Apology No. 3 – What Can I Do to Make It Right Again?

March 12, 2023
Pastor Jacob Lee
Worship

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Service of Worship

Beneath the Cross of Jesus
Arr. David Paxton
© 2010 Lorenz Publishing Co
Used by Permission. ONE LICENSE # A-401420

Leader: Welcome pilgrims on the way to the cross.
People: We are learning to follow Jesus.
Leader: The way is long, and we are thirsty.
People: We seek the living waters of Jesus.
Leader: We feel the weight of scarcity warring with hopeful whispers of abundance.
People: We need the living waters of Jesus.
Leader: We wonder if God will provide us with what we need, here and now.
People: As God gives us the living waters of Jesus, so God calls us to quench the thirst and meet the needs of our neighbors.
Leader: Pilgrims on the way, come let us worship God!
People: We come to worship God as we learn to live inside out! Amen.

(Dr. Lisa Hancock, Director of Worship Arts)

Prayer of Confession
People: We are dry, Lord, like the pavement on a sweltering summer day. Our lives are heated, and the streams of our souls sometimes run dry. We catch our tears, but they cannot ease our thirst. We drip in sweat, but this cannot ease the heat. So we beg for only a few drops of refreshing rain to moisten the dryness in our world.

Silent Prayer

Unison Prayer of Confession
Leader: God’s promise is greater than rain or streams.
People: God promises a Savior sent to redeem and fill us with water eternally.
Leader: Living in the will of God,
People: we live without thirst anymore. Amen.

(Ciona D. Rouse, The Africana Worship Book, Year A)

Opening Hymn — #127 “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”

1. Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
hold me with thy powerful hand.
Bread of heaven,
bread of heaven,
feed me till I want no more;
feed me till I want no more.

2. Open now the crystal fountain,
whence the healing stream doth flow;
let the fire and cloudy pillar
lead me all my journey through.
Strong deliverer,
strong deliverer,
be thou still my strength and shield;
be thou still my strength and shield.

3. When I tread the verge of Jordan,
bid my anxious fears subside;
death of death and hell’s destruction,
land me safe on Canaan’s side.
Songs of praises,
songs of praises,
I will ever give to thee;
I will ever give to thee.

Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah (Cwm Rhondda)
John Hughes | Peter Williams | William Williams
Public Domain

Pastor’s Time With the Children – Rev. Jacob Lee

Joys and Concerns, Pastoral Prayer, Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and glory forever. Amen.

For those who are called and able, gifts and tithes can still be made through online giving, by mailing them in, and by dropping them off to the office through the secure mail slot to the left of the double door entry to the church hallway.

Offertory – Megumi

Aria from Goldberg Variations
J. S. Bach
Public Domain

Doxology

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavenly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow (Old 100th)
Louis Bourgeois | Thomas Ken
Public Domain

Offertory Prayer

God, our provider, in Christ you give us a spring of pure water that overflows to eternal life. Your love and hope fill our hearts, so we want to worship you in Spirit and truth. Open our eyes to see the places in this neighborhood where our church’s ministries could reach new people. Direct our gifts and offerings for your purposes, so that our community will become like a field ripe for harvest. We ask this through Christ, our risen Lord. Amen.

(John 4:5-42)

Scripture Reading — Luke 19:1-10 (NRSV)

1 He entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” 8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” 9 Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”

Response
The Word of the Lord:
Thanks be to God.

Anthem — Chancel Choir

Lord, I Stretch My Hands to You
Jay Althouse
© 1992, 2004, 2018 Hope Publishing Company
Used by Permission. CCLI License # 656051

Sermon — Rev. Jacob Lee
“Apology No. 3 – What Can I Do to Make It Right Again?”
(Based on The Five Languages of Apology)

Closing Hymn — #400 “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”

1. Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
mount of thy redeeming love.

2. Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I’m come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.

3. O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.

Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing
John Wyeth | Robert Robinson
Public Domain

Benediction

Postlude – Hani

Voluntary in A Major
William Selby
Public Domain