Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
March 3, 2013
Worship 10:00 am          Sunday School 11:10am

The Third Sunday of Lent

   Beginning with Praise (9:50 am)                      "Who are these"                     270
  Announcements
  Prelude

   Call to Worship                         Isaiah 55:1-3a

*Hymn                                    "O let all who thirst"                                      495

*Opening Prayer

  Scripture                                   Isaiah 55:3b-9

  Children’s Story                 "The magic gourd"      by Baba Wagué Diakité

  Scripture                             1 Corinthians 10:1-13

  Invitation, Confession and Pardon                                                          (insert)

  Sharing a joy, a concern, a word of testimony or praise
                                 (please be brief, and aware of God's listening presence)

  Prayer Hymn                     "I need thee every hour"                                   555

  Pastoral Prayer

  Scripture                                     Luke 13:1-9

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

  Offertory                 (Please sign the attendance pad and pass it on)

  Scripture                                    Psalm 63:1-8

  Message                        "The water cooler factor" (mp3)

*Hymn                           "I heard the voice of Jesus say"                              493

*Benediction

*Postlude

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship

Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
listen, so that you may live.

Isaiah 55:1-3a
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
     

Opening Prayer

             Gracious and merciful God, we fill our bodies with rich food and sweet drinks yet we still hunger and thirst for more - for you. And so we praise you for taking the initiative to replenish and renew our lives. You established a new and everlasting covenant of grace in the person of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Through him we seek you and find you, O God.  Through him we call on you and know that we are heard.  For, through him, the distance between your thoughts and our thoughts, your ways and our ways, is spanned by your divine love.  We praise and adore you, O God, as we offer this prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord and our Savior. Amen

by Rev Moira Laidlaw, Uniting Church in Australia.
    

I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
See, you shall call nations that you do not know,
and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.

Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake their way,
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord,
that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

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
   

For Children

             "Draught and famine have come to the parched forest. And when a hungry Rabbit rescues Brother Chameleon from a thorny bush, Chameleon repays him tenfold with a magical gourd that always stays filled with food and water. But soon a greedy king steals the gourd to make gold and food for himself. Cleverly, Rabbit recovers his gourd, but still leaves plenty for the King. Surprised by Rabbit's kind act, the king begins to learn the importance of generosity and friendship. Exciting illustrations in bright ceramic plates, bowls and sculpture practically dance off of the pages." (so says Good Reads)

             Recommended by Children's Literature: A Resource for Ministry as a connection to this week's scripture, contributor Noell Rathbun-Cook writes: "Isaiah invites readers to a feast of abundance, provided not because of the money they can give in exchange, but because of the grace of the one who prepares the feast. God’s thoughts and ways are not our thoughts and ways. Surely, we think, one must earn their feasting through hard work or riches. It is difficult for us to accept grace. It is also difficult for us to believe we have enough when our culture tells us we should have more. In The Magic Gourd, Rabbit, his family, and his neighbors experience the bounty of grace as they eat and drink their fill from the gourd. The greedy king, influenced by the world’s desires for power, wealth, and more, steals the gourd. In the end, the gourd is returned to Rabbit, and the King is changed by an experience of grace in which he learns the value of generosity and friendship. Like the King, may our thoughts and ways be shifted by the experience of grace."
      

We have been baptized and share the Lord's Supper,
but know this -- we are called to live the grace we have received.
Let us confess the sin and inconsistency of our lives saying:
Lord have mercy and bring us back to your ways.
Lord have mercy and bring us back to your ways.

When we separate worship and world,
practicing religion but not loving our neighbor,
Lord have mercy and bring us back to your ways.
When we are driven by desire for money, sex, and power,
Lord have mercy and bring us back to your ways.
When we are blind to your grace and dead to your love,
Lord have mercy and bring us back to your ways.
When we love the wrong things,
Lord have mercy and bring us back to your ways.
When we cling to our thoughts and ways refusing yours,
Lord have mercy and bring us back to your ways.
Where our pattern has been to take, abuse, and hide,
restore us to your pattern of taking, blessing, breaking, and giving.
Lord have mercy and bring us back to your ways.
When we are tested by temptation,
Lord have mercy and bring us back to your ways.

(A time of silence for prayer and letting go of sin.)

Hear the good news:
“No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone.
God is faithful,
and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength,
but with the testing
he will also provide the way out
so that you may be able to endure it."   (1 Corinthians 10:13)
In the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven.
In the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven.
Glory to God.

Pastoral Prayer

written closer to the time (if not at the moment)

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

             The subject matter of this Gospel reading is repentance, a theme more frequent in Luke than in other New Testament writers. In fact, for Luke the gospel is the offer of repentance and forgiveness of sins… God is the judge of our behavior and yet God offers to all of us opportunity for repentance; attending to our relationship to God is a matter of most urgent business now and yet God is patient with a fig tree that may yet bear fruit.*

             As we prepare to offer our monetary gifts, let’s pray:

Holy God, we offer these gifts in gratitude for the blessings you bestow upon us.  Despite our unfruitful ways, we have endless opportunities to reflect your glory in our lives.  We turn our hearts and minds to the commitment that you have made to us through your son Jesus Christ.  May these gifts become symbolic of our desire to renew our covenant relationship with you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  Amen.**

Ushers?

*adapted from Fred Craddock,
Luke (Interpretation Commentary),
©1990, John Knox Press, p. 167
  
**Copyright © 2013 David S. Bell.
Reprinted with permission from www.DavidSBell.org
    

Benediction

For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field
shall clap their hands.

Isaiah 55:12 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