Third Sunday in Lent 8 March 2026

HYBRID WORSHIP
Third Sunday in Lent
8 March 2026
Minister: Mona Smart
Music: Ian Cox
We acknowledge that 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!
Words for Worship
Words of response are in bold & italics
Prelude
Gathering
As we gather to worship on this third of Sunday of Lent, we take up the season’s invitation to fully open our hearts to the Word and love of God.
To fully enter into the Lenten journey is to become aware of what separates us from the Holy to whom we belong, that we may be drawn into the very heart of all that is Holy.
Gracious God,
you provide us with living water in abundance for all to share.
Nourish us with this abundance, so that we may be streams of living water to those who thirst for you; through Jesus Christ.
Call to Worship Alternative Collects, Anglican Church of Canada
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Sprit, be with you all.
And also with you.
Lord of the wellspring,
source of life and truth,
give us the courage of the Samaritan woman,
so that we may receive living water, and worship you in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ who quenches our thirst with eternal life. Amen.
Lighting of Candle United Church Gatherings Resource
We light the Christ Candle fully aware of our vulnerability and need.
The light of Christ’s love breaks in to fill our lives with love.
Come, light of Christ, come into our lives, make us one in heart and mind.
(candle is lit)
Acknowledgement of the Land
We prayerfully acknowledge with thanksgiving that we gather on the unceded territories of the Snuneymuxw people. Gracious God, help us to seek a new relationship with the first peoples here, one based in honour and respect. Amen.
Opening Hymn: We Are One VU #402
1We are one as we come,
as we come, joyful to be here,
in the praise on our lips
there's a sense that God is near.
We are one as we sing,
as we seek, we are found;
and we come needful of God's grace
as we meet, together in this place.
2We are one as we share,
as we share brokenness and fear,
in the touch of a hand
there's a sense that God is here.
We are one as we care,
as we heal, we are healed;
and we share warmth in God's embrace
as we pray together in this place.
3We are one as we feast,
as we feast, peace becomes the sign;
in the bread and the wine
there's a sense of love divine.
We are one as we come,
as we feed, we are fed;
and we feel God's refreshing grace
as we meet at table in this place.
4We are one as we hear,
as we hear, heart and hand unite;
in the word we receive
there's a sense that God is light.
We are one as we leave,
as we love, we are loved;
and we seek justice in God's ways
as we move together from this place.
Prayer of Forgiveness adapted from Anglican and United Church sources
Holy God,
In your compassion, forgive us our doubts and our errors,
forgive us of things done and left undone. Uphold us by your
Spirit that we may live and serve you newness of life, to the
honour and glory of your name.
Amen.
Prayer for Illumination and Grace adapted from Anglican Church liturgy
Gracious God,
You know our needs before we ask, and our ignorance in asking.
With you we are forgiven and strengthened in all goodness, that
we may delight in your will and walk in your ways. Amen
Peace of Christ
May the peace of Christ be with you.
And also with you.
Let us share the peace of Christ with one another.
Prayer Before the Reading of Scripture adapted from Episcopal Church sources
We open ourselves to receive the Word of God.
Scripture: Exodus 17:1-7 (NRSV) Reader: Angela Nutter
Water from the Rock
From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites
journeyed by stages, as the LORD commanded. They camped at
Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people
quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to
them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” But the
people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses
and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children
and livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the LORD, “What shall I
do for this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The LORD said to
Moses, “Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel
with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile and
go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the
rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses
did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and
Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the LORD, saying, “Is
the LORD among us or not?”
This is the Word of God
Thanks be to God.
Gospel Reading: John 4:1-29 (NRSV) Reader: Angela Nutter
As is your custom, please stand or sit for the reading of the gospel.
God be with you.
And also with you.
The Good News of Jesus the Christ according to John.
Glory to you, Christ Jesus.
Jesus and the Woman of Samaria
Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is making
and baptizing more disciples than John” (although it was not Jesus himself
but his disciples who baptized), he left Judea and started back to Galilee.
