Today Is: Third Sunday in Lent

Collect for: Third Sunday in Lent
Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Old Testament
Exodus 17:1-7

1 Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, 'Give us water, that we may drink.' And Moses said to them, 'Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?' 3 And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, 'Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?' 4 So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, 'What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!' 5 And the LORD said to Moses, 'Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.' And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, 'Is the LORD among us or not?'

1 Officiant: The Word of the Lord.
The People: Thanks be to God.

Psalm
Psalm 95

1 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. 3 For the LORD is the great God, And the great King above all gods. 4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. 5 The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. 6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. 7 For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: 8 Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. 10 For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, 'It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.' 11 So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.' '

*At the end of the Psalms this is sung or said
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

New Testament
Romans 5:1-8

1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Officiant: The Word of the Lord.
The People: Thanks be to God.

Gospel
John 4:5-14

Introduction to the Gospel:
Deacon:The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you. Or And with your spirit
Deacon: May the Lord be on our minds, on our lips, and on our hearts as we hear His Holy Gospel. The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint John.
People: Glory to You, Lord Christ.
Deacon: We are reading from John's Gospel chapter 4, beginning at verse 5.

5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give Me a drink.' 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, 'How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?' For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said to her, 'If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.' 11 The woman said to Him, 'Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?' 13 Jesus answered and said to her, 'Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.'

After the Gospel reading, the deacon elevates the book and says:
Deacon: The Gospel of the Lord.
People: Praise to You, Lord Christ.

Prayers of the People

Prayers of the People for: Third Sunday in Lent

Brothers and sisters, since we have gained access to the Father through Our Lord Jesus Christ, let us appeal to Him for our needs and the needs of the whole world.

That the Church will boldly proclaim that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ.
Lord in Your mercy,            Hear our prayer.

That the Persecuted Church will have an intimate awareness of God's abiding presence and that their witness will lead to the conversion of their oppressors.
Lord in Your mercy,            Hear our prayer.

That nations will elect men and women to positions of authority who are committed to knowing and doing God's Will.

Lord in Your mercy,            Hear our prayer.

That those who are preparing for Baptism and Confirmation will be empowered by God's Holy Spirit, and remain faithful till the end.
Lord in Your mercy,            Hear our prayer.

That we will be active in meeting the basic needs of the hungry, the homeless, the poor and the unemployed.
Lord in Your mercy,            Hear our prayer.

That we will be thankful for the love that God has poured out into our hearts through His Holy Spirit by demonstrations of love toward God and our neighbor.
Lord in Your mercy,            Hear our prayer.

For our own special intentions. (Pause)
Lord in Your mercy,            Hear our prayer.

Lord God, You are the fountain of all life.  Hear our prayer and give us the grace to share the love of Christ with those we meet.  We ask this all through His precious Name. AMEN