Weekly Newsletter

Gathering

Congregational Songs: UMH #57 "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing"
"Chain Breaker" -

Announcements

Call To Worship

Leader: Our lives feel all disjointed as though they were
a valley of dry bones.
People: But the Spirit of God will bring connection and continuity to our lives.
Leader: The Spirit of God breathes hope into each one of us.
People: The Spirit of God challenges us to be people of faith.
Leader: Open our hearts, Lord, and bring us to your light.
People: Open our lives, Lord, and break us free from doubt and fear. AMEN.

Confession and Assurance

Leader: Sometimes the things we think offer love actually seek to bind us, preventing us from being full and whole and offering our best love to the world. This season of Lent,we continue our look at our faith narratives that show us about true love. The story of Lazarus, whose funeral shrouds trail him out of the tomb, offers us a metaphor of new life as we recognize that true love is that which unbinds us, that wants for us more, not less, freedom and life. Jesus says to us, “Come out!” Walk! Live! Love! Shed your funeral clothes and offer your deepest self, your deepest love, for the world.” Of course this kind of love can be dangerous, as we will see as the events of Holy Week loom
closer. But the price of continuing to look for love in the wrong places in higher than the blessing of life lived boldly. Let us join together in opening our hearts to the love of God. Before we even utter a word,we can be assured God will offer us grace and a way forward. For this reason, we can be honest with what pains us most about our own thoughts and actions.

People: Holy and Merciful One, in this season of discernment we come bringing our deepest longings, and our failed attempts at satisfying them.We have often looked for love, for acceptance and security,in the mirage of certainty,believing that if we just hold things very tightly, we will survive.We yearn for lives that matter, we desire relationships that thrive, we want less regret.

Leader: At times we fail to see that you have already given us what really matters:your love and acceptance. You provide opportunities all around us to make a difference in the lives of others.You give us a fresh start each day, inviting us to do better. In this silence, we bring to you our pleas for openness to a different way of living.

Silence

Leader: My friends, be assured by the Psalmist who says,“In God, there is steadfast love, and the great power to redeem.”

All: We open our hearts, our minds, our souls, our vision to the ways of love created by God,embodied in Jesus, and already moving in us by the Spirit. We are forgiven, loved, and freed! Amen!

Children's Message

Congregational Song: UMH #367 "He Touched Me"

Prayer for Illumination:
Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit,
that as the Scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed,
we may hear with joy what you say to us today. Amen.

Message:
Psalm 130 & John 11:1-45
"Look for the Liberator” Pastor Robyne Mayer

Hymn:"God is in This Story"

Giving

Doxology
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heav'nly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.

Prayer:From your hands, O God,
come the blessings that make life possible,
even the very gift of life itself.
In gratitude and thanks,
receive from our hands this portion of our labors.
By your Spirit’s leading,
may we use these gifts to bless the life of others
with the assurance of love,
the promise of hope,
and the course of justice.
This we do to your glory. Amen.

Closing Song:You Never Let Go

Sending