Order of Service – Sunday 25 February 2024 – LENT 2

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CALL TO WORSHIP                                                                              

Good morning, God’s people, brothers and sisters in Christ.

In this season may we reflect honestly and acknowledge courageously the ways we are tempted to turn from trust in God.

We come with eyes open, ready to face the snares and pitfalls that threaten to capture us away from our trust in God.

May the gift of grace surround us on our way.

HYMN:       569       “Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer”

PRAYER OF PREPARATION

Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires are known, and from whom no secrets are hidden, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love You and worthily magnify Your holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

It is good to be thankful for the love of God.

In God’s love we are happy – forgiven, free and sheltered with hope.

Thank You, God, for the bread of wisdom that fills us with courage and insight to face the challenges of our days.

Thank You, God, for Your steadfast presence that we never need to test, for Your promises are true and trustworthy.

Thank You, God, for Your splendour, robed in everlasting peace and light surpassing all the wonders of this world.

We find our centre in You, we know there is nothing to compare to the vision You hold for us of abundance and joy. Thank You Lord. Amen.

PSALTER  READING  (in Unison)         Psalm 121                      Page 612

PRAYER ON LENTEN SEASON

Dear God and our Heavenly Father, this morning we express our thanks for Your love, providence and redemption given freely to us through the death and resurrection of Your only Son, our Saviour and Lord. We ask You, O God, that You make this Lenten Season a vital period of spiritual and moral development. We pray that our hearts and minds, along with those of multitudes, may in these weeks experience the blessing of true penitence, confession, restitution, and joy of salvation in Christ.

Deliver us, good Lord, from the deadly sins of the soul; from pride and wrath; from envy and avarice; from lust and sloth; from lying and slander; from dishonesty and unfaithfulness; from cruelty and injustice. Deliver us from impenitence and rebellion against Your holy will; from indifference to spiritual things and disobedience to the heavenly vision; from false ambitions and unholy desires. Amen!       (Rev. Dr. Vahan Tootikian)

HYMN:       76       “I to the Hills Will Lift My Eyes”

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

We cannot live our lives in silence or hide away our guilty feelings.

Silence and secrecy hold the guilt in. We waste away with groaning.

We are invited to bring ourselves out into the open space of God’s loving kindness; to seek the light of God’s forgiveness so that we might be free of the enclosure of regret and shame, and know joy.

Merciful God, draw near to us in the grace of Jesus Christ as we confess those things that have turned us from You.

Let us find abiding acceptance and renewed hope in our ability to live as people freed by love.

Silence

We pray that You will save us, Lord, in the time of trial – those times when we are ready to turn from the way of love.

In all that we do and all that we are, we remember Your claim upon us. Your love surrounds us and we ARE free indeed. Amen.

WORDS OF ASSURANCE

The rush of mighty waters, waves of guilt and shame, can no longer reach us, because God is our shelter and our hope.

We are freed by the love of God and in the gift of grace in Jesus Christ to live open, joyful lives. So I can declare before you today that our sins are forgiven.

Thanks be to God.

TIME TO PRAY

In silence please offer your prayers to the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus.

Almighty God, You have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications to You; and You have promised, through Your well-beloved Son, that when two or three are gathered together in His name You will be in the midst of them.

Fulfil now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world, knowledge of Your truth, and in the age to come, life everlasting. Amen!

THE LORD’S PRAYER

HYMN:       607       “Make Me a Channel of Your Peace”

BIBLE READING –                                                              Jan Cartwright

Psalm 22:22-31 (Pages 543-544)                      Mark 8:31-38 (Pages 999-1000)

MUSICAL REFLECTION

MESSAGE:         “Follow Jesus on the Journey to the Cross”          Krikor

HYMN:       583       “‘Take Up Your Cross’, the Saviour Said”

NOTICES –

  • World Day of Prayer – Friday 1 March 10:30 am St. Aidan’s Anglican Church, Longueville.
  • Movie/ Pizza Nights – Tuesday 5 March 6:30 pm.
  • Bus Trip – Wentworth Falls Lake – Wed 20 March 9:00 am.
  • Lane Cove Music – Tuesday 12 March at 7:30 pm, Lane Cove Mowbray Anglican Church, 19 Rosenthal Ave.
  • Elders’ & Council Meetings Wed 13 March 12:30 pm.

OFFERING  –   “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

HYMN:       777       “May the Grace of Christ”       (Tune 217i) 

BLESSING

May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.

May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Amen!

To contact Krikor call 9453 0787 or 0418 417 411

Church Website:  http://www.longueville.unitingchurch.org.au

Church email: standrewsunite@tpg.com.au

Church Office phone: 9427 4740