Lent 3: In the Heat of the Day

Sunday, March 12, 2023
10:30 AM 11:30 AM 10:30 11:30

Union Presbyterian Church 200 E Main St Endicott, NY, 13760 United States (map)

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Jesus is compelled to venture into Samaritan territory, always a little risky, where he and a Samaritan woman have one of the most deeply theological conversations we can find in the gospels.

Join us for worship this morning in our beautiful sanctuary or here, online, if you are at home or on the road. You are invited! We will hear about the living water, even as we pour the living water on one of our own in baptism.

Lent 3: “In the Heat of the Day”

Psalm 95; John 4:5-30;39-42

March 12, 2023  

Union Presbyterian Church  

Sharing the Light of Christ, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow  

Liturgist: Cathie Makowka Preacher: Rev. Pat Raube   

Prelude Colin DeLap 

“Shine, Jesus, Shine,” Mark Hayes

Used by permission, CCLI license #CSPL068847

Welcome Rev. Pat Raube

Call to Worship from Isaiah 55    Cathie Makowka

Hear, everyone who thirsts; come to the waters.
Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live.

I will make with you an everlasting covenant,

my love is steadfast, my heart is sure.

Seek the Lord, who may be found; call upon God who is yet at hand.

For you shall go out in joy and be led back in peace.
The mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song,

and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

* Hymn #56 W & R

“Sing Praise to God, Who Reigns Above”

(Public Domain)

Sing praise to God who reigns above,
The God of all creation,
The God of power, the God of love,
The God of our salvation.
My soul with comfort rich he fills,
And every grief he gently stills:
To God all praise and glory!

What God’s almighty power has made,
In mercy he is keeping;
By morning glow or evening shade
His eye is never sleeping.
And where he rules in kingly might,
There all is just and all is right:
To God all praise and glory!

We sought the Lord in our distress;
O God, in mercy hear us.
Our Savior saw our helplessness
And came with peace to cheer us.
For this we thank and praise the Lord,
Who is by one and all adored:
To God all praise and glory!

Let all who name Christ’s holy name
Give God the praise and glory.
Let all who know his power proclaim
Aloud the wondrous story.
Cast every idol from its throne;
The Lord is God, and he alone:
To God all praise and glory!

* Call to New Life  

* Prayer for Wholeness and Peace (unison)  

Gracious God, as we wander through the wilderness this Lent, we are more aware of our thirst for your presence, your love, your guidance on life’s journey. We turn away from you, and soak in the doubt and uncertainty that seem to be all around us. We place our faith in fleeting comforts that don’t run deep enough and don’t last. We come to your well today deeply thirsty for Christ’s living water. Quench our thirst, we pray. Grant us your healing and grace, in Jesus name. Amen.

* Words of Assurance  

With the whole church:

We affirm that we are made in God’s image,

befriended by Christ, and empowered by the Spirit.

With people everywhere:

We affirm God’s goodness at the heart of humanity,

planted more deeply than all that is wrong.

With all creation:

We celebrate the miracle and wonder of life and the unfolding purposes of God, forever at work in ourselves and the world. Thanks be to God. Amen!

Sharing of the Peace 

May the peace of God be with you. 

And also with you. 

Let us offer one another a sign of peace. 

Scripture Reading Psalm 95

Come, let us sing to the Lord;
    let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation!

Let us come before God’s presence with thanksgiving
    and raise a loud shout to the Lord with songs!

For you, Lord, are a great God,
    and a great ruler above all gods.

In your hand are the caverns of the earth;
    the heights of the hills are also yours.

The sea is yours, for you made it,
    and your hands have molded the dry land.

Come, let us worship and bow down;
    let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker.

For the Lord is our God,
    and we are the people of God’s pasture
    and the sheep of God’s hand.

O that today you would hear God’s voice!

Harden not your hearts, as at Meribah,

as on that day at Massah in the desert.

There your ancestors tested me,

they put me to the test, though they had seen my works.

Forty years I loathed that generation, saying,

‘The heart of this people goes astray;

they do not know my ways.’

Indeed I swore in my anger,

‘They shall never come to my rest.’

