March 8, 2026
CHIMING OF THE HOUR
WELCOME
PRAYER
God, you loved the world so much
that you embraced it in all its suffering
in your beloved Son Jesus Christ,
who sought the way of the cross
that he might come to Easter
and offer us the way back to you.
We thank you for this space apart,
not just on this Sunday morning
but in the weeks that are to come –
space to become more receptive
to the incredible promise of new life:
life to challenge all that is deathly in our world,
life to challenge all that is dull in our hearts.
Help us to use this time,
not just in prayer at worship,
but in the thoughtfulness
in which we go about these coming days,
listening for your voice in all we do,
as you challenge the habits that restrict us
and the assumptions that close our minds.
Help us also to be aware of others
who at this time are examining themselves,
whether from religious duty
or because they have reached a turning point,
in a career, or in a relationship, or in a crisis.
Give us an ear that listens
that we may find the words to sustain
and the openness to learn
through Jesus Christ,
our deliverance and our hope. Amen.
PRELUDE “Walking With The Savior” Richard Blake
CALL TO WORSHIP
O come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise
to the rock of our salvation!
We have come to give thanks
and to sing songs of praise!
We are the people of God’s pasture;
we trust that God will bring us
through the wilderness.
We seek God’s living water
and praise God’s holy name!
*HYMN No. 415 “Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy”
Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,
weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you,
full of pity, love, and power.
Refrain:
I will arise and go to Jesus;
he will embrace me in his arms.
In the arms of my dear Savior,
O there are ten thousand charms.
2 Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome;
God’s free bounty glorify,
true belief and true repentance,
every grace that brings you nigh. (Refrain)
I will arise and go to Jesus;
he will embrace me in his arms.
In the arms of my dear Savior,
O there are ten thousand charms.
3 Come, ye weary, heavy laden,
lost and ruined by the fall;
if you tarry till you’re better,
you will never come at all. (Refrain)
I will arise and go to Jesus;
he will embrace me in his arms.
In the arms of my dear Savior,
O there are ten thousand charms.
4 Let not conscience make you linger,
nor of fitness fondly dream;
all the fitness he requireth
is to feel your need of him. (Refrain)
I will arise and go to Jesus;
he will embrace me in his arms.
In the arms of my dear Savior,
O there are ten thousand charms.
CALL TO CONFESSION
God does not wait for us to be righteous,
or pure, or perfect.
Christ died for us while we were still sinners.
We do not have to hide our sin from God,
but can face it with Jesus,
who heals us, teaches us, and leads us to new life.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Jesus, friend of all,
once again, we come to you knowing
our words have stung,
our actions have harmed,
and our indifference has let evil have its day.
Our hearts yearn for you,
our souls thirst for you,
yet we do not imitate you in our lives.
We scorn those who are different from us,
and relish our own comfort.
Once again, forgive us, O God.
Give us your living water,
that we might tell the world
all you have done for us.
Silence is observed
RESPONSE AFTER CONFESSION NO. 575 “Lord, Have Mercy Upon Us”
Choir Lord, have mercy upon us;
Christ, have mercy upon us;
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Congregation Lord, have mercy upon us;
Christ, have mercy upon us;
Lord, have mercy upon us.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
We know that God is with us even in our sufferings,
for suffering produces endurance,
endurance produces character,
character produces hope,
and hope does not disappoint us,
because God’s love has been poured into our hearts.
Thanks be to God!
RESPONSE AFTER ASSURANCE NO. 603 “Lamb of God”
Lamb of God,
you take away the sin of the world:
have mercy, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God,
you take away the sin of the world:
grant us, O grant us your peace.
*PASSING OF THE PEACE OF CHRIST
Before the foundation of the world Christ forgave us, and forgives us still today. Let us forgive as we have been forgiven and share the peace of Christ.
May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
And also with you.
