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Worship Order for
Sunday
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Beginning with a Psalm
(Ps.32, Laughing Bird version)
1 - What a blessing it is to be among those you have forgiven,
LORD, those whose record of wrongdoing you have wiped clean.
2 - People who are honest about their lives have everything
going for them; they never have to cover their tracks or worry
that they’ll be in your bad books.
3 - I used to keep my sins to myself, LORD, but they poisoned me
from within; wasting my body, tormenting my mind.
1 - Day and night I felt your eyes following me; I lived in fear
that you’d see right through me. The joy of living evaporated in
the burning heat of my guilt.
2 - Then I decided to come clean with you, LORD, to own up to
all I’d done and stop living a lie. I made a full confession to
you, LORD, and you gave me a full pardon, forgiving all my sin.
3 - Now, like all your faithful people, LORD, I am always ready
to open myself to you in prayer. When trouble breaks its banks,
your faithful ones are on safe ground.
1 - You are like a bomb shelter for us, LORD; you protect us
from danger. Thanks to you, LORD, we can still laugh; we can
dance around singing songs of freedom.
2 - You have given us clear directions; you have pointed out the
path we should follow. You have kept a watchful eye on us and
made sure we understood.
3 - You have encouraged us to follow willingly, to understand
and embrace your ways; not to buck and snort like wild horses,
fighting the reins until our strength is broken.
1 - Those who refuse the straight and narrow will suffer for it,
over and over; but those who put their trust in you, LORD, will
find love and loyalty wherever they go.
2 - You are celebrated by all right-minded people, LORD;
3 - with open hearts we shout for joy;
1 - with clear minds we sing your praises.
©2001 Nathan Nettleton
LaughingBird.net
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Call to Confession
"It has been
removed," said the doctor of the splinter that had run into my
hand too deep for me to tend. And I thought of sin, what runs
too deep for me to fix, requiring the loving, grace-filled
intervention of another to bring healing and restoration.
But first, before
the physician, there was the need for acknowledgment; there was
the work of my words-my confession-from the place where I know
my powerlessness.
The psalmist knew
what happens when we don't speak the all of it, how something in
us dries up. With sin, there is no need to roll in it, nor is
shame or guilt of any real help. The psalmist's point is that it
is confession that best moves us along into God's healing arms.
In speaking the truth, we open ourselves to the possibility of
the Grace that is God doing God's restorative work in us… Please
pray with me.
Gracious and loving
God, you who knew us even in our mother's womb, hear us now -
receive us now - as in this moment of silence we offer our
prayers of confession.
Silent
Prayer
Let’s pray
together the “Affirmation of Forgiveness” printed on the back of
the bulletin, as well as projected on the screen above.
Unison Affirmation of Forgiveness
Thank you, O God,
for your tender mercy and your abiding love. Thank you for
surrounding us with forgiveness, and for freeing us so that we
might return to you and to the path that is ours to live. Amen.
by
Glenn Mitchell
(slightly adapted), Spring Mills, Pennsylvania
Church of the Brethren Living Word Bulletin
Anchor/Wallace, Sleepy Eye MN 56085, "The Living Word Series"
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Gospel Story
Matthew 4:1-11
(6 posters needed, see below for
what they each should say)
Pastor:
On this first Sunday of
the season of Lent, our worship connects with two very familiar
stories about temptation. My sermon later on will focus upon a
story from the beginning of the Bible. Right now, however, we
turn to the Gospel of Matthew to hear one more time about what
happened immediately after Jesus was baptized. We have three
readers. One will serve as the narrator. Another will be Satan.
The third will be Jesus. Now, I need six volunteers to help
them, and I hope most of them will be our children. (Have
them come forward)
Child 1, when I point
to you, I want you to hold up this sign which says, “Boo!” That
will be a signal to the rest of us to boo after Satan speaks.
Let’s practice.
Child 2, when I point
to you, I want you to hold up this sign which says, “Yeah!” That
will be a signal to the rest of us to cheer after Jesus speaks.
Let’s practice.
Child 3, 4, 5, & 6, I
have signs that read “Temptation,” “Sin,” “Forgiveness,” and
“Grace.” Two of you will stand on each side of Satan and hold up
your signs, and the other two will stand up on each side of
Jesus and hold up your signs. Can you guess which signs go with
Satan and which with Jesus? That’s right. Temptation” and “Sin”
go with Satan, and “Forgiveness” and “Grace” go with Jesus.
Afterward, someone will help you tape your sign up on the wall.
Okay, let’s all get in
place. How about if we practice the “boo!” and “Yeah!” one more
time? … Those who have ears, let them hear.
1 - Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to
be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights,
and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to
him,
2 - If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become
loaves of bread. (boo!)
1 - But he answered,
3 - It is written, “One does not live by bread alone, but by
every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Yeah!)
1 - Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on
the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him,
2 - If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is
written, “He will command his angels concerning you,” and “On
their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash
your foot against a stone.” (boo!)
1 - Jesus said to him,
3 - Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the
test.” (Yeah!)
1 - Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed
him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he
said to him,
2 - All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship
me. (boo!)
1 - Jesus said to him,
3 - “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord
your God, and serve only him.’ ” (Yeah!)
1 - Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited
on him.
from The New Revised
Standard Version,
copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the
National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of
America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved. from ideas
suggested by Carolyn C. Brown in
Worshiping with Children.
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Poem
Hooked On '
If
'
?
The Tempter is an angler
with a covered hook,
he’ll hang around your little faith
and quote you the Good Book.
Watch out when he’s as plausible
as a most wise pontiff,
he’s covering with some bait
a barbed, and cruel “if.”
If you really are God’s child,
show me your prayer skill.
If you have the true faith,
mountains should move at will.
If you really are a Christian,
your love will be aglow.
If you truly have the Spirit,
your godliness will show.
Yes, Satan is an angler
whose “if” is a keen hook,
he tried it on with Jesus
with a swami look:
“If you really are God’s Son,
turn these stones into bread.
If you are the Chosen One,
you’ll jump and not be dead.”
The Tempter is a loser
whose logic’s out of place;
we do not have to prove a thing,
our status is by grace.
It’s written, for our freedom,
that God owns us by name.
Accept you are a child of God
and spoil the angler’s game!
by
Bruce D. Prewer 1993
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Pastoral Prayer
written closer to the time (if not at the
moment)
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Returning
our Tithes and Offerings
As you return your offering, ponder this “bridge” that links the
gospel story we heard earlier with the Genesis episode to which
we will soon turn our attention. I’ll be reading from “The
Message,” a paraphrase rather than a literal translation.
Listen.
Romans 5:12-19 from The Message
With God’s “generous, life-giving gift” of Jesus Christ in mind,
let’s respond with our tithes and offerings. Ushers?
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Benediction
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So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things
that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right
hand of God. |
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Set your minds on things that are above, not on things
that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is
hidden with Christ in God. |
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When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also
will be revealed with him in glory. |
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As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe
yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility,
meekness, and patience. |
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Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint
against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord
has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. |
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Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds
everything together in perfect harmony. And let the
peace of Christ rule in your hearts. |
Hymnal # 856
Colossians 3:1-4, 12-15a
from The New Revised
Standard Version,
copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the
National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of
America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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(para traducir a español, presione la bandera de España)
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