St. John’s Weekly Calendar

Sunday, March 14 8:00 am Morning Prayer, Rite II (zoom) T he Fourth Sunday in Lent 10:00 am Morning Prayer, Rite II (live stream)

Monday, March 15 6:30 pm Education for Ministry (EfM)

Thursday, March 18 6:00 pm Compline

Sunday, March 21 8:00 am Morning Prayer, Rite II (zoom) T he Fifth Sunday in Lent 10:00 am Morning Prayer, Rite II (live stream)

Prayer Requests

The Diocesan Cycle of Prayer The Anglican Cycle of Prayer We Pray f or the Parishes of the Cape & Islands Deanery We Pray for t he Iglesia Anglicana de Chile Church of the Good Shepherd, Wareham St. James the Fisherman Church, Wellfleet Birthdays Church of the Messiah, Woods Hole (Falmouth) Elaine O’Neil 3/15 Diocesan Congregational Consultants Luke Fisher 3/15 For all churches in the Diocese closed or merged Mark Edington 3/15 Jack Sinclair 3/16 The Ecumenical Cycle of Prayer Everett Gilpin 3/20 We Pray f or D enmark Hannah Goeselt 3/20 Faroe Islands Finland Greenland Wedding Anniversaries Iceland None Norway Sweden

Pray for Healing: …remembering especially Richard, the Rev. Robert, Harding, Karen, Martha, Jan, Barbara, Suzanne, Ruppert, Ceel, Lauren, Alison, Jeremy, Sheila, Rob, Sara, Nicholas, Malcom, Mary, and Luke.

Order of Service

Prelude Variations on Nettleton Undine Smith Moore

The people stand, as able.

Opening Hymn 686, “Come, thou fount of every blessing” Nettleton

Officiant: Rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil. J oel 2:13

Officiant : Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Officiant : Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen.

Officiant: Lord, open our lips.

People: And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Venite S-34 Plainsong, Tone 4

The people sit.

Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22 Confitemini Domino

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, * 19 Then they cried to the Lord in their and his mercy endures for ever. trouble, * 2 Let all those whom the Lord has redeemed and he delivered them from their distress. proclaim * that he redeemed them from the 20 He sent forth his word and healed them * hand of the foe. and saved them from the grave. 3 He gathered them out of the lands; * 21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his from the east and from the west, mercy * and the wonders he does for his from the north and from the south. children. 17 Some were fools and took to rebellious 22 Let them offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving ways; * they were afflicted because of their * and tell of his acts with shouts of joy. sins. 18 They abhorred all manner of food * and drew near to death's door.

All: G lory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

First Reading:Numbers 21:4-9 speaking against the Lord and against From Mount Hor the Israelites set out you; pray to the Lord to take away the by the way to the Red Sea, to go around serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the land of Edom; but the people the people. And the Lord said to Moses, became impatient on the way. The “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on people spoke against God and against a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall Moses, “Why have you brought us up look at it and live.” So Moses made a out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? serpent of bronze, and put it upon a For there is no food and no water, and pole; and whenever a serpent bit we detest this miserable food.” Then the someone, that person would look at the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the serpent of bronze and live . people, and they bit the people, so that The Word of the Lord many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by

Canticle I A Song of Judah Jonah 2:2-7, 9

I called to you, O God, out of my distress, and you answered me; * out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. I went down to the land beneath the earth, * yet you brought up my life from the depths, O God. You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, * and the flood surrounded me; As my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, all your waves and billows passed over me. O God, * and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Then I said, “I am driven away from your sight; * how shall I ever look again upon your holy With the voice of thanksgiving, I will sacrifice to temple?” you; * what I have vowed I will pay, for

The waters closed in over me, the deep was round deliverance belongs to the Lord! about me; * weeds were wrapped around my head at the roots of the mountains.

Second Reading: Ephesians 2:1-10 You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-- by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God-- not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. T he Word of the Lord.

T he people stand.

Canticle L A Song of Christ’s Humility Philippians 2:6-11

Though in the form of God, * Christ Jesus did not cling to equality with God,

But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, * and was born in human likeness.

Being found in human form, he humbled himself * and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.

Therefore, God has highly exalted him * and given him the name above every name,

That at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, * in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, * to the glory of God the Father.

The Holy Gospel: John 3:14-21 Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

The Word of the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

The Homily The Rev. Eric Litman

Hymn 671, “Amazing grace! how sweet the sound” New Britain

The Apostles’ Creed BCP p. 358 I believe in God, the Father almighty, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. creator of heaven and earth; He will come again to judge I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. the living and the dead. He was conceived by the power of the Holy I believe in the Holy Spirit, Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. the holy catholic Church, He suffered under Pontius Pilate, the communion of saints, was crucified, died, and was buried. the forgiveness of sins He descended to the dead. the resurrection of the body, On the third day he rose again. and the life everlasting. A men He ascended into heaven,

The Prayers

Celebrant: T he Lord be with you P eople: A nd also with you. Celebrant: L et us pray

All: O ur Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, t hy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. A nd forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. A nd lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. F or thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Suffrages Enriching Our Worship V. Help us, O God our Savior; R. Deliver us and forgive us our sins. V. Look upon your congregation; R. Give to your people the blessing of peace. V. Declare your glory among the nations; R. And your wonders among all peoples. V. Do not let the oppressed be shamed and turned away; R. Never forget the lives of your poor. V. Continue your loving-kindness to those who know you; R. And your favor to those who are true of heart. V. Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning; R. So shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.

Collect of the Day Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Hymn 603 , “When Christ was lifted from the earth” St. Botolph

Announcements

A Prayer of St. Chrysostom BCP p. 102

Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. A men.

Officiant: Let us bless the Lord People: T hanks be to God.

Officiant: Glor y to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen . Ephesians 3:20, 21

Postlude: Variations on “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” Daniel Burghout V. “Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it”

Participants in this Sunday’s service:

Presider: The Rev. Eric Litman Lector : Brian Goeselt Music Director: Jeffrey Mills Cantor : Cole Stanton Wardens : Rhys Bowen and Tim Strayer Vestry Person of the Day: T om Wood

Today’s Woman in Music

Undine Smith Moore (1904-1989), the composer of today’s prelude, is known as the “Dean of Black Women Composers.” Her musical output consisted of over 100 compositions, mostly songs, but also including keyboard, chamber, and choral works. She taught piano, organ, and music theory for over 40 years at Virginia State College, now Virginia State University. Her 16-part cantata, Scenes from the Life of a Martyr, based on the life of the Revered Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., premiered in 1981 at Carnegie Hall, and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

S aint John's Parish Directory 297 Lowell Avenue Newtonville, Massachusetts 02460 www.saintjohnschurch.com [email protected]

@saintjohnchur ch

The Rt. Reverend Alan M. Gates, Bishop of Massachusetts The Rt. Rev. Gayle Elizabeth Harris, Suffragan Bishop of Massachusetts

All baptized members of St. John's are ministers of the Parish The Rev. Eric R. Litman, Priest-in-Charge Rhys Bowen, Tim Strayer, Wardens Kate Reeder, Treasurer Jane Huston, Clerk Alastair Battson, Robert Main, Marina Matuzek Patty Schoeck, Tom Wood Vestry Members Jeffrey Mills, Organist and Choirmaster Jeanne Watts, Parish Administrator Licensed Lay Readers/Eucharistic Ministers: Laura Brewer, Brian Goeselt, Marina Matuzek, Abby Strayer, Tim Strayer, Jessica Zabchuk Dion