Worshippers are invited to briefly “pass the peace” of Christ to those directly seated around them thus keeping our worship time “decent and in order” with a focus upon being part of God’s community.
ANTHEM “Speak Lord in the Stillness” David Schoebel
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE
UNISON PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Gracious God, our way in the wilderness,
guide us by your Word through these forty days,
and minister to us with your Holy Spirit,
so that we may be reformed,
restored, and renewed;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
SCRIPTURE John 4:5-42
5So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.7A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8(His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) 10Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” 13Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” 15The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” 17The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!”19The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. 24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.”26Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
27Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” 28Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29“Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” 30They left the city and were on their way to him. 31Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” 34Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. 36The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” 39Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 41And many more believed because of his word. 42They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”
Pause…
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God!!
SERMON
The disciples were astonished that Jesus was speaking with a woman. In their heads and maybe whispering to each other, “Jesus, what on earth do you want from her? Why on earth are you speaking to her?” Yet, they said nothing about their confusion and consternation. But since Jesus brought them to the Samaritan city of Sychar in the first place, let’s just say the surprises keep on coming. You see, Jesus and his disciples had been in Jerusalem, for Passover, and it was time to head back home. And Jesus told them – we are going back to Galilee, but we have to go through Samaria. Wait, what Jesus? You do know that Samaritans live in Samaria. And you know we are not supposed to come in contact with Samaritans which the woman at the well also knew perfectly well – how is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman, of Samaria? She knew her place. She knew her place at the well very well. And when the disciples return after getting lunch in town, they remind us, they remind her, and they remind Jesus of her place.
And yet here we are. After the longest conversation that Jesus has with anyone in the Gospels. It’s a conversation like none other. One that goes from misunderstanding – “Uh, Sir, you don’t have a bucket and the well is deep – what is this living water you are talking about?” To the courage to say to her townspeople, come and see.
It’s a conversation that goes from “I am not going to lie. I’ve had five husbands. A couple died. A couple divorced me assuming that I am barren (sidebar here, women had no control over their marital status in those days). Maybe saying to Jesus, “You see I have no children and now I am living with my dead husband’s brother. And here I am fetching water at noon because I just can’t stand the judging eyes and the condemning questions anymore. I just can’t. I just can’t bear it anymore.” To Jesus compassionate and empathetic, “I know. I know what you have gone through, and I am so sorry.”
It’s a conversation that goes from theological questions – “If you are a prophet”, she says to Jesus, “Tell me, where we should worship?” to Jesus’ own revelation, “Neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, because your God is here, the word has been made flesh.”
It’s a conversation that goes from, “Prophet, I do believe the Messiah is coming” to Jesus saying, “Not only am I the Messiah, but I AM. Did you hear that in the scripture reading? Your God. You know, burning bush I AM? Moses burning bush I AM?” It’s quite a conversation indeed.
But really how did we get here? Jesus and the woman at the well are in the wrong place, at the wrong time – who fetches water at noon? A rabbi and a commoner. A Jew and a Samaritan. An unmarried man talking with an unmarried woman. Alone at Jacob’s well. She knew her place. And no one let her forget it. But Jesus doesn’t care. In fact, He goes out of his way to find her. He had to go through Samaria. It was necessary for him to go through Samaria. Jesus is in that Samaria space to invite her to a different place.
Because guess who gets to hear the first “I AM” in the Gospel of John? To whom Jesus first reveals his true identity? Not the Pharisees. Not the Jewish leaders. Not even the disciples. But her. A woman. With no name. A Samaritan. Because you see, John 3:16, for God so loved the world, really is true. Jesus had to go through Samaria to find her. It was necessary to go through Samaria to find her, his first witness, to show the disciples, to show us what God loves the world really looks like.
So here we are and the conversation could have ended so much sooner than it did. What could the woman at the well have done? What could she have said?
