This is part of the worship series
"The Lord, Our Shepherd"
Introduction
Lent 1 | Lent 2 | Lent 3 | Lent 4 | Lent 5
Palm Sunday | Maundy Thursday | Easter
Home Devotions
FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Scripture
Isaiah 43:1–2
Sermon
“Facing Death”
Sermon Ideas
We all face death—our own and the death of the ones we love. This reality is certainly an appropriate focus during Lent. It’s also important to reflect on the various “valleys” and “dark shadows” we go through in any given year in the course of a lifetime. Isaiah 43:1–2 reminds us that the valley is not a wrong turn, but is rather a time of training and an opportunity for genuine discovery of God. I will be with you, says God. I have called you by name; you are mine. Our time in the valleys, even the valley of the shadow of death, offers a unique opportunity to discover the reality that God is with us.
Song Suggestions
“Children of the Heavenly Father” Sandell Berg
“How Firm a Foundation” J. Rippon's Selection of Hymns, 1787, alt.
“Now Behold the Lamb” Franklin
Litany of Confession
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Reader 1: |
Israel is a scattered flock that lions have chased away. —Jeremiah 50:17 |
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Reader 2: |
My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. —Jeremiah 50:6 |
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People: |
We all, like sheep, have gone astray. —Isaiah. 53:6 |
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Reader 1: |
Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? —Luke 15:4 |
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Reader 2: |
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. —Matthew 9:36 |
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People: |
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way. —Isaiah. 53:6 |
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Reader 1: |
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds we have been healed. —1 Peter 2:24 |
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Reader 2: |
For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. —1 Peter 2:25 |
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People: |
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. —Isaiah 53:6 |
Wednesday "Strolling With the Shepherd" Service
Gathering Litany
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord.
Let us shout aloud to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving,
and extol him with music and song.
For the Lord is the great God,
the great king above all Gods.
Come, let us bow down in worship,
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
—Psalm 95:1–3, 6–7 NIV
Hymn
“Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us” Thrupp, Lyte
Opening Prayer
Scripture Readings
Isaiah 53:4–6, Psalm 116:1–7, John 11:17–26
[For each of the following readings, take special note of what is said about walking through "the valley of the shadow of death."]
A Time of Reflection
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A Time of Prayer
Song
“The Lord Is Saying” Seerveld
Parting Scripture
Isaiah 60:18–22
Closing Prayer
Revised Common Lectionary
Year A: Lent—Fourth Sunday in Lent
