grateful  -  MV #182

[Refrain]

Grateful for the life you gave us, 

thankful for your Holy Son, 

joyful in your Spirit flowing over all, 

O God of Love.  

Grateful for the Bread of Heaven, 

thankful for your Holy Word, 

joyful in your mercy flowing, 

we will praise you.

1You are more than we imagine, 

Ancient, Holy, Living Lord. 

Even when we doubt your presence 

you are faithful to your Word. [Refrain]

2May our lives proclaim your justice, 

may our voices sing your praise.  

May our hands work in your service 

to the glory of your name. [Refrain]

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!

Thank you

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