She could have said something like, Um, thank you. That’s all very interesting, it’s all nice and good. Would you like another glass of water? She could have walked away pretending the conversation never happened in the first place. She could have stayed silent. But instead she comes back to her townspeople and she shares that for God so loved the world love – she says to them “come and see.” She is Jesus’ first witness, which is likely why Jesus brought the disciples to Sychar in the first place. See what she just did, you all need to go do that. Because how can God love the world without us?
BUT, before you can issue the invitation, before you can go return to your village people, walking that long dirt road back to those judging eyes and rejecting glances, back to so-called friends who had no problem letting you go to the well on your own. Those people who didn’t want to be around you. Those people who adjudicated your worth based on falsehoods and fallacies. Those people who dishonored and discredited you. Those people who don’t know your truth. Those people who made assumptions and mandated stipulations. Those people who defined you by what happened to you. You might have to leave your water jar behind.
It’s a detail so easily overlooked. Or assumed unimportant. “It just means she would come back later and get it.” Really? That’s all it could be? We can’t do better than that?
Could it mean leaving behind her pain, the blame, and the shackles of shame. Leaving behind those untruths and accusations. Leaving behind what people thought of her instead of who she knew herself to be, even believed herself to be, who God saw she could be. The Samaritan woman at the well leaves behind her disgrace, which she believed was her place, walking into the light of God’s grace upon grace.
There is so much that weighs us down, preventing us from living into who God is calling us to be – and maybe even needs us to be. Heavy, wooden buckets filled with old scripts, our sense of worthlessness. Guilt pressing down on our shoulders like the yoke that carries those buckets to and from the well. Jars full of the burdens and barriers that block us from walking into acceptance and love. What are those things that are weighing you down? That tell you to be more, do more, pray more, that you are not enough. That prescribe how you should act and describe who you should be. That tell us to be someone we are not. That serve expectations and placate so as to please others. That hold us back, that have us convinced that God could not possibly go out of the way to find us?
When we can name those water jars and set them down, leaving those buckets behind at the well, it is then that we might begin to imagine what God has in mind for us, what God might be calling us to do, what God might be needing us to do, trusting in a future that God is fashioning. We are liberated. We are free.
But I know. You’ve depended on that jar. It’s what you have always known. As oppressive as it is, it’s what’s familiar. And more often than not, whether it comes from deep within ourselves, or from the pressures of our families, our friends, our communities, and even our churches, it’s easier to stick with the usual, the traditional. The safety and security of a known space is often the choice over the uncertainty of a new place. We are too tired to imagine any other way. And so it’s easier to continue to carry the load of that jar than imagine a life free of its weight.
Yet, while we are minding our own business, doing our daily chores, maybe even hiding from God, alone, hoping that God doesn’t see us for who we really are, believing that God could not possibly love us just as we are, there goes Jesus through Samaria needing to go to Sychar to find us.
Dear friends in Christ, today what jar will you leave behind at the well?
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH Patmos Abbey—The Order of Saint Columba
We believe that our lives are held within the encircling love of God, who knows our names and recognizes our deepest needs. We believe that Christ is the divine Child of the living God, and that his grace is like living waters that can never be exhausted. We believe in the birthing, renewing, enabling Spirit of God who yearns over our welfare as a mother yearns for her child. We believe that God is in the arid desert as well as in green pastures, and that hard times and disciplines are also loving gifts. We believe that our journey has a purpose and a destination, and that our path leads to a human glory we cannot yet imagine. We believe that in the church we are fellow pilgrims on the road, and that we are called to love one another as God loves us. This is our faith and we are humbled to profess in Jesus the Christ. Amen
*HYMN No. 345 “In an Age of Twisted Values”
1 In an age of twisted values
we have lost the truth we need.
In sophisticated language
we have justified our greed.
By our struggle for possessions
we have robbed the poor and weak.
Hear our cry and heal our nation;
your forgiveness, Lord, we seek.
2 We have built discrimination
on our prejudice and fear.
Hatred swiftly turns to cruelty
if we hold resentments dear.
