South Church in Andover
United Church of Christ

THE WORSHIP OF GOD
ORDER FOR THE SERVICE

April 2, 2006
Fifth 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              Von Gott will ich nicht lassen            J. S. Bach           

WELCOME                       

Introduction of Visitors and Guests
Announcement  Nominating Sally Holm, Senior Deacon

         Christian Education     Terry Ebner

Exchange of Peace    

The peace of Jesus Christ be with you.

And also with you.

INTROIT     Teach me the measure of my days     French

CALL TO WORSHIP      Psalm 51

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and put a new and right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence,

and take not your holy spirit from me.

Restore to me joy of your salvation,

and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Glory be to you, O God, to Christ, to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and evermore shall be, world without end. Amen.

*HYMN  Lift High the Cross   #371 red

PRAYER OF CONFESSION               (unison)

Gracious God,

You have promised to receive us when we come to You. We confess that we have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed. We have disobeyed Your law. We have not loved You or our neighbors as we should.

Forgive us, O God,

And grant that we may live and serve You in newness of life;

through Jesus Christ our savior. Amen

ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS

SCRIPTURE  Jeremiah 31: 31-34   (see insert)

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  My Faith Looks Up to Thee  #348 blue

Children in grades K-High School may move to their church school classrooms.
Parents of children up to age 7, please go to your child’s classroom after worship.

 SCRIPTURE     Hebrews 5:5-10     (see insert)
                                               John 12: 20-33 

SERMON  Breakthrough  Dr. Mutti

prayers of the people AND THE LORD'S PRAYER

OFFERING OF OUR GIFTS IN THANKSGIVING

Invitation
Offertory  Ecce quomodo moritur justus  Händl 
* Doxology       
* Dedication Prayer        

*HYMN     O Jesus, I Have Promised  #218 blue

*BENEDICTION

*RESPONSE  Go Now In Peace   Don Besig

Go now in peace.  Never be afraid.
God will go with you each hour of every day.
   Go now in faith, steadfast, strong and true.
   Know God will guide you in all you do.
Go now in love, and show you believe.
Reach out to others so all the world can see.
   God will be there watching from above.
   Go now in peace, in faith, and in love.

*POSTLUDE      

*Those who are able may stand.

Participating in Today's Service:

Greeters: Andrea, Paul, Zachary, and Madison Fugere

Acolyte: Elsie Washburn
Deacon: Tom Jones

Youth: Matt Hoyt

The flowers today are given in  loving  memory of Henry W.  &  Mabel P. Barnard by the Barnard Trust Fund.

TRANSLATION FOR OFFERTORY ANTHEM:
”Ecce quomodo moritur Justus”
Behold, see how the just man dieth, and no one taketh it to heart; how the just men are taken, and no one considereth; before the face of this world’s evil the good man is taken, in peace and tranquility he shall be remembered. His dwelling is in peace and in repose, and in Sion is his habitation, in peace and tranquility he shall be remembered.

Scriptures For This Day                                               New Revised Standard Version

Jeremiah 31:31-34

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Hebrews 5:5-10

So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”; as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.” In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Scriptures For This Day                                               New Revised Standard Version

John 12: 20-33

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.