We welcome everyone to our In-Person and Virtual Worship Service for the third Sunday in Lent.
Thank you to the Rev. Dr. Susan MacAlpine-Gillis for leading us in worship this morning.
If you know anyone who wants to register for the virtual services, they can signup at https://portwallisunitedchurch.ca/virtual as everyone logging in needs their own registration. ALL are welcome!
Masks/vaccinations are highly encouraged for in-person services
Service Documents to view/print at home.
Lent 3 12 March 2023
Port Wallis United Church
is an open Congregation that affirms you as a child of God,
made in God’s Image, and loved by God.
WELCOME / BIENVENUE / FAILTE / PJILA’DIK
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF LAND
CALL TO WORSHIP
People of God, let us gather to walk with Christ.
God is with us and God will guide us.
The journey may be difficult, but….
God is with us and God will guide us.
As a community of faith,
God is with us and God will guide us.
Faithful is our God.
INTROIT (3 X singing)
In the midst of darkness the light of Christ is shining,
Faithful, faithful is our God!
In the midst of darkness the light of Christ is shining,
Faithful, faithful is our God.
PRAYER FOR THE PRESENCE OF GOD’S LIGHT
Eternal God, let the Light of Christ shine before us:
as a Map, guiding our journey,
as a Lighthouse, piercing through life’s storms,
and as a Porchlight, welcoming us home.
This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who taught our souls to sing of your Glory in these words:
THE LORD’S PRAYER
( # 960 in Voices United)
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION Page 2
God of all Time, and present at this time,
may the Holy Spirit open our hearts and minds
as we open the pages of Scripture.
This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
OPENING OF THE BIBLE (3 X singing # 840 in Voices United)
“Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.”
Your Word. Music written by Michael W Smith, arr. Keith Phillips. Music Copyright 1984 Meadowgreen Music Co., Bug and Bear Music. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission under License # A-734202. All rights reserved.
SCRIPTURE LESSONS
Gospel Lesson: John 4: 5 – 42
Psalm 95
In the Hands of God, creation is held.
In the Hands of God, we too all are held.
Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD!
let us shout from the mountains to the God of our salvation.
Let us come before God with thanksgiving
and Praise the Eternal One with music and song.
In the Hands of God, creation is held.
In the Hands of God, we too all are held.
For the LORD our God is the great God,
A great Ruler above the created gods of this world.
In the hands of God are the lands of the earth,
In the Hands of God are the peaks of the Mountains.
In the Hands of God are the depths of the sea
In the Hands of God are all the creatures of creation.
In the Hands of God, creation is held.
In the Hands of God, we too all are held.
Come, let us bow down in worship,
in humility and awe let us come before the LORD our Maker;
for God is the Source of all and God is our God
and we are the people that God shepherds!
We are the flock that God loves.
Today, hear the plaintive voice of God saying to us,
“Do not harden your hearts as your ancestors did in the wilderness, where they tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I had done.
For forty years long was I grieved with that generation;
I said,
“They are a people who are bent on wandering
whose hearts go astray, who forget what I have done,
and ignore the safe paths I have set out for them.”
In the Hands of God, creation is held.
In the Hands of God, we too all are held.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now, and every shall be,
world without end, Amen.
LEARNING TIME
In peace, dear God, I come to You
through Jesus Christ who makes me new
And while I run or play or rest, be with those whom I love best,
Guide me in your Holy Way, as You walk with me each day, AMEN.
ANTHEM ~ ORDER MY STEPS
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Eternal God,
who loves all people and calls all people to your side,
You came to be with us, in Jesus Christ our Lord;
who overcame the barriers of prejudice
to welcome others into your realm.
Forgive our sins against others
as we would wish them to forgive our sins against them.
Restore what is broken,
remold what must be remade,
and reform us into your image.
All this we ask through Christ our Lord,
Amen.
SILENT CONFESSION and ASSURANCE OF PARDON
HYMN # 95 (MV) HOW DEEP THE PEACE Page 4
How deep the peace, the confidence,
of those whose wrongs are forgiven,
How deep the peace, the confidence
of those whose hearts are healed.
How Deep the Peace. Words: Lynn Bauman, 2000 Music: Linnea Good, 2004. Words copyright © 2000 Lynn Bauman, from Ancient Songs Sung Anew: the Psalms as Poetry.
REFLECTION on the BIBLICAL LESSONS
OFFERTORY HYMN # 196 (MV)
We will take what you offer, we will live by your word;
We will love one another and be fed by you, Lord.
We will take what you offer, we will live by your word;
We will love one another and be fed by you, Lord.
We Will Take What You Offer. Words and music: John L. Bell, 1998. Words and music copyright © 1998 by WGRG, Iona Community, Scotland, admin. GIA Publications, Inc., excl. N. American agent.All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission under License # A-734202. All rights reserved.
PASTORAL PRAYER
Our prayers are interspersed with the singing of the following response.
It reminds us that God is already answering our prayers even as we pray.
Glory to You, forever and ever.
Grâce soit rendu à Toi, Seigneur Jésus.
HYMN # 117 (MV) BY THE WELL, A THIRSTY WOMAN
COMMISSIONING and BENEDICTION
EXTINGUISHING OF THE TABLE CANDLES
Mention someone’s name and hold them in your heart.
CHORAL PARTING PRAYER (VU #298)
When you walk from here, when you walk from here,
Walk with Justice, walk with mercy,
and with God’s humble care. Linnea Good 1991
ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THE CHURCH COMMUNITY