Home Church, 3rd Sunday in Lent, March 20, 2022, Rev. Karen Hollis

Home Church, 3rd Sunday in Lent, March 20, 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                                                    UCC Worship Ways, adapted

One:  Come, everyone who thirsts,

          Come to the waters. Come to the wells.

All:    Our souls thirst for you, O God.

          We lift up our hands and call on your name

One:  Come at no cost.

          Incline your ears and listen for good news.

All:    Our flesh faints for you, O God.

          Our lips sing praises, beholding your glory.

One:  Come, eat what is good. Come, feast upon true riches.

          Be filled with that which sustains you.

All:    Our souls are satisfied in you, O God.

          In the shadow of your wings, we sing with joy

Opening Prayer                                                    UCC Worship ways, adapted

Author of abundance, God of change, we come into this hour with holy expectations. As we travel on our journey of transformation this Lenten season, we know that you are with us. You walk beside us. Your presence surrounds us. Help us to bear fruit as we walk this road. Remind us that you will never leave us nor forsakes us, that you have prepared a feast for us when all can come and be nourished. Keep us forever in the path as we worship you in spirit and in truth. Amen

Hymn: Come Let Us Worship & Bread for the Journey         Strathdee 

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                                                                          BAS

Most Merciful God,

We confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us, that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name. Amen.

Silent Prayer of Confession

Assurance of Grace 

You who hunger and thirst for God, come. God receives us in the fullness of our humanity and offers the things that satisfy our deepest needs. Thanks be to God!

Peace of Christ 

Please unmute your microphones for the passing of the peace.

We come together and receive the nourishment of Christ’s healing and renewing peace among us; 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 55:1-9 (NRSV)                               Reader: Corinne Carlson

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. 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. 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. See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. 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. Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; 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. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Second Reading: Psalm 63:1-8 (Inclusive Bible)            Reader: Owen McCooey

Adonai, my God, you are the One I seek.

       My soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you 

       in this dry and weary land where there is no water.

So I look to you in the sanctuary to see your power and glory;

       because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.

And so I bless you while I live; in your Name I lift up my hands.

       My soul will be sated as with sumptuous feast, 

       and with euphoric cries I will praise you.

I remember you when I am in bed;

 through sleepless nights I meditate on you,

       because you are my help, 

       and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.

My soul clings to you; your mighty hand upholds me.

Gospel Reading                                                          Reader: Owen McCooey

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 13:1-9 (NIV) Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.  Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

One: This is the Gospel of Christ; 

All:   Praise be to Jesus Christ

Reflection           

Silent Reflection

A New Creed 

Let us affirm our faith . . . 

We are not alone,

    we live in God’s world.

 We believe in God:

    who has created and is creating,

    who has come in Jesus,

       the Word made flesh,

       to reconcile and make new,

    who works in us and others

       by the Spirit.

We trust in God. 

We are called to be the Church:

    to celebrate God’s presence,

    to live with respect in Creation,

    to love and serve others,

    to seek justice and resist evil,

    to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,

       our judge and our hope.

In life, in death, in life beyond death,

    God is with us.

We are not alone.

Prayers of the People                                                                          Betty Schultze

One:  Loving God,

All:    Hear Our Prayer.

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 . . .                                                          Gar & Alie Lee                                                        

Offering Prayer                                                                 enfleshed, adapted

Holy One, we've only just begun to imagine what it means that all gifts come from you. We seek a more expansive curiosity, contemplating how to live our life together so all might flourish. We wonder what must be restored, repaired, and returned for justice to take root. Broaden our minds and kindle our hearts, so that we may be brave enough to ponder what it means to be one with your creation and affirm the worth of all by continuing to share your blessings. Amen.

Hymn: Ev’ry Day is a Day of Thanksgiving                               MV #185

Ev’ry day is a day of thanksgiving.

God, you’ve been so good to me.

Ev’ry day you’re blessing me.

Ev’ry day is a day of thanksgiving.

I will glorify you, O my Lord, today!

You keep blessing me, blessing me, blessing me.

You opened the door that I might see you’re blessing me.

And you keep blessing me, blessing me, blessing me.

I will glorify you O my Lord, today.

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!