Central Reformed Church Second Sunday in Lent

February 28, 2021

REFLECTION

“Self-indulgence is the enemy of gratitude, and self-

discipline usually its friend and generator. That is why gluttony is a deadly sin. The early desert fathers believed

that a person’s appetites are linked: full stomachs and jaded palates take the edge from our hunger and thirst for

righteousness. They spoil the appetite for God.”

―Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.

ORDER OF WORSHIP SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT

FEBRUARY 28, 2021 9:30 am

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GATHERING IN LOVE

The prelude is a call to silent, personal preparation for the worship of God.

Prelude “There Is a Balm in Gilead” (Franklin D. Ashdown) “Beneath the Cross of Jesus” Frederick C. Maker, arr. Robert W. Thygerson) “Prayer” (Felix Borowski)

The Chimes Welcome Votum, Call to Worship

Leader: Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. People: Amen. Leader: Lent is a time to take the time to let the power of our faith story take hold of us; People: a time to let the events get up and walk around in us; Leader: a time to intensify our living unto Christ; People: a time to hover over the thoughts of our hearts; Leader: a time to place our feet in the streets of Jerusalem or to walk along the sea and listen to Christ’s word. People: Lent is a time to allow a fresh, new taste of God. Leader: Let us enter this season with open hearts. Let us worship!

*Hymn “Lift High the Cross” (see end of order of worship for music) (Worshippers in the sanctuary are invited to sing softly with their masks on during all hymns in the service.) *Salutation

Leader: May grace, mercy, and God’s peace be ours through God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

People: Amen.

*Please stand in body or in spirit.

*Sung Call to Confession “O Lord, Hear My Prayer” (verse 1)

*Prayer of Confession (unison)

Leader: Within the strength of community, in the power of silence, we come before God with the truth of our lives, trusting in the mercy and love of our Creator. Let us offer our confes- sion before God and one other. People: Holy God, we know that in so many ways we have run from you, we have ignored your call, we have closed our eyes to your presence, we have disbelieved your mercy, we have disregarded your words, we have belittled ourselves, we have forsaken others.

So we ask, once again, for your forgiveness. We ask you to stay with us as we turn away from what is wrong and hurtful to what is bright and life-giving. And hear now our silent prayers.

(silent prayer) *Assurance of Pardon

Leader: “This is the covenant that I will make … says the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more” (Hebrews 8:10, 12). People of God, believe the good news: People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

*Response “O Lord, Hear My Prayer” (verse 2) (see previous page) *Our Guide to Grateful Living (from I John 4:7-11)

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.

*Peace

Leader: Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect har- mony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body (Colossians 3:14-15). The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be always with you. People: And also with you.

LISTENING IN EXPECTATION First Lesson Romans 4:13-25

For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.

For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all

his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”)—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reck-oned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.

Children’s Moment Musical Reflection “We Are People on a Journey” (Gregg DeMey)

We are people on a journey, taking up the cross of Christ. We are people on a journey, moving on from death to life. We release the sin that tangles. We relinquish all acclaim. We receive the suffering Savior, He our glory, wealth, and fame.

Second Lesson Mark 8:31-38

Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disci-ples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Leader: The Word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God.

Sermon “Disciplines of the Journey: Restoring the Appetite for God” Rev. Steven D. Pierce Prayer for a Blessing on the Word Anthem “A Lenten Prayer” (Hal. H. Hopson)

Lord, who throughout these forty days for us didst fast and pray, Teach us with thee to mourn our sins, and close by thee to stay. Jesus walked this lonesome valley, he had to walk it by himself; No body else could walk it for him, he had to walk it by himself. We must walk this lonesome valley, we have to walk it by ourselves; Oh, nobody else can walk it for us, we have to walk it by ourselves. You must go and stand your trial, you have to stand it by yourself. And through these days of penitence, and through thy Passiontide, Yea, evermore, in life and death, O Lord, with us abide.

RESPONDING IN FAITH

*Affirmation of Faith (Psalm 22:23-31)

Leader: You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! People: For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him. Leader: From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him. People: The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live forever! Leader: All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him. People: For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. Leader: To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him. People: Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.

Announcements *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. *Offertory Prayer Prayers of the People During the prayers each week, we remember our neighboring faith communities and their leaders. Today we are praying for the staff and congregation of Servant’s Community Church.

Leader: The Lord be with you. People: And also with you. During the prayer: Leader: Lord, in your mercy, People: Hear our prayer.

The Lord’s Prayer (unison)

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 debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

DEPARTING IN JOY *Hymn “Take Up Your Cross, the Savior Said” (see end of order of worship for music) *Benediction and Blessing

Leader: Whoever you are, wherever you go in God’s wide world, Whatever happens to you of good or ill, always remember that . . . People: Jesus is Lord! Leader: Brothers and sisters, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the

life of faith, let us rid our lives of every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress.

People: And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us, knowing that the grace of God, the love of Jesus Christ, and the presence of the Holy Spirit goes with us. Amen!

Postlude “Finale on ‘Lift High the Cross’” (William H. Bates)

For those worshipping in the sanctuary, please remain seated until the postlude concludes. The ushers will dismiss each household by row, starting from the rear of the sanctuary.

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Cover Art: Lenten Crucifixion © 2006 P. Solomon Raj | Eyekons “Lift High the Cross” words and music: Hope Publishing Co.

“O Lord, Hear My Prayer” words and music: Taizé Community, GIA Publications “We Are People on a Journey” words and music: Gregg DeMey, Faith Alive Christian Resources “Take Up Your Cross, the Savior Said” words: Charles William Everest; music: Lowell Mason

Permissions via CCLI license #2931504 and One License #729524A.

WORSHIP LEADERS Preacher: Rev. Steven D. Pierce

Liturgist: Lou Canfield Director of Music Ministries: Taemin Han

Principal Organist: Norma de Waal Malefyt Offertory Prayer: Jennifer Webb

Vocalist: Jason Reiffer Celebration Ringers

Video Tech: Nick Loubert Sound Tech: Tom Smith

“Lift High the Cross” (verses 1, 4, and 6)

“Take Up Your Cross, the Savior Said”

THE SANCTUARY DURING LENT

Color Purple is the liturgical color for Lent. It symbolizes not only royalty, but also penitence and mourning.

Draping of the Reredos

Central’s practice of draping the Reredos origi-nates from a German custom, dating from the ninth century. A large cloth was draped before the altar of the worship space from Ash Wednesday until Easter. Called the ‘Hungertuch’ (hunger cloth), it hid the area from worshipers during Lent and was not removed until the reading of the words of the Passion stating, “the veil of the tem-ple was rent in two.” The draping is also consid-ered as symbolic of our exile and alienation from God.

Sanctuary Ornamentation During Lent the gold cross & candlesticks are re-moved from the Reredos and replaced with plain wood or iron ones. Many traditions seal baptismal fonts, confirm no new members and prohibit the use of flowers. Here at Central we simplify orna-mentation with items made of humbler materials.

A Season of Growth Though Lent is marked as a period of repentance and is viewed as a somber, more introspective time, it is also a time of growth and renewal. Spring is coming and though the earth looks like it is asleep with its bare trees and snow-covered grasses, hidden from our eyes seeds are already germinating; the earth has begun to warm as the planet moves closer to the sun and we pass through the spring equinox. Those who are ob-servant will notice subtle changes in the branches during the season.

Central Reformed Church

10 College Avenue NE Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503

616.456.1773 centralreformedchurch.org

Connecting all people to God and to one another through scripture, sacrament, song, and service.