Good morning, church!
Welcome to the Fourth Sunday in Lent, otherwise known as the Second Sunday of the Quarantine.
I have again put together a few worship resources for you for reading and using. The opening prayer is one that was shared by one of our members this week. I really like it. We will do another Facebook Live Stream from St. Peter’s Sanctuary at 10:00 a.m. We are meeting in a very small group with all commonly suggested safety precautions in place.
Meet us on Facebook!
Thank you all for bringing bags of food to the church last Friday. It was the most food we have received on any single day! Our food count for Manna on Main Street now stands at 1,488! Next Friday we will do it again.
Since Sunday worship is the time when we collect offerings, may I remind you to send in your offering envelopes or use the online giving option on our website. We have received a number giving envelopes at church in the last few weeks. It is much appreciated. Let me know (or Dave S. directly) if you are interested in the Simply Giving option. Thanks!
Roberta K-S. and Sharon B. have birthdays today. Happy birthday!
Sunday Worship Service
Opening Prayer
May we who are merely inconvenienced
Remember those whose lives are at stake.
May we who have no risk factors
Remember those most vulnerable.
May we who have the luxury of working from home
Remember those who must choose between preserving their health or making their rent.
May we who have the flexibility to care for our children when their schools close
Remember those who have no options.
May we who have to cancel our trips
Remember those that have no place to go.
May we who are losing our margin money in the tumult of the economic market
Remember those who have no margin at all.
May we who settle in for a quarantine at home
Remember those who have no home.
During this time when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other,
Let us yet find ways to be the loving embrace of God to our neighbors.
Amen.
First Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1-13
Epistle Reading: Ephesians 5:8-14
The Gospel Reading for this Sunday: John 9: 1-41
1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. 8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.” 10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked. 11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.” 12 “Where is this man?” they asked him. “I don’t know,” he said. (Read on in your own Bible or in the NIV online version)