Prelude:                    

Largo

from Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043
Katrina Glaze and Danell Winsor, violins
Quince Holman, cello; David Moldenhauer, organ

from Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043
by J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

Call to Worship

Cathedral of Hope, as we gather today we are reminded that we are a community—

Called to experience a God of love,
To embrace the joy and cost of discipleship,
And to share the goodness of God with all the world.

So rise, people of God, in body or spirit. Sing praise to our loving God. 

**Processional Hymn

Christian Hearts in Love United

Christian hearts in love united: search to know God’s holy will.
Let this love, in us ignited, more and more our spirits fill.
Christ the head, and we the members, we reflect the light he is.
Christ the teacher, we disciples, he is ours and we are his.

Grant, Lord, that with your direction, “Love each other” we comply.
Help us live in true affection, your love to exemplify.
Let our mutual love be glowing brightly so that all may view
that we, as on one stem growing, living branches are in you.

Come, then, living church of Jesus, covenant with Christ anew.
Unto him who conquered for us may we pledge our service true.
May our lives reflect the brightness of God’s love in Jesus shown.
To the world we then bear witness: we belong to God alone.

Words: Nicolas Ludwig, 1723, translated by Frederick William Foster
Music: John Zundel, 1870

Welcome and Life of the Church

**Sharing of the Peace

Modern Lesson

Our Modern Lesson is from our Lenten Study Book Good Enough, by Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie. Hear these words:

Kindness is a restorative act done for the good of another, handing over something valuable without the expectation of return. And yet, it does offer us something. There is this unexpected boomerang effect. The day gets better—not always easier, definitely not perfect, but a bit sweeter. We remember that no matter what is happening in our lives, 
in our own orbits, we have the capacity to add a little goodness into the world. What a surprise: give and it will be given to you. 

May God bless the hearing of these new words. Amen.

Gradual

Word of God, Speak

Choir:          Holy Spirit lead me to the wilderness,
beyond the music, beyond the noise.
All that I need is to be with you
and in the stillness to hear your voice.

All:                Word of God, speak, would you pour down like rain,
washing my eyes to see your majesty,
to be still and know that you’re in this place?
Please let me stay and rest in your holiness.
Word of God, speak.

**Word of God, speak, would you pour down like rain,
washing my eyes to see your majesty,
to be still and know that you’re in this place?
Please let me stay and rest in your holiness.
Word of God, speak. Word of God, speak.
Word of God, speak.

Words and Music: Peter Kipley and Bart Millard
©2002 Simpleville Music/Wordspring Music, LLC/Songs from the Indigo Room

**Scripture Lesson: Colossians 3:12-17 The Message, edited  

One: Our Scripture Lesson is from the Third Chapter of Paul’s Letter to the Colossians, as paraphrased in The Message.

 
Hear these words:

           So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as Christ forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it. 

           Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this is going off doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing you hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of Jesus, thanking God the Creator every step of the way. 

One: This is the Word of God for the People of God.

All:    Thanks be to God. Amen. 

**Scripture Response                

Word of God, Speak 

Word of God, speak, would you pour down like rain,
washing my eyes to see your majesty,
to be still and know that you’re in this place?
Please let me stay and rest in your holiness.
Word of God, speak. Word of God, speak.
Word of God, speak.

Sermon        

Kindness Boomerangs

Offering Call                                                                                   

Offertory

In All Things Love

Words: John 13:34, I Corinthians 13, 16:14, and Jeremiah 31:3
Music by Dan Forrest

Sanctuary Choir and Orchestra

Love, love, love, in all things love.
As I have loved you, so love. In all things love.
Love is patient, love is kind, always trusts, always hopes,
always endures, love never fails:
In all things love.

In all things love as I have loved, as I have loved you, so love.
In all things love.

You are loved with everlasting love.
Now abide faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love.

As I have loved you, so love. In all things love. 

Words: John 13:34, 1 Corinthians 13, 16:14, and Jeremiah 31:3
Music by Dan Forrest
© 2024 Beckenhorst Press, Inc. 

The Great Thanksgiving for Lent          

Sursum Corda

One: God be with you

All:    And also with you.

One: Lift up your hearts.

All:    We lift them up to God.

One:  Let us give thanks and praise to God.

All:    It is right to give God thanks and praise.

One:  Our hearts overflow with love for you, God of the ages.

When there was no time, you crafted day and night.

