The Third
Sunday in Lent
23 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. 3, 6d
Collect
of the Day
Let us pray.
Lord of the wellspring,
source of life and truth:
Jesus asked for water
from the hands of a woman
in the land of the stranger;
may he teach us to name our need,
to love our neighbour
and to worship you in spirit and truth,
The
Proclamation of the Word of God
The First Reading
A
Reading from Exodus (17.1-7).
From the wilderness of Sin the whole
congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no
water for the people to drink. The
people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with
me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water; and
the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of
Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people?
They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord
said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of
Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile,
and go. I will be standing there in
front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike
the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of
Israel. He called the place Massah and
Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Hear
what the Spirit is saying to the church.
Thanks be to God.
The Psalm
Psalm 95
with the refrain from Songs for the Holy One
Refrain
(sung twice): Gracious God, help us to serve you faithfully.
1 Come, let us sing to the Lord; *
let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before the
presence of the Lord with thanksgiving *
and raise a loud
shout to God with psalms.
3 For you, O Lord, are a great God, *
and a great sovereign above all gods.
4 In your hand are the
caverns of the earth, *
and the heights
of the hills are yours also.
Refrain: Our
help comes from the Holy One.
5 The sea is yours, for you made it, *
and your hands have moulded the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down, and
bend the knee, *
and kneel before
the Lord our Maker.
7 For you, O Lord, are our God,
and we are the people of
your pasture and the sheep of your hand. *
Oh, that today we
would hearken to your voice!
Refrain: Gracious
God, help us to serve you faithfully.
8 Harden not your hearts, as your forebears did in the wilderness,
*
at Meribah, and on that day at Massah, when they tempted
me.
9 They put me to the test, *
though they had
seen my works.
10 Forty years long I detested that generation and said, *
“This people are wayward in their hearts; they do not know
my ways.”
11 So I swore in my wrath, *
“They shall not
enter into my rest.”
Refrain: Gracious
God, help us to serve you faithfully.
The
Second Reading
A Reading from Paul’s Letter to
the Romans (5.1-11).
Therefore,
since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand;
and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our
sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces
character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us,
because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that
has been given to us.
For
while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous
person — though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while
we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been
justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been
reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to
the church.
Thanks be to God.
Gradual
Hymn
‘Will You Come and Follow Me’ Common Praise #430 vv. 1, 4, 5
The
Gospel
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ according to John (4.5-42).
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
So [Jesus] came to a Samaritan
city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son
Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and
Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
A
Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.)
The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is
it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with
Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you
knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’
you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no
bucket, and the well is deep. Where do
you get that living water? Are you
greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and
his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to
her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who
drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them
a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this
water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw
water.”
Jesus
said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying,
‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now
is not your husband. What you have said
is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I
see that you are a prophet. Our
ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people
must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus
said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the
Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship
what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when
the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father
seeks such as these to worship him. God
is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is
coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to
us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the
one who is speaking to you.”
Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with
a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with
her?” Then the woman left her water jar
and went back to the city. She said to
the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to
him.
Meanwhile
the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that
you do not know about.” So the disciples
said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will
of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes
the harvest’? But I tell you, look
around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is
gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice
together. For here the saying holds true,
‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you
to reap that for which you did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered
into their labour.”
Many
Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He
told me everything I have ever done.” So
when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he
stayed there two days. And many more
believed because of his word. They said
to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we
have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the
world.”
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
‘For the Beauty of the Earth’ Common Praise #429
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
‘God, My Hope on You Is Founded’ Common Praise #529
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
‘What Wondrous Love Is This’ Common Praise #400
Dismissal
The Deacon or Assisting Minister
sends the Community forth with an appropriate Dismissal.
Concluding
Music
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