The Second
Sunday in Lent
16 March
2014
The
Gathering of the Community
Gathering
Music
Opening
Litany
At the door to the Nave, the
Presider, assisted by other Ministers, begins the Litany.
Blessed be the holy Trinity, one
God,
the fountain of living water,
the rock who gave us birth,
our light and our salvation.
God of our ancestors, you raise
the dead to life in the Spirit:
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
You bring pardon and peace to the
broken in heart:
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
You make one by your Spirit the
torn and divided:
Lord, have mercy.
God of the prophets, may your
loving mercy come to us
and your salvation according to
your word:
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Your word is a lantern to our feet
and a light to our path:
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Let your mercy come to us so that
we may life,
for your ways are our delight:
Christ, have mercy.
Lenten
Hymn of Praise
‘Tree of Life and Awesome Mystery’
Common Praise #179 vv. 2, 6c
Collect
of the Day
Let us pray.
God of compassion,
lover of our wayward race,
you bring to birth a pilgrim people
and call us to be a blessing for ourselves and all the world.
We pray for grace to take your generous gift
and step with courage on this holy path,
confident in the radiant life that is your plan for us,
made known and given in Jesus Christ our Lord,
The
Proclamation of the Word of God
The First Reading
A
Reading from Genesis (12.1-4a).
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred
and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a
great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will
be a blessing. I will bless those who
bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families
of the earth shall be blessed.”
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.
Hear
what the Spirit is saying to the church.
Thanks be to God.
The Psalm
Psalm 121
with the refrain from Songs for the Holy One
Refrain
(sung twice): Our help comes from the Holy One.
1 I lift up my eyes to the
hills; *
from where is my help to come?
2 My help comes from the Lord, *
the maker of
heaven and earth.
3 The Lord will not let your
foot be moved *
and the one who watches over you will not fall asleep.
4 Behold, the one who keeps watch over Israel *
shall neither
slumber nor sleep.
Refrain: Our
help comes from the Holy One.
5 The Lord, the Lord,
watches over you; *
the Lord is your shade at your right hand,
6 so that the sun shall not
strike you by day, *
nor the moon by
night.
7 The Lord shall preserve
you from all evil *
and shall keep you safe.
8 The Lord shall watch over your going out and your coming in, *
from this time
forth for evermore.
Refrain: Our
help comes from the Holy One.
The
Second Reading
A Reading from Paul’s Letter to
the Romans (4.1-5, 13-17).
What
then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has
something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say?“ Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to
him as righteousness.” Now to one who
works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. But to one who without works trusts him who
justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.
For
the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his
descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to
be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is
no law, neither is there violation.
For
this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace
and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law
but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all
of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) — in the
presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls
into existence the things that do not exist.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to
the church.
Thanks be to God.
Gradual
Hymn
‘Eternal Lord of Love, Behold Your
Church’ Common Praise #174
The
Gospel
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ according to John (3.1-17).
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Now
there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him,
“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do
these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you,
no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born
after having grown old? Can one enter a
second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no
one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what
is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not
be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear
the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the
Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can
these things be?” Jesus answered him,
“Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
“Very
truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen;
yet you do not receive our testimony. If
I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you
believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one
who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him
may have eternal life.
“For
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the
world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through
him.”
The Gospel of Christ.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
The
Sermon
A
Lenten Affirmation of Faith
The Deacon invites the Community
to affirm its faith.
Let us affirm our faith.
Sisters and brothers, let us love one another,
because love is from God;
everyone who loves is born of God
and knows God.
Whoever does not love does not know God,
for God is love.
God’s love was revealed among us in this way:
God sent the Word, the Belovèd, into the world
so that we might live through Christ.
Sisters and brothers, since God loved us so much,
we also ought to love one another.
God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God.
The
Prayers of the Community
Intercessions,
Thanksgivings and Petitions
The
Exchange of the Peace
May the peace of Christ be always
with you.
And also with you.
