The Celebration of the Gospel
April 7, 2019 — Fifth Sunday in Lent
Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard,
anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair.
—John 12.3
________ We Gather as the Body of Christ______
GREETING
PRELUDE – A Penitential Prelude – Robert J. Powell
[As we listen to the music we quiet our minds and bodies,
listen for our hearts’ deepest desires,
and become present to the Holy One who is lovingly present for us.
You may light a votive candle in prayer
any time during the prelude, hymns, offering, or Peace.]
* CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: God of life, when life is broken,
All: we turn to you.
Loving Christ, when hearts are broken,
you come to us.
Holy Spirit, this broken world needs us;
flow through us to all the world.
* SONG – O Lord, You’re Beautiful – Black hymnal # 2064
____________ We Attend to the Word__________
(10:30) THE WORD IN SONG
Elijah Rock – traditional spiritual, arr. Jester Hairston – (Custom Blend)
(10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME
PRAYER
Loving God, as Mary anointed Jesus with perfume, anoint us with your Word, that we may hear your good news. Anoint us with your Spirit, that we may bear your healing word into the world with courage, love, and joy, Amen.
HEBREW BIBLE – Isaiah 43.1-5
[God promises, “I have redeemed you. When you go through the waters they will not overwhelm you: for I love you and I will be with you.” ]
Thus says the Holy One, who created you, O Jacob,
who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior
and you are precious in my sight, and honored,
and I love you.
Do not fear, for I am with you.
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NEW TESTAMENT – Romans 8.31-39
[Though we suffer failure and opposition, God steadfastly loves us. “If God is for us, who is against us?” Nothing can separate us from God’s love.]
If God is for us, who could be against us? God did not hold back the Only Begotten, but gave Christ up for all of us. So trust that God will also give us everything else. Who will bring any charge against God’s chosen ones? Since it is God who justifies, who has the power to condemn? Our judgment is in the hands of Christ Jesus, who died, and yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who is on our side.
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or poverty, or danger, or violence? As scripture says,
“For your sake we are being killed all day long;
we are looked on as if we are sheep to be slaughtered.”
But no! In all these things we are more than conquerors through the One who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus the Beloved.
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GOSPEL – John 12.1-8
[Mary, sister of Lazarus, anoints Jesus. Jesus says it is in anticipation of his death.]
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
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SERMON – Love’s anointing
SILENT MEDITATION
SONG – I Want Jesus to Walk with Me – Blue hymnal # 521
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
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 those who 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. Amen.
SHARING THE PEACE OF CHRIST
______We Are Sent in Ministry to the World_____
OFFERING OUR GIFTS
8:15: Thou Art Worthy — P. M. Mills, arr: Lee Evans
10:30: The Road Home — Stephen Paulus (Custom Blend)
* OFFERING SONG (Tune: What a Friend We Have in Jesus)
Jesus, in your grace and mercy you share all our pain and tears.
You anoint us with your love and heal our wounds and calm our fears.
So, like Mary with her perfume, we bring gifts of love to you,
sharing death and resurrection, trusting lives will be made new.
* PRAYER
Gracious God, we give you our lives, symbolized in these gifts. Receive them with love, bless them with grace and use them according to your will. You who walk with us in our troubles, fill us with your Spirit to walk with those who struggle, for the sake of the healing of the world, in the love and the company of Christ. Amen.
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG – How Firm a Foundation – Blue hymnal #529
* 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
8:15: Lyric Psalm – George Blake
10:30: Nunc Dimittis – arranged by Morten J. Luvaas (Custom Blend)