Home Worship for the week of March 8 – 3rd Sunday in Lent
Morning Prayer: God, like a baker, You bring the leaven which causes our hopes to rise. With Your strong and gentle hands, shape our lives, warm us with Your love. Take our common lives and touch them with Your grace, that we may nourish hope among humanity. We pray trusting in Your name through Jesus our Lord, Amen. (UM Book of Worship 469, adapted)
Morning Hymn: #298 When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
- When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died;
my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride. - Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ, my God;
all the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood. - See, from His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown. - Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small;
love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.
Epistle Lesson: Romans 5:1-8
5 Therefore, since we have been made righteous through His faithfulness,[a] we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand through Him, and we boast in the hope of God’s glory. 3 But not only that! We even take pride in our problems, because we know that trouble produces endurance, 4 endurance produces character, and character produces hope. 5 This hope doesn’t put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
6 While we were still weak, at the right moment, Christ died for ungodly people. 7 It isn’t often that someone will die for a righteous person, though maybe someone might dare to die for a good person. 8 But God shows His love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
Prayers of Intercession: (CORE, adapted) Let us lift our hearts and voices to the Lord in prayer, that God would be merciful to us.
Heavenly Father, thank You for Jesus, Your living water. Sometimes we don’t realize how thirsty we are. Sometimes what we drink makes us even thirstier. Thank You that Jesus quenches our thirst for Your goodness, love, forgiveness, and life, by filling us with Himself.
Make Your Church a place where Your living water flows. Use it to quench the thirst, heal the hearts, and cleanse the souls of people dying for lack of Your love. May it always share Your holy Word so that many may hear, and come to believe, that Your Son is the Savior of the world.
Jesus said the fields are ripe for the harvest. Therefore we pray: Call, equip, and send new pastors and evangelists to preach the Good News. Make each of us disciples eager to share the Living Water with thirsty souls in our communities.
Have mercy on this congregation. Make us people eager to worship You in spirit and in truth; to care for one another with gentle hearts; and to share the living water of Your Son with everyone we know.
Thank You for everyone who makes clean water available throughout the world. Grant that all who benefit from the pure and refreshing waters of this life may also be drawn to the Living Water of eternal life, Jesus Christ Your Son.
Have mercy on our nation, its leaders, and its people. Although we are all sinful and rebellious, save us, we pray, from our folly. Give us hearts that delight in Your law, and wills set to obey it. Remove from us the spirit of discord and strife, and crown us with the blessing of Your peace.
Refresh and heal with Your Living Water everyone burdened with suffering and sorrow. Give them renewed strength, deep peace, strong hope, and abiding faith in Your compassion.
Into Your hands, gracious Father, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy; for the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who taught us all to pray together by praying …
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: This is the third Sunday in Lent. Judas Iscariot betrayed our Savior for money. But when Judas realized the impact of his betrayal, he confessed and tried to return the money. Each of us also needs to confess sin, and repent, and make atonement. If your atonement includes a financial offering, read through the 30 Pieces of Silver supplies at the rear and pray about the sacrifices that will bring you close to the body of Christ, help you in your journey to become more like Jesus and will bless the world.
Offering prayer: Steadfast God of Hope, You pour Your Spirit into our hearts, shaping us into a people who give not out of obligation, but out of gratitude. As we bring these gifts, may they testify to Your presence among us and to the promise of reconciliation You offer the world through Christ. Make us bold in our sharing, joyful in our worship, and confident in Your grace. In the name of the one who died for us and lives within us, we pray. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Hymn of Preparation: #547 O Church of God, United
- O church of God, united to serve one common Lord,
Proclaim to all one message, with hearts in glad accord.
Christ ever goes before us, we follow day by day
With strong and eager footsteps along the upward way.
- From every land and nation the ordered ranks appear;
To serve one valiant leader they come from far and near.
They chant their one confession, they praise one living Lord,
And place their sure dependence upon His saving word.
- Though creeds and tongues may differ, they speak, O Christ, of Thee;
And in Thy loving spirit we shall one people be.