For communities divided
by the walls of class and race,
hear our cry and heal our nation;
show us, Lord, your love and grace.
3 When our families are broken,
when our homes are full of strife,
when our children are bewildered,
when they lose their way in life,
when we fail to give the aged
all the care we know they need,
hear our cry and heal our nation;
help us show more love, we plead.
4 We who hear your word so often
choose so rarely to obey.
Turn us from our willful wandering;
give us truth to light our way.
In the power of your Spirit
come to cleanse us, make us new;
hear our cry and heal our nation
till our nation honors you.
THE PASTORAL PRAYER & THE LORD’S PRAYER
O God,
We come to you because we are thirsty,
thirsty for a world where all people have access to clean, fresh water and the most vulnerable members of society are cared for.
We pray for a world where people
who make houses can afford to live in them,
people who serve food can afford to eat it,
when all children have access to good education
and young people can find jobs.
Empower us to be your hands and feet,
To work toward this justice in our everyday lives.
O God,
We come to you because we are thirsty,
Thirsty for a world where people might discover love and renewal.
We pray for all those who struggle with addiction
and mental illness.
We pray for those in prisons.
We pray for those in uniforms.
We pray for refugees
and all those forced from their homes because of violence.
We pray for those who grieve.
We pray for those awaiting organ donation.
We pray for those healing from medical procedures.
We pray for the sick.
We pray for our nation and our world.
O God,
We are parched for your Living Waters.
Open our hearts
as your unending forgiveness, tenderness, justice, truth, courage
pour over us like a fresh spring rain,
readying us to grow, to flourish, to experience life that is really life.
Thank you, O God,
for the ways that you quench our thirst,
the ways you tell us, “I love you” and “dignity will be had” and “death is not the end of the story”. Thank you for coming to us in prayer and hospital visits, in old friendships and time in nature, in students and inspiring teachers, in moving songs and quiet moments, in fiery spirits and enduring persistence.
Thank O God, for teaching us that our small story is part of one big story, a story that leads from bondage to liberation, fear to love, heartbreak to transformation, isolation to trust, death to resurrection, again and again and again. All this we pray in the name of the Living Water, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray saying…
The Lord’s Prayer
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. Forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
PASSING OF FELLOWSHIP PADS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
TITHES & OFFERINGS
God is the giver of all good things,
the one who fashioned each of us with unique gifts
that together make the Body of Christ whole.
In gratitude for all we have received,
we offer our lives back to God — we share our time, our skills, our money
and in so doing, we say “yes” to God’s invitation
to join in His Kingdom building work here on earth.
OFFERTORY ANTHEM
*RESPONSE N0. 620, v.4 “Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven”
Angels, help us to adore him;
you behold him face to face.
Sun and moon, bow down before him,
dwellers all in time and space:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise with us the God of grace.
*PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
God of the wilderness,
We give these offerings in gratitude,
rejoicing in the abundance of your gifts to us.
We give these offerings in faith,
trusting that you will provide for our needs.
We give these offerings in hope,
knowing you can use them to spread your love in this world.
And with these offerings, we give ourselves;
May we live with generous hearts, with open hands. Amen
*HYMN No. 353 “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less”
1 My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
Refrain:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
2 When darkness seems to hide his face,
I rest on his unchanging grace;
in every high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil. (Refrain)
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
3 His oath, his covenant, his blood
support me in the whelming flood;
when all around my soul gives way,
he then is all my hope and stay. (Refrain)
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
4 When he shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in him be found,
dressed in his righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the throne. (Refrain)
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
*BENEDICTION
As you go from here into the week ahead,
with whatever joys and challenges it holds,
do not be discouraged or disheartened.
Remember the glory that awaits you as a child of God.
Hold on to that truth;
live in that hope.
And may the peace of God,
the blessing of Jesus Christ,
and the presence of the Holy Spirit
be with you and among you.
*POSTLUDE