This Lenten season, we invite you to be in God’s presence and see what God has for you as you remember Jesus’ passion journey. This post is part of our 2020 Lent At Home worship resource series. You can download the full Lent At Home worship guide here.
Call to Worship:
(Leader can speak this in phrases that the others echo.)
Leader:
Come and rejoice in God, our Saving Rock, from whom living waters flow, instead of getting lost in fear and doubt; thirsting for things that don’t satisfy.
All:
God, we remember the things we fear and long for and leave them behind to drink of your life-giving water.
Candle lighter:
God understands our thirsts. This third candle of Lent reminds us that our spirit thirst can be satisfied by Jesus from the spring of life that pours from our Saving Rock.
All:
Amen.
Listening to God’s Word
This week, reflect on how God, our Saving Rock, gives life-giving water in these passages from the Bible: Exodus 17:1-7, Psalm 95, John 4:5-15, 16-26, 27-30, 31-42, Romans 5:1-11.
Pondering thoughts to choose from
- I wonder how worshiping God, the Saving Rock, can help them get over their quarrels.
- I wonder why Jesus offered his living water to Sychar through this Samaritan woman.
- How does God’s living water gush up, refresh, and open up your spirit?
Songs of the week
Hymnal: A Worship Book #515, “Jesus, Rock of Ages,” Sing the Journey #28, “We worship God the Rock,” or “I can hear your message” from the CD A New Heart, by Bryan Moyer Suderman (2009), available from www.smalltallmusic.com.
Closing prayer
Leader:
Dear God, we thank you for offering us living water from your spring of life. Help us share this good news with others and stay alert to the ways you are at work all around us.
Candle snuffer:
May living water from God, our Saving Rock, spring up to feed hope, joy, and peace in us, even as we blow out these Lent candles.
All:
Amen.
Activities to choose from
- Create pictures of the Saving Rock and its life-giving spring using charcoal (or pencil) and water colors.
- Compare a quarrel in your household with those of the Israelites in the wilderness of Sin (This is the name of a place.) How did you and they find good solutions?
- Act out or imagine the story in John 4. Think about all the different kinds of thirst in this story.
- Pretend you are the woman at the well. Write a thank-you note to Jesus for recognizing the thirst in your spirit in your Lent journal.
- Look for a fountain or spring in your neighborhood. Watch it for a while, just thinking about how it is like God’s Spirit in us.
- Climb on some rocks and think about reasons God can be compared to a rock.
- As part of your devotional, pour glasses of water for each person. Think about Christ’s love pouring into our lives. Then drink your water together in silence.
