This is part of the worship series,
"Grounded and Growing—Journeying from Lent to Easter”
Series Introduction | Ash Wednesday | Lent 1 | Lent 2 | Lent 3 | Lent 4 | Lent 5 |
Palm/Passion Sunday | Maundy Thursday | Good Friday | Easter
Leading Prayers of the People During Lent | A Communion Liturgy for Lent
Also in this series: Advent and Christmas | Epiphany
The Lenten road is not an easy one. It runs through wilderness and weariness, through confession and costly trust. But at some point in the journey, something unexpected happens. The season pauses to let hope show its full face.
The people of Israel are worn out by the desert. Tired of wandering. Tired of manna. Tired of trusting. They are inveterate complainers (just like us). They are stubbornly rebellious (like us). And they suffer the consequences of their own impatience. Still — in the midst of their trouble — God makes a way of healing: a lifted sign. A mercy they did not earn and could not manage or manipulate.
Then Jesus reaches back into that old story and says, That is what my life will be like. Lifted up. Given away. Offered for the healing of the world. The Son of Man will be raised not first in glory, but in suffering — and through that suffering, life will come.
And Paul is clear: we are not saved by our effort or our moral muscle. We are saved by grace. A gift. This is what it means to be grounded and growing in the middle of Lent — to remember that even here, in the dry places, God is still at work, coaxing life out of hard soil and bringing green shoots out of ground we thought was spent. Today is a day to lift our eyes, to take heart, and to trust again in the healing mercy of God.
Service Outline
GATHERING
Call to Worship
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Give thanks to the Lord, for the Lord is good.
God’s steadfast love endures forever.
God has lifted us up in mercy and grace.
We come to rejoice and give thanks.
Opening Song
“Light in Lenten Wilderness” Gabhart, Rienstra
During this song, attend to these four gestures during the appropriate verses:
1. Light the Christ candle
2. Lift and place the Scriptures
3. Drape purple cloth on the cross
4. Pour water into the font
Welcome & Season Framing
[Brief word naming the start of Lent, the wilderness journey, and the Grounded and Growing theme (see introduction).]
Praise/Psalm
“Psalm 130: Out of the Depths I Cry" Digerness
This versification of Psalm 130 is by Henry Francis Lyte (b 1793); the tune is by Karl Digerness
This section and the penitence section are meant to be offered as a unified liturgical whole, with the musicians “noodling” underneath all the spoken bits using a simple chord pattern: ||: C – G | F :||
Lament and Confession
We come before God with our sorrow and our sin,
with the burdens we carry
and the burdens we have helped create.
Trusting in God’s steadfast love,
let us pray.
“Psalm 130: Out of the Depths I Cry" Digerness
Silence is kept
[As silence is kept, the musicians continue, though the chord pattern changes slightly, replacing the C with Am]
Assurance of Pardon
[The leader may invite the congregation to rise, and at that point, the musicians switch back to using C instead of Am in the chord progression.]
Hear the good news.
The God who made a way of healing in the wilderness
is the God who still meets us in our suffering.
The God who lifted up a sign of mercy for a wounded people
has lifted up the Son of Man
so that all who look to him may live.
Friends, believe this good news:
in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
Thanks be to God.
Response
“Psalm 130: Out of the Depths I Cry" Digerness
WORD
Prayer for Illumination
Healing God,
open our eyes to see your mercy,
open our hearts to receive your grace,
and open our lives to the hope you offer.
Speak your word to us today,
and lead us into the life you give.
Amen.
Scripture Readings
- Numbers 21:4–9— God provides healing for a suffering people in the wilderness.
- Psalm 130—Out of the depths
- Ephesians 2:1–10—We are saved by grace through faith — not by our own doing.
- John 3:14–21—The Son of Man is lifted up so that the world may have life.
Sermon
“Lifted to Healing”
[See notes from the introduction.]
Song of Response
“And I Will Raise You Up/On Eagle’s Wings” Joncas
“Lift High the Cross” Kitchin/Newbolt
“There Is a Balm in Gilead” African American
Prayers of the People
[See “Leading Prayers of the People During Lent”]
TABLE
Lord’s Supper
[See “Grounded and Growing—A Communion Liturgy for Lent”]
SENDING
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Faithful God,
you have met us in the wilderness
and fed us at your table.
You have given us bread for the journey
and a cup of mercy for our wounds.
You have lifted our eyes from the dust
and reminded us that you are a God who heals and saves.
You have not left us alone in our trouble.
Send us now as a people restored by your love
and strengthened by your hope.
Ground us in your grace.
Grow us in your love.
Lead us on your way.
Amen.
Closing song
“Psalm 130: Out of the Depths I Cry" Digerness
Closing Prayer
[Attend to the four gestures named in the introduction to this service.]
God of love and mercy,
Bless us on our Lenten journey.
By your light, call us to faithful following.
By your word, call us to attentive listening.
By your cross, call us to sacrificial obedience.
By your Holy Spirit, call us to repentance, joy, and service.
Benediction
May the God who made a way for healing in the wilderness
set your eyes on mercy when the road is hard.
May the Christ who was lifted up for the life of the world
draw your heart toward hope when the night is long.
May the Spirit who brings life out of dry ground
go with you into every weary place.
Go in peace.
Walk in hope.
Amen.
Bless the Lord.
The Lord’s name be praised.
Go in peace…
A sign of peace may be exchanged.
