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 the “All” parts which are echoed by others.)
Leader:
We gather to look for the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
All:
We come to worship God from whom our help comes, and who faithfully leads us into new challenges. We are grateful God helps us and never leaves or forsakes us.
Candle lighter:
We light this second candle of Lent to help us remember that God calls us and leads us in accepting the new challenges God shows us.
All:
Amen.
Listening to God’s Word
This week, reflect on how God is accompanying people through these passages from God’s word: Genesis 12:1-4a, Psalm 121:1-4, 5-8, John 3:1-9, 10-17, Romans 4:1-5, 13-17.
Pondering thoughts to choose from
- I wonder how God’s faithful presence shines through the writers or characters in today’s Bible texts.
- What part of God’s faithful presence can we share with others?
- What makes it difficult to see God’s presence at work among us?
Songs of the week
Hymnal: A Worship Book #299 “New earth, heavens new,” Sing the Journey #2 “Hamba nathi (Come, walk with us),” or Sing the Story #39 “Will you come and follow me.”
Closing prayer
Leader:
Just as God called this week’s Bible characters to new ways of being and acting, we have also heard God call us into newness. May the Lord bless us and help us live more fully into lives that show God’s loving faithfulness.
Candle snuffer:
As we blow out these Lent candles we gratefully remember the blessings of God who is always with us.
All:
Amen.
Activities to choose from
- Draw pictures of new things you’d like to do that could make God smile.
- Ask people in your congregation for their stories about God being with them in new situations. Were any of them asked to go into the unknown?
- Use a Bible atlas to find where the Bible characters you have read about once lived.
- Develop and act out a skit to show what a new earth and new heaven could be like.
- Draw or write about times you noticed God’s presence in your life in your family Lent journal.
- Plant some multiplier onions, crocus bulbs, or tiger lilies so you can enjoy the way they grow and multiply. (Start indoors in a pot on a sunny window ledge to plant outside later.)
- Enjoy the story by Aimee Reed (Author) and Matt Phelan (Illustrator) about Mister Rogers who sought to be God’s presence in his neighbourhood, You are my Friend: The Story of Mister Rogers and His Neighbourhood, (2019, Abrams Books for Young Readers) or this story about a family that knew God was with them in all kinds of predicaments, The Family Song by Jane Hoober Peifer illust. Ingrid Hess, (2008, Herald Press)
