First Sunday of Lent March 6, 2022, 11:00 am
PRELUDE: It Is Well with My Soul—Phillip Bliss, arr. Rogers/Price
CALL TO RETURN TO OUR SOULS
Pastor: I don’t know how our ancestors walked their troubles and trials down.
People: I don’t know how they stood their ground.
Pastor: I don’t know how they survived Wars, Slavery, Depression, Sorrow.
People: But I do remember, that’s why I believe.
Pastor: My God calls me by the thunder and in the morning dew.
People: The Beauty of the universe knows my name! –
Pastor: Gave me a song to sing and sent me on my way!
People: I raise my voice for justice, peace and God’s enduring love – I believe.
–adapted from I Remember, I Believe by Bernice Johnson Reagon, co-founder of SNCC Singers (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) Sweet Honey in the Rock a capella singing group, Smithsonian Institution leader for many years.
HYMN: O God of Earth and Altar
A UNISON CONFESSION OF A LACK OF—AND HOPE FOR—SPIRITUAL LIBERATION (adapted from Fred Culver’s Collegium Spiritus)
I have been bored and lonely and complied with the normal. I have settled for the dull and the common place, The trivial and the brief, The secure and the comfortable. I have engaged in stereotypes. Still, I have been inspired with supreme beauty, Especially joyous and inspiring moments. It is time to withdraw, listen for inner support and diverse support By spending enough time in contemplation and dialogue, enough time alone, Enough time with others, preparing to be an agent of transformation. What makes life worth living is To experience enthusiasm, To find my deep center, engage with friends and Come alive! Amen.
HYMN: Come and Fill Our Hearts (English and Spanish stanzas) GTG#466
SCRIPTURE: Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Luke 4:1-13
SUNG RESPONSE TO SCRIPTURE: Jesus, Tempted in the Desert
SERMON: Our World Faces a Great Temptation
HYMN: Where Armies Scourge the Countryside GTG#344
WELCOME
CHORAL ANTHEM: Nearer, My God, to Thee—arr. Charles C. Walker
Matthew 25 Prayer for first Sunday of Lent
SUNG RESPONSE: Ukrainian National Anthem
OFFERTORY: It is Well with my Soul –arr. Chris Rice; sung by Josh Stark, baritone
UNISON PRAYER OF DEDICATION
May all beings everywhere Plagued with sufferings of body and mind Quickly be freed from their illnesses. May those frightened cease to be afraid, And may those bound be free. May the powerless find power, And may people think of befriending one another. May those who find themselves in trackless, fearful wilderness--- The children, the aged, the unprotected— be guarded now and always. Amen. --Buddhist prayer
HYMN: Somebody’s Knockin’ At Your Door GTG#728
BLESSING
SUNG BENEDICTION RESPONSE: Somebody’s Knockin’ At Your Door (Stanza 4: Jesus, calls you, Stanza 5: Can’t you trust him?)
POSTLUDE: Prelude in F Minor, WTC, II– J. S. Bach
EVENTS AT CHURCH THIS WEEK:
Missouri Justice from Farm to Table: Working Across the Food Growing System
Wednesday, March 9, 6-7:30 pm in our sanctuary & livestreamed
Sponsored by Rural Crisis Center, Stand Up KC, Missouri Workers Center, Rural Community Workers Alliance, Federation of Southern Cooperatives
Celebration of Life: Steven Llewellyn Thomas
Friday, March 11, 7 pm, in our church sanctuary and livestreamed
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