Worship Guide
April 6, 2025
Fifth Sunday in Lent
Creating Disciples of Jesus who Transform the World
ENTRANCE WITH PRAISE
Greeting:
Minister: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you!
People: And also with you!
Special Music: Charles
Centering Words:
God turns our tears to shouts of joy. Christ turns our weeping into laughter.
*Call to Worship:
Leader: When we have been hurt and lost,
People: God brings us laughter and joy.
Leader: When our lives reach a dead end,
People: God opens a way forward.
Leader: When the rivers of our lives drys up,
People: God sends living water to quench our thirst.
Leader: God has done great things for us!
People: Let us rejoice!
Leader: Let us pray.
ALL: God of Love, you know our lives inside and out–the times of joy and laughter, and the times of loss and pain. You accompanied our ancestors of faith into exile and then journeyed with them back to the Promised Land. Jesus our sibling, you wept at the grave of Lazarus and then you celebrated at the dinner table with your resurrected friend. Be with us in times of plenty and times of want, and let us rejoice in your presence, for you see us and care for us. In the name of the Embracing Spirit, we pray. Amen.
Hymn: “My Hope Is Built”
My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean in Jesus’ name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest on his unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
His oath, his covenant, his blood,
support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
he then is all my hope and stay.
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
When he shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in him be found.
Dressed in his righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD
Words of Assurance
God promises to do great things for us.
God comforts us and brings us with new life.
Blessed are you, our God of compassion and hope.
Amen
*Gospel Reading: John 12:1-8
1 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” 6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
Leader: This is the Word of God for the people of God
People: Thanks be to God.
WORD AND RESPONSE
Time with Young Friends: “Jesus Loves Me”
Children’s Message: “A Gift for Jesus”
Hymn: “Close to Thee”
Thou my everlasting Portion,
more than friend or life to me,
all along my pilgrim journey,
Savior, let me walk with thee.
Close to thee, close to thee,
close to thee, close to thee,
all along my pilgrim journey,
Savior, let me walk with thee.
Not for ease or worldly pleasure,
nor for fame my prayer shall be;
gladly will I toil and suffer,
only let me walk with thee.
Close to thee, close to thee,
close to thee, close to thee,
gladly will I toil and suffer,
only let me walk with thee.
Lead me through the vale of shadows,
bear me o'er life’s fitful sea;
then the gate of life eternal
may I enter, Lord, with thee.
Close to thee, close to thee,
close to thee, close to thee,
then the gate of life eternal
may I enter, Lord, with thee.
Sermon: “Fill Me with Laughter” Psalm 126
1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.
4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
5 May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
6 Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
RESPONSE TO THE WORD
Prayers of the People Joys and concerns
Silent Prayer, Pastoral Prayer
THE SACRAMENTS OF HOLY COMMUNION
Invitation, Prayer of Confession and Pardon:
Christ our Lord invites to his table
all who love him,
who earnestly repent of their sin
and seek to live in peace with one another.
Therefore, let us confess our sin before God
and one another.
Merciful God,
we confess that we have not loved you
with our whole hearts.
We have failed to be an obedient church.
We have not done your will,
we have broken your law,
we have rebelled against your love,
we have not loved our neighbors,
and we have not heard the
cry of the needy.
Forgive us, we pray.
Free us for joyful obedience,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Hear the good news:
Christ died for us while we were yet sinners;
that proves God's love toward us.
In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.
Glory to God. Amen
The Great Thanksgiving
The Lord be with you
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
You brought all things into being and called them good.
From the dust of the earth you formed us into your image and breathed into us the breath of life.
When we turned away, and our love failed, your love remained steadfast.
When rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights, you bore up the ark on the waters, saved Noah and his family, and made covenant with every living creature on earth.
When you led your people to Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights, you gave us your commandments and made us your covenant people.
When your people forsook your covenant, your prophet Elijah fasted for forty days and forty nights; and on your holy mountain, he heard your still small voice.
And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord,
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 are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ.
When you gave him to save us for our sins, your Spirit led him into the wilderness, where he fasted forty days and forty nights to prepare for his ministry.
When he suffered and died on a cross for our sin, you raised him to life, presented him alive to the apostles during forty days, and exalted him at your right hand.
By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection, you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.
Now, when we your people prepare for the yearly feast of Easter, you lead us to repentance for sin and the cleansing of our hearts, that during these forty days of Lent we may be gifted and graced to reaffirm the covenant you made with us through Christ.
On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said:
"Take, eat; this my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."
When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said:
"Drink from this all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this, as often as you drink it in remembrance of me."
And so,
in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith
Christ has died;
Christ is risen;
Christ will come again.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.
By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet.
Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father, now and forever. Amen
And now with the confidence of children of God, let us pray:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever.
Amen
Sharing of the Cup and Loaf
Moment of Prayer and Meditation
Prayer of Thanks
Eternal God, we give you thanks
for this holy mystery
in which you have given yourself to us.
Grant that we may go into the world
in the strength of your Spirit,
to give ourselves to others,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
SENDING FORTH
Hymn: “Grace Alone”
Every promise we can make,
every prayer and step of faith,
every difference we can make
is only by His grace.
Every mountain we will climb,
every ray of hope we shine,
every blessing left behind
is only by His grace.
Grace alone which God supplies,
strength unknown He will provide.
Christ in us, our cornerstone;
we will go forth in grace alone.
Every soul we long to reach,
every heart we hope to teach,
everywhere we share His peace
is only by His grace.
Every loving word we say,
every tear we wipe away,
every sorrow turned to praise
is only by His grace.
Grace alone which God supplies,
strength unknown He will provide.
Christ in us, our cornerstone;
we will go forth in grace alone.
Benediction
Hymn: “May You Run and Not Be Weary”
May you run and not be weary.
May your heart be filled with song.
And may the love of God continue
to give you hope and keep you strong.
And may you run and not be weary.
May your life be filled with joy!
And may the road you travel
always lead you home.
