Bulletin – Sunday, March 26, 2023 – Fifth Sunday in Lent

Sunday, March 26, 2023
Fifth Sunday in Lent

Approach

The Lenten Candles

When we arrived this morning we entered into the normal bustle of a church on a Sunday morning: friends greeting each other. Now that we are sitting together in the pews, I invited you to close your eyes…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 season of Lent is a kind of sanctuary, extended in time. And one of the things Lent teaches is that you, too, area sanctuary. There is inside you a place for sacred things, a place where God abides.

As we extinguish this light, we acknowledge the darkness, the burden, and pain of war and oppression in the world.

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.

Call to Worship

One:   The prophet asks: Can our soul weary bones live again?
All:      O God, you know!

One:   We ask: Can we dance again after mourning, loss, and grief?
All:      O God, you know!

One:   The gift is sure and unmistakeable:
All:      God’s breath poured out as new life for weary souls!

One:   Let us celebrate the gift of God’s new life,
All:      And come to worship God who gives us new life!

Hymn – “As Comes the Breath of Spring”

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 singes forth and then life blossoms to its goal.

Prayer of Approach and Confession

God of all consolation and compassion, your Son comforted the grieving sisters, Martha and Mary; your breath alone brings life to dry bones and weary souls. Pour out your Spirit upon us so that we might truly live in your light. O God of compassion, if you kept a record of our sins who could stand? We come before you with our brokenness and our wounds for all to see. We bring our anger, our bitterness, our unwholesome talk, and our deceitfulness. We try to do good, we try to live in the light of your love, but sometimes fail We, sometimes, choose to do what we know is wrong and sometimes succeed. Keep your promise to forgive us when we confess to you completely. Without you, we have no hope.

Response

I cast all my cares upon You.
I lay all of my burdens down at Your feet.
And anytime that I don’t know what to do,
I will cast all my cares upon You.

Words of Assurance

Response

How deep the peace, the confidence,
Of those whose wrongs are forgiven.
How deep the peace, the confidence,
Of those whose hearts are healed.

Time for All Ages

Hymn – “Come, Let Us to the God of Love”

Come, let us to the God of love with contrite hearts return:
Our God is gracious, not will leave the desolate to mourn.

God’s voice commands the tempest forth, and stills the stormy wave;
And though God’s arm be strong to smite, ‘tis also strong to save.

Long has the night of sorrow reigned, the dawn shall bring us light;
God shall appear, and we shall rise with gladness at the sight.

As dew upon the tender herb diffusing fragrance round,
As showers that user in the spring and cheer the thirsty ground.

So shall God’s presence bless our souls and shed a joyful light,
That hallowed morn shall chase away the sorrows of the night.

The Word

Scripture Reading:           Ezekiel 37:1-14

¹ The hand of the LORD came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ² He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. ³ He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.” ⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. ⁵ Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. ⁶ I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the LORD.”

⁷ So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸ I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. ⁹ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” ¹⁰ I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.

¹¹ Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³ And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. ¹⁴ I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken and will act, says the LORD.”

Scripture Reading:          John 11:1-45

¹ Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ² Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. ³ So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” ⁴ But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” ⁵ Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, ⁶ after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

⁷ Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸ The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” ⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. ¹⁰ But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” ¹¹ After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” ¹² The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” ¹³ Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. ¹⁴ Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ¹⁶ Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

¹⁷ When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, ¹⁹ and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. ²⁰ When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴ Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

²⁸ 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.” ²⁹ And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² 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.” ³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. ³⁴ He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus began to weep. ³⁶ So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

³⁸ Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. ³⁹ 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.” ⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. ⁴² 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.” ⁴³ When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ 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.”

⁴⁵ Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God!

Meditation – “Our Fifth Burden!”

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 mighty.
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.

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.

Offering / Response

Praise God throughout these forty days;
Praise Christ, our lord, whom God did raise;
And praise the Spirit who imparts
God’s love in Christ into our hearts. Amen.

The Response

Prayers of the People

One:   Gracious God, God of all compassion and consolation, your breath alone brings life to dry bones and weary souls. Pour out your Spirit upon us, that we may face despair and death with the hope of resurrection and faith through Christ, our Lord. Help us to dance with the spirit, the breath of life, which calls us out of the valley of dry bones and into the Kingdom of God, both a present reality and the grounding of our future hope.

One:   Holy Father, Father of Christ who revealed the way of life, inscribe your law on our hearts that in this life, we may be the body of Christ. Help our hands to hold the sick and suffering. As we lift up to you those in this community, and beyond, whom we hope feel the comfort of presence in their lives…Help our feet to walk with the poor. Help our ears to listen to those who live in despair. May our eyes be affixed upon the suffering of the cross and the hope of the empty tomb so that we may live as resurrection people.

One:   Sovereign Lord, Father of all in the power of the Spirit, you know our faults and yet you promise to forgive. Keep us in your presence and give us your wisdom. Open our hearts to gladness, call dry bones to dance, and restore to us the joy of your salvation. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, as you continue to pray saying:
All:      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.

Hymn – “When We are Called to Sing Your Praise”

When we are called to sing your praise with hearts so filled with pain
That we would rather sit and weep or stand up to complain,
Remind us, God, you understand the burdens that we bear;
You, too, have walked the shadowed way and known our deep despair.

When we are called to sing your praise and cannot find our voice,
Because our losses leave us now no reason to rejoice,
Remind us, God, that you accept our sad laments in prayer;
You, too, have walked the shadowed way and known our deep despair.

When we are called to sing your praise and life ahead looks grim,
Still give us faith and hope enough to break forth in a hymn,
A thankful hymn, great God of Love, that you are everywhere;
You walk the shadowed way with us and keep us in your care.

Benediction

Wait for God, we wait with deep longing; and in God’s word we stand, waiting in hope. Hope in God! For with God there is steadfast love, and with God is great power to save. So now go into the world with assurance, hope, and promise: the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ rest upon you; the love of God, creator and giver of life, embrace you; and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit uphold you, this day and all your days. Amen.

Response – “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.