Welcome and Announcements
Call to Worship, Ezekiel 37:3; Psalm 130:7
O mortal, can these bones live?
Only the Lord knows.
O people, hope in the Lord.
With the Lord there is steadfast love and great power to redeem.
LET US WORSHIP GOD!
Hymn, O Christ, the Healer
(Hymn 793, sung to the tune “Tallis Canon”)
Prayer of the Day
Prayer of Confession
O Lord, if you held our sin against us, who could live, who could stand? We seem to have more faith in death than hope in your promise of life. We seek peace through war, and find security in weapons. We abandon the hungry, sick, and dying, and pursue wealth in ways that make others poor. With the threat of pandemic, we are tempted to hoard, depriving others of basic necessities to live. But even so, you love; even so, there is still forgiveness with you! Therefore we worship you; for you alone, O God, can save us from death and redeem us from our sin.
Assurance of Pardon
Time for Children, Jenny Newman
Prayer for Illumination
O God, we wait for you, and in Your Word we trust. By the power of Your Spirit, set our hearts and minds on the source of life and peace: Jesus Christ our Savior. AMEN.
Hebrew Reading, Ezekiel 37:1-14
37 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath[a] to enter you, and you shall live. 6 I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath[b] in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath:[c] Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath,[d] and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
11 Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 14 I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”
Epistle Reading, Romans 8:6-11
6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit[a] is life and peace. 7 For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit,[b] since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit[c] is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ[d] from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through[e] his Spirit that dwells in you.
Gospel Reading, John 11:17-44
17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus[a] had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles[b] away, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.[c] Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah,[d] the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
28 When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus began to weep. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Sermon, “Without a Net,” Rev. Vincent Kolb
Hymn, Now the Green Blade Rises, 247
Affirmation of Faith, from a Brief Statement of Faith
In life and in death we belong to God. We trust in Jesus Christ, fully human, fully God. Jesus proclaimed the reign of God: preaching good news to the poor and release to the captives, teaching by word and deed and blessing the children, healing the sick and binding up the brokenhearted, eating with outcasts and calling all to repent and believe the gospel. We trust in God the Holy Spirit, everywhere the giver and renewer of life. The Spirit sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor. In a broken and fearful world the Spirit gives us courage to pray without ceasing, to unmask idolatries in Church and culture, and to work with others for justice, freedom and peace. We rejoice that nothing in life or in death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Pastoral Prayer
Lord’s Prayer, 2019 Vatican Update
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;
do not let us fall into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.
Anthem, Wondrous Love, Traditional, arranged by Robert Shaw and Alice Parker
Hymn, What Wondrous Love Is This, 215
Benediction
Announcements
* The Session has closed the building through April 30 to observe the governmental restrictions of social distancing.
* Many thanks to Patty Halverson, Elly Bertolet, and Kate Davoli for being part of the service this this week!
* Want to join Pastor Vincent’s Wednesday morning Bible study on the lectionary texts? Contact the office to get on the email list for connection to the Zoom meeting.
* Zoom confused? Set up a call with Amy, and we’ll work through it together.
* It’s not the same as the thrill of putting the envelope in the plate, but you can still pay on your pledges either through eGive (click here!) or by mailing your check to the church. We continue to need your support in this challenging time!
* Weekly Sunday school lessons and other resources are on Jenny’s Children and Youth blog (click here!)
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