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Worship Order for
Sunday
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Call to
Worship
OUT OF THE "WILDERNESS"
A Call to Worship and Gathering Prayer
for the Beginning of Lent
One: The season of Lent remembers our Lord's forty-day fast of
preparation following his baptism. Let us come away from the
hectic rush of our lives to our season of preparation!
All: Lord, our world is so noisy. Our lives are so noisy.
Lead us to a quiet place with you.
One: Lord, many are hurting. Many are broken. Lead us to your
place of comfort.
All: Lord, many of us know no joy. In many places and in
many hearts, there is no peace. Lead us to the place of your
wondrous joy and life-changing peace. Lead us now from the
"wilderness" of this world into the "healing
wilderness" of a season close to your heart. In Jesus ‘name
we pray, Amen.
by Larry M. Dentler, pastor
Bermudian Church of the Brethren, East Berlin, PA
Church of the Brethren Living Word Bulletin
Anchor/Wallace, Sleepy Eye MN 56085, "The Living Word
Series"
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Opening
Prayer
It is not with
grand "alleluias" that we begin worship this day, O Lord.
Our voices are not the most important ingredient. Your song goes on
even when we are silent, your praise rings out even as we stand
speechless. We are not the center of the universe. Sometimes we
forget this truth, as surely as we forget you amid the craziness of
our daily walk.
Forgive, and
re-center us, O Lord - creator of heaven and earth, master of the
universe. Remind us, Holy One of Israel, that "in returning
and rest (we) shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be
(our) strength." (Isaiah 30:15)
Beyond our pride, guide us. Re-focus us upon your Son, Jesus. It is
in his name that we are gathered, and in his name that we pray.
Amen.
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Pastoral Prayer
written closer to the time (if not at the
moment)
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Unison
Scripture reading/praying
Psalm 51:1-12,15-17
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgment.
Indeed, I was born in the midst of iniquity;
in the midst of sin my mother conceived me.
You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be purer than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
For you have no delight in sacrifice;
if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Hymnal #818, New Revised Standard
Version
verses 5 & 7 adapted by Eugene F. Roop, copyright©1991
c/o Bethany Theological Seminary,
615 National Rd. W., Richmond, IN 47374-4095.
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Returning
our Tithes and Offerings
Brothers and
sisters, don’t just place your financial offering into the plate
as it is passed just now. With God’s help, set aside your pride
and present yourself, just as you are, to the Lord on this first
Sunday of Lent. In this time of giving, picture Jesus sitting beside
you, for he is with us all. It is his offering that precedes and
transforms our own. Allow his "wonderful, matchless grace"
to really reach you, and to actually be "greater far than all
(our) sin and shame." The Lord truly sets our spirits free and,
in the process, we become the real people of God, and not some fake
imitation. Are you willing?
Ushers?
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Benediction
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(para traducir a español, presione la bandera de España)
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