For the week of March 17 – 5th Sunday in Lent
Morning prayer: God of suffering and glory, in Jesus Christ You reveal the way of life through the path of obedience. Inscribe Your law in our hearts, that in life we may not stray from You, but may be Your people. Amen. (Lectionary prayers)
Opening Hymn: #351 Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior
- Pass me not, O gentle Savior, hear my humble cry;
While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.
Refrain: Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry, while on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.
- Let me at Thy throne of mercy find a sweet relief,
Kneeling there in deep contrition; help my unbelief.
- Trusting only in Thy merit, would I seek Thy face;
Heal my wounded, broken spirit, save me by Thy grace.
- Thou the spring of all my comfort, more than life to me,
Whom have I on earth beside Thee? Whom in heaven by Thee?
Jeremiah 31:31-34
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
Children’s Time GREEN Genesis 1:29-30
God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
Children’s Message
Today is St. Patrick's Day, so I figured today would be the best day to talk about the color green.
Green symbolizes many aspects of God’s care for us and the first would be resurrection. While we were dead in our sins, God made a way for us to be reborn into life through the resurrection of Jesus. We see resurrection every spring. The world comes back to life in awesome shades of green after a long season of brown.
Green symbolizes abundance. Psalm 24 reminds us that God has us to lie down in green pastures, places of abundance. Because of this abundance, our ancestors were able to make their grain and harvest offerings during Pentecost and Sukkot.
The symbol we might be the most familiar with is growth. We use the color green to denote the growing times of our faith. We see this in the cloths we use on the altar or in the banners we hang in the sanctuary. It also happens to be the color of Ordinary time on our liturgical calendar. These are the Sundays between Epiphany and Lent and again after Easter until the first Sunday of Advent. We take these Sundays to grow our faith in God and our relationship to God before we observe the preparation seasons of Advent and Lent.
All around us we see the color green. The spring will soon reveal a myriad of shades of green and even in the coldest of winter the evergreen trees call us to respond to God’s call to grow.
Prayers of Intercession: Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayers for those dear to our hearts. We now pray as You have taught us: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us, not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Offering spotlight: Remember the two Lenten challenges: Give “30 Pieces of Silver” to finance building a bathhouse for Withrow University College. Pray for the administrators, staff and students of Withrow University College and our scholarship students: Emmanuella and Ebenezer.
Thank you for giving your offering to LUMC. Thank you for doing ministry with us.
Offering prayer: God of the ages, we share our tithes and offerings this day, but we acknowledge that most of the time, we are clinging tightly to what we have, afraid we might lose something we need and afraid somehow there won’t be enough to live our lives. The scarcity mindset overtakes us, and it robs us of the joy of our days. Remind us that Jesus has called us to be ready to let go of this life so that we might claim the abundance of life eternal. In our redeemer’s name, we pray. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Hymn of Preparation: #338 Where He Leads Me
- I can hear my Savior calling, I can hear my Savior calling,
I can hear my Savior calling, "Take thy cross and follow, follow Me."
Refrain: Where He leads me I will follow, where He leads me I will follow,
where He leads me I will follow; I'll go with Him, with Him all the way.
- I'll go with Him through the garden, I'll go with Him through the garden,
I'll go with Him through the garden, I'll go with Him, with Him all the way. (Refrain) - I'll go with Him through the judgment, I'll go with Him through the judgment,
I'll go with Him through the judgment, I'll go with Him, with Him all the way. (Refrain) - He will give me grace and glory, He will give me grace and glory,
He will give me grace and glory, and go with me, with me all the way. (Refrain)
Message Scripture: John 12:20-33
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves Me must follow Me, and where I am, there will My servant be also. Whoever serves Me, the Father will honor.
“Now My soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save Me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for Mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death He was to die.
Message: Pastor Becky
I’m going to need you to think back to December 31, 2023, it was New Year’s Eve morning. We were discussing God’s promise to Simeon. Do you remember it? Luke 2:26 “It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.” Simeon held onto that promise, and God allowed Simeon to see Jesus in the Temple as an infant. That promise kept Simeon going. It fortified him and preserved him. Simeon’s life was grounded in that promise. It gave him the strength to live out his days in anticipation of what God would do for him and for all creation.
In our account this morning, Jesus gives us three aphorisms, concise statements of principle, terse formulation of truth. He is leaving with the disciples encouragement for their future lives as Jesus’ disciples for us as Jesus’ disciples. They are statements to back up, to fortify our lives by telling us how to view living our lives.
Verse 24- “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
Jesus is talking about His death and what will grow from it, new life because it bears fruit, the fruit of salvation. Yet, it is also for us. We can’t live our lives to ourselves, covered by a shell. We have to die to our sins, those desires that cut us off from God and community. As disciples, we are not the most important people in our lives. To be a disciple of Jesus, we have to move our focus from ourselves to others. If we are the only thing important, if our lives are consumed with only caring about ourselves, how then can we extend love and care to our neighbors? How can we have a relationship with God? We must allow our old selves to die so that all that we are ordained to be will be shared with creation, with community within our fellowship and outside it.
Verse 25- “Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in the world will keep it for eternal life.”
This is the way of the cross. It is about who you choose to align yourself with. Now, this isn’t the idea of not loving your existence, or your children and family. This isn’t to say you don’t enjoy what you do or did before retirement. This is a “powers and principalities” question. Jesus is telling us that if we are satisfied with all that is going on in the world – injustice, oppression, exploitation, prejudice, and idolatry for example – and decide it has nothing to do with you, then you have lost your life. This is about a Kingdom of God outlook. If you work against what is wrong and embrace what is good, the Kingdom will come and living here and loving in the Kingdom will be seamless.
Verse 26- “Whoever serves Me must follow Me, and where I am, there will My servant be also. Whoever serves Me, the Father will honor.”
Where will we find Jesus? He showed us who was closest to His heart. He is with the sick, the imprisoned, the hungry, the naked, the unclean. Jesus is and was found with those that were never lifted up, accepted, or seen. Jesus is willing to get dirty, associate with the misunderstood, and He calls us to validate the humanity of others. Do we? Do we believe immigrants are people with feelings, dreams, and beliefs? Do we believe addicts are human beings? If I began to name off different areas of the world would the face of a child come to your mind? Or have we become so far removed from seeing another person as a person that we only see what is different or perceived as wrong, and condemn them without even considering the alternative way, which is to love them?
Because that really is the crux of what we are called to do and our inability to love is what condemns us. As Jesus is talking about His death, He is instructing us about how to live. He calls us to a life that makes way for others to have life. We have our assurance of a life with Jesus, our assurance is foundational to how we believe. Yet our actions have to align with our beliefs, and our primary belief is in Jesus. It isn’t just the parts of Jesus we like or the parts that benefit us the most. With Jesus, it really is all or nothing.
Jesus left us with these aphorisms to teach and encourage, to direct and solidify the truth that Jesus is LORD, LORD of creation, LORD of our lives and LORD over all. Write them down. Hang on to them. Live into them. The Kingdom of God has drawn near, it is as close as we allow it to come in our living. Let it come nearer, because Jesus is calling.
Closing Hymn: #310 He Lives
- I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today;
I know that He is living, whatever foes may say.
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer,
And just the time I need Him, He’s always near.
Refrain: He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.
- In all the world around me I see His loving care,
And though my heart grows weary, I never will despair.
I know that He is leading through all the stormy blast;
The day of His appearing will come at last. Refrain:
- Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian, lift up your voice and sing
Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King!
The hope of all who seek Him, the help of all who find;
None other is so loving, so good and kind. Refrain:
Go into your week with the blessings of The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit.
