The Order of Worship – March 1, 2026

This is the 60th Day of 2026.
There are 296 more days remaining in 2025.

Filled with the Holy Spirit,
we are a people of prayer
committed to love one another
and equipped to share Christ’s love throughout the world.

Prelude:

Welcome & Announcements:
This month’s mission focus is the Arms of Mercy
Bible Study is all new at afaithtalk.com on Tuesday!
Call to Worship: Breathe (C)

Responsive Reading:  Psalm 121
The Lord watches over you

¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills– 
from where will my help come?

² My help comes from the LORD, 
who made heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot be moved; 
he who keeps you will not slumber.
⁴ He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The LORD is your keeper; 
the LORD is your shade at your right hand.

⁶ The sun shall not strike you by day, 
nor the moon by night.

⁷ The LORD will keep you from all evil; 
he will keep your life.

⁸ The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in 
from this time on and forevermore.
Praise the Lord!

Opening Hymn: To God Be The Glory…#98 (Ab)
Verse 1

To God be the Glory, great things he has done!
So loved he the world that he gave us his Son,
who yielded his life an atonement for sin,
and opened the life-gate that all may go in!

Refrain

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son,
and give him the glory, great things he hath done!

Verse 2

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
to every believer the promise of God;
the vilest offender who truly believes,
that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Refrain:

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son,
and give him the glory, great things he hath done!

Verse 3

Great things he hath taught us, great things he hath done,
and great our rejoicing thru Jesus the Son;
but purer, and higher, and greater will be
our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.

Refrain:

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son,
and give him the glory, great things he hath done!

Affirmation of Faith:
The Apostle’s Creed..No. 881

I believe in God the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;
and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord:
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified,
dead,
and buried;
the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge
the quick 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.

Gloria Patri…Page 70

Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen. Amen.

Praise Song: Refiner’s Fire (E)

Purify my heart let me be as gold and precious silver
Purify my heart let me be as gold pure gold
Refiner’s fire my heart’s one desire
is to be holy set apart for You Lord
I choose to be holy set apart for You, my Master
ready to do Your will

Purify my heart cleanse me from within and make me holy
Purify my heart cleanse me from my sin deep within
Refiner’s fire my heart’s one desire
is to be holy set apart for You Lord
I choose to be holy set apart for You, my Master
Ready to do Your will
Refiner’s fire my heart’s one desire
is to be holy set apart for You Lord
I choose to be holy set apart for You, my Master
ready to do Your will
I’m ready to do Your will
Yes, I’m ready to do Your will 

Pastoral Prayer
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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.
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. Amen.

Anthem: Anthem: What Feast of Love (Greensleeves) (Em)

Offertory

Doxology:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen

Children’s Moment
Children’s Song (Lord of the Dance…No. 261 (G) V1 & Chorus
Verse 1

I danced in the morning when the world was begun,
and I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,
and I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth.
At Bethlehem I had my birth.
Dance, then, wherever you may be;
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.
And I’ll lead you all wherever you may be,
and I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.

Prayer for Illumination
Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the Scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today. Amen.

Gospel Reading: John 3:1-17
The mission of Christ: saving the world

¹ Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. ² He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.”

³ Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”

⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. ⁶ What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹ Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”

¹⁰ Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹ “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. ¹² If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴ And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ 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.”
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God
All: Thanks be to God

New Testament  Reading: Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
The promise to those of Abraham’s faith

¹ What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? ² For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. ³ For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”

⁴ Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. ⁵ But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.

¹³ For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.

¹⁵ For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. ¹⁶ For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, ¹⁷ as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) — in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.”
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God
All: Thanks be to God 

Sermon Text: Genesis 12:1-4a
The blessing of God upon Abram

¹ Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

³ I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” ^4a So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him.
Leader: This is the Word of God for the people of God
All: Thanks be to God

Sermon:  “Journey of Blessing”

Closing Hymn: Freely, Freely…#389 (Eb)

God forgave my sin in Jesus’ name,
I’ve been born again in Jesus’ name,
and in Jesus’ name I come to you,
to share his love as he told me to.
He said, “Freely, freely, you have received, freely, freely give.”
“Go in my name, and because you believe,
others will know that I live.”

All power is given in Jesus’ name,
in earth and heaven in Jesus’ name,
and in Jesus’ name I come to you,
to share his power as he told me to.
He said, “Freely, freely, you have received, freely, freely give.”
“Go in my name, and because you believe,
others will know that I live.”

Filled Up and Poured Out

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