Pine Street Presbyterian Church in the
City of Harrisburg
March 7, 2021 Third Sunday in Lent
GATHERING IN THE PRESENCE OF THE RISEN CHRIST
VOLUNTARY A Lenten Prose
INTROIT Take Thou Our Minds, Dear Lord
Richard Proulx Joseph Garrison
William H. Foulkes Pine Street Quartet
Take thou our minds, dear Lord, we humbly pray; give us the mind of Christ each passing day; teach us to know the truth that sets us free; grant us in all our thoughts to honor thee. Take thou ourselves, O Lord, heart, mind, and will; through our surrendered souls, thy plans fulfill. We yield ourselves to thee: time, talents, all; we hear, and henceforth heed thy sovereign call.
SALUTATION Dr. Sullivan
CALL TO WORSHIP
One: Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations;
Many: You have been our home throughout all ages.
One: You were there before the world was made and will be forever.
Many: From everlasting to everlasting, you are God.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Loving God, we confess that we have sinned against you by not honoring you or one another. When we place our iniquities before you, it is your love that sheds light on our wayward deeds. As we stand in awe of your constancy for us, we ask your forgiveness through the mercy of Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen
SILENCE FOR PERSONAL CONFESSION
KYRIE
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
GLORIA Glory Be to the Father
GLORIA PATRI
READING AND HEARING THE WORD
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
FIRST TESTAMENT Exodus 3:1-12; 4:1-17
One: The Word of the Lord.
Many: Thanks be to God.
PSALM 90 Lord, You Have Been Our Dwelling Place LOBT GOTT IN SEINEM HELIGTUM
SECOND TESTAMENT Matthew 25:14-30
SERMON “What Is That in Your Hand?” Dr. Sullivan
Sermon Series: Questions God Asks
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
The Apostles’ Creed I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
OFFERING OF TITHES AND GIFTS TO GOD (Text 267-367-4910 to give)
ANTHEM Come, Labor on John Ferguson Pine Street Quartet
Come, labor on. Who dares stand idle on the harvest plain while around us waves the golden grain? And to each servant does the Master say, “Go work today.” Come, labor on. Claim the high calling angels cannot share; to young and old the gospel gladness bear. Redeem the time; its hours too swiftly fly. The night draws nigh. Come, labor on. Away with gloomy doubts and fear! No arm so weak but may do service here; though feeble agents, may we all fulfill God’s will, God’s righteous will. Come, labor on. No time for rest, till glows the western sky, till the long shadows o’er our pathway lie, and a glad sound comes with the setting sun, “Well done, well done!”
SEALING THE WORD
SACRAMENT OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
One: The Lord be with you.
Many: And also with you.
One: Lift up your hearts.
Many: We lift them to the Lord.
One: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
Many: It is right to give God thanks and praise.
The prayer continues. … Great is the mystery of faith:
INTERCESSION, SUPPLICATION, AND CONSECRATION
One: In your mercy, Many: Lord, hear our prayer.
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.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE BREAD AND CUP
Please share in your home bread and juice or wine.
BEARING AND FOLLOWING THE WORD OF GOD INTO THE WORLD
HYMN God, Whose Giving Knows No Ending (No.716, from Glory to God) BEACH SPRING
BENEDICTION Dr. Sullivan
CHORAL BENEDICTION The Lord Bless You
Edwin Willmington Pine Street Quartet
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious, be gracious unto you. Amen.
VOLUNTARY Andante in G Major C. A. Kern Joseph Garrison
LEADING IN WORSHIP TODAY
The Reverend Dr. Russell C. Sullivan, Jr., Pastor
Joseph W. Garrison, Minister of Worship and Music
Chris Earhart, Brianna Heinly, Kiera Heinly, and Timothy Lupia, Pine Street Quartet
COPYRIGHT NOTES
Hymns in the bulletin are used by permission and printed legally under OneLicense.net #A-71074. All rights reserved.
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND NOTICES
WORSHIP AND THE BUILDING
Public worship at Pine Street has been canceled until the Session determines when it is possible to return. The service will be recorded each week and posted to the website and Facebook.
EXPERIENCE PRAYER IN LENT
Lent is a wonderful season to focus on prayer and the renewal of our spiritual lives. Beginning on this Wednesday, March 3, at 7:00 p.m., we begin a series of four classes
specifically focusing on prayer, the Celtic tradition, and the labyrinth as a tool for prayer and meditation. Our teacher is the Rev. Dr. Kay Mutert, a United Methodist minister and a master teacher with Veriditas (www.veriditas.org), a ministry “dedicated to inspiring personal and planetary change and renewal through the labyrinth experience.” The link and more information will be sent to the church on this coming Monday. Mark your calendars for Wednesdays, March 3, 10, 17, and 24.
INSIGHT FORUMS, SUNDAY MORNINGS, 8:45 A.M.
The email link to these forums via Zoom will be sent weekly in the all-church email. No prior registration is required for those who are on our email list. Here are the coming forums:
February 28; March 7, 14, 21 – The Sermon on the Mount New Testament scholar, Dr. Meg Ramey, will lead us in this study of “The Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew 5-7, the most famous of all of Jesus’ speeches. In three chapters, Jesus teaches us how to live in God’s kingdom, a realm that requires practicing a “greater righteousness” of loving-kindness towards God and our neighbors. Join us for this five-week study as we meditate on what’s been called the “Torah of Jesus” and discuss how we may apply it in our worship and communal lives today.
March 28 and April 4 – There will be no forums on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. April 11, 18 – Partisan Faith: The Church in an Age of Polarization
There has been a good bit written about how divided our country is and how this threatens our democracy. These two sessions will explore how polarization threatens the church (and faith) and explore ways the church can productively respond so that faith informs faith participation in civic life. This forum will be led by Dr. David True, Associate Professor of Religion at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. His research interests grow out of his interest in Reformed faith and culture. He coedited the book Paradoxical Virtue: Reinhold Niebuhr and the Virtue Tradition (Routledge 2020). He has written on theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, political fundamentalism, just war theory, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. True is a member minister of the Presbytery of Carlisle and has served congregations in McLean and Richmond, Virginia.
