Second Week of Lent
Preparation for Worship
Songs: Ask yourself and the people who will be worshipping with you (kids included), “What are some of the songs we sing about hope and God’s promises?” Play them on Spotify, sing them acapella, or create your own instrumental arrangement.
Bible: You will need a Bible to read from the scriptures. You can use this doc or your phone as well…but I’d recommend using an actual Bible.
This week’s liturgy is based on the following texts:
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16, Psalm 22:23-31, Mark 8:31-38
You can decide who will lead the different movements of this gathering. It would be great for every person to have a part.
Gathering
Call to Worship
Leader: Friends, we are invited to journey through this season of Lent
All: toward the One who calls us each by a new name.
Leader: We will follow Jesus wherever he leads us,
All: We will follow though we have our fears, our doubts, our longings.
Leader: We seek to trust the God who always surprises us,
All: whose promises are fulfilled in the good news of Jesus.
Leader: Come, let us worship our great God!
Song of Praise
Sing one song that focuses on God’s love and God’s call.
Some suggestions:
All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name
For other song ideas click here.
Reading of the Psalm
The psalmist writes in Psalm 22 (CEB),
23 All of you who revere the Lord—praise him!
All of you who are Jacob’s descendants—honor him!
All of you who are all Israel’s offspring—
stand in awe of him!
24 Because he didn’t despise or detest
the suffering of the one who suffered—
he didn’t hide his face from me.
No, he listened when I cried out to him for help.
25 I offer praise in the great congregation
because of you;
I will fulfill my promises
in the presence of those who honor God.
26 Let all those who are suffering eat and be full!
Let all who seek the Lord praise him!
I pray your hearts live forever!
27 Every part of the earth
will remember and come back to the Lord;
every family among all the nations will worship you.
28 Because the right to rule belongs to the Lord,
he rules all nations.
29 Indeed, all the earth’s powerful
will worship him;
all who are descending to the dust
will kneel before him;
my being also lives for him.
30 Future descendants will serve him;
generations to come will be told about my Lord.
31 They will proclaim God’s righteousness
to those not yet born,
telling them what God has done.
Time of Confession
Leader: The season of Lent is a time to turn our hearts toward God and away from our sin. God takes broken promises and turns them into vows of faithfulness. God takes our biggest failings and shapes lives of service. God listens to our prayers of confession and changes them into songs of mercy.
Let us pray together now and offer our confession to God.
All: In a world where we worry about tomorrow before enjoying today, we pause now and pray. We worry about the things we cannot control. We seek after the temporary things that we desire rather than seeking your hope, joy, and the life you offer us.
Forgive us and have mercy on us, O God. In humility, may we offer our lives to others. May we share your grace with others. May we trust you in our worries. In hope, may we wait for you every day, as you come to us in the life and joy of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Pause for Silent Prayer
Assurance of Pardon
Leader: In this place we find God’s word, God’s way,
God’s love, God’s forgiveness.
Hear the good news, in Christ Jesus, we are forgiven. Amen
Listening
(The time of listening is a series of reading the scripture, re-telling the story, and paying attention to where God is stirring your hearts as you listen. Invite everyone to listen to the words of the scriptures and to be ready to re-tell the story.)
A reading from Genesis 17 (CEB).
When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am El Shaddai. Walk with me and be trustworthy. 2 I will make a covenant between us and I will give you many, many descendants.” 3 Abram fell on his face, and God said to him, 4 “But me, my covenant is with you; you will be the ancestor of many nations. 5 And because I have made you the ancestor of many nations, your name will no longer be Abram but Abraham. 6 I will make you very fertile. I will produce nations from you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will set up my covenant with you and your descendants after you in every generation as an enduring covenant. I will be your God and your descendants’ God after you. 15 God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, you will no longer call her Sarai. Her name will now be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and even give you a son from her. I will bless her so that she will become nations, and kings of peoples will come from her.”
And a reading from Mark 8 (NRSV),
31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Re-Telling
Let’s remember together what was said in this reading. What was said first? What happened next? (go around the circle and tell the story to each other. Try to remember as many details as possible.).
Paying Attention
What part of the scripture grabbed your attention? Why do you think that part stood out?
Let each person in the circle take a turn to wonder about something in this text…a word, a phrase, something that happened in the text, something that you’re thinking about… Start out by saying “As we read these texts, it made me wonder…”
What will we carry into this week from this text?
How can we be praying this week?
Responding
Prayers of the People
God of all Hope,
we pray that you would hear our prayers,
and establish in our minds the same mind that is in you,
that we might be vessels of your humility and grace.
We thank you and we praise you
for your selfless sacrifice…
for your redemption of creation…
for those offering Christlike service in hospitals, laboratories, grocery stores, restaurants, and warehouses…
for your work as it continues in our community…
We pray for this world:
for all the people in it . . .
for those who lay down their lives . . .
for those who lead . . .
(pause and invite people to respond)…
We pray for this world in need of your healing presence:
for those who are sick or grieving…
(pause and invite people to respond)…
We pray for your Church . . .
We pray for the courage to follow you with all of our hearts.
(At the end of this time of prayer, close with the following)
Lead us, O God, in the way of Christ.
Give us courage to take up your cross
And, in full reliance upon your grace, to follow him.
Help us to love you above all else
And to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
Give us strength to serve you faithfully
as we pray together the prayer you taught us to pray
Saying,
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 sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.
Sending
Benediction
Go now, and may God wrap his arms of love around you.
May Christ be beside you in times of struggle.
And may the Spirit guide you back to the path whenever you stray,
that you may keep the covenant.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.
PDF for print version HERE. For permission to print and redistribute, comment below.
Living Room Liturgist 