The Bulletin is at: 03-19-2017 BULLETIN
The Service in PDF format is at: 03-19-2017 Third Sunday in Lent
or the service is at follows:
THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT
March 19, 2017
PRE SERVICE MUSIC
AS WE GATHER………… “Oh come, let us sing to the Lord.” The words of the Psalm appointed for this day invite us to bring joyful praises to God. We have so many reasons to be doing just that! Our Lord comes among us to refresh us in the wilderness of the world. Today at Peace we are strengthened with the bread and wine of His Supper. We are His sheep, and we are His people. Let the singing begin!
RINGING OF THE BELL
Following the ringing of the bell, we take a few moments in silence to prepare our hearts and minds for today’s worship.
Pastor: In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
Pastor: Almighty God, we know and admit that we are sinners. We are conceived and born sinful and we continue in that sin by our heedless thoughts, careless words, and loveless deeds. Indeed, we deserve God’s punishment now and eternally. When we reflect honestly on our lives, we readily see that we are in need of repentance and renewal that come only through our Lord Jesus. Let us then make confession to our gracious God.
People: Almighty God, we repent of our sins in thought and in word and in deed. You know our failings and our transgressions. Be merciful to us, and for the sake of Jesus, grant us Your forgiveness so that, as Your redeemed people, we may find rest in You and with refreshed hearts serve You in time and in eternity.
Pastor: In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ and by His authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Pastor: Almighty God, You show the light of Your truth to those in darkness. Give strength to all believers to reject what erodes their faith and follow Your Son, Jesus, the perfect offering for sin, who has brought us salvation and who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT LESSON Exodus 17: 1-7 God provides water from a rock at Rephidim.
All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And 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 grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” And the LORD said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the LORD by saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”
EPISTLE Romans 5: 1-8 Christ died for us while we were still sinners.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die– but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
GOSPEL John 4: 5-26 Jesus meets with the Samaritan woman.
Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
Then came a woman from Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings 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 nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 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 now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 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 is seeking such people 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 (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
SERMON HYMN Green Book 343 “Guide Me Ever, Great Redeemer”
Guide me ever, great Redeemer,
Pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but you are mighty;
Hold me with your pow’rful hand.
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven
Feed me now and ever more,
Feed me now and ever more.
Open now the crystal fountain
Where the healing waters flow;
Let the fire and cloudy pillar
Lead me all my journey through.
Strong deliv’rer, strong deliv’rer,
Shield me with your mighty arm,
Shield me with your mighty arm,
When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Death of death and hell’s destruction,
Land me safe on Canaan’s side.
Songs and praises, songs and praises,
I will raise forever more,
I will raise forever more,
HYMN Green Book 358 “Glories of Your Name Are Spoken”
Glories of your name are spoken,
Zion, city of our God;
He whose word cannot be broken
Formed you for his own abode.
On the Rock of Ages founded,
What can shake your sure repose?
With salvation’s walls surrounded,
You may smile at all your foes.
See, the streams of living waters,
Springing from eternal love,
Well supply your sons and daughters
And all fear of want remove.
Who can faint, while such a river
Ever will their thirst assuage?
Grace which, like the Lord, the giver,
Never fails from age to age.
Round each habitation hov’ring,
See the cloud and fire appear
For a glory and a cov’ring,
Showing that the Lord is near.
Thus deriving from their banner
Light by night and shade by day,
Safe they feed upon the manna
Which God gives them on their way.
Savior, since of Zion’s city
I through grace a member am,
Let the world deride or pity,
I will glory in Your name.
Fading are the worldlings’ pleasures
All their boasted pomp and show;
Solid joys and lasting treasures
None but Zion’s children know.
People: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His 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 into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.
From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
OFFERING
Pastor: Gracious Father, we ask Your blessing on Your Church throughout the world. Fill the Church with all truth and peace. Where it is in error, reform it; where it is in need, supply it; where it is right, strengthen and confirm it; and where it is in conflict, heal its divisions. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Pastor: We pray this day for the fellowship of faith and love that we enjoy as God’s holy people, asking that we may gather for worship with great joy and full anticipation of the blessings of God that come to us through it. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Pastor: We also make our petitions for the sick, the homebound, the sorrowing, those undergoing hardship or challenges, and all who this day are in need of our prayers, (especially………), that their prayers may soon be answered and that they may be supported by God’s people as they experience His good and gracious will for their lives. Lord, in Your mercy,
People: hear our prayer.
Pastor: Almighty God, since You have given us grace to make our requests to You and have promised that when two or three are gathered in Your name You will hear their requests. Fulfill now, O Lord, the desires and petitions of Your servants, as may be best for them; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
People: Amen.
CHORAL ANTHEM “Feast of Grace” By Ruth Schram
LORD’S PRAYER
DISTRIBUTION
Green Book 346 “When Peace, like a River”
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way;
When sorrows, like sea billows roll;
What ever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, It is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate
And hath shed his own blood for my soul.
He lives – oh, the bliss of this glorious thought;
My sin, not in part, but the whole,
Is nailed to his cross, and I bear it no more.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
And, Lord, haste the day when our faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
The trumpet shall sound, and the Lord shall descend;
Even so it is well with my soul.
Green Book 333 “Lord, Take My Hand and Lead Me”
God, take my hand and lead me
upon life’s way;
direct, protect, and feed me
from day to day.
Without your grace and favour
I go astray,
so take my hand, O Saviour,
and lead the way.
God, when the tempest rages,
I need not fear;
for you, the Rock of Ages,
are always near.
Close by your side abiding,
I fear no foe,
for when your hand is guiding,
in peace I go.
God, when the shadows lengthen
and night has come,
I know that you will strengthen
my steps toward home,
and nothing can impede me,
O blessed Friend!
So, take my hand and lead me
unto the end.
Green Book 221 “Sent Forth by God’s Blessing”
Sent forth by God’s Blessing, Our true faith confessing,
The people of God from his dwelling take leave.
The supper is ended, Oh, now be extended
The fruits of this service in all who believe.
The seed of his teaching, Receptive souls reaching,
Shall blossom in action for God and for all.
His grace did invite us, His love shall unite us
To work for God’s kingdom and answer his call.
With praise and thanksgiving To God ever living,
The tasks of our ev’ry day life we will face.
Our faith ever sharing, In love ever caring,
Embracing his children of each tribe and race.
With your feast you feed us, With your light now lead us;
Unite us as one in this life that we share.
Then may all the living With praise and thanksgiving
Give honor to Christ and his name that we bear.
Pastor: The blessing of God Almighty—the Father, who gave His Son for the life of the world; the Son, who has revealed to us God’s grace, mercy and love; and the Spirit, by whose fruit we are seen to be children of God—bless you now and forever.
People: Amen.
CLOSING HYMN Green Book 533 “Now Thank We All Our God”
Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done, in whom his world rejoices,
Who, from our mothers’ arms, has blest us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.
Oh, may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us,
And keep us in his grace, and guide us when perplexed,
And free us from all harm in this world and the next.
All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given,
The Son, and him who reigns with them in highest heaven,
The one eternal God, whom earth and heav’n adore;
For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.