Monday, March 9, 2015

Sunday Prayers - Lent 5 - March 22

Approaching God

Welcome and Announcements
Prelude

Call to Worship

Pastor:                  Let us approach God faithfully, offering Him our love and devotion.
People:                 We will sing praises to His Name and glorify God from our hearts.
Pastor:                  Come, let us truly worship the One, Triune, and Living God. Amen.

First Hymn

Guide:                  Loving Lord, whose mighty acts reveal to us Your divine power, creativity, and sovereignty over the entire universe, we praise and adore You as our Creator and King. Your ways have been conveyed to our people across the centuries and throughout all the nations, therefore we approach You with awe and reverence, as well as dedication and devotion.
People:                Gracious God, each day of our lives You seek to instruct us and guide us by Your holy counsel. Sometimes we rebelliously ignore Your advice and seek to do our own sinful and selfish things. Forgive our foolish and faithless ways. Pardon us for making bad choices and self-centered mistakes. Hear us now as we silently confess our sins to You alone.

- Silent Confessions -

Guide:                  Merciful Father, You have allowed Jesus, Your Holy Son, to reclaim our lives, to teach us Your ways, and to save our souls. His perfect obedience and supreme sacrifice has won our salvation. We thank You for restoring us to Your everlasting love, and in the words of Christ our Lord, we continue to pray saying, "Our Father …THE LORD’S PRAYER” (debts/debtors).

Promise of the Gospel

Guide:                 Jesus is the King of our lives, the Anointed and Holy One of God. He alone has the authority to forgive our sins. Solely by His grace, we are cleansed of our sinful past and returned to God's favor. Let us rejoice and be glad in Him, our King of Kings and Lord of lords, both now and forever. Amen.

Gloria Patri (sung-unison):         Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen.

Family Sermon (parents and all children, including Elementary school students come forward)

Encountering God

Choir Anthem

Prayers for Health and Healing

Pastor:                 We call upon the Lord, in the midst of all our troubles, and He faithfully answers us. We ask Him to save from false ways and self-deception, clinging on to His eternal Truth. He is source of all our hope and the One who brings us healing. May the Lord have mercy upon us, for we are frail and fearful. May He grant us strength and renewal.
People:                 In Your Holy Presence, Lord, we live our lives. We often need Your help and long for deliverance from sickness and suffering, pain and discomfort, as well as anxiety and stress. We seek Your peace this day and pray that You will heal us, including our loved ones, from all that harms us in body, mind, heart, and soul.

Silent Prayers for others and ourselves. A candle is lit.

Pastor:                  Loving Lord, speak Your peace to us at this precious time and fill our hearts with Your hope. In Jesus' Name, we pray. Amen.                 (Healing prayer based on words & phrases from Psalm 120)

Unison Singing of ‘Sanctuary.’

Prayer for Illumination
Reader:                Holy Spirit, may Christ speak to our hearts, permitting God to resurrect our hopes through these sacred scriptures. May we receive and share the blessings of faith, strength, and love that we encounter throughout these biblical texts.  In Jesus' Name, we ask.  Amen.

Scripture Readings

The Message and the Apostles' Creed

Serving God

Offering & Offertory

Prayer of Dedication

(In Unison – led by pastor)          Lord Jesus, all that we are has been accomplished by Your grace. Take our tithes and gifts that we freely offer to You, and use them for the preaching of Your Word, the enhancement of Your Church, and the glorifying of Your Name. Amen.

Closing Hymn

Benediction (in unison):               May Christ urge and inspire us to advance His ministry with our lives; may the Father's great and everlasting love be treasured in our hearts and conveyed by our deeds; and may the Holy Spirit keep us loving and serving the One, Triune, and Living God, both now and evermore.  Amen.

Doxology & Postlude


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