Prelude:                    

Come Unto Me

Words: Matthew 11:28; John 14:1 Music by G.F. Handel from Sosarme;

adapted by Richard Row Elena Walter,

soprano; Katrina Glaze, violin

Quince Holman, cello; David Moldenhauer, organ

Words: Matthew 11:28; John 14:1

Music from Sosarme by G.F. Handel

adapted by Richard Row 

Call to Worship

People of God, we come to worship our faithful God who makes covenant with us:

The God who gives us life,

Who gathers us as children and knows our names,

And who offers us rest in the loving arms of Jesus.

So rise, Cathedral of Hope, in body and spirit! Sing with joy to our loving God.

**Processional Hymn

Gather Your Children

Gather your children, dear Savior, in peace,

And draw us to you with your passionate pleas;

Still seek us and call us to bless and be blest,

To find in your arms, Lord, safety, comfort, and rest.

Knowing you, loving you, naming you Lord,

We gather around you, gain strength through your word.

One day to remember these moments so rare,

Of caring and closeness, knowing you’re always there

Love be our banner, inclusion our theme,

Compassion our nature, your vision our dream;

Like parents, like children, let this be our fame:

That blest, we bless many, to the praise of your name.

Words: Jaroslav J. Vajda

© 1985 Music: Irish Folk Melody

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:

There are plenty of ways in which we vest rules with too much power. Our ideas become so rigid that they are held up over all considerations. We adopted them thinking that they could help us live, but our rules can’t anticipate every circumstance or meet every rising need. They just aren’t flexible enough, smart enough, or compassionate enough. After all, a rule can’t see you, or know you, or respond to you.

A rule that takes on absolute power becomes a blunt instrument—something that loses the purpose for which it was created. Any rule or ideology is only useful, helpful, and constructive if it is under the authority of a higher law, the law of Love. And that law has in fact been established from the foundation of the world. God is love.

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

**Gospel Lesson: Matthew 11:28-30 The Message, edited

One: God be with you.

All: And also with you.

One: A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.

All: Glory to you, O God.



“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

One: This is the Gospel of Hope.

All: Praise to you, Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit.

**Gospel 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        

When Good Things Become Burdens

Offering Call                                                                                   

Offertory

Hide Away in the Love of Jesus

Words and Music by Steve Cook and Vikki Cook

arranged by Robert Sterling

Sanctuary Choir and Orchestra

Come, weary saints, though tired and weak; hide away in the love of Jesus.

Your strength will return by his quiet streams; hide away in the love of Jesus.

Come, weary souls, and find your home; hide away in the love of Jesus.

He offers the rest that you yearn to know; hide away in the love of Jesus.

Hear him calling your name; see the depths of his love in the wounds of his grace.

Hide away, hide away.

Come, guilty ones, weighed down by sin; hide away in the love of Jesus.

The freedom you long for is round in him; hide away in the love of Jesus.

Hear him calling your name; see the depths of his love in the wounds of his grace.

Hide away, hide away.

Come, hopeless hearts, do not despair; hide away in the love of Jesus.

For ten thousand joys await you there; hide away in the love,

hide away in the love,

hide away in the love of Jesus.

Words and Music by Steve Cook and Vikki Cook

arranged by Robert Sterling

© 2009 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music/Sovereign Grace Worship

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:          

I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say

I heard the voice of Jesus say, "Come unto me and rest;

lay down, O weary one, lay down your head upon my breast."

I came to Jesus as I was, so weary and worn, and sad;

 I found in you a resting place, and you have made me glad.

I heard the voice of Jesus say, "Behold, I freely give

the living water, thirsty one, stoop down and drink and live."

I came to Jesus, and I drank of that lifegiving stream;

My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in you.

I heard the voice of Jesus say, "I am this dark world's light;

look unto me, your morn shall rise, and all your day be bright."

I looked to Jesus, and I found in you my star, my sun;

and in that light of life I'll walk till traveling days are done.

Words: Horatius Bonar, 1846

Music: English Traditional Melody;

English County Songs, 1893

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

**Benediction 

Postlude for Dismissal