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Meeting ID: 879 3593 0592
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                            4^th Sunday of Lent

                            Celebration Sunday

                               March 29, 2025

                             Responder: Kathy N

OPENING PRAYER: Marita

God of fellowship, friendship, and laughter you invite everyone to join in this worship ceremony. We gather not because we are better than anyone else but because we are your beloved children. You welcome us into worship with extravagant love. May our hearts and minds be awakened to the kindom we share with our siblings on earth. Amen

 

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION: Barbara

God, may the scriptures we read today become living bread. May your Spirit empower them to shape us in Jesus’ likeness. Give us wisdom as we interpret these words of scripture; may they nourish our minds and souls. 

Amen.

 

CALL & PRAYER OF RECONCILIATION: Nick

God of abundance, we confess we overlook your daily provision. We take your gifts for granted longing for what we do not have instead of treasuring what we do. Our hearts often overflow with envy, and our desires pull us away from thoughts of gratitude. Forgive us, O God. Open our eyes to your faithfulness and teach us to always live with a sense of contentment and thanksgiving. We trust that you provide all we truly need. Amen

 

FIRST READING: Joshua 5:9, 10-12  Cathy W

A reading from the book of the prophet Joshua. YHWH said to Joshua, “Today I rolled away from you the reproach of Egypt.” During their encampment at Gilgal, the Children of Israel offered the Passover sacrifice at sunset on the fourteenth day of the month on the plains of Jericho. On the day after the Passover, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes, and roasted grains. On that same day, after the Passover on which they ate of the unleavened cakes and roasted grain, the manna stopped falling for the Children of Israel. They ate the crops of Canaan from that year on.

The Word of God.   R. Thanks be to God!

 

Psalm 34     Verses Lucia

Response: O taste and see that God is good!

I will always bless God, / praise will continually be in my mouth.

My soul will rejoice in Our God, let the humble hear it and be glad.

R: O taste and see that God is good!

Glorify Our God with me / and let us exalt God's Name together.

I sought Our God who answered me / and freed me from all my fears.

R: O taste and see that God is good!

Those who look to Our God are radiant, / their faces are never put to shame.\

R: O taste and see that God is good!

 

SECOND READING: 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 John

A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians. And for anyone who is in Christ, there is new creation. The old order has passed away; now everything is new! All of this is from God, who ransomed us through Christ — and made us ministers of that reconciliation. This means that through Christ, the world was fully reconciled again to God, who did not hold our transgressions against us, but instead entrusted us with this message of reconciliation. This makes us Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making the appeal directly through us. Therefore, we implore you in Christ’s name be reconciled to God. For our sake, God made the One who was without sin to be sin, so that by this means we might become the very holiness of God.

The Word of God. R. Thanks be to God.

 

Gospel Reading: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke.

The tax collectors and the “sinners” were all gathering around Jesus to listen to his teaching, at which the Pharisees and the religious scholars murmured, “This person welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told this parable to them: A man had two children. The younger of them said to their father: “Give me the share of the estate that is coming to me.” So, the father divided up the property between them. Some days later, the younger son gathered up his belongings and went off to a distant land. Here he squandered all his money on loose living. After everything was spent, a great famine broke over the land, and the son was in great need. So he went to a landowner, who sent him to a farm to take care of the pigs. He was so hungry that he could have eaten the husks that were fodder for the pigs, but no one made a move to give him anything. Coming to his senses at last, he said “How many hired hands at my father’s house have more than enough to eat, while here I am starving! I will quit and go back home and say, I have sinned against God and against you; I no longer deserve to be called one of your children. Treat me like one of your hired hands.”  With that, the younger son set off for his home. While still a long way off, the father caught sight of the returning child and was deeply moved. The father ran out to meet him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him.  The son said “I have sinned against God and against you; I no longer deserve to be called one of your children. But his father said to one of the workers: “Quick! Bring out the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. Take the calf we have been fattening and butcher it. Let us eat and celebrate! This son of mine was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and now he is found. Let our celebration began.”

Meanwhile the elder son had been out in the field. As he was nearing the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the workers and asked: “What is happening?” The worker answered, “Your brother is home, and the fatted calf has been killed because your father has him back safe and sound.” The son got angry at this and refused to go in to the party.  When his father came out and pleaded with him to join the celebration this son said “For years now I have done everything you asked me to do. I never disobeyed even one of your orders, yet you never gave me so much as a kid goat to celebrate with my friends. But then this son of yours comes home after going through your money with prostitutes, you kill the fatted calf for him.” The father replied: “But my child you are with me always, and everything I have is yours. But today we must celebrate and rejoice! This brother of yours was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and now he is found.”