The Holy
Communion
The
Offertory Hymn
‘The God of Abraham Praise’ Common Praise #347
Lenten
Prayer over the Gifts
The Deacon leads the Community in the Prayer
over the Gifts.
God our provider,
you have fed us not
with bread alone,
but with words of
grace and life.
Bless us and these
your gifts,
which we receive
from your bounty,
The Thanksgiving at the Table
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our
God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is right to give you thanks and
praise,
O Lord, our God, sustainer of the
universe,
you are worthy of glory and
praise.
Glory to you for ever and ever.
At your command all things came to
be:
the vast expanse of interstellar
space,
galaxies, suns, the planets in
their courses,
and this fragile earth, our island
home;
by your will they were created and
have their being.
Glory to you for ever and ever.
From the primal elements
you brought forth the human race,
and blessed us with memory, reason
and skill;
you made us the stewards of
creation.
Glory to you for ever and ever.
But we turn against you and betray
your trust,
and we turn against one another.
Again and again you call us to
return.
Through the prophets and sages
you reveal your righteous law.
In the fullness of time you sent
your Son,
born of woman, to be our Saviour.
He was wounded for our
transgressions
and bruised for our iniquities.
By his death he opened to us
the way of freedom and peace.
Glory to you for ever and ever.
Therefore we praise you,
joining with the heavenly chorus,
with prophets, apostles and
martyrs,
and with those in every generation
who have looked to you in hope,
to proclaim with them your glory,
in 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 he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Blessed are you, Lord our God,
for sending us Jesus, the Christ,
who on the night he was handed
over
to suffering and death,
took bread, said the blessing,
broke the bread, gave it to his
friends,
and said, “Take this, and eat it:
this is my body which is given for
you.
Do this for the remembrance of
me.”
In the same way, after supper,
he took the cup of wine;
he gave you thanks,
and said, “Drink this, all of you:
this is my blood of the new
covenant,
which is shed for you and for all
people
for the forgiveness of sins.
Whenever you drink it,
do this for the remembrance of
me.”
Glory to you for ever and ever.
Gracious God,
we recall the death of your Son
Jesus Christ,
we proclaim his resurrection and
ascension,
and we look with expectation for
his coming
as Lord of all the nations.
We who have been redeemed by him
and made a new people by water and
the Spirit,
now bring you these gifts.
Send your Holy Spirit upon us
and upon this offering of your
Church,
so that we who eat and drink at
this holy table
may share the divine life of Christ
our Lord.
Glory to you for ever and ever.
Pour out your Spirit upon the
whole earth
and make it your new creation.
Gather your Church together
from the ends of the earth into
your kingdom,
where peace and justice are
revealed,
so that we, with all your people,
of every language, race and
nation,
may share the banquet you have
promised;
through Christ, with Christ and in
Christ,
all honour and glory are yours,
Creator of all.
The
Lord’s Prayer
As our Saviour taught us, let us
pray,
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
The
Breaking of the Bread
We break this bread,
communion in Christ’s body once broken.
Let your Church be the wheat
which bears its fruit in dying.
If we have died with him,
we shall live with him;
if we hold firm,
we shall reign with him.
The gifts of God for the people of
God.
Thanks be to God.
The
Communion
Communion
Hymn
‘For the Bread Which You Have
Broken’ Common Praise #74
The Sending Forth of the Community
Lenten
Prayer after Communion
Compassionate God,
you have fed us with the bread of heaven.
Sustain us in our Lenten pilgrimage:
may our fasting be hunger for justice;
our alms, a making of peace;
and our prayer, the song of grateful hearts,
Glory to God,
whose power, working in us,
can do infinitely more
than we can ask or imagine.
Glory to God from generation to generation,
in the Church and in Christ Jesus,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Closing
Hymn
‘O God, Beyond All Face and
Form’ Common Praise #412
Dismissal
The Deacon or Assisting Minister
sends the Community forth with an appropriate Dismissal.
Concluding
Music
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