A Service of Worship for
The Fifth Sunday of Lent
March 21, 2021
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Adult Education - TODAY, 9AM
In keeping with both the Lenten Season and Covenant's determination to give sustained attention to the problems of racism and white supremacy, the adult education class for Sunday, March 21, will feature a video of a lecture by the late Dr. James Cone, the American theologian best known for his advocacy and Black liberation theology, and the author of The Cross and the Lynching Tree, which is also the topic of this 2017 lecture. Zoom link is available on the Online Gatherings page on our website: https://www.covenanthouston.org/covenant-gatherings.html Full worship service video:
COFFEE TIME Gathering on Zoom
Today, 11AM We will begin as a large group before we transition into “rooms" for coffee time. Log in details on the Online Gatherings page. RSVP for a Deacon Sponsored Gathering Outside at Covenant
Many people who responded to the deacon survey mentioned how much they liked gathering together, outside, with appropriate precautions. You can help the deacons try out this idea by signing up to gather at the church Sunday afternoon, March 21 at 3pm. You must sign-up to attend so we ensure the space for physical distancing. RSVP here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeZmvxGSxQxjbj9EjieCt6IbaBCBvJKifsVklQnwwcDS_CLGA/viewform?gxids=7628 Following the outdoor meeting guidelines put together by council, we request that you: • wear a mask • dress for the weather • bring something to sit on • bring something to drink or eat for yourself |
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Prelude
"Adagio" in C Minor by Benedetto Marcello. Andrew Bowen, organ. Call to Worship Opening Prayer In community we affirm that our lives take on deeper meaning through relationship. In community we affirm that we become the people we want to be mostly as a result of love. Scripture Lesson: John 12:20-33
Hymn "My Faith Looks Up to Thee" by Lowell Mason and Ray Palmer. The Covenant Singers. Andrew Bowen, organ. Time for Children Confession Unison Confession
We live, O God, as if we shall never die. Our friends and relatives die and we deny the reality of death in us. Forgive us our fears which blind us to our inevitable destiny. We fill our days with trivia and allow our potential for meaning and love to pass us by. We become so busy that we forget to enjoy the beauty of life about us. Forgive us for the selfishness which chokes us with small, unfulfilled lives. May we see life clearly, Gracious God. May we move towards death courageously. May we life and die with the awareness that: It is out of your great love that we have come, and It is into your unending love that we shall return.
Music "There Is a Balm In Gilead" by William L. Dawson. The Covenant Singers, directed by David Lee. |
Proclamation
Prayer We pray for Asian American and Pacific Islander persons, families, communities and businesses that have been targeted and mistreated over the past year because of inflammatory and xenophobic rhetoric. We particularly lift the families of the victims of the senseless violence in Atlanta on Tuesday. As followers of Jesus, we are committed to inclusion and belonging, liberation and justice for people of all races, national origins and ethnicities. Amen. Invitation
Prayer of Dedication We spend so much time running from ourselves fleeing for what we know about the goodness in our hearts we think we can escape the intelligence of our loving. Imagine you are standing before a bodhisattva- Jesus, Buddha, the first mother it does not matter what you call the holy one- he had dust on his shoes chaff clings to her the smells of being alive- Shining from their faces is the beam of all their questions the compassion of their living Can you see yourself through those eyes? Can we know each other like this? (We who no longer believe in messiahs can hardly believe in each other.) Can we know ourselves seen and know each other this same way until our restless hearts learn to abide in this knowing and this love? Can we live in this gaze of blessing? Doxology
Affirmation of Faith Our shared search is part of the human condition. Some of us know what we seek and others stumble along unsure. Yet we all come to this place with a yearning- to find or make meaning, to live conscious lives, to grow in kindness, to renew and remake the world in the image of love. Today we affirm not that we are all the same or that we know exactly what we are doing but that we are resolved to ask, seek, and knock Together. Today we affirm that whatever God is is revealed to us slowly, in increments, patches and scraps of light pricking the shadowns glimpsed only by the wide-eyed and the curious. Benediction Postlude "In Peace and Joy I Now Depart" by Healey Wilian. Andrew Bowen, organ. |
Worship Notes
The worship leader is Jay Hooker.
The guest proclaimer is Chris Nagel.
The Lent banner was created by Nancy Henry.
The prelude is played by Andrew Bowen, organ.
The Call to Worship is "Snow Geese" by Mary Oliver.
The Opening Prayer is from Jeannette Dixon and Jeremy Rutledge.
The Unison Confession is from an unknown source.
"There is a Balm In Gilead" is sung by The Covenant Singers, directed by David Lee, September 29, 2019. Artwork by Laura Jeanne Grimes, https://www.laurajeannegrimes.com/
The Prayer of Dedication is "Blessing" from Morning Watch: Meditations by Barbara Pescan.
The Affirmation of Faith is by Jeremy Rutledge.
The postlude is played by Andrew Bowen, organ.
The worship leader is Jay Hooker.
The guest proclaimer is Chris Nagel.
The Lent banner was created by Nancy Henry.
The prelude is played by Andrew Bowen, organ.
The Call to Worship is "Snow Geese" by Mary Oliver.
The Opening Prayer is from Jeannette Dixon and Jeremy Rutledge.
The Unison Confession is from an unknown source.
"There is a Balm In Gilead" is sung by The Covenant Singers, directed by David Lee, September 29, 2019. Artwork by Laura Jeanne Grimes, https://www.laurajeannegrimes.com/
The Prayer of Dedication is "Blessing" from Morning Watch: Meditations by Barbara Pescan.
The Affirmation of Faith is by Jeremy Rutledge.
The postlude is played by Andrew Bowen, organ.
Sunday schedule for today:
9:00 - Adult Education with Zoom
10:00 - Worship via videos on the Worship Page
11:00 - Transition from worship to coffee time with Zoom
9:00 - Adult Education with Zoom
10:00 - Worship via videos on the Worship Page
11:00 - Transition from worship to coffee time with Zoom
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