Worship at Home - Sunday 21st March 2021 - 5th Sunday of Lent

 Sunday March 21^{st. –} 5th Sunday of Lent – Passion Sunday

 Call to Worship –  Song - O My Soul – Arise and Bless Your Maker –  

Reading: Hosea 6.1–6 (The Voice Translation)

Reader 1: 1Come on, let’s renew our loyalty to the Eternal One!

He tore us like a lion, but He’ll heal us;

He wounded us, but He’ll bandage us.

2 He’ll bring us back to life after two days;

He’ll raise us up on the third day, and we’ll live with Him.

3 So let’s know Him; let’s strive to know the Eternal.

As surely as the sun rises, He’ll come out from His lair.

As surely as the rains come each year—

those spring rains that drench the earth—He’ll come back to us.

Reader 2:4  What am I supposed to do with you, Ephraim?

What am I supposed to do with you, Judah?

Your loyalty to Me is like fog in the morning,

like dew that evaporates at sunrise.

5 This is why I cut them with the words of the prophets

and destroyed them with the words of My mouth.

My judgment went forth like the light of the rising sun.

6 For I want not animal sacrifices, but mercy.[a]

I don’t want burnt offerings; I want people to know Me as God!

Opening Prayer

One thing I have asked of the Lord
and this is what I seek,
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life
to behold the beauty of the Lord
and to seek God in God’s temple.

Who is it that you seek?
I seek the Lord my God
Do you seek God with all your heart?
Amen, Lord have mercy
Do you seek God with all your soul?
Amen, Lord have mercy
Do you seek God with all your mind?
Amen, Lord have mercy
Do you seek God with all your strength
Amen, Christ have mercy

[Northumbria Community – Celtic Daily Prayer – Morning Prayer]

 

Meditation 1 – Let’s strive to know the Eternal One who Created Us

How might we know the Eternal?

We might know God through all that God has created.

In the universe’s expanse, we might know God as the One who goes beyond our knowing and imagining.

In the molecule’s intricacy, we might know God as the One who knows us more intimately than we know ourselves.

In the sea’s stormy raging, we might know God as more powerful than the swirling ocean.

In the gentle swaying of the tree, we might know God who can still the turmoil of our heart.

In colour and sound, in tastes, smells and sensations, we might know God who created all things and who gives us our very life.

How might we know the Eternal?

We might know God through all that God has created.

Hymn: StF 82 – O Lord my God! When I in Awesome Wonder - 

Meditation 2 – Let’s strive to know the Eternal One who has Reconciled Us

Not everything that breaks is easy to repair.

Does anyone ever know how deep are the wounds of a fractured relationship? What words do we use to describe the tear that takes place?

There is an earth-shattering moment of realisation that it has gone and might possibly never be recovered. Only a change as profound as the break can ever create space for repair.

The gaping chasm of hurt, of loss, of emptiness cannot be easily bridged by sheer human effort alone.

And He comes. What earth's resources could not be gathered to achieve, heaven's Son comes to do.

God's answer is enfleshed, sent to speak the word of reconciliation ...

And he brings the Message
Not just in sounds and breath
But in flesh, in sinews, in blood,
Shaped by his humanity
Forming syllables of love

No easy answers from his lips
Nor a comfortable solution
But agonising struggle
Between law and grace
Sacrifice and mercy
Condemnation and love

Wounded to reconcile
Broken to mend
Rejected to include
Dying that we might have life

God with us, doing what seemed impossible
God in Christ reconciling us to God.

 Prayer of Confession and Absolution 

Have I spoken words that injured?

Lord have mercy

Have I harboured attitudes that divided?

Christ have mercy

Have I done things that have broken relationships

Lord have mercy

 

Jesus was insulted and did not retaliate
He suffered and made no threats
Entrusting himself to the One who judges justly.
This Jesus, speaks to us words of reconciliation,
saying, “Arise and live, your sins are forgiven.”

1 Peter 2.23

 

Hymn – StF 94 – To God be the Glory -

 

Reading – Psalm 139.7–10

Where can I go to flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
If I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn
or settle on the far side of the sea
even there your hand will guide me
your right hand will hold me fast.

 

Meditation 3 – Let’s strive to know the Eternal One who has never left Us

As the ancient’s pen scratched across the parchment
he probably never imagined that one day humans would find a way
to soar into the heavens or explore the wonders of the deeps
human ingenuity has taken people far beyond the world of the ancient scribe
and those with eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts to receive
have discovered that the Psalmist was right!
There is no human rocket or submarine that can take us out of God’s presence!

Then again, it was never rockets, jet planes or submarines that threatened
our sense of knowing that God is near.
It is something far closer that does that!
A hard heart is a hard heart, on earth, beneath the sea or in the deepest reaches of space
and a stubborn will is just the same
and they are vehicles enough to carry us away from the knowledge of God’s presence. 

“What am I supposed to do with you?” God sighed to that ancient people, “As fast as you breathe out words of commitment, they evaporate in the heat of the sun.”

And he sent the prophets to call them back, but they grew deafer and deafer.
And the prophet’s messages became more and more dramatic
and still our human ear would not hear.

We imagined that a little religion might bring us closer. 

Ha! 

We hoped that a lot of religion would do the trick! 
Just so long as it was the sheep, the cows and the scapegoats that paid with their lives and not us!

“Why do you keep bringing animals?” God asked, as the sacrifices piled up on the altar, “why do you imagine that I need you (or them) to suffer to make me happy?”

“Mercy is my name … I want you to know me as God … I want you to know me as mercy.”

I want you to know that I haven’t abandoned you? 
Look and see that I am still here
still here when the hungry are fed
still here when the naked are clothed
still here when the homeless are given shelter
still here when the outsider is welcomed in
still here when the silence of desperation is broken by the word of loving concern
still here when your cry of agony is met with the tenderness of embrace.
This is mercy
and I am still here. 

 

Prayers Of Intercession

God of love
hear the cry of those who yearn for love;
fractured families, broken homes
neglected, unwanted, alone.
God of love
ALL: hear our prayer

God of justice
hear the cry of those who yearn for justice;
persecuted and oppressed,
exploited, ill-treated, broken.
God of justice
ALL: hear our prayer

God of peace
hear the cry of those who yearn for peace;
in battle zones and broken states,
frightened, fearful, anxious
God of peace
ALL: hear our prayer

God of healing
hear the cry of those who yearn for healing;
physical and spiritual
hurting, weakened, depressed
God of healing
ALL: hear our prayer

God of mercy
Hear the cry of those who yearn for mercy;
convicted, in need of your Grace,
contrite, humble, bowed down,
God of mercy
ALL: hear our prayer

https://www.faithandworship.com/Lent_intercessions.htm#gsc.tab=0

The Lord’s Prayer

 

Hymn – StF 489 – All I Once Held Dear