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Order of Worship
Let us be as open vessels that God’s spirit may enter.
The Community Gathers: Experience God’s presence in the assembly. Please greet one another with joy and welcome new friends into our community of love.
You are welcome here…come and worship!
Welcome:
Gathering Music: Show Us How to Love (by Mark Miller)
-Jennifer Comeau & Deirdre Drennen
Hearts open, minds awake,
change us now for heaven’s sake.
Leave us not alone in hatred’s wake.
Show us how to love.
Show us how to love.
Show us how, show us how to love.
Confession and Assurance:
Leader: Let us join together in opening our hearts to the love of God. Before we even utter a word, we can be assured God will offer us grace and a way forward. For this reason, we can be honest with what pains us most about our own lives, beliefs and actions.
Let us pray: Holy and Merciful One,
in this season of discernment we come bringing our deepest longings, and our failed attempts at satisfying them. We have often looked for love, for acceptance and security, in the things that do not speak to our deepest hearts and souls. Be with us and remind us of your everlasting love and hope for us.
People: We yearn for lives that matter,
we desire relationships that thrive,
we want less regret.
Leader: At times we fail to see that you have already given us what really matters: your love and peace. You give us a fresh start each morning, inviting us to live in the ways of Jesus. In this silence, we bring to you our hopes for better ways of living and loving.
Silence
My friends, be assured by the Psalmist who says,
“In God, there is steadfast love, and the great power to redeem.”
Let us respond together:
All: We open our hearts, our minds, and our souls
to the ways of love created by God, embodied in Jesus,
and already moving in us by the Spirit.
We are forgiven; we are loved; we feel your peace. Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
Opening Hymn: Here in This Place (Gather Us In) #401
A Time for the Young and the Young at Heart:
Rev. Paula Norbert
Readings: Psalm 130, John 11:1-45 -Dick Bennett
Sermon: “Come Out” Rev. Paula Norbert
Music: Meditative Instrumental
~ Featuring Deirdre Drennen with Jennifer Comeau
Musical call to Prayer: (two times)
Hush now in quiet peace, be still your mind at ease.
The Spirit brings release, so wait upon the Lord.
Prayers of the People
Silent Prayers Pastoral Prayer
Prayers of the People: In this season of Lent, we pray using an ancient form in the church. The Greek words, “Kyrie Eleison” mean “God, have mercy on us.” God’s mercy is a gift of love, given freely to us.
Kyrie Eleison, Kyrie Eleison
Kyrie Eleison, Kyrie Eleison
Offertory: Usher In Love (by Jennifer Comeau) -Jennifer Comeau & Deirdre Drennen
Doxology: Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise God all creatures here below. Praise God above ye heavenly hosts, Creator, Christ and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Prayer of Dedication
Closing Music: Here I Am, Lord #69
Blessing: Go forth into the world, looking for love in all the right places, knowing that the God of love walks with you.
Go in Peace…Amen.
Postlude: Go In Peace
Worship Notes: Worship series design © Worship Design Studio by Marcia McFee. Used and adapted with permission. www.worshipdesignstudio.com.
Great thanks to our musicians today Jennifer Comeau & Dierdre Drennen. Thank you to our Zoom Host and Reader.
Beannacht (Blessing)
On the day when
The weight deadens
On your shoulders
And you stumble,
May the clay dance
To balance you.
And when your eyes
Freeze behind
The gray window
And the ghost of loss
Gets into you,
May a flock of colors,
Indigo, red, green
And azure blue,
Come to awaken in you
A meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays
In the curragh of thought
And a stain of ocean
Blackens beneath you,
May there come across the waters
A path of yellow moonlight
To bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
Wind work these words
Of love around you,
An invisible cloak
To mind your life.
John O’Donohue
To Bless the Space Between Us
Looking Ahead:
Thursday, April 6th at 6pm-Maundy Thursday Service at the Church
Sunday, April 9th, 10am-Easter Sunday Service