For March 27, 2011 -- 3rd Sunday of Lent, Year A

CALL TO WORSHIP/OPENING PRAYER
God of Living Water, you call us to come and drink.
And we have heard you.
All who are thirsty, come to the fountain.
We come to dip our souls in the stream of life, to drink deeply and satisfy our thirst.
God of Living Water, the spring that never fails,
may this time of worship refresh and revive us. May it energize us. May the drink we take today fill us so that we overflow with love, ready to share what we have found with all we meet.
We pray in the name of Jesus, who we know as the Living Water, and who taught his friends to pray by saying...

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

God of Living Water, you call us to come and drink.

So why do we sit here and complain that there is not enough water?

You call us to strike the rocks of our world and let your Living Water flow.

But we do not trust enough that the spring is there. We want to find the water on our own, using our own wisdom.

You call us to share the Water of Life with the world around us.

But we believe that the water is limited, not abundant and so we are tempted to save it for ourselves.

For all the times we turn away from your Water, for all the times we sully the Water by misusing it, for all the times we let others go thirsty instead of offering a drink,

Forgive us we pray.

...time of silent prayer...

The Water of Life flows with abundance to fill us with hope, to cleanse us of our guilt, to float us to a new life. Washed in the Living Water, we are forgiven and set free to live abundant life.

Thanks and praise to God. Amen.

COMMISSIONING:
God of Living Water, you called us to come and drink.
And we came. We drank. We were washed.
And now we prepare to return to the world.
Carrying with us the knowledge that the Spring of Life is always available to us.
May we be bearers of life-giving Water to all we meet.
Helping them to find ways to slake their thirsty souls, helping them to drink deeply.
Go with God. Float on the Stream of Life.
Amen.