Prayers of the People for March 21

 God of hope, of life, of resurrection we live and move and love in you.
We open our hearts and souls to you this day,
trusting that you are at work within and around us, writing the law of love on our hearts,
trusting that you are leading us to a place of new, transformed life, life beyond death
We look at the world around us and know that we need that word of hope and promise.
We see the broken-ness all too clearly.
We see the lack of love in our news feeds as we read about the shooting in Atlanta
an incident steeped with racist and sexist overtones.
We look at a year of living with pandemic restrictions
and some days we struggle to find the hope that lies beyond COVID-19.
Bring us hope, remind us that life wins.
Write your law upon our hearts, weave it into the fabric of our being,
transform us with life in abundance.

God who has created and is creating,
we look at the world around us and we are awestruck.
And so we open our hearts in prayers of awe:
for the beauty of the sun at rising or setting...
for the dancing of the Northern Lights...
for the sign of spring, carrying the promise of new growth bursting from frozen ground...
for birdsong, and wind in the trees, the sounds of nature in all its fullness...
For all those things that leave us speechless and awestruck,
God hear our prayers of WOW!

God who was there as we were formed in our mother’s womb,
God who filled our lungs with the breath of life and heard our borning cry,
God who is present in our every breath,
you share our joys and our sorrows.
You weep with us, laugh with us, celebrate with us.
You see and hear our fears and anxieties and worries.
Today we lift up in prayer all those who struggle.
The ones we know and love, the ones we can barely stand, the ones we have never met.
We pray with those who find themselves wrestling with dis-ease of body, mind, or spirit...
We pray with those who are anxiously waiting for their vaccine appointment,
with those forced to self-isolate due to a virus outbreak,
with those who are ill with COVID...
We pray with those who are lonely and isolated...
with those who are grieving...
with those who face financial worries...
May all those who struggle know that they are not alone,
that they are held in a love that will never let them go,
that there is life and hope, transformation and resurrection awaiting us all.
God hear our prayers for help

At the same time, God of life and love and those in abundance,
we pray with all those who sing and dance and celebrate this morning.
The ones who experience the promise of new life in a baby’s cry...
the ones who have seen love shining and active in the world...
the ones who have found new ways to connect with loved ones and rebuild relationships...
the ones who have met blessings expected or surprising in their daily activities...
For all those things that bring joy into our lives, God hear our prayers of thanks.

God of transformation, of resurrection, of new life and new hope,
God who is writing law and love on our hearts,
we share these, and all the prayers of all our lives in the name of Jesus,
our rock and redeemer, our teacher and guide,
the one who teaches us how to live as citizens of the Kingdom
Amen.

For March 21, 2021 -- Lent 5B

CALL TO WORSHIP
May the Peace of Christ be with you!
And also with you!
In a world still turned upside down, where physical distancing is still the rule and norm,
we still gather for worship, sharing this virtual space in real time, linked by bits and bytes, cables and modems.
As people who seek to follow The Way of Jesus Christ,
we gather to listen, to be renewed, to have the new covenant engraved deeper in our hearts.
Looking forward to the time of casting seed into the ground, where it will be transformed into flowers and food,
we continue to follow that path that leads to the cross, to the tomb, to a transformed life that lies beyond them both.
Come, let us worship together.

OPENING PRAYER
Gardener of life, you call us to this time together.
Here you plant seeds of hope in our hearts, here you lead us into transformation.
As we pray, and sing, and listen, and ponder this morning,
stir the soil of our lives, water the seeds in our hearts, reveal new life in our midst.
We gather as ones who follow Jesus, we pray in his name, and we share words he once taught his friends...

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE
Rule-maker, you offer us guidelines for how we should live.
And while we sometimes rebel, against the rules, sometimes we see them as gift and challenge.
Covenant-maker, you call us to live in mutual support with each other and with you.
We try to live up to our part in the covenant, even though sometimes we know we miss the target.
Life-giver, you offer us transformation, renewal, and abundant life.
Help us to feel your Grace and embrace the transformation and new life we find in living as people of the covenant you have written on our hearts.
...time of silent prayer...
God has written the law of love on our hearts, woven it into the fabric of our very being. God challenges us to live as people of the covenant. And when we miss the target God says again “I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more”. We are forgiven, we are invited to new life, we are beloved children of God.
Thanks be to God! Amen.

COMMISSIONING
Our time of worship draws to a close. Our time of service continues.
Beyond our computer screens, outside our windows, there is a world that needs our presence.
Go now, carrying the law of love in your hearts, go out and water the seeds of hope that lie waiting to germinate and grow.
We go as gardeners, we go as seeds ourselves, we go to live transformed lives.
And go knowing that God: Parent, Child, and Spirit; the Great Gardener of Creation, goes with you to bring forth new life.
Thanks be to God. Amen