Lent 3 Sunday 12th March – Ansley Church

Hymn – Open My Eyes That I May See

Open my eyes that I may see
glimpses of truth thou hast for me.
Place in my hands the wonderful key
that shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Open my ears that I may hear
voices of truth thou sendest clear,
and while the wave notes fall on my ear,
ev’rything false will disappear.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my ears, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Open my mouth and let me bear
gladly the warm truth ev’rywhere.
Open my heart and let me prepare
love with thy children thus to share.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my mouth, illumine me,
Spirit divine! (by Clara H. Scott – 1841 to 1897)

Preparation

The night has passed, and the day lies open before us; let us pray with one heart and mind.

Grace mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you

All: And also with you.

This is the day that the Lord has made.

All: Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

We have come together in the name of Christ to offer our praise and thanksgiving to hear and receive God’s holy word, to pray for the needs of the world, and to seek the forgiveness of our sins, that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we may give ourselves to the service of God.

All: We say Sorry

Jesus says, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.’

So let us turn away from our sins and turn to Christ, confessing our sins in penitence and faith.

All: Lord God, we have sinned against you;

We have done evil in your sight.

We are sorry and repent.

Have mercy on us according to your love.

Wash away our wrongdoing and cleanse us from our sin.

Renew a right spirit within us and restore to us the joy of your salvation;

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

May the Father of all mercies cleanse us from our sins, and restore us in His image to the praise and glory of His name through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

Blessed is the Lord,

All: For He has heard the voice of our prayer;

Therefore shall our hearts dance for joy

All: And in our song will we praise our God.

Blessed are you, Lord our God, creator and redeemer of all;

to you be glory and praise for ever.

From the waters of chaos you drew forth the world, and in your great love fashioned us in your image. Now, through the deep waters of death, you have brought your people to new birth by raising your Son to life in triumph.

May Christ your light ever dawn in our hearts as we offer you our sacrifice of thanks and praise.

Blessed be God, Father Son and Holy Spirit.

All: Blessed be God for ever.

Hymn – God Forgave My Sin in Jesus’ Name

Collect for the Third Sunday of Lent

Almighty God,

whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain,

and entered not into glory before he was crucified:

mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross,

may find it none other than the way of life and peace;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

All: Amen

.Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead.

All: And Christ shall give you light.

You have died and your life is hid with Christ in God.

All: Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead.

Set your minds on things that are above,

not on things that are on the earth.

All: And Christ shall give you light.

When Christ our life appears

you will appear with him in glory.

All: Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.

Hymn – O For A Closer Walk With God

O for a closer walk with God,
a calm and heav’nly frame,
a light to shine upon the road
that leads me to the Lamb!

Where is the blessedness I knew
when first I sought the Lord?
Where is the soul refreshing view
of Jesus and His Word?

What peaceful hours I then enjoyed!
How sweet their mem’ry still!
But they have left an aching void
the world can never fill.

Return, O holy Dove, return,
sweet messenger of rest;
I hate the sins that made Thee mourn,
and drove Thee from my breast.

The dearest idol I have known,
whate’er that idol be,
help me to tear it from Thy throne
and worship only Thee.

So shall my walk be close with God,
calm and serene my frame;
so purer light shall mark the road
that leads me to the Lamb. (by William Cowper – 1731 – 1800)

Our First Reading is taken from – Romans Chap: 5

1 Now that we have been put right with God through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 He has brought us by faith into this experience of God’s grace, in which we now live. And so we boast of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory!

3 We also boast of our troubles, because we know that trouble produces endurance,

4 endurance brings God’s approval, and his approval creates hope.

5 This hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out his love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift to us.

6 For when we were still helpless, Christ died for the wicked at the time that God chose.

7 It is a difficult thing for someone to die for a righteous person. It may even be that someone might dare to die for a good person.

8 But God has shown us how much he loves us – it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!

9 By his blood we are now put right with God; how much more, then, will we be saved by him from God’s anger!

10 We were God’s enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God’s friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ’s life!

11 But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God’s friends.

This is the Word of the Lord

All: Thanks be to God

Here the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to – John Chap: 4

5 In Samaria he came to a town named Sychar, which was not far from the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by the trip, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

7 (A Samaritan woman came to draw some water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink of water.

8 His disciples had gone into town to buy food.)

9 The woman answered, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan – so how can you ask me for a drink?” (Jews will not use the same cups and bowls that Samaritans use.)

10 Jesus answered, “If you only knew what God gives and who it is that is asking you for a drink, you would ask him, and he would give you life-giving water.”

11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you don’t have a bucket, and the well is deep. Where would you get that life-giving water?

12 It was our ancestor Jacob who gave us this well; he and his children and his flocks all drank from it. You don’t claim to be greater than Jacob, do you?”

13 Jesus answered, “Those who drink this water will get thirsty again,

14 but those who drink the water that I will give them will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give them will become in them a spring which will provide them with life-giving water and give them eternal life.”

15 “Sir,” the woman said, “give me that water! Then I will never be thirsty again, nor will I have to come here to draw water.”

16 “Go and call your husband,” Jesus told her, “and come back.”

17 “I don’t have a husband,” she answered. Jesus replied, “You are right when you say you don’t have a husband.

18 You have been married to five men, and the man you live with now is not really your husband. You have told me the truth.”

19 “I see you are a prophet, sir,” the woman said.

20 “My Samaritan ancestors worshiped God on this mountain, but you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where we should worship God.”

21 Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the time will come when people will not worship the Father either on this mountain or in Jerusalem.