Time for Young Disciples Rev. Pat Raube 

Music: “Rock of Ages” (Public Domain)

Sacrament of Holy Baptism of Thurman Mitchell Tunison

Parents: Michelle and Andrew Tunison Brother: Crosby Tunison

Presentation

Then children were being brought to Jesus in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them, but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” And he laid his hands on them and went on his way. ~Matthew 19:13-15

As many of you as were baptized into Christ

have clothed yourselves with Christ.

There is no longer Jew nor Greek,

here is no longer slave or free,

there is no longer male and female,

for all are one in Christ Jesus.

Profession of Faith

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s 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. Amen.

Thanksgiving Over the Water

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

…Sanctify all our thirst with your living water, Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Baptism

Welcome

…By the power of the Holy Spirit, you have been welcomed into the household of God, to share with us in the ministry of Christ and the priesthood of all believers.

With joy and thanksgiving we welcome you into the body of Christ! Amen.

The peace of Christ be with you.

And also with you.

Hymn

“Blessing,” Helen Wiltshire

Used by Permission. CCLI License #CSPL068847

Infant born of human love;

Life entrusted to our care;

Love, new born has come to us;

Love we all may share.

Water is a sacred sign;

Sign of promise and of grace;

Child of hope, we welcome you,

To this sacred space.

May your life be blessed by love;

May you walk in wisdom’s way;

May you live abundantly,

Thankful, every day.

Scripture Reading John 4:5-30; 39-42  

So Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”

Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him.

Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”

Response We do not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. 

Thanks be to God! 

Sermon ”In the Heat of the Day” Rev. Pat Raube  

Anthem Choir

“Come to the Water,” Jack Schrader

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.      

O let all who thirst,

Let them come to the water.

And let all who have nothing,

Let them come to the Lord:

Without money, without price.

Why should you pay the price,

Except for the Lord?

And let all who seek,

Let them come to the water.

And let all who have nothing,

Let them come to the Lord:

Without money, without strife.

Why should you spend your life,

Except for the Lord?

And let all who toil,

Let them come to the water.

And let all who are weary,

Let them come to the Lord:

All who labor, without rest.

How can your soul find rest,

Except for the Lord?

And let all the poor,

Let them come to the water,

Bring the ones who are laden,

Bring them all to the Lord:

Bring the children without might.

Easy the load and light:

Come to the Lord.

Come to the water;

Come to the Lord.

Minute for Mission Becky Conklin

Prayers of the People 

The Lord’s Prayer (Traditional Version) 

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.  

Prayer Response  #166 W & R      

“Wait for the Lord,” Taizé Community

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.      

(Sing two times:)

Wait for the Lord, whose day is near.   

Wait for the Lord: be strong, take heart.

Call for Offering 

Doxology  

“Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow”  

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.      

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;   

Praise God, all creatures high and low.   

Praise God, in Jesus fully known:   

Creator, Word, and Spirit one.  

Prayer of Dedication 

* Hymn #444 W & R [Chris piano, Colin percussion, Pat guitar]

“Rain Down,” Jaime Cortez

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.      

Rain down, rain down,

Rain down your love on your people.

Rain down, rain down,

Rain down your love, God of life.

Faithful and true is the word of our God.

All of God’s works are so worthy of trust.

God’s mercy falls on the just and the right;

Full of God’s love is the earth.

Rain down, rain down,

Rain down your love on your people.

Rain down, rain down,

Rain down your love, God of life.

We who revere and find hope in our God

Live in the kindness and joy of God’s wing.

God will protect us from darkness and death;

God will not leave us to starve.

Rain down, rain down,

Rain down your love on your people.

Rain down, rain down,

Rain down your love, God of life.

God of creation, we long for your truth;

You are the water of life that we thirst.

Grant that your love and your peace touch our hearts,

All of our hope lies in you.

Rain down, rain down,

Rain down your love on your people.

Rain down, rain down,

Rain down your love, God of life.

* Benediction

Postlude Colin DeLap   

“Sweet, Sweet Spirit,” Mark Hayes

Used by permission, CCLI license #CSPL068847

Where an * is indicated, please rise in body and/or in spirit.      

“W & R” ~ the red Worship and Rejoice hymnal.     

“PH” ~ the blue Presbyterian Hymnal  

Portions of today’s liturgy were adapted from Teri Mc Dowell Ott, via the Presbyterian Outlook.