Watchword for the Week
By grace you have been saved through faith, and this
is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.
(Ephesians 2:8)
(Moravian Daily Texts 2018)
ORGAN PRELUDE
WELCOME and CALL to WORSHIP
(based on Psalm 107)
We come from north, south, east,
and west to proclaim:
God’s steadfast love endures forever.
We come carrying heartbreak and hope to
proclaim: God’s steadfast love endures forever.
We come as children, full of exuberance
and uncertainty, to proclaim:
God’s steadfast love endures forever.
We come as elders, bearing wisdom and
exhaustion, to proclaim:
God’s steadfast love endures forever.
We come to worship to proclaim:
God’s steadfast love endures forever.
Hymn 152 * Praise the Lord, his glories show
People’s Choice Hymns are marked with an asterisk (*)
PRAYER of CONFESSION
God of light, as you bathe us in your radiant
truth, you reveal the tiny cracks and deep
fissures that compromise our hearts, our
churches, and our communities.
We see the suffering in the world,
but we choose apathy over justice,
shame over mercy, and fear over love.
We turn our backs, close our borders,
and even harden our hearts to your children
as they cry out in pain and frustration and terror.
And then we blame the victim or the enemy
and pretend everything will be okay.
(Silence for personal confession)
Creating God, you moulded us from sticky
dust and holy breath, and you form us still.
Redeem us, renew and remake us into
agents of your healing grace, menders of
broken hearts, and bearers of your love and
justice. Amen.
Hymn 555 * Amazing grace!
DECLARATION of FORGIVENESS
“For God so loved the world that God gave the
only Son, so that everyone who believes 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.” (John 3:16-17)
Jesus came not to condemn or to punish, crush,
destroy or disregard, but to save, to heal,
to forgive, to love. Thanks be to God! Amen.
CHILDREN’S TIME
SHARING GOD’S PEACE
(Children may join the Kids’ Church programme)
SCRIPTURE READINGS
Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22 OT p. 604
St. John 3:14-21 NT p. 119
People may stand for the Gospel reading.
The word of God: Thanks be to God!
Hymn 396(2) verses 1-3 And can it be?
(Hymn of the Month, March 2018)
SERMON Pastorin Birgit Weinbrenner
Hymn 544 * When I needed a neighbour
(Offerings are gathered and brought forward)
DEDICATION PRAYER
Merciful God, we thank you for your
wonderful works among humankind.
Accept this offering with the dedication of
our lives and help us be for the world an
emblem of your steadfast love,
in Jesus Christ. Amen.
ANNOUNCEMENTS (See Notices overleaf)
PRAYERS for OTHERS
Response: We are all your children,
help us grow in love.
The LORD’S PRAYER
(Please pray in your own preferred language / version.)
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be
thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this
day our daily bread; and forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive those who trespass
against us. And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. For thine is the
kingdom, the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Hymn 457(1)* All hail the power of Jesus’ name
BLESSING and Threefold Amen (No. 819)
ORGAN POSTLUDE
Psalm 107: a Public Announcement
Attention everyone, be happy and thankful.
God is good and everything God makes is
good, and God loves what is good.
Say it aloud. Say it often.
God’s goodness and God’s love
go on and on forever;
And guess what?
God is gathering everything good together.
From the north and the south they are
arriving, from the west and from the east.
Everyone is getting swept into God’s great
arms. Everyone is coming home
to goodness.
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