This is part of the worship series,
"Listening to the Prophets”
Series Introduction
Lent 1 | Lent 2 | Lent 3 | Lent 4 | Lent 5
WEEK 5: THE FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT
Bulletin Announcement
In our study of the Old Testament, we have come to the prophets as they speak words of warning to apostate Israel. Today we return to the book of Isaiah to reflect once more on the suffering servant and to receive an invitation to receive the atonement of Christ as our own.
Gathering Song
“Holy, Holy, Holy, My Heart” Spanish Traditional
Responsive Reading from Isaiah 53
Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces,
he was despised and we esteemed him not.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities.
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
Prayer
Lord God, in whose wounds we find our healing, bring us into your presence.
Allow us to see your suffering, your sacrifice, and your glory.
Amen.
—Marvin Hofman © 2003 ReformedWorship.org CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
Song
“O Jesus, We Adore You” Russell
God’s Greeting
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Our help comes from the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
Grace, mercy, and peace are yours, from God the Father Almighty, from the lord Jesus Christ, and from the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Call to Confession and Forgiveness (from Jeremiah 31)
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Leader: |
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. |
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Sing: |
“O Christ, Our Lord, Dear Son of God” (st. 1) Seerveld |
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Leader: |
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. |
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Sing: |
“O Christ, Our Lord, Dear Son of God” (st. 2) Seerveld |
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Leader: |
No longer shall they teach one another or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more. —Jeremiah 31:31–34 NRSVUE |
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Sing: |
“O Christ, Our Lord, Dear Son of God” (st. 3) Seerveld |
[The words of Jeremiah 31, one of the passages from the common lectionary for this week, serve as a reminder of our faithlessness to God and of his faithfulness to us. The text of the hymn connects these Old Testament words of covenant directly to the Lenten story.]
Prayer for Illumination
Scripture Reading
Isaiah 52:13–53:12
Sermon
Man of Sorrows
Sermon Notes
Who is the suffering servant Isaiah is talking about? Only Jesus Christ fits the description. But this passage is about more than just the shame of innocent suffering. It is about the substitutionary atonement of Christ, which was by God’s design, in our place, to allow us to be freed.
You and I need to put ourselves in the picture. Was the atonement of Christ for you?
Song
“What Wondrous Love” Anon.
God’s Parting Blessing
Song
“There Is a Redeemer” Green
Revised Common Lectionary
Years A, B, C: Holy Week—Good Friday
Year B: Lent—Fifth Sunday in Lent
