Thank you for joining us for this live stream (or recording, as the case may be) of Sunday worship. May it bless you! You may need to click “Play” to launch the stream, which will be live just before 10:00 AM.
Welcome to the live stream of worship from Church of the Holy Cross for Sunday, March 17, 2024. You will find the service outline below, and you may download and print the PDF to follow more easily.
Service of Worship, March 17, 2024
Fifth Sunday in Lent
Rev. Eric S. Anderson, Pastor
WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD
Please note that audio and video of this service are being live streamed on the Internet and will be recorded. The right rear section of the sanctuary will not be captured by any cameras. Please be aware that in other sections you may be visible at times.
Prelude: The Cross of Christ Kayleen Yuda
Lighting of the Candles
Ringing of the Bell
Welcome Rev. Eric S. Anderson
* Please stand and join me in the Call to Worship: (based on Psalm 119:9-16)
Jennifer Tanouye
Leader: Let us seek God with our whole heart.
People: May we stay true to God’s commandments.
Leader: Treasure the word of the LORD in your heart.
People: May we not sin against God in action or inaction.
Leader: Meditate on God’s precepts. Fix your eyes upon God’s ways.
People: Let us delight in God’s statutes, and never forget the word of the LORD.
All: Let us worship God!
* Hymn #327: Jesus Loves Me (v. 1-3 English, v. 1 Hawaiian)
* Invocation: (based on Ephesians 2:1-10) Jennifer Tanouye
They came from Greek-speaking places of the world, and said, “We want to see Jesus.” We also want to see Jesus, O God. We want to understand the mystery of how death becomes life. We want to bear much fruit in this life and blossom into eternal life. Come to us in this time of worship, O God, for we have come to you. Glorify your name in us, for Jesus has drawn us to himself and to you. Amen.
Please be seated
WE SHARE THE WORD OF GOD
Anthem: “Sakura” and “Ue Wo Muite” Emi Kobayashi
Time with the Children Marisa Miyashiro
Scripture: Psalm 51:1-12 Jennifer Tanouye
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgment.
Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.
You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and rightspirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willingspirit.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
Sermon: Written on the Heart Rev. Eric S. Anderson
WE RESPOND IN WORD AND DEED
Anthem: He Kanako Okita
Tom Mirenda
Pastoral Prayer
Please join me in 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 debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen
* Hymn #191: Before Your Cross, O Jesus (v. 1-3)
Call to Offering Jennifer Tanouye
We have abundant experience to show us that the world can be a risky place. We have the promises of God to encourage us toward a better, less risky life for us all. We have the summons of God to be part of bringing that better world into being. Whether you share your gift here in the church today, through a gift online, or via an envelope in the mail, let the offering now be received.
Offertory: Father, We Praise Thee Kayleen Yuda
* Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost – Amen
* Offertory Prayer Jennifer Tanouye
You have promised your word in our hearts, O God. And you have won our hearts with the astounding love of Jesus. Accept these gifts from our gratitude, and employ them toward planting your grace in every human heart. Amen.
* Hymn #197: Jesus, Keep Me near the Cross (v. 1-4)
Please be seated
Announcements Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Benediction Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Postlude: The Power and the Glory Kayleen Yuda
* Please stand if you are able.
Permissions
The Cross of Christ
Richard Alan Martens
© 1963 Lorenz Publishing Company
a division of The Lorenz Corporation
(Admin. by Music Services)
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
Jesus Loves Me
Text St. 1 by Anna B. Warner, 1860
St. 2-3 by David Rutherford McGuire, 1971
Hawaiian trans. by Laiana, 19th cent.
Tune JESUS LOVES ME by William B Bradbury, 1862
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
He
Text by Richard Mullan
Tune by John Richards
Streamed by permission CCS License #13303
Before Your Cross, O Jesus
Text by Ferdinand Q. Blanchard, 1929
Tune ST. CHRISTOPHER by Frederick C. Maker, 1881
Public Domain
Father, We Praise Thee
Benton Price
© 1968 Lorenz Publishing Company
a division of The Lorenz Corporation
(Admin. by Music Services)
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
Jesus, Keep Me near the Cross
Text by Fanny Crosby, 1869
Tune NEAR THE CROSS by William H. Doane, 1869
Public Domain
The Power and the Glory
arr. by Chester Nordman
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890
Dates to Remember
Today: March 17— Deacons Meeting after worship
Pastor Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Moderator Stefan Tanouye
Lay Reader Jennifer Tanouye
Guest Speaker Marisa Miyashiro
Guest Instrumentalist Emi Kobayashi
Choir Accompanist Kanako Okita
Guest Vocalist Tom Mirenda
Choir Director Doug Albertson
Organist Kayleen Yuda
Hand Bell Director Anna Kennedy
Chapel Decorations Ruth Ohata
Projected Imagery Sue Smith
Web Master Ruth Niino-DuPonte
Videographers Eric Tanouye, Eli Yamaki
Ruth Niino-DuPonte, Bob Smith
We welcome you to worship this day. Church of the Holy Cross seeks to help its members, friends, and visitors follow the guidance of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, encouraging all people to love one another according to the teachings of Jesus. We live and teach the faith, speak good news, minister to people near and far, and work with other households of faith and helping agencies to improve our community and our world. To support our ministries, please visit our Donate Page.