But he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a Samaritan city called
Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by
the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and
Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to
buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew,
ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in
common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of
God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have
asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to
him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that
living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the
well and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her,
“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink
of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will
give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The
woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty
or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call
your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no
husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband,’
for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your
husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see
that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you
say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said
to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the
Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you
do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But
the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship
the Father in spirit and truth,
for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those
who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him,
“I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes,
he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who
is speaking to you.” Just then his disciples came. They were astonished
that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?”
or, “Why are you speaking with her?” Then the woman left her water jar
and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man
who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can
he?”
This is the Gospel of Christ.
Thanks be to God
Word: The Woman at the Well
Hymn of Response: Spirit of the Living God VU #376
1Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Melt me, mould me, fill me, use me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
2Spirit of the living God, move among us all;
make us one in heart and mind, make us one in love:
humble, caring, selfless, sharing.
Spirit of the living God, fill our lives with love!
We Affirm Our Faith Contemporary Anglican Liturgy
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
This is the first and greatest commandment.
The second is like it:
Love your neighbour as yourself.
There is no greater commandment than these.
Life & Work of the Church
Prayers of the People Paddy Waymark
Our journey is towards You…
Hear our prayers.
Offering Prayer(offering will now be gathered)
Praise God the Source of life and birth,
Praise God the Word, who came to earth.
Praise God the Spirit, holy flame.
All Glory, honour to God’s name.
Holy Communion
Invitation
Here is the table of the Lord.
We joyfully gather at the Lord’s table, open to all.
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
God be with you all.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts;
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to God!
It is right to give God our thanks and praise!
It is indeed right that we should praise you, Gracious God, for you
created all things.
You formed us in your own image:
male and female you created us.
You made a covenant with Israel,
and through your servants Abraham and Sarah
gave the promise to a blessing to all nations.
Through Moses you led your people from bondage to freedom.
Through the prophets you renewed your promise of salvation.
Therefore, we give you thanks.
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, (sung) VU #942
God of power and might,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Holy God, source of life and goodness,
all creation rightly gives you praise.
In the fullness of time, you sent your child Jesus Christ.
He healed the sick and ate and drank with outcasts and
sinners; He opened the eyes of the blind and proclaimed the
Good News to the poor and to those in need. In all things, he
fulfilled your will.
Breaking of the Bread
Loving God,
as we break bread and share the cup,
we give thanks for the bread and the wine,
fruits of your earth and of our labour.
We commit ourselves to your service
and that our lives may proclaim the mystery of faith.
On the night he was betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ took bread;
And after giving thanks to you, broke it, and gave it to his disciples.
And said, “Take, eat: this is my body which is given to you.
Do this in remembrance of me.
After supper he took the cup of wine;
And after giving thanks, gave it to them, and said,
“Drink this, all of you: this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed
for you and for all for the forgiveness of sin.
Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.”
Sharing of the Bread and Cup
We offer you, O God, this bread and this wine.
Send your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts,
That all who eat and drink at this table may be one body, one holy
people.
(Bread and wine to be served)
Prayer after Communion
Gracious God,
May our participation in the sacramental gifts transform us that
we may live lives of thanksgiving and be faithful to your will.
Hymn: May the God of Hope Go with Us VU #424
1May the God of hope go with us every day,
filling all our lives with love and joy and peace.
May the God of justice speed us on our way,
bringing light and hope to every land and race.
[Refrain]
Praying, let us work for peace;
singing, share our joy with all;
working for a world that’s new,
faithful when we hear Christ’s call.
2May the God of healing free the earth from fear,
freeing us for peace, both treasured and pursued.
May the God of love keep our commitment clear
to a world restored, to human life renewed. [Refrain]
Blessing & Sending
May the God of hope fill us with all joy
and guide and comfort us in the disruptions
and turnings of our life,
so that we may abound
in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Postlude
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