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Exodus 17:1-7 The Israelites quarrelled and tested the Lord
Psalm 95 O come, let us sing to the Lord
Romans 5:1-11 We are justified by faith
John 4:5-42 Jesus and the woman at the well
Suggested Hymns (From Denis Towner. TIS = Together in Song; AHB = Australian Hymn Book; SA = Sing Alleluia)
| lesson | Hymns for Lent 3, Yr.A | TIS | AHB | SA |
| O/G | A charge to keepI have | 573 | 487 | |
| s | A man there lived in Galilee | 235 | 176 | |
| G | Abide with me, fast falls the eventide | 586 | 502 | |
| E | All my hope on God is founded | 560 | 465 | |
| G | Amazing grace (how sweet the sound) | 129 | 56 | |
| E | And can it be that I should gain | 209 | 138 | |
| s | And dist thou love the race that loved not thee | 269 | ||
| G | As pants the hart for cooling streams | 25 | 29 | |
| Behold the amazing gift of love | 115 | 36 | ||
| G | Christ is the world's light, he and none other | 246 | 191 | |
| G | Come down, O Love divine | 398 | 310 | |
| Ps | Come God's people, sing for joy | 391 | 26 | |
| Come Holy Spirit, Lord of grace | 403 | [312] | ||
| Come Holy Spirit, our souls inspire | 396 | [308] | ||
| s | Come my way, my truth, my life | 552 | 457 | |
| O/E | Come O fount of every blessing | 152 | ||
| O | Come O God of all the earth | 181 | ||
| Ps | Come sing praises to the Lord above | 53 | 24 | |
| Ps | Come you faithful, raise the strain | [391] | 278 | |
| s | Do not be afraid, I am with you | 16 | 28 | |
| G | Eat this bread, drink this cup | 714 | 29 | |
| O | Father hear the prayer we offer | 510 | ||
| bap | Father welcomes all his children | 491 | 34 | |
| G | Fill my whole life, O Lord, my God | 596 | 515 | |
| O/G | Glorious things of you are spoken | 446 | 374 | |
| G | God be in my head and in my understanding | 549 | 456 | |
| G | God himself is present | 121 | 47 | |
| O | God is the refuge of his saints | 120 | 45 | |
| God of grace and God of glory | 611 | 543 | ||
| E | God! When human bonds are broken | 683 | ||
| E | Great is your faithfulness | 154 | ||
| O/G | Guide me O thou great Redeemer | 569 | 478 | |
| G | How sweet the name of Jesus sounds | 223 | 158 | |
| G | I heard the voice of Jesus say | 585 | 500 | |
| E | I know that my Redeemer | 202 | 132 | |
| O | I to the hills will lift my eyes | 76 | 21 | |
| G | If we will trust in God to guide us | 554 | [459] | |
| s | In the cross of Christ I glory | 349 | 265 | |
| G | Jesus Christ is waiting | 665 | ||
| G | Jesus lover of my soul | 211 | 139 | |
| G | Jesus the very thought of thee | 126 | ||
| Jesus wher'er your people meet | 445 | 372 | ||
| Ps/G | Joyful, joyful, we adore you | 152 | ||
| O | Just as a lost and thirsty deer | 26 | ||
| Ps | Let all the world in every corner sing | 105 | 13 | |
| Ps | Let us sing to the God of salvation | 52 | 115 | |
| E | Let us with a gladsome mind | 83 | 11 | |
| E | Lift high the cross | 351 | 271 | |
| G | Lord Jesus joy of loving hearts | 499 | [420] | |
| Morning has broken | 156 | 91 | ||
| E | My God I love thee; not because | 130 | ||
| s | My song is love unknown | 341 | 257 | |
| E | No weight of gold or silver | 249 | ||
| E | Now let us from this table rise | 530 | 450 | |
| G | O Christ our hope, our heart's desire | 124 | ||
| Ps | O come let us sing to the Lord | 349 | ||
| s | O God of earth and altar | 542 | ||
| G | O let the Son of God enfold you | 655 | ||
| G | O Lord hear my prayer | 741 | ||
| E | O Love that wilt not let me go | 602 | 525 | |
| E | O Master let me walk with thee | 601 | 522 | |
| E | Peace with the Father, peace with Christ the Son | 466 | 402 | |
| G | Robe yourself, my soul, in gladness | 503 | [424] | |
| O/E/G | Rock of Ages cleft for me | 222 | 157 | |
| s | Salvation now to us has come | 195 | ||
| Sometimes a light surprises | 128 | 55 | ||
| G | The church's one foundation | 457 | 385 | |
| G | The great love of God is revealed in the Son | 164 | 105 | |
| E | The king of love my shepherd is | 145 | 81 | |
| E | There is a green hill far away | 350 | 266 | |
| E | To God be the glory, great things he has done | 147 | 85 | |
| G | When I needed a neighbour were you there | 629 | 558 | |
| O | When trouble strikes and fear takes root | 184 | ||
| G | Where cross the crowded ways of life | 608 | 532 | |
| G | Woman in the night | 661 | ||
| Ps | Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness | 454 | 382 | |
| G | You satisfy the hungry heart | 539 | ||
| G | Your words to me are life and health | 430 | 337 |
Sermon summary [click here for complete sermon]
The man at the well
In his meeting with the woman at the well in Samaria [John chapter 4] Jesus crossed boundaries and put away many taboos. It tells us something about the status of women, how to relate to foreigners, and how to deal with different religions. Yet there is more to the story. It lifts us beyond even those important concerns, to worship "in spirit and in truth", and it provides an early example of evangelism by women. The Samaritan woman became one of the earliest missionaries and her response has encouraged women who have been called into ministry, even to our own day.
