Prayer of Confession

A liturgy recognizing the Creation’s songs of praise and lament offered to God and our role as caretakers, using both Psalm 8 and portions of Our World Belongs to God.

This is part of the worship series, "Good News!”Introduction Lent 1 | Lent 2 | Lent 3  | Lent 4   Lent 5 | Palm Sunday | Good Friday | Easter SundayFOURTH SUNDAY IN LENTCall to WorshipCome to the Lord, who is rich in grace;approach our God, who is full of mercy.We will praise God with all our heartand glorify the name of the Most High forever.—The Worship Sourcebook, 2nd ed., J.1.2.6. Church of the Servant, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Used by permission.God’s GreetingWorship Song“Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty” HeberCall to ConfessionThis is the fourth Sunday in Lent, a time Christians historically have reflected upon their lives, identified sin, and repented of it. Of course these are things we should always be doing! But there’s something about the weeks leading up to Good Friday and Easter that makes one consider the cross and the price that was paid for our sin. Hear these words from 1 John 1:8–9: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Let us pray.Prayer of ConfessionHoly God,as we worship you this daywe do not want to be people who deceive ourselves.Instead we want to clearly see who you areand clearly see who we are.We cannot claim to be without sin.So we confess our sin before you,trusting that you are indeed faithful and justand that you will forgive us our sinsand purify us from all unrighteousness.Hear our prayer,for we pray these things in Jesus’ name.Amen.Assurance of PardonHear these words of assurance from Scripture: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. —2 Corinthians 5:17–18 NIV As the church today, we share the good news about new life in Christ, about sins forgiven and the restoration of our relationship with the God who made us, who created us in God’s image, and who loves us more than we can even imagine.Children’s MessageChildren’s Song“God Is So Good” TraditionalCongregational PrayerGood News CaféA woman was to share her story of how a life-saving medical intervention changed her perspective on life and death.Scripture ReadingJohn 3:1–21Sermon“Good News: A Fresh Start”Sermon NotesNicodemus was likely the very picture of a successful person in his culture. This makes him an unlikely follower of a perceived troublemaker like Jesus. In this famous passage, Jesus tells Nicodemus that he needs to make a fresh start and be “born again.” This actually is good news for Nicodemus and for us. God can and will give us a fresh start, a spiritual rebirth, when we believe in the savior who was lifted up on a cross and raised from the dead to deal with our sins.Prayer of ApplicationGracious God, we give you thanks for the good news that there is new life available for those who believe in your Son, Jesus Christ. We know in our hearts that what Jesus said about people choosing darkness rather than light is true. It’s our default position. And it’s wrong. Not only is it wrong, but it hurts us. It’s toxic. And it leads to death. God, we pray that you would use these words from this passage in Scripture to bring new birth into the lives of those today who need to experience it. These things we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.Worship Song“There Is a Redeemer” GreenBlessingClosing Song“Father, We Love You” AdkinsRevised Common LectionaryYear B: Lent—Fourth Sunday in Lent