Bulletin – Sunday, March 22, 2026 – Fifth Sunday in Lent
Sunday, March 22, 2026
Fifth Sunday in Lent
We Gather as People of Faith
Welcome
Tennebrae 5
One: For those who are joining us on Autumnwood Drive this morning, we arrived this morning and entered into the normal bustle of a church on a Sunday morning: friends greeting each other, choir members getting ready for service, people bringing their energy and enthusiasm – weariness and stress. For those who are joining us online this morning, there has been a different kind of getting ready. And now is the time to be together, those here, and those at home. I invite you to pause with me…and consider the word, “sanctuary.” A sanctuary is a place set aside for sacred things. It is a place of refuge and protection. This room is a sanctuary. The room at home where you are is also a sanctuary at this moment. The season of Lent is a kind of sanctuary, extended in time. And one of the things Lent teaches is that you, too, are a sanctuary. There is inside you a place for sacred things, a place where God abides.
(Silent Time)
One: As we extinguish this light, we acknowledge the darkness and pain of and oppression in the world.
(A candle is extinguished)
One: Let us pray:
All: Loving God, we open our hearts to you. We invite you into our inmost being, only to find you already there. Strengthen us in our quiet places and then lead us into the work of justice and peace. Amen.
Minute Person
Announcements
Call to Worship
One: Holy One, we come to worship you this day.
All: We come to hear your healing word for our hurting world.
One: We hear the story of the valley of dry bones.
All: And we ask, can these bones live?
One: We hear the story of the raising of Lazarus.
All: And we ask, can this be true?
One: Open our ears, our eyes, our hearts to your word.
All: For in hope we have come in Jesus’ name.
Please join in the singing of the hymn – “Your Hands, O Christ” (Voices United #622)
Your hands, O Christ, in days of old were strong to heal and save;
They triumphed o’er disease and death, fought darkness and the grave.
To you they went, the blind, the mute, the palsied and the lame,
The leper set apart and shunned, the sick with fevered frame.
And lo! your touch brought life and health, gave speech and strength and sight;
And youth renewed and health restored owned you, the Lord of light.
So, living Christ, draw near to bless, compassionate as before;
That we may touch your garment’s fringe, walk in our streets once more.
O be our gracious healer still, our God in life and death;
Restore and strengthen, soothe and bless with your life-giving breath.
To hands that work and eyes that see teach wisdom’s healing lore,
That whole and sick, and weak and strong, we praise you evermore.
Prayer of Approach and Confession
Holy God, as we come to worship you today, we confess that there is so much that is difficult in our faith. We confess that there are times when we are filled with doubt. We confess that there are times when loving others seems impossible. Open our hearts to your Word. Help us to know that you are with us always. Inspire our living and our loving, that the world may know your healing, for we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Words of Assurance
Hear the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God’s love for us never ends. Even when we have turned away from God, God never turns away from us. We are God’s people and we are deeply loved. Thanks be to God!
Sung Response – “How Deep the Peace” (More Voices #95)
How deep the peace, the confidence, of those whose wrongs are forgiven.
How deep the peace, the confidence, of those whose hearts are healed.
A Story for All “The St. John’s Bible”
Invitation to the Passing of the Peace
Please offer one another the peace of Christ in a way that you feel comfortable and respects others’ space.
We Hear God’s Word
Scripture Readings
The first scripture reading is from Ezekiel 37:1-14
1 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”
The second reading is from the Gospel of John, selected verses from Chapter 11:1-45
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother Lazarus would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”
And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him.
When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.
He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”
Jesus began to weep.
Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.”
Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.”
When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
May God speak to us through these readings of scripture.
Thanks be to God!
Please join in the singing of the hymn – “As Comes the Breath of Spring” (Voices United #373)
As comes the breath of spring with light and mirth and song,
So does your Spirit bring new days brave, free, and strong.
You come with thrill of life to chase hence winter’s breath,
To hush to peace the strife of sin that ends in death.
You come like songs at morn that fill the earth with joy,
Till we, in Christ new-born, new strength in praise employ.
You come to rouse the heart from drifting to despair,
Through high hopes to impart life with an ampler air.
You breathe and there is health, you move and there is power,
You whisper, there is wealth of love, your richest dower.
Your presence is to us like summer in the soul,
Your joy shines forth and then life blossoms to its goal.
Sermon – “Can It All Come Together?”
Anthem – “He Will See You Through”
He will see you through; He’s promised.
He will see you through.
He will be for you a refuge,
He will see you through.
He will be your peace in the night.
He will be your strength in the fight.
He will see you through; He loves you.
He will see you through.
Our God is merciful and He is might.
He knows your need before you even call.
He is faithful to carry every burden.
He is able to see you through it all.
He will see you through; He’s promised.
He will see you through.
He will be for you a refuge,
He will see you through.
He will be your peace in the night.
He will be your strength in the fight.
He will see you through; He loves you.
He will see you through.
When we can’t see an answer, God’s still working.
His plan is greater than we can conceive.
He is faithful to carry out His purpose.
He is ready to meet your deepest need.
He will see you through; He’s promised.
He will see you through.
He will be for you a refuge,
He will see you through.
He will be your peace in the night.
He will be your strength in the fight.
He will see you through; He loves you.
He will see you through.
He will see you through…
We Respond to God’s Word
Invitation to Share
Offering Sung Response – “These Lenten Gifts We Bring”
These Lenten gifts we bring,
Our living faith expressed,
We offer them, most lovingly,
And thus our hearts are blessed.
O loving God receive
These gifts we gladly give,
That show our faith and hope and trust;
Your way we seek to live.
Offering Prayer
Prayers of the People
The Prayer that Jesus Taught
One: Please join me in praying the prayer Jesus taught us to pray: Our Creator who is like…
All: Our Mother and 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 trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil; for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
We Go Into God’s World
Please join in the singing of the hymn – “Grace Alone”
Every promise we can make,
Every prayer and step of faith,
Every difference we will make
Is only by His grace.
Every mountain we will climb,
Every ray of hope we shine,
Every blessing left behind
Is only by His grace.
Grace alone which God supplies,
Strength unknown He will provide.
Christ in us, our Cornerstone,
We will go forth in grace alone.
Every soul we long to reach,
Every heart we hope to teach,
Everywhere we share His peace
Is only by His grace.
Every loving word we say,
Every tear we wipe away,
Every sorrow turned to praise
Is only by His grace.
Grace alone which God supplies,
Strength unknown He will provide.
Christ in us, our Cornerstone,
We will go forth in grace alone.
Commissioning
You share in the ministry of Christ in the world. You can make a difference in love and in life. Go in peace and love and share God’s grace.
Benediction
Go in the name of God who creates you, in the name of Christ who redeems you, and in the name of the Holy Spirit who sustains you now and always. Yes, go in peace and love and share God’s grace!
Sung Response – “May the Christ Who Walks on Wounded Feet”
May the Christ who walks on wounded feet
Travel with you all your journey through.
May you see Christ’s face in all you meet
And may all you meet see Christ’s face in you.
