**Please note this service is based on the format of the Anglican Church of Canada. Unless otherwise indicated, all prayers come from the Book of Alternative Services (BAS) and the hymns from the Book of Common Praise (BCP). Other hymns and prayers have been sourced to give appropriate credit.
**NRSV translation used for the readings, unless otherwise stated.
**This is for personal use at home as the church is unable to gather in our houses of worship but together we can worship in our own homes.
Introduction
God
of the living, through baptism we pass from the shadow of death to the light of
the resurrection. Remain with us and give us hope that, rejoicing in the gift
of the Spirit who gives life to our mortal flesh, we may be clothed with the
garment of immortality, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Opening Hymn – My Soul Proclaims
Gathering
The grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love
of God,
and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with you
all.
And also with you.
Collect for Purity
Trisaigion
Collect of the Day
Let us pray.
Gracious God,
whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came from heaven to be the true bread which
gives life to the world, evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us,
and we in him, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now
and for ever. Amen.
Readings
A reading from
the Book of Numbers 21:4-9
From
Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of
Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. The people spoke against God
and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the
wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable
food.” Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the
people, so that many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We
have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to
take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord
said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone
who is bitten shall look at it and live.” So Moses made a serpent of bronze,
and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would
look at the serpent of bronze and live.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Psalm 107.1-3, 17-22
A reading from
the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians 2.1-10
You
were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following
the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the
spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once
lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh
and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But
God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even
when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ –
by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him
in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might
show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ
Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own
doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may
boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Gradual Hymn – God, Whose Giving Knows No Ending
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John 3:14-21
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
And
just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man
be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
“For
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him 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. Those who believe in him are not
condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they
have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment,
that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than
light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do
not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do
what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds
have been done in God.”
The Gospel of Christ.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Sermon
Guest
Speaker: Joan Merton
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight O Lord our Strength and our Redeemer. Amen
“For God so loved the world…” As I read the Gospel for today I wondered if there was even one Christian who had not heard or read this phrase. This verse in the passage is perhaps the best known Bible verse in the world.
John 3:16 shows up in countless public places. We can find it on posters, in music and etched on jewelry. This verse, "For God so loved the world..." has become a symbol of the key message of Christian faith. The very power of this verse is further enriched when it is read carefully and in context.
Jesus' speech to Nicodemus, begins in 3:11 and extends to 3:21, but it is divided at verse 14. The passage we read today begins with a play on the word "lift up." It described God's command to Moses to lift up the serpent in the wilderness and the lifting up that is in store for Jesus. This passage would make very little sense without the background story we heard from Numbers 21. That story told us that the people became "impatient" on their journey through the wilderness after their departure from Egypt. They were worried about being able to survive in a land without food and water and they complained bitterly against God and Moses.
Hence, dreadful serpents appeared, bit the people, and killed some of them. The people repented and God told Moses to make a serpent and set it on a pole so that anyone who had been bitten might look at it and live. So Moses created a serpent of bronze and put it on a pole. The serpent was both a mark of God's anger and God's mercy. If only the people would look upon the image of that which would have brought about their death then God might save them.
The passage in Numbers is important because in order to witness the Son of Man lifted up requires "belief" for the sake of eternal life, not simply a restoration of earthly life. God once saved the people by calling upon them to gaze on the serpent. Now, God would save God's people by having them gaze in belief upon the Son, lifted up.
In John 3:16 the word "so" is often misunderstood. In the Greek the word so is used in the sense of "just so," or "in this way," or the more archaic, "thusly." This verse could be translated as "This is the way that God loved the world, with the result being that God gave God's only Son, in order that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." If we look at the verse in this way, John 3:16 is not about how much God loved the world but about in what way God loved the world.
The most important thing to note about this verse is simply that God loved the world. God deeply loved the world that was created, and God longs for this creation to live. It is not only God's own people whom God will save, as in the Numbers story. It is the universe that God has loved, precisely by having given God's only Son. This verse is still important today as we try to find new ways to save the universe we live in.
The purpose of God's having sent the Son was to save the world, just as the purpose of commanding Moses to erect a serpent on a pole was to save the people from death. Jesus came to save, to grant eternal life because God loved the world. That was Jesus' message. I was sent here because the God who loved you of old, still does. God sent me to tell you, to show you, to gather you up into life with God forever.
We can think of Christ’s coming as the movement of light into a dark space. This contrast of light and dark is intense. Christ’s coming into the world leads to a number of pairs of contrasting realities:
• condemn and save
• believe and not believe
• stay in the darkness and come into the light
• do evil and do what is right
When our dark world is entered by the light of God these opposites express the sharp distinction that is created. As Jesus comes into our world, we either trust that which shows God's gracious love, or we do not. We receive eternal life or we continue to live apart from God. It is our own choice.
These verses are surrounded by a story where Jesus continues to engage, argue with, and persuade people who are very slowly being transformed into believers. In John 3, Nicodemus is an example of a seeker by night who is left in confusion, only to reappear later to help care for Jesus' body. He has emerged from darkness into light over the course of Jesus' ministry.
Sarah Heinrich says, “The Samaritan woman who we meet in John 4 has a long conversation with Jesus that ends in a tentative belief, far from where she first began. Consider the blind man healed in John 9, whose move from darkness to light happens rather quickly in physiological terms, but more slowly in terms of identifying Jesus. The intense contrast between believing and not believing, darkness and light, and evil and truth are descriptions of realities, but not of the process by which human beings come to recognize truth, light, life, and God's own son.”