Lord, may our faithful service and singleness of aim
Proclaim to all the power of Thy redeeming name.
- May Thy great prayer be answered that we may all be one,
Close bound, by love united in Thee, God’s blessed Son:
To bring a single witness, to make the pathway bright,
That souls which grope in darkness may find the one true light.
Scripture: John 4:5-42
5 He came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, which was near the land Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from His journey, so He sat down at the well. It was about noon.
7 A Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me some water to drink.” 8 His disciples had gone into the city to buy Him some food.
9 The Samaritan woman asked, “Why do You, a Jewish man, ask for something to drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (Jews and Samaritans didn’t associate with each other.)
10 Jesus responded, “If you recognized God’s gift and who is saying to you, ‘Give Me some water to drink,’ you would be asking Him and He would give you living water.”
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You don’t have a bucket and the well is deep. Where would You get this living water? 12 You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are You? He gave this well to us, and he drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life.”
15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will never be thirsty and will never need to come here to draw water!”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, get your husband, and come back here.”
17 The woman replied, “I don’t have a husband.”
“You are right to say, ‘I don’t have a husband,’” Jesus answered. 18 “You’ve had five husbands, and the man you are with now isn’t your husband. You’ve spoken the truth.”
19 The woman said, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but You and Your people say that it is necessary to worship in Jerusalem.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Believe Me, woman, the time is coming when you and your people will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You and your people worship what you don’t know; we worship what we know because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the time is coming—and is here!—when true worshippers will worship in spirit and truth. The Father looks for those who worship Him this way. 24 God is spirit, and it is necessary to worship God in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one who is called the Christ. When He comes, He will teach everything to us.”
26 Jesus said to her, “I Am—the one who speaks with you.”[a]
27 Just then, Jesus’ disciples arrived and were shocked that He was talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are You talking with her?” 28 The woman put down her water jar and went into the city. She said to the people, 29 “Come and see a man who has told me everything I’ve done! Could this man be the Christ?” 30 They left the city and were on their way to see Jesus.
31 In the meantime the disciples spoke to Jesus, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
32 Jesus said to them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
33 The disciples asked each other, “Has someone brought Him food?”
34 Jesus said to them, “I am fed by doing the will of the one who sent Me and by completing His work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘Four more months and then it’s time for harvest’? Look, I tell you: open your eyes and notice that the fields are already ripe for the harvest. 36 Those who harvest are receiving their pay and gathering fruit for eternal life so that those who sow and those who harvest can celebrate together. 37 This is a true saying, that one sows and another harvests. 38 I have sent you to harvest what you didn’t work hard for; others worked hard, and you will share in their hard work.”
39 Many Samaritans in that city believed in Jesus because of the woman’s word when she testified, “He told me everything I’ve ever done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of His word, 42 and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this one is truly the savior of the world.”
Message: Pastor Becky
What a difference the light of day makes. Last week we talked about coming to Jesus at night. We had Nicodemus talking with Jesus about the Spirit and the new birth. Nicodemus is a named individual. Jesus knew his name, and in knowing Nicodemus' name we can see a personal relationship forming between the two. We can see it and know and be confident in the fact that if Jesus would be an intimate conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus will be an intimate conversation with each of us. It's a personal relationship, one-on-one.
This morning we're hearing the conversation in the daylight. It's actually the height of day, noontime, and Jesus is speaking with a nameless woman. She could be anyone. She represents community and Jesus' relationship in the scope of community.
By all social conventions, this conversation shouldn't even be happening. There are strict and stark boundaries. Unrelated men and women didn't speak to each other. If a conversation were to be had, they would have handled it. It would have been facilitated through others. The man would have talked to a brother, a cousin, a kinsman to carry the message, and the reply would have come back through those same channels.
Additionally, one is a Jew and the other a Samaritan. They are sworn enemies. They each have a connection to God, but neither recognizes the legitimacy of either. Both believe they had a claim on right worship and right belief. The Samaritans believed the Jews were to be blamed for their plight, and the Jews believed the Samaritans had no right to any claim on God. The Jews believed that the Samaritans were a polluted bloodline with no connection to the Temple.
