South Church in Andover
United Church of Christ

THE WORSHIP OF GOD
ORDER FOR THE SERVICE

March 5, 2006
First Sunday of Lent

Let the prelude be a curtain of music which brings us into the sanctuary to worship God.
 Let necessary conversation be gentle and the preparation we make together be prayerful.

PRELUDE     All Glory Be To God On High     Walther

WELCOME       

Introduction of Visitors and Guests
Announcements      

Exchange of Peace

The peace of Jesus Christ be with you.

And also with you.

INTROIT     The Call     Palestrina

CALL TO WORSHIP

We gather this day to worship our God,
whose words and ways challenge us.

God invites us to lose our selfishness to find ourselves.

God calls us to be fools in the world
to show forth the wisdom of Christ.

God urges us to empty ourselves to discover life's fullness.

God bids us to be obedient to a divine will
so we might know true freedom.

We come to worship our Creator, seeking to have our faith challenged into growth.  We root our faith in worship seeking to find nourishment for our spirits and strength for the storm, to seek God’s blessing in this holy Lenten time.

*HYMN  Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah # 281 Red

UNISON PRAYER OF CONFESSION        

Eternal and most merciful God, we are children of dust and unworthy of the favors and goodness you shower upon us.  We have not loved as you have loved us, nor have we lived as we ought, and our years are soon gone.  God, have mercy upon us. Lift us above every past regret and present failure; reveal to us our true selves; and give us grace to accept your mercy and courage to live by your promise.  Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world; grant us your peace.  Amen

ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS

scripture        I Kings 19: 4-12   (see insert)

ANTHEM                  We  Rise  Again      Dubinsky/Adams

THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION

Invitation

Communion Prayer

God be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to God most high.

Prayer of Consecration

Breaking the Bread and Pouring the Cup

Pastor:  Christ our Passover is offered for us.

People: Therefore let us keep the feast.

Sharing the Elements by the Deacons

Prayer of Thanksgiving         (unison)
Almighty God, thank you for refreshing our souls at Your table by granting us the living presence of Jesus Christ. Strengthen our faith. Increase our love for one another. Send us forth into the world in courage and peace, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen

*HYMN               The Glory of the Forty Days     #87 Red

scripture     Mark 1: 9-15   (see insert)

SERMON     Thoughts From The Wilderness     Dr. Mutti    

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE    

OFFERING OF OUR GIFTS IN THANKSGIVING

Invitation

Offertory  

* Doxology

* Dedication Prayer            

*BENEDICTION

*RESPONSE  Go Now In Peace   Besig

POSTLUDE  Praeludium in E Minor  Bruhns

*Those who are able may stand.

Participating in Today's Service:

Greeters: Anne Hadley, Don Price with children Molly and Caroline

Acolytes: Terra and Cole Organisciak
Deacon: Bill Coon

Youth: Ashley Saffer

Treble Choir

The flowers this morning are in loving memory of 
Hope Benson Machedon by Clark Benson and Carolyn Tower

Scriptures For This Day        New Revised Standard Version

          I Kings 19: 4-12

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.’ Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, ‘Get up and eat.’ He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, ‘Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.’ He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, t take it away.’

Elijah Meets God at Horeb

He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rock in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.

          Mark 1: 9-15

The Baptism of Jesus

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’

The Temptation of Jesus

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry