Virtual Worship Service

1st Sunday in Lent

February 21, 2021

Order of Worship

Prelude: Lead me, Lord – arr. Fred Bock

Welcome

Call to Worship: 1 Peter 3

Opening Prayer

Hymn: God of the sparrow (UMH 122)

Confession and Repentance

Pardon

Peace

Psalm 25:1-10

Time with Young Disciples

Labyrinth Journey to Easter

Scripture: Genesis 9:8-17

Gospel Acclamation: I want Jesus to walk with me (UMH 521 st. 1)

Scripture: Mark 1:9-15

Gospel Acclamation

Sermon

Anthem: Lead me, Lord – Samuel Sebastian Wesley

Prayers of the People

The Lord’s Prayer

Presentation Hymn: Praise God, from whom all blessings flow (UMH 682 st. 5)

Offertory Prayer

Invitation to Community

Hymn: Lord, who throughout these forty days (UMH 269)

Benediction

Postlude: Gigue Fugue on Carry the flame – Brian Schoettler

All music used with permission: license #A-726329 One License.net. This document includes today’s scripture, hymns, and Music Note.

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Worship Leadership for Feb. 21Preacher: Rev. Grace Imathiu Liturgists: Rev. Jane Cheema & Rev. Bonny Roth Labyrinth Video: Sam J. Time with Young Disciples: Colin McDonald Scripture Reader: Leah Holzwarth The Lord’s Prayer: Cherie Asante

Invitation to Community: Mary Taylor-Johnson

Minister of Music & Organist: Brian Schoettler Music Assistant: Cody Michael Bradley Virtual Choir Soloists: Hannah De Priest (Psalm) & Sarah Fisk (Anthem)

Prayer of Confession and Repentance Have mercy upon us and hear our prayer, O God. We grieve that we have failed to live in the light of your covenant.

You have set the covenant rainbow above us,

yet our hearts are suspicious of your agape.

You have set the covenant cross before us,

yet our minds are uncertain of your mercy.

In mercy walk with us in this labyrinth of Lent discipleship,

lead us in your truth and steadfast love,

and bring us to Easter, through Jesus Christ.

Brief silence for a time of personal confession and repentance.

Genesis 9:8-17 (NRSV) Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Mark 1:9-15 (NRSV) In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Music Note Worship begins with a piano prelude on a tune by Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876) that is also sung as our choral anthem. Samuel Sebastian is the grandson of the prolific hymn writer Charles Wesley and was an accomplished organist and composer of church music. Lead me, Lord appears in our hymnal as No. 473 and is part of a larger anthem titled Praise the Lord, O my soul (1862). The melody is itself a masterpiece – gradually expanding with each phrase and finally climbing to the octave in the final phrase. Our first hymn is sung to a tune by Carl Schalk who died earlier this year. Schalk was born and lived most of his life here in northeastern Illinois where he taught church music for three decades at Concordia University in River Forest. Three of his hymn tunes appear in our hymnal including this one for Jaroslav Vajda’s God of the sparrow. The third stanza speaks to God’s covenant with Noah and the hymn’s pattern of “God of the…” and “How does the creature…” creates a since/then litany that provokes us to consider our mortal response. Isaac Watts (1674-1748) wrote hundreds of hymns during his lifetime including a metrical psalter: Psalms of David (1719). Throughout Lent we’ll sing verses from these metrical psalm settings combined with chant settings of the psalms. For our Gospel Acclamation we sing the African American spiritual I want Jesus to walk with me whose tune name pays tribute to Sojourner Truth. Last week we heard an anthem by Thomas Tallis and we’ll sing the doxology to the tune of his famous canon until Easter. We are sent out with a hymn by Claudia Hernaman (1838-1898). Lord, who throughout these forty days references our scripture from Mark and reminds of us that Easter is on the other side of the wilderness. Worship concludes with a short fugue that uses the tune of our anniversary hymn Carry the flame.

Brian Schoettler, DMA Minister of Music & Organist

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