March 11, 2007

Third Sunday in Lent

Preparation for Worship

Blessed Are They

struggling with truth, justice and life

wrestling wrong to be right

casting out darkness: and letting in light

but only by the Holy Grace of God did

I finally start to see

everything isn't always about me

we all have the right

Humility is key!

if allows pardon in injury

when I lift my love

to Jesus

to whatever or whoever i feel so far above

i pray and see

I feel it's what frees us

deep in me I know He is

really pleased

the grudge it's done

and releases

There is only One

and again; I say

let God be magnified

Jesus love save the day!

A poem by Rich Criso Suarez

The forty-day liturgical season of Lent began on Ash Wednesday and continues today on this Third Sunday in Lent. The liturgical color for the season is purple. Our Lenten journey is marked by a time of penitence and purposeful reflection. As such, the worship leaders enter the sanctuary in a meditative spirit as a bell tolls the beginning of the worship service.

     The Lenten season is marked by subtle, but purposeful, changes in elements of our liturgy.  These changes are intended to illumine and inspire the ways in which we experience corporate prayer the body of Christ. For example, during the prayer of confession, we shall sing together a “Lamb of God,” or Agnus Dei, hymn. Our response to the Declaration of Forgiveness will be a reminder of God’s grace as represented in the text of the hymn, “Amazing Grace.” We will unite our voices in a prayerful responsive psalm to proclaim the Word of God, and we will incorporate a variety of prayer forms into the prayers of the people. Finally, our hymn offerings and service music offer more reflective opportunities through which we can connect to God in prayer.

     Each Lenten Sunday, the scriptural basis for our worship is taken from the Beatitudes presented by Christ in his Sermon on the Mount. Our worship today focuses on: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” To further illustrate the beatitude, the second gospel lesson lifts up the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (tax collector). In order to enliven the marked distinction between the prayer posture of the Pharisee and the Publican, this scriptural passage will be dramatized through a musical proclamation of the text. To illustrate the spirit of meekness, the prelude is a setting of the early American hymn, “Come, You Sinners Poor and Needy” arranged by contemporary jazz musician, George Shearing. The sermon hymn, "Jesus, Our Divine Companion" and the sending hymn "Lord, Whose Love in Humble Service" are also early American hymn settings that illustrate the meek and humble nature of Christ. The offertory is an arrangement of the Shaker Hymn "Simple Gifts,” which speaks of the beauty of simplicity and outward humility. May our worship today express our corporate sacrifice to God of a humble spirit.