The Good News of Salvation! R. Glory and praise to our Savior Jesus Christ.

 

STATEMENT OF FAITH Janet and Therese alternate

We believe God created a world to provide for our needs with abundant nourishment.

We believe God wants everyone to have the food they need to thrive.

We believe God calls us to share our bread with those who hunger.

We believe that in God’s kindom, there is enough for everyone.

We believe the bread of life is not just for the body but also for the soul.

We believe the Spirit of God inspires us to work for justice, so all people have what they need.

We believe that when we break bread together we experience a glimpse of God’s feast of love, which is available to everyone.

Amen.

 

PRAYER INTENTIONS

Pat: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we are aware that just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. We bring to this table our blessings, cares and concerns.  Please feel free to voice your prayers beginning with the words “I bring to the table….”

 

We pray for these and all unspoken concerns. Amen.

SIGN OF PEACE Juanita: Jesus, you said to your apostles, peace I leave you, my peace I give you.

May the peace of Christ be with you. Let us offer each other the sign of peace.

 

PRESENTATION OF THE GIFTS

Please lift up your bread.

Jaycee Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you: fruit of the earth and work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life.
R: Blessed be our Beloved God forever.

P: By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who shared in our humanity.

Please lift up your wine:

Judy Blessed are you God of all creation, through your goodness we have received the wine we offer you: fruit of the vine and work of human hands, it will become our spiritual drink.
R: Blessed be our Beloved God forever.

EUCHARISTIC PRAYER

P.  Our God Be With You

R:  And also, with you

P.  Lift up your hearts

R:  We lift them up to our God

P.  Let us give thanks to the Lord our God

R:  It is right and just to give God our thanks

 

P: God of All Life, we have seen Your glory, felt the touch of Your love, and felt Your presence with us. With joyful hearts, we offer You, our gifts. Having heard Your call, we offer You our lives and our service.

Gerry:  Gracious God, we praise and proclaim Your wonder. Before time, you have created us and held us in Your heart - each one of us, special and unique to You. You call us each by name and say that we are good and set us free. We sing your praise with all the angels and saints.

P: Please extend your hands in blessing over your bread and wine.

We are grateful for your Spirit at our Eucharistic Table and for this bread and wine which reminds us of our call to be the body of Christ in the world.

Together, we call on Your Spirit, present in these gifts - bread that satisfies our hunger and wine that quenches our thirst – to make us more deeply One, living in the fullness of holy compassion and Sophia Wisdom, that they may become for us the Body +and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ at whose command we celebrate this Eucharist, these mysteries.

On the night when Jesus was gathered with his friends at the Passover meal, he took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them saying:

Community: Take this, all of you and eat it, for this is my Body which is given up for you, for you are wonderfully made.

When the supper was finished Jesus picked up the cup, blessed it then gave it to his friends as he is giving himself to each of us this afternoon saying:

Community: Take this all of you and drink from it, for this is the cup of my Blood. The cup of the everlasting covenant, Do this is memory of me.

Gina: Let us proclaim the mystery of our faith.

R: Save us, Savior of the world, for by your cross and resurrection you have set us free.

P: We celebrate the memory of Jesus’ death and resurrection. We embrace the possibility of reconciliation, justice and peace. Holy God, here at this table, we have encountered Jesus’ Spirit, bringing us wholeness so we might be satisfied by the bread of life. Because Jesus faced death and emerged victorious, this bread does not spoil; this cup never runs dry. As we leave this place of celebration, our spirits are renewed and rejuvenated. There is enough for each of us.

R: Let us pray the Celtic Version of the Lord's prayer written by (John Phillip Newell) Gina: Holy One Beyond all names, Eternal Wellspring, may love rise again in today. With food for every table, shelter for every family and reverence for every life. Forgive us our failings in love and free us from all falseness, that the light of our soul may shine, and the strength of our spirits endure. For the Earth and all its people this day, tonight, and forever. Amen

P:Let us all receive Jesus together as we are the Body and Blood of Christ.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION: Penny

Go now into the world brimming with love for God and others. May you share the bread of life, offering not only what sustains the body but what nourishes the soul. Live your lives serving in the way of Jesus, extending compassion to the weary, hope to the despairing, and bread to the hungry.

As you go, may the love of God enfold you, the peace of Christ guide you, and the power of the Sophia Wisdom sustain you, now and forever. Amen.

DISMISSAL: Juanita