THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT
Worship
LECTIONARY WORSHIP AIDS
Series III, Cycle A
CALL TO WORSHIP
By the power of God's Spirit, worship the Eternal who truly exists, offering God the genuine worship that is desirable.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
God of all nations, forgive our biases and prejudices, our refusal to have dealings with those of other races and orientations of which we do not approve. Excuse our religious one-upmanship that seeks to exalt our own persuasion at the expense of others, and that would rather debate non-essentials than find common ground and concerted action. We are convinced that we are right, and stubborn in resisting any evidence that we should change our minds. Soften such hardness of heart with the warm love of the Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
DECLARATION OF GOD'S FORGIVENESS
Hear the Good News! We have been put right with God through faith; we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Friends, believe the Good News! In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
EXHORTATION
Don't be stubborn. Listen today to what God says. Do not refuse to obey what God commands and miss the fulfillment of the promises made for us in Christ.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Well-spring of eternal life, satisfy our thirst for life today and every day along life's journey through wilderness ways. Help us to find time, in these forty days and nights of Lent, and on all of our days, for spiritual refreshment and growth in grace, your grace, Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
God our Maker and Re-maker, we sing for joy to you,for you care for us and provide for us. You accept us despite our history of failures. By faith we experience your grace and the renewal of our relationship with you in Christ. We find it difficult to rejoice in our troubles but we do rejoice in the endurance and hope which your approval brings. Above all, we give thanks for the gift of your Holy Spirit filling us with love for you, and the hope of sharing your glory. Amen.
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
For generations you have been worshipped in this place, God of our ancestors, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whenever and wherever your children come to you, receive their offering of true worship through the universal Spirit. Amen.
PSALM 95
O come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the LORD is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and the dry land, which his hands have formed.
O come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
O that today you would listen to his voice!
Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
when your ancestors tested me,
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
For forty years I loathed that generation and said,
"They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they do not regard my ways."
Therefore in my anger I swore, "They shall not enter my rest."
By the power of God's Spirit, worship the Eternal who truly exists, offering God the genuine worship that is desirable.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
God of all nations, forgive our biases and prejudices, our refusal to have dealings with those of other races and orientations of which we do not approve. Excuse our religious one-upmanship that seeks to exalt our own persuasion at the expense of others, and that would rather debate non-essentials than find common ground and concerted action. We are convinced that we are right, and stubborn in resisting any evidence that we should change our minds. Soften such hardness of heart with the warm love of the Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
DECLARATION OF GOD'S FORGIVENESS
Hear the Good News! We have been put right with God through faith; we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Friends, believe the Good News! In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
EXHORTATION
Don't be stubborn. Listen today to what God says. Do not refuse to obey what God commands and miss the fulfillment of the promises made for us in Christ.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Well-spring of eternal life, satisfy our thirst for life today and every day along life's journey through wilderness ways. Help us to find time, in these forty days and nights of Lent, and on all of our days, for spiritual refreshment and growth in grace, your grace, Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
God our Maker and Re-maker, we sing for joy to you,for you care for us and provide for us. You accept us despite our history of failures. By faith we experience your grace and the renewal of our relationship with you in Christ. We find it difficult to rejoice in our troubles but we do rejoice in the endurance and hope which your approval brings. Above all, we give thanks for the gift of your Holy Spirit filling us with love for you, and the hope of sharing your glory. Amen.
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
For generations you have been worshipped in this place, God of our ancestors, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whenever and wherever your children come to you, receive their offering of true worship through the universal Spirit. Amen.
PSALM 95
O come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the LORD is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and the dry land, which his hands have formed.
O come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
O that today you would listen to his voice!
Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
when your ancestors tested me,
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
For forty years I loathed that generation and said,
"They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they do not regard my ways."
Therefore in my anger I swore, "They shall not enter my rest."
