+ God promises Jeremiah that a “new covenant” will be made in the future: a covenant that will allow all the people to know God by heart. The church sees this promise fulfilled in Christ, who draws all people to himself when he is lifted up on the cross. Our baptismal covenant draws us to God’s heart through Christ and draws God’s love and truth into our hearts. We join together in worship, sharing in word, song, and meal, and leave strengthened to share God’s love with all the world. +
LAMENT AGAINST ANTI-ASIAN VIOLENCE
This day as we gather for worship, we want to acknowledge the deadly shooting in Atlanta this past week that left eight people dead and another injured. Of those killed, six were Asian American women.
As people of faith, we mourn and lament these acts of violence. We grieve with the loved ones of those who were killed, and we pray for God’s peace and presence to be with them.
We also acknowledge, as our bishop and ecumenical partners have stated, “that this most recent event is another chapter in a long history of violence and hate directed at Asian American people, and we grieve the pain, fear and anger it has engendered. As we lift our hearts in prayer to God for the families, friends and neighbors of all whose lives were touched by Tuesday evening’s shootings, we are reminded that God’s response to our prayer is often a call to action for our communities.”
As a part of our commitment to standing against racism, hatred, and violence, we begin our liturgy today with a time of lament.
I invite us into a brief moment of silence…
The sin of racism hurts communities of color, fractures human relationships, and denies God’s good creation. Lament is a way for us to recognize the harm caused by racism.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. God’s grace in Christ frees us for the difficult work of recognizing and lamenting racism.
We are all part of one body in Christ, called to act with equity, fairness, and justice. God’s saving love creates grace-filled spaces within us and within our relationships. God’s saving love calls and leads us toward rooting out the racism that continues to infect the body and condemning it when we find it.
Holy and merciful God, as your people we recommit ourselves to loving one another as you have loved us. Prepare us for this time of listening and discovery. We pray in the name of the one who has made us one, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
CONFESSION & FORGIVENESS
All may make the sign of the cross, the sign marked at baptism, as the presiding minister begins.
Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God,
the keeper of the covenant,
the source of steadfast love,
our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
God hears us when we cry, and draws us close in Jesus Christ. Let us return to the one who is full of compassion.
+ Silence is kept for reflection. +
Fountain of living water,
pour out your mercy over us.
Our sin is heavy, and we long to be free.
Rebuild what we have ruined
and mend what we have torn.
Wash us in your cleansing flood.
Make us alive in the Spirit
to follow in the way of Jesus,
as healers and restorers of the world you so love.
Amen.
Beloved, God’s word never fails.
The promise rests on grace:
by the saving love of Jesus Christ,
the wisdom and power of God,
your sins are ☩ forgiven, and God remembers them no more.
Journey in the way of Jesus. Amen.
GATHERING HYMN: Now the Green Blade Rises (ELW #379 + Verses 1 & 4 )
1 Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,
wheat that in dark earth many days has lain;
love lives again, that with the dead has been;
love is come again like wheat arising green.
4 When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,
your touch can call us back to life again,
fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been;
love is come again like wheat arising green.
Text: John MacLeod Campbell Crum, 1872-1958
Text from Oxford Book of Carols © Oxford University Press 1928. All rights reserved
GREETING
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God, and the communion
of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And also with you.
HYMN OF PRAISE: Glorify Your Name (W&P #42 + Verse 1)
Father we love You.
We worship and adore You.
Glorify Your name in all thee earth.
Glorify Your name.
Glorify Your name.
Glorify Your name in all the earth.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
O God, with steadfast love you draw us to yourself, and in mercy you receive our prayers. Strengthen us to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, that through life and death we may live in your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
READINGS
Jeremiah 31:31-34
+ The Judeans in Babylon blamed their exile on their ancestors, who had broken the covenant established at Sinai. Here the prophet looks to a day when God will make a new covenant with the people. There will be no need to teach the law, because God will write it on their hearts. +
The first reading comes from Jeremiah beginning at the 31st chapter.
31The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32It 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. 33But 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. 34No 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.
Word of God, Word of Life. Thanks be to God.
Psalm 51:1-12
+ Create in me a clean heart, O God. (Ps. 51:10) +
Together we will read responsively from Psalm 51.
1Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love;
in your great compassion blot out my offenses.
2Wash me through and through from my wickedness,
and cleanse me from my sin.
3For I know my offenses,
and my sin is ever before me.
4Against you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are justified when you speak and right in your judgment.
5Indeed, I was born steeped in wickedness,
a sinner from my mother’s womb.
6Indeed, you delight in truth deep within me,
and would have me know wisdom deep within.
7Remove my sins with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be purer than snow.
