Worship Guide
March 23, 2025
Third Sunday in Lent
Creating Disciples of Jesus who Transform the World
ENTRANCE WITH PRAISE
Greetings:
Minister: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you!
People: And also with you!
Special Music:
Centering Words:
Seek God and thirst for the Lord. For God’s steadfast love is sweeter than honey and more satisfying than the finest bread.
*Call to Worship:
Leader: The table is set. The banquet is laid.
People: Our souls hunger and thirst for God.
Leader: Our gracious host welcomes us here.
People: God’s steadfast love is better than life.
Leader: Sing for joy in the shadow of God’s wings.
People: We have come to praise the living God.
Leader: Let us pray.
ALL: Lord of overflowing abundance, we praise you with joyful lips and bless you with uplifted hands. When our souls are parched, you offer us wine and milk without price and satisfy our hunger. Guard us when we stand for what is right, and save us from the time of trial, that we may be worthy disciples of your Son, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
Hymn: “How Great You Are”
How great you are!
How wonderful your ways, O God.
so sings my soul, my Savior, God, to thee.
How great you are!
Before the world you knew my name.
You formed me, Lord, to worship at your feet.
How great you are!
How beautiful the glory of my King!
How great you are!
How great you are!
As mountains rise, my soul will rise and sing,
How great you are!
How great you are!
How awesome, Lord, your mighty hand.
The sun, the moon and stars you hold in place.
How great you are!
Your boundless love has filled my life.
I love now in the power of your grace.
How great you are!
How beautiful the glory of my King!
How great you are!
How great you are!
As mountains rise, my soul will rise and sing,
How great you are!
How great you are!
How beautiful the glory of my King!
How great you are!
How great you are.
As mountains rise, my soul will rise and sing,
How great you are!
How great you are!
How beautiful the glory of my King!
How great you are!
How great you are.
As mountains rise, my soul will rise and sing,
How great you are!
How great you are!
How great you are!
How great you are!
PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD
Words of Assurance
God is our help in times of trial and when we lose our way.
When we place our trust in Christ, God helps us stand and restores our honor.
Amen and Amen.
*Gospel Reading: Luke 13:1-9
1 At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”
6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7 So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ 8 He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”
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: “Fruit”
Hymn: “Marching to Zion”
Come, we that love the Lord,
and let our joys be known;
join in a song with sweet accord,
join in a song with sweet accord
and thus surround the throne,
and thus surround the throne.
We’re marching to Zion,
beautiful, beautiful Zion;
we’re marching upward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God.
Let those refuse to sing,
who never knew our God;
but children of the heavenly King,
but children of the heavenly King
may speak their joys abroad,
may speak their joys abroad.
We’re marching to Zion,
beautiful, beautiful Zion;
we’re marching upward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God.
The hill of Zion yields
a thousand sacred sweets
before we reach the heavenly fields,
before we reach the heavenly fields,
or walk the golden streets,
or walk the golden streets.
We’re marching to Zion,
beautiful, beautiful Zion;
we’re marching upward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God.
Then let our songs abound,
and every tear be dry;
we’re marching through Emmanuel’s ground,
we’re marching through Emmanuel’s ground,
to fairer worlds on high,
to fairer worlds on high.
We’re marching to Zion,
beautiful, beautiful Zion;
we’re marching upward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God.
Sermon: “My Soul Clings” Psalm 63:1-8
1 O God, you are my God, I seek you,
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on your name.
5 My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
6 when I think of you on my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
RESPONSE TO THE WORD
Hymn: “Gather Us In”
Here in this place new light is streaming
Now is the darkness vanished away
See in this space our fears and our dreamings
Brought here to you in the light of this day
Gather us in, the lost and forsaken
Gather us in, the blind and the lame
Call to us now and we shall awaken
We shall arise at the sound of our name
We are the young, our lives are a mystery
We are the old who yearn for your face
We have been sung throughout all of history
Called to be light to the whole human race
Gather us in, the rich and the haughty
Gather us in, the proud and the strong
Give us a heart so meek and so lowly
Give us the courage to enter the song
Here we will take the wine and the water
Here we will take the bread of new birth
Here you shall call
your sons and your daughters
Call us anew to be salt for the earth
Give us to drink the wine of compassion
Give us to eat the bread that is you
Nourish us well and teach us to fashion
Lives that are holy and hearts that are true
Not in the dark of buildings confining
Not in some heaven light years away
But here in this place the new light is shining
Now is the kingdom, now is the day
Gather us in and hold us forever
Gather us in and make us your own
Gather us in, all peoples together
Fire of love in our flesh and our bones
Psalter: A Modern Affirmation
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is the one true church, apostolic and universal, whose holy faith let us now declare:
We believe in God the Father, infinite in wisdom, power, and love, whose mercy is over all his works, and whose will is ever directed to his children's good.
We believe in Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of man, the gift of the Father's unfailing grace, the ground of our hope, and the promise of our deliverance from sin and death.
We believe in the Holy Spirit as the divine presence in our lives, whereby we are kept in perpetual remembrance of the truth of Christ, and find strength and help in time of need.
We believe that this faith should manifest itself in the service of love as set forth in the example of our blessed Lord, to the end that the kingdom of God may come upon the earth. Amen
Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavenly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen
Prayers of the People: Joys and concerns
Silent Prayer, Pastoral Prayer
SENDING FORTH
Hymn: “I’ll Fly Away”
Some glad morning when this life is o'er I'll fly away;
to a home on God's celestial shore, I'll fly away.
I'll fly away, O glory, I'll fly away.
When I die, hallelujah, by and by, I'll fly away.
When the shadows of this life have gone, I'll fly away;
like a bird from prison bars has flown, I'll fly away.
I'll fly away, O glory, I'll fly away.
When I die, hallelujah, by and by, I'll fly away.
Just a few more weary days and then, I'll fly away;
to a land where joys shall never end, I'll fly away.
I'll fly away, O glory, I'll fly away.
When I die, hallelujah, by and by, I'll fly away.
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.
