A Service of Worship for
The Third Sunday of Lent
March 7, 2021
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Adult Education - TODAY, 9AM
Today, join us for a presentation by Moonshot Compost, an organization dedicated to reducing food waste in Houston, a significant example of “Sustainable Living,” which the Adult Education Committee plans to add as one of the recurring categories it uses in planning its classes in 2021, along with Biblical and theological topics, world religions, White Supremacy and racism, economic and social inequality, key ethical issues, spiritual journeys, and others.” 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. |
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Prelude
"Lento in G Major" by C. V. Stanford. Andrew Bowen, organ. Call to Worship Opening Sentences Douglas Steere, a Quaker teacher, says that the ancient question, “Who am I?” inevitably leads to a deeper one, “Whose am I?”— because there is no identity outside of relationship. You can’t be a person by yourself. To ask “Whose am I?” is to extend the question far beyond the little self-absorbed self, and wonder: Who needs you? Who loves you? To whom are you accountable? To whom do you answer? Whose life is altered by your choices? With whose life, whose lives, is your own all bound up, inextricably, in obvious or invisible ways. Scripture Lesson: John 2:13-22
Hymn "What Does the Lord Require" by Albert F. Bayly. The Covenant Singers. Patrick Parker, organ. Time for Children Confession Unison Confession
We confess that we are still learning the way of love timidly, afraid of what will be asked for suspiciously, not trusting in the unknown half-heartedly, reluctant to take risks with our living. Yet we confess that we aspire to walk the path of love restless, wanting to discover what awaits imaginatively, envisioning the possibilities freely, searching out the holy and the human in every place. Help us, O God, to become a people who both wander in the wilderness and gather around a common table with enough grace and humor to speak and share your love.
Prayer Will you pray with me? Holy one, may we take on Jesus’ passion: his anger, his compassion, his love, his actions. Jesus’ passion for your kingdom, may it come, threatened the rulers and their abuses of power in Jesus’ day just as it threatens the domination systems in our own. Living and loving with this passion is dangerous. We pray that we will be willing to risk. The kingdoms of this world are abusing people and our planet. We need your realm. We need your way of peace and justice. We pray for those still suffering from the disaster’s greed wrought during the winter storm. We pray for those suffering in the many ways this pandemic has brought suffering. We pray for ourselves and each other and we pray that we will be inspired by Jesus to work for transformation. We pray that we will help to create your realm of peace not through violence but through love; your realm of justice not through commodity or exchange but through generosity; your realm of welcome created through radical inclusion. These on-going pandemic days are transforming us. We pray that we will do what we can to ensure this transformation is toward justice, toward peace, toward compassion, toward your realm. Holy one, may we take on Jesus’ passion: his anger, his compassion, his love, his actions. Amen - Laura Mayo |
Invitation
Prayer of Dedication May the anger of Christ be mine, When the world grows hard and greedy; when the rich have no care for the poor, when the powerful take from the needy. May the compassion of Christ be mine, when the outstretched hand is not taken, when the jobless stand in line, when the lonely live forsaken. May the love of Christ be mine for the anguished, for the ailing, for the frail, disabled life, for the fallen, for the failing. May the actions of Christ be mine, bringing hope, bringing new direction; making peace in a warring time, offering welcome, not rejection. Doxology
CELEBRATION OF COMMUNION Invitation to the table
Sharing the Bread and the Cup
You are welcome to use whatever elements you have for communion this Sunday.
Music "Os Justi" by Anton Bruckner. The Covenant Singers, directed by Fran Avera. Affirmation of Faith That peace will rise like bread we can always hope. That justice will flow like wine we can always hope. That the table will make strangers kin we can always hope. That our hope will rise like bread we can always pray. Benediction Postlude "Intermezzo, Op. 116, No. 6" by Johannes Brahms. Karen Kline, piano. |
Worship Notes
The worship leader is Clinton Gambill.
The Lent banner was created by Nancy Henry.
The prelude is played by Andrew Bowen, organ.
The Call to Worship is by Cornel West.
The Opening Sentences are by Victoria Safford.
The Unison Confession is by Jeremy Rutledge.
“Os Justi” directed by Fran Avera, from March 6, 2018. The photo used in the video is of St. Florian Abbey, where Ignaz Traumihler, to whom “Os Justi” was dedicated, was choirmaster, and where it was first performed.
The Prayer of Dedication is by Colin Gibson in Dare to Dream: A Prayer and Worship Anthology from Around the World edited by Geoffrey Duncan.
The postlude is played by Karen Kline, piano.
Read letter here: An Open Letter to Gov. Greg Abbott
Sign the letter here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gsjfr4IgUiwlUJ5v3At_6NtEM9xZV5YNmnrv4toIVs4/edit
The worship leader is Clinton Gambill.
The Lent banner was created by Nancy Henry.
The prelude is played by Andrew Bowen, organ.
The Call to Worship is by Cornel West.
The Opening Sentences are by Victoria Safford.
The Unison Confession is by Jeremy Rutledge.
“Os Justi” directed by Fran Avera, from March 6, 2018. The photo used in the video is of St. Florian Abbey, where Ignaz Traumihler, to whom “Os Justi” was dedicated, was choirmaster, and where it was first performed.
The Prayer of Dedication is by Colin Gibson in Dare to Dream: A Prayer and Worship Anthology from Around the World edited by Geoffrey Duncan.
The postlude is played by Karen Kline, piano.
Read letter here: An Open Letter to Gov. Greg Abbott
Sign the letter here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gsjfr4IgUiwlUJ5v3At_6NtEM9xZV5YNmnrv4toIVs4/edit
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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