The Celebration of the Gospel
March 30, 2014 — 4th Sunday in Lent
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned;
he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.
— John 9.3
___________ We Gather as The Body of Christ
GREETING
PRELUDE Processional Daniel Burton (Julie Spring, Harp)
* CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: God of all creation, out of darkness, light!
All: We worship you.
Christ, in our blindness, healing!
We thank you.
Holy Spirit, from our old ways, new lives!
We praise you. We give ourselves to you.
Fill us with your light, that your love may be revealed in us.
* SONG Amazing Grace Blue hymnal # 378
CHILDREN’S TIME
_________________ We Attend to the Word
THE WORD IN SONG My Shepherd Will Supply My Need arr. Mack Wilberg
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Pastor: The grace of God be with you.
Congregation: And also with you.
Trusting in God’s tender mercy, let us confess our sin to God with one another.
God of love, create in me a clean heart,
and put within me a new and holy spirit.
Where there is falseness, give me your truth.
Where there is fear, kindle your love.
Where there is guilt or shame,
let me see myself with your eyes of love.
I release all the ill I have suffered,
and repent of the harm I have done.
Forgive me, and create me anew.
SILENT PRAYER … THE WORD OF GRACE
RESPONSE Lead me, Lord Blue hymnal # 473
PRAYER OF THE DAY
O Christ, you who were willing to die and be raised for us, bless us with your Spirit, that we may die to old lives and be made anew. Speak your creating word to us now, for we are listening. Amen.
Today’s scriptures look at light and darkness, seeing and not seeing.
NEW TESTAMENT Ephesians 5.8-14
[By the grace of Christ we are ourselves light, and we are to live as children of light, so that God’s love is visible. This passage quotes an early baptismal pronouncement: “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine upon you.”]
Once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light— for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what some people do secretly; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
GOSPEL / SERMON John 9.1-41
[Jesus heals a man who was born blind. An extended comedy follows the healing, as the Pharisees, blinded by their fear of Jesus, try to figure out a way to deny the power of what Jesus has done. The story is full of humorous irony. The blind man sees quite well, while those whose eyes work seem to be blind to what is going on: they can’t recognize the man, or see God’s grace, or witness the miracle, or see themselves clearly. They keep asking the one who was blind to describe something that they themselves saw. And only the one who was blind sees who Jesus is. Though Jesus has told them, “I am the light of the world,” they are still “in the dark. ]
SONG Open M y Eyes Blue hymnal # 454
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
PASSING THE PEACE
——————————————We Share at Christ’s Table
OFFERING OUR GIFTS The Minstrel’s Adieu to His Native Land John Thomas
* COMMUNION SONG
O God, you call us to life anew,
and so we bring our lives to you.
Forgiven, free and blessed, we give
our gifts that in us Christ may live.
With joy we set the table here
with gifts of Jesus’ presence dear.
God, in our feast may Christ be near,
and in our lives his love shine clear.
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING
SHARING THE HOLY MEAL
[Everyone is welcome at the table of Christ’s self-giving love.
The bread is wheat-, soy- and dairy free. We dip the bread in the juice.]
PRAYER OF BLESSING
Gracious God, we thank you for this mystery in which you have given yourself to us. In your light we are given new vision; in your grace we are given new life. Send us into the world in faith, that your love may be revealed in us, in the name of Christ. Amen.
SILENT PRAYER
___________ We Are Sent in Ministry to the World
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG This Is a Day of New Beginnings Blue hymnal # 383
* THE BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH
RESPONSE We stand and sing to our neighbors:
May the grace and peace of Christ be with you my friends.
Go and share the love of God, love that never ends.
POSTLUDE Reverie Claude Debussy