Home Worship for

Sunday, March 20, 2022

Our Home Worship service is much like our in-person service. As you prayerfully journey through Home Worship, we hope it is meaningful for you. 


Staying home is a form of loving your neighbor. You may be staying home for your own health but in reality you then become less of a carrier to others that you might come in contact with. 


If you are not comfortable attending socially distanced activities, please stay home and stay in touch! We hope you will feel close to God who is near even if we are far apart. May God Bless you and keep you.

Prelude: Great is Thy Faithfulness

   

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Opening Hymn: What Wondrous Love is This?

1 What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul! What wondrous love is this, O my soul! What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul, to bear the dreadful curse for my soul!

2 When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down, when I was sinking down, sinking down, when I was sinking down beneath God’s righteous frown, Christ laid aside his crown for my soul, for my soul, Christ laid aside his crown for my soul.

3 To God and to the Lamb I will sing, I will sing; to God and to the Lamb I will sing; to God and to the Lamb, who is the great I AM, while millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing, while millions join the theme, I will sing.

4 And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on; and when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on. And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing his love for me, and through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on, and through eternity I’ll sing on.

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Call to Worship

(Read slowly, and contemplatively. Take time to listen to the words as you read them. Perhaps journal your thoughts, impressions and feelings as you read.) 


A great teacher once said, “When Jesus Christ calls us, he bids us come and die” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship). We are the people who have responded to this call.


Through Christ, we want to die to the fears that keep us from loving. 


Through Christ, we want to die to the stubbornness that keeps us from sharing our gifts.


Through Christ, we want to die to seeking our own success and salvation in disregard for the good of all God’s children.


This is God’s promise, that if we die with Christ, we will also rise with Christ.


God be praised for the glorious promise of new life in Christ. 


adapted from Ruth C. Duck, in Bread for the Journey, edited by Ruth C. Duck (Pilgrim Press, 1981), 35-36.

Prayer for the Day

O God of everflowing grace, you fill our every need and satisfy our every hunger. As we come before you to feast on your goodness our mouths are filled with praise for your wonderful Name.


From generation to generation you have sustained your people. In the deserts of life you bring forth springs of water. When we encounter the storms of life, you are our refuge. You nurture us as your own beloved, but we do not bear fruit. We are never satisfied. We seek out the comforts of this earth and do dishonor to you, the Giver of every good gift. We are liable for judgement, for our guilt is great. Spare your wrath from falling on us, O merciful God. Forgive our sin and free us to follow with joy in your righteous ways.


Led and sustained by your Spirit, your Church has continued to this day. Anoint us with that same Spirit that we may be your witnesses, calling the nations of the world to run to you, the Holy One of Israel.


Your tender mercy and compassion extends beyond our ability to comprehend it. We commit to your loving care this day our loved ones whom we have named. O God, be their help. Take them in the shadow of your wings; uphold them with your right hand and give them strength to bear their trials. Give healing to the sick, peace to the dying, and comfort those who morn.


We know that those who call upon your Name rejoice. Help us rejoice anew as we pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


Timothy J. Crouch, OSL, Nancy B. Parks, OSL, Chris E. Visminas, Mark R. Babb, OSL, And Also With You: Worship Resources Based on the Revised Common Lectionary Year C (OSL Publications, 1994), 51.

Sermon: Your Secret Life - Matthew 6:1-18 CEB

Matthew 6:1-18 CEB “Be careful that you don’t practice your religion in front of people to draw their attention. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

2 “Whenever you give to the poor, don’t blow your trumpet as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may get praise from people. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. 3 But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing 4 so that you may give to the poor in secret. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.


5 “When you pray, don’t be like hypocrites. They love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners so that people will see them. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. 6 But when you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.


7 “When you pray, don’t pour out a flood of empty words, as the Gentiles do. They think that by saying many words they’ll be heard. 8 Don’t be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask. 9 Pray like this:


Our Father who is in heaven,

uphold the holiness of your name.

10 Bring in your kingdom

so that your will is done on earth as it’s done in heaven.

11 Give us the bread we need for today.

12 Forgive us for the ways we have wronged you,

just as we also forgive those who have wronged us.

13 And don’t lead us into temptation,

but rescue us from the evil one.

14 “If you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.15 But if you don’t forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your sins.


16 “And when you fast, don’t put on a sad face like the hypocrites. They distort their faces so people will know they are fasting. I assure you that they have their reward. 17 When you fast, brush your hair and wash your face.18 Then you won’t look like you are fasting to people, but only to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

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Benediction

LEADER: Go into the world in faith!


PEOPLE: Trusting God to lead you, trusting people to receive you.


LEADER: Go into the world with hope!


PEOPLE: With God’s presence before you and human dreams to carry you.


LEADER: Go into the world with love!


PEOPLE: Serving with those in whom Christ lives, and laboring for those for whom Jesus died.


LEADER: Go in Faith, Hope, and Love!


William R. Wolfe, in Bread for the Journey, edited by Ruth C. Duck (Pilgrim Press, 1981), 39.