8Let me hear joy and gladness;
that the body you have broken may rejoice.
9Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my wickedness.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.
Hebrews 5:5-10
+ Using priestly imagery and references to the Old Testament, the author explains how Christ lived in trusting obedience to God, and so God has made Christ the source of our eternal salvation. +
The second reading comes from Hebrews beginning at the 5th chapter.
5Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him,
“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”;
6as he says also in another place,
“You are a priest forever,
according to the order of Melchizedek.”
7In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; 9and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, 10having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
Word of God, Word of Life. Thanks be to God.
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSONSLent 5B + Pre-Reader LessonDownloadLent 5B + Reader LessonDownload
John 12:20-33
+ Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time to celebrate the Passover festival. Here Jesus’ words about seeds planted in the ground turn the disaster of his death into the promise of a harvest in which everyone will be gathered. +
The Holy Gospel according to John beginning at the 12th chapter. Glory to you, O Lord.
20Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
27“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.
SERMON
HYMN OF THE DAY Tree of Life and Awesome Mystery ( ELW #334 + Verses 1 & 2 )
1 Tree of Life and awesome myst’ry,
in your death we are reborn;
though you die in all of hist’ry,
still you rise with ev’ry morn,
still you rise with ev’ry morn.
2 We remember truth once spoken,
love passed on through act and word;
ev’ry person lost and broken
wears the body of our Lord,
wears the body of our Lord.
Text: Marty Haugen, b. 1950
Text © 1984 GIA Publications, Inc., 7404 S. Mason Ave., Chicago, IL 60638. http://www.giamusic.com. 800.442.3358. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
THE APOSTLES’ CREED
Let us confess our faith saying the words of the Apostles’ Creed.
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ,
God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
Amen.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Relying on the promises of God, we pray boldly for the church, the world, and all in need.
+ A brief silence. +
You wash us through and through and remember our sin no more. Make your church a community of forgiveness throughout the world. Give your people courage to forgive; through them show the world new possibilities. Bless ministries of repentance and reconciliation. Receive our prayer, O God.
Your mercy is great.
You fill the earth—from tiny grains of wheat to the mighty thunder—with your presence, and you call us to attend to your will for all creation. Grant weather that prepares the soil for seeds; protect all from violent storms, flooding, and wildfires. Receive our prayer, O God.
Your mercy is great.
You promise to write your law on our hearts. Guide citizens throughout the world to shape communities that reflect your mercy, justice, and peace, and give them creativity to work for the welfare of all. Receive our prayer, O God.
Your mercy is great.
You sustain us with your bountiful Spirit. Restore the joy of all who need to know your presence: those who are lonely or feel unforgivable, those who need healing of mind or body, those who are dying, and all who grieve. Receive our prayer, O God.
Your mercy is great.
Jesus calls us to follow him in life and death. Empower this congregation in discipleship. Equip children and teachers in Sunday school, confirmation, and learning ministries. Give us your truth and wisdom and teach us to follow Jesus. Receive our prayer, O God.
Your mercy is great.
For comfort and healing of those who cry out to you. Surround everyone in need of healing with your tender presence especially Florence Buckley, Artie Kellerman, Madeline Kellerman, Michael Nicolo, Bob Saro, Kara Innella, and Fredrica Vidair Come to our aid as the Coronavirus spreads globally, heal those who are sick, support and protect their families from being infected, Receive our prayer, O God.
Your mercy is great.
For all who experience racism as part of their daily realities, those who feel fear for their own safety and that of those whom they love. We pray for all who are not treated with the respect they deserve, for we are all your children, created in your image. We pray for those who are scared and angry that they’re fighting a seemingly endless battle for safety. We pray for the families and friends of those who have been lost. We pray for wisdom and safety for public officials and law enforcement. We pray that no more harm come to our communities by anyone for any reason. We pray for peace, and we long for a future where the dignity of all God’s children is respected and upheld. Receive our prayer, O God.
Your mercy is great.
In the cross of Christ, your name is glorified. We praise you for those who have given us words to worship you. With all those who have died in Christ, bring us into life everlasting. Receive our prayer, O God.
Your mercy is great.
We entrust ourselves and all our prayers to you, O faithful God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
SHARING OF CHRIST’S PEACE
The peace of Christ be with you always!
And also with you!
Let us share Christ’s peace with one another.
OFFERING MESSAGE & PRAYER
Please consider continuing to mail in your offering or giving online! We continue to have expenses that need to be covered during this time. We are most grateful for your generosity.
Faithful God,
you walk beside us in desert places,
and you meet us in our hunger with bread from heaven.