The revelation of Jesus as more than an ordinary man
Rather than being focussed on "the woman at the well" John directs attention to "the man at the well", posing questions
about who he is. The woman represents the Samaritan people and a widening of concern with the whole of humanity.
[Compare John 3,4 and 5 with Acts 1:8; 8:5-25]
The common origin of Jews and Samaritans and a new source of truth
Jesus met the woman at Jacob's well. Jacob (called Israel), was the common ancestor of both the Jews and the Samaritans
[John 4:5-6,12] but they would not accept each other [John 4:9]. The teaching of Moses was recognized by them both as
"the gift of God" and was symbolized by a spring of water welling up. [Compare Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 95:8-9]. The woman
knowing about the Messiah should have been able to receive a more valuable gift of "living water" from him [John 4:10-14].
A question of allegiance and true worship
She sees him as a prophet [John 4:22,29 and see Deuteronomy 18:15 and 2 Samuel 11 and 12] because of what he knew
about her, but his insight went further to understanding her people. Her five husbands correspond to five false gods to which
her nation had given allegiance [2 Kings 17], leading to their present unfaithfulness. The Samaritans continued to worship
God on a mountain rather than at the temple [John 4:20]; but Jesus pointed beyond that old controversy to worship in "in
spirit and in truth" which the Messiah would bring [John 4:23-26] in a universal fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
Order of Service - Lent 3 - Year A - | DB Home | RCL Resources Index |
The Gathering of the People of God
CALL TO WORSHIP
Let us worship
O come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
-- Psalm 95:1-2
HYMN Let us sing to the God of salvation TIS 52 AHB 115
PRAYER OF ADORATION
CONFESSION
Loving God, Lord of the Church, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed: we have
not loved you with all our heart or served you with all our strength; we have been blind to the vision of a renewed
world and deaf to your call to costly discipleship; we have been indifferent to the suffering of others and unwilling to
forgive one another. In your mercy, Lord, pardon and restore us, that together in the ministry of Christ we may
serve you with joy all the days of our life. Amen.
DECLARATION OF FORGIVENESS
If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. [1 John 1:9]
Hear then Christ's word of grace to us: Your sins are forgiven.
Thanks be to God.
DOXOLOGY
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
WELCOME AND GREETING EACH OTHER
Service of the Word
INTRODUCTION OF THEME:
A word to the children
OLD TESTAMENT Exodus 17:1-7 the Israelites tested the Lord p.75
PSALM 95 O come, let us sing to the Lord
O come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
{2} Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
{3} For the LORD is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
{4} In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
{5} The sea is his, for he made it,
and the dry land, which his hands have formed.
{6} O come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
{7} For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
O that today you would listen to his voice! {8} Do not harden your hearts,
as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
{9} when your ancestors tested me,
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
{10} For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways."
{11} Therefore in my anger I swore, "They shall not enter my rest."
EPISTLE Romans 5:1-11 we are justified by faith
GOSPEL John 4:5-30,39-42 Jesus and the woman at the well in Samaria
HYMN And didst thou love the race that loved not thee AHB 269
SERMON
HYMN Fill my whole life, O Lord my God TIS 596 AHB 515
OFFERING AND DEDICATION
SHARING TIME [Notices, celebrations, requests for intercessions]
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
[Pastoral prayers, then:]
An Instrument of God's Peace
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;
for your mercy and truth's sake.
O divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
A 19th century prayer in the spirit of St Francis of Assisi. [Uniting in Worship]
COLLECT FOR THE DAY
O God, the fountain of life, to a humanity parched with thirst you offer the living water of grace which springs up from the
rock, our Saviour Christ. Grant your people the gift of the Spirit, that we may profess our faith with courage and announce
with joy the wonders of your love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in
the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
THE LORD'S PRAYER
The Sending Forth of the People of God
HYMN Guide me O thou great Redeemer TIS 569 AHB 478
WORD OF MISSION
BLESSING
DISMISSAL
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord:
In the name of Christ. Amen.
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