Worship Guide
March 12, 2023
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: “I Would Be True” Michael & Stefanie
Centering Words:
Water in the desert flows from the rock of our salvation. The living water of Christ is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.
*Call to Worship:
Leader: Worship the Lord and sing God’s praises.
People: We come into the Lord’s presence with songs of thanksgiving.
Leader: Make a joyful noise for the rock of our salvation.
People: We rejoice in our time together.
Leader: Drink of Christ’s living water.
People: We thirst for God’s love!
Leader: Let us pray
ALL: Holy One, we yearn to draw near as we arrive in this place. We come to calm our hearts, soothe our fears, and deepen our faith. As the Samaritan woman before us, help us draw cool water from the well of your love, and help us leave with the living water of belief, through the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Hymn: “Here I Am to Worship”
Light of the world,
you stepped down into darkness,
opened my eyes, let me see.
Beauty that made this heart adore you,
hope of a life spent with you.
Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down,
here I am to say that you're my God.
You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy,
altogether wonderful to me.
King of all days, O so highly exalted,
glorious in heaven above.
Humbly you came to the earth you created,
all for love's sake became poor.
Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down,
here I am to say that you're my God.
You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy,
altogether wonderful to me.
And I'll never know how much it cost
to see my sin upon that cross.
I'll never know how much it cost
to see my sin upon that cross
I'll never know how much it cost
to see my sin upon that cross.
I'll never know how much it cost
to see my sin upon that cross
Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down,
here I am to say that you're my God.
You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy,
altogether wonderful to me.
PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD
Words of Assurance
Like the Israelites in the wilderness, and the woman at the well, living water is within reach.
We need not thirst for eternal life ever again, for the well of God’s blessing is full and God’s love is poured out for all.
Thanks be to God!
*Old Testament Reading: Exodus 17:1-7
1 From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 3 But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
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: “Water Out of the Rock”
Hymn: “Fill My Cup, Lord”
Like the woman at the well I was seeking
for things that could not satisfy;
and then I heard my Savior speaking:
"Draw from my well that never shall run dry."
Fill my cup, Lord, I lift it up, Lord!
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;
bread of heaven, feed me 'til I want no more -
fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!
There are millions in this world who are craving
the pleasures, earthly things afford;
but none can match the wondrous treasure
that I find in Jesus Christ my Lord.
Fill my cup, Lord, I lift it up, Lord!
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;
bread of heaven, feed me 'til I want no more -
fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!
So, my neighbor, if the things this world gave you
leave hungers that won't pass away,
my blessed Lord will come and save you,
if you kneel to him and humbly pray;
Fill my cup, Lord, I lift it up, Lord!
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;
bread of heaven, feed me 'til I want no more -
fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!
Sermon: “Give Me Water” John 4:5-42
5 So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) 10 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.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
27 Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” 28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” 30 They left the city and were on their way to him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. 36 The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
39 Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”
RESPONSE TO THE WORD
Hymn: “God Will Take Care of You”
Be not dismayed what e'er betide,
God will take care of you;
beneath his wings of love abide,
God will take care of you;
God will take care of you,
through every day, o'er all the way;
he will take care of you,
God will take care of you;
Through days of toil when heart doth fail,
God will take care of you;
when dangers fierce your path asail,
God will take care of you;
God will take care of you,
through every day, o'er all the way;
he will take care of you,
God will take care of you;
All you may need he will provide,
God will take care of you;
nothing you ask will be denied,
God will take care of you;
God will take care of you,
through every day, o'er all the way;
he will take care of you,
God will take care of you;
No matter what may be the test,
God will take care of you;
lean, weary one, upon his breats,
God will take care of you;
God will take care of you,
through every day, o'er all the way;
he will take care of you,
God will take care of you;
Psalter: Psalm 95
1 O come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into God's presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is a great God,
and a great Ruler above all gods,
4 in whose hands are the depths of the earth
and also the heights of the mountains.
5 The sea belongs to God who made it,
and the dry land, because God formed it.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
7 For the Lord is our God,
we are the people of God's pasture,
the sheep of God's hand.
Hear the voice of the Lord today!
8 Harden not your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your forebears tested me,
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I loathed that generation and said, "They are a people who err in heart,
and they do not regard my ways."
11 Therefore I swore in my anger
that they should not enter my rest.
Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father
and to the son
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Amen.
Prayers of the People Joys and concerns:
Silent Prayer, Pastoral Prayer
SENDING FORTH
Hymn: “Love, Mercy and Grace”
"Twas Love that gave at greatest cost
A Life, that mine should not be lost,
The Love that died in deep despair
My debt fully satisfied there.
It was Love that took my place
On the cross of Calvary
It was grace, redeeming grace,
That paid my ransome full and free.
Over sin, without, within,
I have the victory
Through grace, marvelous grace,
that lives in me.
The love that freely all forgives
In fullness now within me lives;
Thro' every trial that I see;
His grace is sufficient for me.
It was Love that took my place
On the cross of Calvary
It was grace, redeeming grace,
That paid my ransome full and free.
Over sin, without, within,
I have the victory
Through grace, marvelous grace,
that lives in me.
God's love, His mercy and His grace,
Combine to raise a fallen race;
His hand is ready, ere we call,
Held out with forgiveness for all.
It was Love that took my place
On the cross of Calvary
It was grace, redeeming grace,
That paid my ransom full and free.
Over sin, without, within,
I have the victory
Through grace, marvelous grace,
that lives in me.
Benediction
