Home Church Third Sunday in Lent March 7, 2021 Rev. Karen Hollis

Home Church Third Sunday in LentMarch 7, 2021 Rev. Karen Hollis

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

Preparing the Space Around Us

Whoever you are and wherever you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here! 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. During this season of Lent we are exploring the theme: Living Faith.

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.

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    

Opening Prayer    James G. Kirk, edited

Read the prayer slowly . . .                  

O Holy One of Israel, in Christ you call us to dwell in your favour; we gather to praise you and worship your name. You are the rock that keeps us from falling, the redeemer who shows us compassion. You give us commandments and guide us in loving ways to live. Accept our words as we honour you, O God, and help us open ourselves to your presence in our worship. In Christ Jesus we pray, Amen.

Hymn: I Sing the Mighty Power  VU #231

1 I sing the mighty power of God

that made the mountains rise,

that spread the flowing seas abroad,

and built the lofty skies.

I sing the wisdom that ordained

the sun to rule the day;

the moon shines full at God’s command

and all the stars obey.

2 I sing the goodness of the One

that filled the earth with food;

who formed the creatures with a word

and then pronounced them good.

O God, your wonders are displayed

where’er I turn my eye;

if I survey the ground I tread,

or gaze upon the sky!

3 There’s not a plant or flower below

but makes your glories known;

and clouds arise and tempests blow,

by order from your throne;

while all that borrows life from you

is ever in your care,

and everywhere that I may be,

you, God are present there.

Prayer of Confession                                                                         

Loving God, you give us choice to embrace your free offering of love or to go our own way. Every day, in every moment you let us freely choose.  Meet us, O God in our short-sightedness, in our brokenness, in our arrogance, in our wishful thinking, in our mistakes, in our sin, and in the darkness we create . . . and help us choose you once again.

Silent prayer of confession

Assurance of Grace

God is the light of the world and God’s love and mercy are deeper and wider than our brokenness and suffering. Receive God’s healing today and know that this love cannot be destroyed.

Peace of Christ

Christ bring peace that is wholeness and reconciliation for all things bruised and broken. Let us share this peace with one another.

            One: The Peace of Christ be with you all!

            All:   And also with you!

First Reading: Exodus 20:1-17     Paddy Waymark

Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

 You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.

Psalm 19   Translation Voices United     Paddy Waymark

The heavens declare the gory of God;

and the vault of the sky reveals God’s handiwork.

       One day speaks to another,

       and night shares its knowledge with night,

and this without speech or language;

their voices are not heard.

       But their sound goes out to all the lands,

       their words to the ends of the earth.

In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun

which comes out like a bridegroom from under the canopy,

like an athlete eager to run the race.

       Its rising is at one end of the sky,

       it runs its course to the other,

       and there is nothing that is hidden from its heat.

God’s law is perfect, refreshing the soul;

       God’s instruction is sure,

       giving wisdom to the simple;

God’s precepts are right, rejoicing the heart;

       God’s commandment is pure

       giving light to the eyes;

God’s fear is clean, enduring forever;

       God’s judgements are true,

       every one of them righteous;

more desirable than gold, even much fine gold;

       sweeter also than honey,

       pure honey from the comb.

By them is your servant warned;

       for in keeping them there is great reward.

But who can discern unwitting sins?

       O cleanse me from my secret faults.

Keep your servant also from presumptuous sins,

lest they get the better of me.

       Then shall I be clean and innocent of great offence.

Let the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O God, my strength and my redeemer.

Gospel Reading John 2:13-22  Betty Schultze

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.

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money-changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, ‘Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a market-place!’ His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’ The Jews then said to him, ‘What sign can you show us for doing this?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews then said, ‘This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?’ But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

One: This is the Gospel of Christ;

All:   Praise be to Jesus Christ

Reflection:   Rev Karen Hollis                                 

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      Betty Schultze

One:    Loving God,

All:      Hear Our Prayers.

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   Charlie Blackburn

Offering Prayer

Let us pray . . .                                               

Loving God, we thank you for the gifts of our faith community: for welcome, for friendship and fellowship, for worship and music, for celebration and opportunities to just spend time together. We pray for

all who are lonely and in need of embrace; help us to live so that we

may welcome the stranger, offer hope to the hopeless and always have room in our midst for more people to love. Amen.

Hymn: To Us All, To Every Nation v. 1,2,4   VU #694

1 To us all, to every nation

comes a moment to decide,

in the strife of truth with falsehood

for the good or evil side,

some great cause, some modern prophet

offering each the bloom or blight,

and the choice goes by for ever

'twixt that darkness and that light.

2 Then to side with truth is noble

when we share its wretched crust,

ere the cause bring fame and profit

and 'tis prosperous to be just.

Then it is the brave one chooses,

while the coward stands aside

till the multitude make virtue

of the faith they had denied.

4 Though the cause of evil prosper,

yet 'tis truth alone is strong,

though its portion be the scaffold

and upon the throne be wrong.

Yet that scaffold sways the future,

and, behind the dim unknown,

there stands God within the shadow,

keeping watch beside God's own.

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!