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March 12, 2023 | Third Sunday in Lent

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Explore the calendar of events and recent announcements to take another step into our life together this week.

Prelude

Two settings of Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier, Johann Gottfried Walther and J.S. Bach

Call to Worship

As a deer longs for flowing streams
so our souls long for you, O God.
Our souls thirst for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and behold the face of God?
Come, let us worship God!

Hymn #3, “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken”

1 Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God.
God, whose word cannot be broken,
formed thee for a blest abode.
On the rock of ages founded,
what can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation’s walls surrounded,
thou may’st smile at all thy foes.

2 Round each habitation hovering,
see the cloud and fire appear
for a glory and a covering,
showing that the Lord in near.
Thus deriving from their banner
light by night and shade by day,
safe they feed upon the manna
which God gives them when they pray.

3 See, the streams of living waters,
springing from eternal love,
well supply thy sons and daughters
and all fear of want remove.
Who can faint while such a river
ever flows, their thirst to_assuage?
Grace, so like the Lord the giver,
never fails from age to age.

Prayer of Adoration

Call to Confession

As thirsty people wandering through this season of Lent, we seek God’s forgiveness and grace in this moment of honest confession.

Trusting in God’s faithfulness, let us confess who we are.

Prayer of Confession (together)

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.

Forgive us for turning away from you. Forgive our skepticism and uncertainty that led us to place our faith in worldly comforts that don’t run deep enough and don’t last.

We come to your well today desperate and thirsty for Christ’s living water. Quench our thirst, we pray. Grant us your forgiveness and your grace.

Kyrie

Composed by James MacMillan

Silent Prayer

Assurance of Pardon

Hear the good news: Jesus said, “Those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty.” Come, drink deep, and know that you are forgiven.
Thanks be to God!

Response of Praise: Hymn 582, “Glory to God, Whose Goodness Shines on Me”

1 Glory to God, whose goodness shines on me,
and to the Son, whose grace has pardoned me,
and to the Spirit, whose love has set me free.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen.

2 World without end, without end. Amen.
World without end, without end. Amen.
World without end, without end. Amen.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen.

Passing of the peace

Life in Community

Thank you for joining us for worship! Explore the calendar of events and recent announcements to take another step into our life together this week. If you’re joining us for the first time or would like to learn more about Catonsville Presbyterian, you’re welcome to share your email with us. We’ll send some information that will help you get connected.

Iftar Dinner Invitation

We are delighted to welcome two members of Maryland American-Turkish Inhabitants, Ozgur Karakuzu, (Interfaith Committee Chair) and Fatih Kok. Space is limited for this event, so please RSVP on Eventbrite.

Children’s Message

Prayer for Illumination

Loving God, fountain of every blessing, open us to your life-giving Word, and fill us with your Holy Spirit so that living water may flow through our hearts — a spring of hope for a thirsty world. Amen.

Scripture: Exodus 17:1-7

From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Hymn #494, “Jesu, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts”

1 Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts,
thou fount of life, thou light of all,
from the best bliss that earth imparts
we turn, unfilled, to heed thy call.

2 Thy truth unchanged hath ever stood;
thou savest those that on thee call;
to them that seek thee thou art good,
to them that find thee, all in all.

3 We taste thee, O thou living bread,
and long to feast upon thee still;
we drink of thee, the fountainhead,
and thirst our souls from thee to fill.

4 Our restless spirits yearn for thee,
where’er our changeful lot is cast,
glad when thy gracious smile we see,
blest when our faith can hold thee fast.

5 O Jesus, ever with us stay;
make all our moments calm and bright.
O chase the night of sin away;
shed o’er the world thy holy light.

Scripture: John 4:5-42

So he 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. Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” 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.”

Message, “Thirst”

Call to Offering

God gives generously. Let us honor God by giving generously in return. With gratitude, let us present out gifts to the Lord.

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Offertory, “Just as I am”

Just as I am, without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am, though tossed about with many a conflict, many a doubt;
Fightings within, and fears without, O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind; sight, riches, healing of the mind;
Yes, all I need, in Thee to find, O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive, wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am, Thy love unknown has broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone, O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am, of thy great love, the breadth, length, height, depth to prove,
Here for a season, then above: O Lamb of God, I come

Doxology #607, “Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow”

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Christ, all people here below;
Praise Holy Spirit evermore;
Praise Triune God, whom we adore. Amen.

Prayer of Dedication

God of grace, you provide for all our needs.
Accept these offerings as signs of our gratitude and bless them to further Christ’s ministry and mission among the poor, the despairing, and the destitute. Amen.

Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer

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.

Hymn #476, “Crashing Waters at Creation”

1 Crashing waters at creation,
ordered by the Spirit’s breath,
first to witness day’s beginning
from the brightness of night’s death.

2 Parting water stood and trembled
as the captives passed on through,
washing off the chains of bondage:
channel to a life made new.

3 Cleansing water once at Jordan
closed around the One foretold,
opened to reveal the glory
ever new and ever old.

4 Living water, never ending,
quench the thirst and flood the soul.
Wellspring, Source of life eternal,
drench our dryness; make us whole.

Benediction (Responsive)

Beloved people of God:
I invite you, in the name of Christ,
to continue to observe a holy Lent by self-examination and penitence,
by prayer and fasting, by works of love, and by meditating on Gods’ word.

May the grace, hope, peace, and love of God,
our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer be with us all,
now and forever.
Amen.

Postlude

God of Grace and God of Glory
Arr. Paul Manz

Participants

• Dorothy Boulton, Associate Pastor
• Michael Cuppett, Communications and Operations Manager
• Keith and Kathy Glennan, Ruling Elders, video production
• Wendy Johnston, Organist and Assistant Director of Music
• Mark Kennedy, Ruling Elder, liturgist
• Greg Knauf, Director of Music
• Kenneth E. Kovacs, Pastor
• Vickie Lord, social media support
• Dottie Marshall, Ruling Elder, sanctuary set up

Sources

• Terri McDowell Ott, The Presbyterian Outlook, January 30, 2023.
• Book of Common Worship (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018).
• Glory to God: The Presbyterian Hymnal (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013).
• Presbyterian Outlook, 2022 Teri McDowell Ott
• Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-734388; CCLI Copyright License B 20481088 + Streaming License B 481071
• “Kyrie eleison,” from the Galloway Mass by James MacMillan (b.1959), from Common Ground: A Song Book for All the Churches (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 1993)