March 12th 2023 -“Divine Appointment Blessings”

2023-03-12 "Divine Appointment Blessings" 11 AM

Dear friends, 

Last week we announced the death of Rowena Van Seters, here is the link to the livestream of the funeral service that will take place Sunday (tomorrow) at 5 PM in Toronto.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAUk2lD9mD4

This Sunday marks the third Sunday of Lent.  Our gospel reading is taken from John 4: 5-42, where Jesus passed through Samaria on His way to Galilee.  He found His way to an old well that once belonged to Jacob, and providentially, a Samaritan woman came down to draw water from the well.  Jesus asked her to draw fresh water from the well to drink, and opened up a conversation about the one true God and the Messiah.  He spoke to the Samaritan woman about “living waters”, but, like Nicodemus, the woman at the well didn’t understand the key terms he was using.  What does Jesus mean by “living waters”?  Jeremiah 2: 13 gives us a clue: “For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

Jesus was revealing His true identity as God and Messiah!  John 4: 26 “Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He.’”

Not long after, the Samaritan woman begins to witness and spread the good news to the nearby town, “and many more believed.” 


Order of Service

Prelude
Welcome
Lenten Liturgy
Hymn 676: “Jesus Lover of my soul” (vs 2 en français)
Prayer of Adoration
Prayer of Confession
Declaration of Grace
The Lord’s Prayer
Children’s Time
Hymn 670: “Amazing grace” (vs 2&3 en français)
Responsive reading: Psalm 95
Gloria Patri
Exodus 17: 1-7 (en français – English on the screen)
Romans 5: 1-11
The gospel reading: John 4: 5-42
Sermon: “Divine Appointment Blessings”
Confession of Faith – The Apostles’ Creed
Hymn 671: “I heard the voice of Jesus say”
Offering and Offertory
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Hymn 420: “Je louerai l’eternal” (vs 1 en français)
Benediction
Go now in peace
Postlude