Order of Worship

Opening Voluntary – “Voluntary VIII, Introit” by Drew Banzhoff

Welcome/Greetings

Choral Introit

*Opening Hymn #158 – “Come Christians, Join to Sing”              

*Call to Worship

L:  When we have been hurt and lost,

P:  God brings us laughter and joy.

L:  When our lives reach a dead end,

P:  God opens a way forward.

L:  When the rivers of our lives drys up,

P:  God sends living water to quench our thirst.

L:  God has done great things for us!

P:  Let us rejoice!

*Opening Prayer

God of Love, you know our lives inside and out—the times of joy and laughter, and the times of loss and pain.  You accompanied our ancestors of faith into exile and then journeyed with them back to the Promised Land.  Jesus our sibling, you wept at the grave of Lazarus and then you celebrated at the dinner table with your resurrected friend.  Be with us in times of plenty and times of want, and let us rejoice in your presence, for you see us and care for us.  In the name of the Embracing Spirit, we pray.  Amen.

Scriptures

Epistle/New Testament  – Philippians 3:4b-14 (New International Version)

⁴ If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more:  ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.  ⁷ But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.  ¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do:  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

L:  The Word of God, For the People of God.  P:  Thanks be to God.

*Gospel Reading – John 12:1-8 (New International Version)

¹ Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.  ² Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor.  Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.  ³ Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair.  And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.  ⁴ But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ⁵ “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?  It was worth a year’s wages.  ⁶ He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.  ⁷ “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied.  “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.  ⁸ You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

L:  The Word of God, For the People of God.  P:  Thanks be to God.

*Hymn before Message #2151 – “I’m So Glad Jesus Lifted Me”        (The Faith We Sing Hymnal)

Sermon – “Nothing Compares”          Pastor Eumin Kim

Pastoral Prayer

Invitation

Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another.  Therefore, let us confess our sin before God and one another.

Prayer of Confession

Compassionate God, we do not always see the harvest of joy that we sow from our tears.  Some losses take hold of us and we dwell in disappointment and grief.  We don’t always know what to think of you.  We want to embrace new life, hope, and joy, but don’t always know how.  Bless us with your merciful help, that we might walk from our tombs like Lazarus, and sit by Jesus’ side, eating and laughing.  Help us kneel at Jesus’ feet in love and commitment, as we celebrate our new lives.  Come to us, healing God, and renew us and our love for you.  Amen.

Words of Assurance

God promises to do great things for us.  God comforts us and brings us with new life.  Blessed are you, our God of compassion and hope.  Amen.

Passing of the Peace of Christ

Let us speak with words of love and with gestures of peace, as we share the peace of Christ with one another.

Invitation to Tithes and Offering

Through this invitation to share our gifts, we acknowledge that God has blessed us abundantly, and that we are to be a blessing to the world.  In the very act of giving, in every act of bestowing blessings on another, we find that we are blessed yet again.  I encourage you now to enter fully into this amazing cycle of blessing.

Chancel Choir – “Thy Love Declare” arranged by Joseph Roff

*Hymn No. 95 – Presentation of the Offering

*Prayer of Dedication

Dearest Friend, you chose a path of suffering to reach out to us in our suffering.  Use us and our gifts to extend your love and comfort to reach people in places of loss and grief.  Use us and our gifts this day to bring hope and compassion to those who weep, that they may know your miraculous power and your fullness of life.  Use us and our gifts to bring shouts of joy to those who weep with bitter tears.  Amen.

Thanksgiving and Communion

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty (almighty God), creator of heaven and earth.  In love you made us for yourself; and when we had fallen into sin and become subject to evil and death, your love remained steadfast.  You bid your faithful people cleanse their hearts and prepare with joy for the Easter feast, that, renewed by your Word and Sacraments and fervent in prayer and works of justice and mercy, we may come to the fullness of grace that you have prepared for those who love you.

And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.  Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.  Hosanna in the highest.

Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ, whom you sent in the fullness of time to redeem the world.  He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in our likeness.  He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.  He took upon himself our sin and death and offered himself, a perfect sacrifice for the sin of the whole world.

By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection you gave birth to your Church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit. 

On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to the disciples, and said:  “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you.  Do this in remembrance of me.”

When the supper was over he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said:  “Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.  Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine.  Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.

By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet.

Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father, now and forever.  Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER AND CHORAL RESPONSE

BREAKING THE BREAD

GIVING THE BREAD AND CUP

PRAYER AFTER RECEIVING COMMUNION

We give thanks, almighty God, that you have refreshed us at your table by granting us the presence of Jesus Christ.  Strengthen our faith, increase our love for one another, and send us forth into the world in courage and peace, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ our Savior.  Amen. 

*Closing Hymn #568 – “Christ for the World We Sing”                

*Dismissal with Blessing

Closing Voluntary – “God Leads Us Along” arranged by Larry Shackley