When we turned away from you, you remembered the promises you made to Noah, Sarah, Josep, and Hannah, and sent the prophets to remind us of your covenant and to point the way to your heart.

When we continued to ignore the prophets’ words, you sent Jesus to be with us, to set us free from the bonds we created for ourselves.

So, we life our voices with those who waited patiently and with those who saw the fulfillment of your promises, joining the choirs of heaven and earth to forever sing your praise:

Words of Institution 

Faithful and holy are you, Creator of all, and blessed is Jesus the Christ.

When he could have stayed at your side, Jesus came to be Emmanuel, God-with-us.

When he could have feasted on power, Jesus came to prepare a Table for us where our broken lives might be made whole.

When he could have had the angels wait on him, Jesus came to offer us your grace, enduring death on the cross so we could have life eternal.

On the night in which he was betrayed…. When we eat of this bread, and drink from this cup, we remember the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as we proclaim the mystery of our faith:



Prayer of Consecration  

Let us pray.

Pour out your Spirit on this bread and this cup, gifts of your creation.

As we are filled with the Bread of Life, may we never cease to feed the hungry of our world.

As we are nurtured by compassion’s cup, may we take the lost, last and least by the hand, walking together into the realm you have prepared for all.

As we gather around the Table with your beloved children of every time and place, may we join our voices with theirs, praising you,

God of the priests and the prophets, God of the apostles and martyrs, God of our mothers and our fathers, God of our children to all generations.

Words: adapted by Marcia Pruner © The Church Pension Fund
Music: American Folk Tune, The Sacred Harp, 1844

Invitation

Music during Communion 

Just as I Am

Just as I am, without one plea but that thy love was shown to me,
and that thou bidd’st me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, 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, I come.

I come broken to be mended, I come wounded to be healed.
I come desperate to be rescued, I come empty to be filled.
I come guilty to be pardoned through the love of Christ, the Lamb.
And I’m welcomed with open arms, praise God, just as I am.

Just as I am, I would be lost, but mercy and grace my freedom bought.
And now, to glory in the cross, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

I come broken to be mended, I come wounded to be healed.
I come desperate to be rescued, I come empty to be filled.
I come guilty to be pardoned through the love of Christ, the Lamb.
And I’m welcomed with open arms, praise God, just as I am.

Words and Music: Charlotte Elliot, David Moffitt, Sue C. Smith, 
Travis Cottrell, and William B. Bradbury
© 2009 Universal Music – Brentwood Benson Publishing/First Hand Revelation Music/
CCTB Music

Just a Closer Walk with Thee

I am weak but thou art strong; Jesus, keep me from all wrong.
I’ll be satisfied as long as I walk, let me walk close to thee.

Just a closer walk with thee, grant it, Jesus, is my plea.
Daily walking close to thee, let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

Through this world of toil and snares, if I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares? None but thee, dear Lord, none but thee.

Just a closer walk with thee, grant it, Jesus, is my plea.
Daily walking close to thee, let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

Words and Music: Anonymous
Traditional North American Hymn

You Are My All in All

You are my strength when I am weak, 
You are the treasure that I seek, you are my all in all.
Seeking you as a precious jewel, Lord, to give up I’d be a fool, 
you are my all in all.

Jesus, Lamb of God, worthy is your name. 
Jesus, Lamb of God, worthy is your name.

Taking my sin, my cross, my shame, 
Rising again I bless your name. You are my all in all.
When I fall down, you pick me up; When I am dry, you fill my cup. 
You are my all in all!

**Jesus, Lamb of God, worthy is your name. 
Jesus, Lamb of God, worthy is your name.

Words and Music: Dennis L. Jernigan
© 1990 Shepherd’s Heart Music, Inc./PraiseCharts.com

**Prayer of Thanksgiving

**Recessional:          

Where Charity and Love Prevail

Where charity and love prevail, there God is ever found;
Brought here together by Christ’s love, by love are we thus bound.

With grateful joy and holy fear true charity we learn;

Let us with heart and mind and strength now love Christ in return.

Forgive we now each other’s faults as we our faults confess;
And let us love each other well in Christian holiness.

Let strife among us be unknown, let all contention cease;
Be Christ the glory that we seek, be our Christ’s holy peace.

Words: Omer Westendorf, 1961
© 1961, 1962 World Library Publications, Inc. 
Music: Alexander Robert Reinagle, 1836

OneLicense.net License #A-705445 / CCLI License #12333

**Benediction 

Postlude for Dismissal