22 You Samaritans do not really know whom you worship; but we Jews know whom we worship, because it is from the Jews that salvation comes.

23 But the time is coming and is already here, when by the power of God’s Spirit people will worship the Father as he really is, offering him the true worship that he wants.

24 God is Spirit, and only by the power of his Spirit can people worship him as he really is.”

25 The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah will come, and when he comes, he will tell us everything.”

26 Jesus answered, “I am he, I who am talking with you.”

27 At that moment Jesus’ disciples returned, and they were greatly surprised to find him talking with a woman. But none of them said to her, “What do you want?” or asked him, “Why are you talking with her?”

28 Then the woman left her water jar, went back to the town, and said to the people there,

29 “Come and see the man who told me everything I have ever done. Could he be the Messiah?”

30 So they left the town and went to Jesus.

31 In the meantime the disciples were begging Jesus, “Teacher, have something to eat!”

32 But he answered, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

33 So the disciples started asking among themselves, “Could somebody have brought him food?”

34 “My food,” Jesus said to them, “is to obey the will of the one who sent me and to finish the work he gave me to do.

35 You have a saying, “Four more months and then the harvest.’ But I tell you, take a good look at the fields; the crops are now ripe and ready to be harvested!

36 The one who reaps the harvest is being paid and gathers the crops for eternal life; so the one who plants and the one who reaps will be glad together.

37 For the saying is true, “Someone plants, someone else reaps.’

38 I have sent you to reap a harvest in a field where you did not work; others worked there, and you profit from their work.”

39 Many of the Samaritans in that town believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I have ever done.”

40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they begged him to stay with them, and Jesus stayed there two days.

41 Many more believed because of his message,

42 and they told the woman, “We believe now, not because of what you said, but because we ourselves have heard him, and we know that he really is the Saviour of the world.”

This is the Word of the Lord

All: Thanks be to God

Benedicitus

Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel,

All: who has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour,

All: born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets God promised of old

All: to save us from our enemies, from the hands of all that hate us,

To show mercy to our ancestors,

All: and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham:

All: to set us free from the hands of our enemies,

Free to worship him without fear,

All: holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.

And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,

All: for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,

To give his people knowledge of salvation

All: by the forgiveness of all their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God

All: the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,

All: and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

All: Glory to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning is now

and shall be for ever.

Amen.

Third Sunday of Lent

On the third Sunday of Lent, roughly half way through now, may I ask:

How’s your Lent going?

Have you kept to the things you’re doing without?

Or kept up the things you’re doing extra?

But can I also ask: is this abstinence or extra workload bringing you closer to God? Helping you live in a personal relationship with God?

Having a personal relationship with God actually begins the moment we realize our need for Him, admit we are sinners, and in faith receive Jesus Christ as Saviour.

God, our heavenly Father, has always desired to be close to us, to have a relationship with us.

Before Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden (Genesis Cha: 3), both he and Eve knew God on an intimate, personal level. They walked with Him in the garden and talked directly to Him. Due to the sin of man, we became separated and disconnected from God.

What many people do not know, realize, or even care about, is that Jesus gave us the most amazing gift—the opportunity to spend eternity with God if we trust in Him.

As Saint Paul wrote in Romans:

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”.

God became a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ to take on our sin, be killed, and then be raised to life again, proving His victory over sin and death. Paul again tells us in Romans:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”

If we accept this gift, we have become acceptable to God and can have a relationship with Him.

Those who have a personal relationship with God include God in their daily lives. They pray to Him, read His word, and meditate on verses in an effort to get to know Him even better.

Those who have a personal relationship with God pray for wisdom (James Chap: 1 Ver: 5), which is the most valuable asset we could ever have. They take their requests to Him, asking in Jesus’ name (John Chap: 12 Ver: 16).

Jesus is the one who loves us enough to give His life for us (Romans Chap: 5 Ver: 8), and He is the one who bridged the gap between us and God.

The Holy Spirit has been given to us as our Counsellor. Jesus says in John’s Chap 14:

15 “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.

16 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, who will stay with you forever.

17 He is the Spirit, who reveals the truth about God. The world cannot receive him, because it cannot see him or know him. But you know him, because he remains with you and is in you.

Jesus said this before He died, and after He died, the Holy Spirit became available to all who earnestly seek to receive Him. He is the one who lives in the hearts of believers and never leaves. He counsels us, teaches us truths, and changes our hearts. Without this divine Holy Spirit, we would not have the ability to fight against evil and temptations.

But since we do have Him, we begin to produce the fruit that comes from allowing the Spirit to control us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control:

Galatians Chap 5

22 But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these.

24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have put to death their human nature with all its passions and desires.

This personal relationship with God is not as hard to find as we might think, and there is no mysterious formula for getting it.

As soon as we become children of God, we receive the Holy Spirit, who will begin to work on our hearts. We should pray without ceasing, read the Bible, and join a Bible-believing church; all these things will help us to grow spiritually.

Trusting in God to get us through each day and believing that He is our sustainer and is the way to have a relationship with Him.

Although we may not see changes immediately, we will begin to see them over time, and all the truths will become clear.

So, my prayer for all of us is not that we succeed in giving up chocolate all through Lent, although I really hope that you do, but that on Easter Sunday, we will all be closer to our Lord than we were on Ash Wednesday.

Amen

Hymn – Here is love, vast as the ocean,

Time of Silence …..

We Say Together:

The Creed.

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.

All: Amen.

Prayers and Intercessions

We pray for God to fill us with his Spirit.

Generous God,

we thank you for the power of your Holy Spirit.

We ask that we may be strengthened to serve you better.

Lord, come to bless us