For the Jews, the Samaritans' plight had everything to do with personal failing and nothing to do with the geopolitical systems at play in the lands around them. The history between the two is complex and sordid, yet they both come from the lands given to the 12 tribes. They come from the lands that encompass the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah.
Yet here they are. Jesus reaching over the barriers and creating a bridge for both of them to be together in the Kingdom of God. Jesus could have ignored the woman. He could have waited for a man or a young boy to come to the well. But He didn't. He chose to speak with her.
And she was ready, as any woman in this room can testify we are prepared for an unwanted encounter from a strange man, the one who thinks he has the right to say whatever he wants to a woman. I'm sorry to say women have a whole arsenal written into our minds of how to fend off or diffuse these interactions.
You can almost hear the banter as Jesus asks for some water. She says why are you asking me? Jesus comes back with if you knew who I am, you'd be asking Me for water. She sees the ridiculousness of this conversation. She comments on the fact that he has no bucket and the well is deep. She then recalls the origins of the well. She's leaning on her lineage, the pedigree of who they are. It's a taunt. It's as if she is saying you might have the temple, but we possess Jacob's well. She knows who she is.
Jesus begins His teaching of living water, the kind that leads to eternal life. This is knowledge. We have moved past physical water and physical thirst. It's about spiritual life. Yet she's still thinking about the water. She asks to be relieved of thirst and the work of gathering remove this chore from my To Do List.
Then Jesus says go get your husband and come back.
This changes the conversation. No longer is her guard up. She realizes this isn't about water. This interaction isn't an attack. It isn't mockery. It is a genuine exchange. She quickly changes from being on the defense to being honest about what she knows.
She calls Jesus a prophet and they discuss worship, what that's to look like, where it's supposed to happen, how salvation will come. And all the while, she's talking to the One who will and does bring salvation.
In this brief encounter, she becomes an evangelist, going to spread the good news to her community. She becomes the bridge between Jesus and her community. She goes back to the people who know the exact same facts about her that Jesus does. They, too, know their lineage. The call to worship. Her life's details. The only difference now is, she has met Jesus.
She now possesses the Kingdom connection. She now possesses a relationship with Jesus. Jesus changes everything for her and for us. Jesus gives us the capability to cross barriers, whether they be of gender or class. We are to speak to those that are economically different from us, racially different and politically different. And I'm sure that that list could go on and on as we look at the self-imposed barriers we place between one another.
Jesus wants us to see the aim of the Kingdom of God is inclusion, and He shows us as He models it for us in this conversation with the woman at the well. All means all.
The light of day shows us what holds us back from the manifestation of the Kingdom. We can see clearly what keeps us divided and in fear of each other. This interaction gives us the permission and commission to speak across barriers in the power of Jesus to usher in the Kingdom of God.
As we move through this week and for the rest of our lives, we need to recognize the barriers for what they are. Instruments carved out of fear and supremacy that up until now have successfully kept us from being in relationship with one another. Jesus calls us to a higher calling. A calling to set aside, to tear through, to climb over those barriers to bring the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Hymn of preparation: #472 Near to the Heart of God
- There is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God;
a place where sin cannot molest, near to the heart of God.
Refrain: O Jesus, blest Redeemer, sent from the heart of God,
hold us who wait before Thee near to the heart of God.
- There is a place of comfort sweet, near to the heart of God;
a place where we our Savior meet, near to the heart of God. (Refrain) - There is place a place of full release, near to the heart of God;
a place where all is joy and peace, near to the heart of God. (Refrain)
The blessing: May the Lord bless you as you repent of sins and make Lenten sacrifices.
Go Now in Peace: Go now in peace. Never be afraid. God will go with you each hour of ev’ry day. Go now in faith, steadfast strong and true. Know He will guide you in all you do. Go now in love and show you believe. Reach out to others, so all the world can see. God will be there, watching from above. Go now in peace, in faith, and in love.