In verses 18-21 we find the first and most important contrast. God's way of loving the world was to send God's Son to save it. Jesus is God's ultimate expression of love and longing. The light comes to find us, to illuminate our path for our sake, because God wants us. God reaches out through God's Son with the sheer purpose of sharing everlasting life with us.
The Gospel of John tells us there are real consequences in our daily life and our everlasting relationship with God. However John tells us that in order to help us see the contrasts, we need to look clearly at our lives, to appreciate the gracious gift of God as a gift of love, and to live in bold confidence of that love. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life”. (John 3: 16)
Amen
Let us confess
the faith of our baptism, as we say,
I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again
to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Prayers of the People
(From
Intercessions for the Christian People)
Embraced by God’s word, let us intercede for all those in need, saying:
Have mercy, O
Lord.
For the church, that our Lenten hunger may be for justice, and our thirst for deeds of justice, we pray:
Have mercy, O Lord.
For the community of nations, that the worth of every life may compel us on the way to solidarity and peace, we pray:
Have mercy, O Lord.
For exiles and refugees, for all who are homeless because of war or hunger, because of greed or hatred of others, because of disabilities, may find places of rest and kindness, we pray:
Have mercy, O Lord.
For those who struggle with addictions, that they may find strength and love for the simple gifts of God, we pray:
Have mercy, O Lord.
For this assembly, God’s handiwork, that our steps be directed in ways of peace that lead us to the side of those the world despises, and that we name these rejected ones our brothers, sisters, and siblings, we pray:
Have mercy, O Lord.
Please take time to offer your own intercessions or to pray in silence.
God, full of goodness and open to weakness, remember all whom we remember, and remind us of all whom we would forget. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Confession and Absolution
Dear friends
in Christ,
God is
steadfast in love and infinite in mercy;
God welcomes
sinners and invites them to the table.
Let us confess
our sins, confident in God’s forgiveness.
Most merciful
God,
We confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us,
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your name. Amen.
Almighty God
have mercy upon you,
pardon and
deliver you from all your sins,
confirm and
strengthen you in all goodness,
and keep you
in eternal life;
through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Peace
The peace of
the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.
Offertory Hymn – Now Thank We All Our God
Prayer over the Gifts
**Although not physically at our church buildings to share
our offering together I would encourage you to set your offering of money aside
so that it can be dropped off or placed in the church once services resume, to
mail your offering to the church, or to make donations online. Please remember
ministry is still taking place.
Let us pray.
God of mercy
and compassion, your Word calls us home to faith and love. Accept all we offer
you this day, in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.
This service was created for live worship on Zoom. For those worshiping on your own, you may either read the Eucharistic prayer, or skip ahead to the Lord's Prayer and then the Doxology.
Eucharistic Prayer 2
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.
We give you thanks and praise, almighty God,
through your
beloved Son, Jesus Christ,
our Saviour
and Redeemer.
He is your
living Word
through whom
you have created all things.
By the power
of the Holy Spirit
he took flesh
of the Virgin Mary
and shared our
human nature.
He lived and
died as one of us,
to reconcile
us to you,
the God and
Father of all.
In fulfilment
of your will
he stretched
out his hands in suffering,
to bring
release to those who place their hope in you;
and so he won
for you a holy people.
He chose to
bear our griefs and sorrows,
and to give up
his life on the cross,
that he might
shatter the chains of evil and death,
and banish the
darkness of sin and despair.
By his
resurrection he brings us into the light of your presence.
Now with all
creation we raise our voices
to proclaim
the glory of your name.
Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed are they who come in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Holy and gracious God,
accept our
praise,
through your
Son our Saviour Jesus Christ;
who on the
night he was handed over
to suffering
and death,
took bread and
gave you thanks,
saying, “Take,
and eat:
this is my
body which is broken for you.”
In the same
way he took the cup,
saying, “This
is my blood which is shed for you.
When you do
this, you do it in memory of me.”
Remembering,
therefore, his death and resurrection,
we offer you
this bread and this cup,
giving thanks
that you have made us worthy
to stand in
your presence and serve you.
We ask you to
send your Holy Spirit
upon the
offering of your holy Church.
Gather into
one
all who share
in these sacred mysteries,
filling them
with the Holy Spirit
and confirming
their faith in the truth,
that together
we may praise you
and give you
glory
through your
Servant, Jesus Christ.
All glory and
honour are yours,
Father and
Son,
with the Holy
Spirit
in the holy
Church,
now and for
ever.
Amen.
And now, as
our Saviour Christ has taught us,
we are bold to
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,
now and for ever. Amen.
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.
Communion
These are the
gifts of God for the People of God.
Thanks be to God.
Prayer After Communion
Let us pray.
Giver of life,
you enlighten all who come into the world. Fill our hearts with the splendour
of your grace, that we may perfectly love you and worthily praise your holy
name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Blessing
The peace of
God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the
knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord: and the
blessing of the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sanctifier be among you and
remain with you always. Amen.
Sending Song – How Great Thou Art
Dismissal
Go forth into
the world,
Rejoicing in
the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thanks be to God.
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