This morning we invite you to join the worship service recorded by Mennonite Church Canada for congregations across Canada. Join the service here: Mennonite Church Canada Worship Service. The transcript of the service follows: Focus Statement On this fourth Sunday of Lent, we enter the story of John 9. It is the story of the man who was born blind, who received sight as Jesus anointed his eyes with mud, and whose life was turned upside down by this new reality. This story was an important one in the early church because those who came to “see” the way of Jesus also had their lives upended and learned to find God in the midst of complexity and chaos. May the truth and beauty of this story also unfold among us today. Call to Worship In the barren landscapes of Lent, we come, O God. Together with people from across the ages, we seek you in difficult times, in hard places. Like Jesus, tempted by Satan in the desert, we come with all our fears and temptations. Like Nicodemus, a Pharisee searching in the night, we come with all our doubts and questions. Like the Woman of Samaria, alone at the community well, we come with all our thirst and loneliness. Like the man born blind, yearning for vision, we come with all our confusion and disorientation. In our own strange and barren landscapes this Lent, we come, O God, in faith and in hope. Show us your way. Amen. Prayer We come, O God, seeking and questioning, thirsting and longing, Meet us in our blindness, and touch us with your healing. Grant us new ways of seeing, and guide us into new paths of living. Draw us together, as your people, united in faith and hope in this Lenten landscape of our time. Amen. Song: For the Beauty of the Earth (Folliott S. Pierpoint; public domain) For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies: Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise. For the beauty of each hour of the day and of the night, hill and vale and tree and flower sun and moon and stars of light: Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise. For thy church that evermore lifteth holy hands above, off’ring up on ev’ry shore her pure sacrifice of love: Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise. Prayer of Confession God, you always walk among us inhabiting with us each place of beauty and joy each moment of fear and pain leaving traces of your Spirit, hints of your grace. Forgive us when we have failed to see. When self-interest and self-preservation narrow our vision... When anxiety and fear cloud our sight... When grasping and hoarding, blind us to our neighbour’s need... When grief and pain dull our vision... When we lose sight of you and can no longer find our way... Open our eyes once more, O God, that we might see. Now hear these words of assurance: The God who walks among us knows our blindness heals our vision opens our eyes. This God appears to us, and empowers us to see. Amen. Song: Fill us with Your Feast (Phil Campbell-Enns; used by permission) Weary and tempted we enter the desert, desp’rately seeking your face-- lives that are thirsty and hearts that are lonely, we will seek your embrace. Chorus: Find us empty and wandering: we, the lost and the least. Find us in the wilderness then fill us with your feast. Deep in our darkness you enter in stillness, offering comfort so bright. Gathered together within your safe shelter, darkness welcomes the light. Seeking and trusting, we turn from destruction, wondering what you will bring. God of the present, the past and the future, come and do a new thing. Children’s Feature Offering In these times of stocking our own homes with supplies, of social distancing, of communities dispersed and scattered, there continue to be acts of kindness and generosity, people reaching out to those in need, churches continuing their ministries to the marginalized, International Witness Workers walking alongside churches in other nations. Whenever you are able, we invite you to continue in this spirit of generosity, caring for others, and supporting your local congregation and the wider church in its many ministries. Most of us are accustomed to an offering as part of our weekly worship service; when we are not physically gathered, that is, of course, no longer possible in the same way. So we invite you to embody new forms of this ritual through electronic donations and mailed cheques. May this, too, be a spiritual practice of love and care in these times of need. Scripture Reading: John 9 Message: Doug Klassen’s sermon (transcript) Song: Be Thou My Vision (public domain) Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; naught be all else to me, save that thou art. Thou my best thought, by day or by night, waking or sleeping, thy presence my light. Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word; I ever with thee, and thou with me, Lord. Thou my great Father, thy child may I be, thou in me dwelling and I one with thee. Riches I heed not, nor vain empty praise; thou mine inheritance, now and always. Thou and thou only, first in my heart, High King of heaven, my treasure thou art. High King of heaven, when vict’ry is won may I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heav’n’s Sun! Heart of my heart, whatever befall, still be my vision, O Ruler of all. Prayer for the Church and the World: As we pray together, we want to hold before God the many challenges we face in these days. We remember Seniors, those with compromised health, those in quarantine, those who are grieving, those who have no safe places where they can retreat, those who are losing their incomes, parents searching for childcare, students studying at home, those hoping to graduate, over-taxed health care workers, and others offering essential services. May our prayers rise together, across the nation, for each other, for our dispersed congregations, for our regional and nation-wide bodies, for our Witness Workers and partner churches around the globe. We pray also for the neighbourhoods and communities around us, for our world. Let's join together in this prayer, written by Carol Penner, and based St. Patrick’s Prayer of Protection: We bind onto ourselves the loving power of God our Creator, the enlivening power of the Spirit of Truth, and the steadfast faithfulness of Jesus Christ. We bind onto ourselves the glories of the earth, this gift: the power of heaven, the light of the sun, the brightness of the moon, the splendour of fire, the flashing of lightning, the swiftness of wind, the depth of the sea, the stability of the earth. Against the power of viruses, against the sweep of pandemics, against the selfishness that hoards for oneself, against the anxiety that gnaws at our hearts, good Lord, protect us. For all who are ill, bring healing. For all who are grieving, and cannot be comforted, hear our prayer, O God. For all who are afraid or alone, send your love. For all those who lose income and lack provisions, extend your hope, O God. For all who care for the sick, preserve and strengthen them. For all who create healthcare strategies, make policies, and search for medical cures, empower them, O God. We bind to ourselves today God's eye to watch over us, God's ear to hear us, God's hand to guide us. Christ with us, Christ before us, Christ behind us, Christ within us, Christ beneath us, Christ above us, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in mouth of friend or stranger. With the steadfastness of God, our Rock, and the love of Christ that will not let us go, and the Spirit of Hope, who gives us peace, we entrust this day. Amen. Benediction: As we close our time of worship, may we be people of vision, may we grow as a community of healing and hope, may we offer to the world ministries of courage and love. God is with us everywhere, always. We are not alone. Amen. Song: You’re Not Alone (Bryan Moyer Suderman; used by permission) You’re not alone, we are one body. You’re not alone, we stand with you. You’re not alone, your time of suff’ring is our suff’ring too, and I know the day is coming when we will be rejoicing anew. Many members in this body that we know, some are great and some are small: eyes and ears and hands and just a little toe, one God who activates them all. One body, Spirit formed and Spirit fed, diff’rent genders, rich and poor; a banquet where the least sit at the head: one body broken for the world. |