Accompany us in this meal,
that we may pass over from death to life
with Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
OFFERTORY HYMN: Give Thanks (W&P #41)
Give thanks with a grateful heart,
give thanks to the Holy One,
give thanks because he’s given Jesus Christ, his Son.
Give thanks with a grateful heart,
give thanks to the Holy One,
give thanks because he’s given Jesus Christ, his Son.
And now let the weak say, “I am strong,”
let the poor say, “I am rich,”
because of what the Lord has done for us.
And now let the weak say, “I am strong,”
let the poor say, “I am rich,”
because of what the Lord has done for us.
Give thanks!
Text: Henry Smith
© 1978 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music (ASCAP). All rights reserved. International © secured.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Lord, remember us in your kingdom and teach us to pray:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power,
and the glory,
forever and ever.
Amen.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
CONFIRMATION
April 18th at 11:30am via Zoom. See email from Pastor Analyse for the week’s Zoom Link, class materials, and reminders about sermon notes!
SUNDAY SCHOOL
Virtual Sunday School will take place on April [DATE] via Zoom. Julia Klarman will send out more information closer to that date so look out for her email.
PRAYER LETTERS
Even while we are still worshiping online prayer letters are still available. If you are interested in receiving the weekly prayer list please contact Ruth.
THRIVENT DOLLARS
Thrivent members are reminded to direct their Thrivent Choice Dollars to Holy Trinity before they expire. Please call Ruth at the church office on Tuesday or Friday morning if you need help. The final day is March 31st.
COFFEE HOUR
11:00am via Zoom. Contact Carol Robinson for additional information. It’s an opportunity to stay in touch with fellow Members.
COUNCIL MEETING
April 13th meeting via ZOOM @ 7:30 pm
WORSHIP BULLETINS
Worship bulletins are available on Tuesdays for the following Sunday and may be found outside the red doors at the entry door for the office.
CELL PHONE DONATIONS
Holy Trinity is in need of a few more spare smartphones for Worship live streaming. If you have a spare iPhone or Android phones that you would be willing to donate please contact the church office, Ruth, Pastor Analyse, or Carol R. to make arrangements to drop them off. We can wipe the memory from the phone for you and it will be used to record video and audio. Thank you to those who have already donated. We really appreciate it.
NEW PARAMENTS
We are in the process of buying some much needed paraments for the altar. We welcome any gifts to purchase them as they are quite expensive.
WOMEN’S GROUP
March 24th via ZOOM.
COVID VACCINE
As of March 17th, 2021 we are in Phase 1C of COVID Vaccination, which includes all individuals age 60 or over in addition to certain professions and pre-existing conditions. New groups that qualify include:
- Public-facing government and public employees
- Not-for-profit workers who provide public-facing services to New Yorkers in need
- Essential in-person public-facing building service workers (does not include workers at construction sites)
To see if you qualify click here, find the location for your vaccination, and to make an appointment visit nyc.gov/vaccinefinder, turbovax.info, the NY State Vaccine website or you can call 1-877-VAX-4NYC (1-877-829-4692) NOTE: When you make an appointment you must fill out the form at https://forms.ny.gov/s3/vaccine.
Get real time updates for appointment openings straight to your phone by following TurboVax’s Twitter Account. ( Click the link, then the follow button and then click the notification bell). TurboVax tracks appointment availability for the 5 boroughs, Long Island, and Upstate.
If you need to find a COVID test, locations are updated by zip code weekly at nyc.gov/covidtest or by calling 1-212-COVID19 (1-212-268-4319).
Holy Trinity is happy to help you with this process. Please contact Pastor Analyse at pastoranalyse@holytrinitybellerose.org or 516-400-2438.
Other announcements are located in the downloadable bulletin at the top of this webpage.
BLESSING
You are what God made you to be:
created in Christ Jesus for good works,
chosen as holy and beloved,
freed to serve your neighbor.
God bless you ☩ that you may be a blessing,
in the name of the holy and life-giving Trinity.
Amen.
SENDING HYMN: Lift High the Cross (ELW #660 + Verses 2 & 3 )
Refrain
Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim
till all the world adore his sacred name.
2 All newborn servants of the Crucified
bear on their brows the seal of him who died. Refrain
3 O Lord, once lifted on the glorious tree,
as thou hast promised, draw us all to thee. Refrain
Text: Sigismund von Birken, 1626-1681; tr. Lutheran Book of Worship, alt.
Text © 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship, admin. Augsburg Fortress.
DISMISSAL
What is our mission? Welcoming all to grow in faith; living Christ’s message of serving and loving neighbors near and far.
Go in Peace. Be the light of Christ. Thanks be to God!
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Bellerose 