'Creative church' for March 8th

This is a different style of service, with breaking up into groups & an informal feel... will also post the sermon when it's thought about!

‘What is Lent all about?’

Gather:

Call to worship
Sing: ‘Will you come and follow me..’
Prayer
Intro

Scripture: Mark 8: 31-38 (as dramatic reading - below)

Sing: Take O take me as I am (Iona - unaccompanied)

Each person given a ‘fold-up’ cross & proceed to one of 3 stations (to rotate around) – or under 5s may go to children’s area

(We sing ‘take O take me’ as we move each time)

Station 1
Confession:
On Ash Wednesday we ask God for a new start as lent begins
Take a quarter of the cross shape
Write on it the things you would like God to take out of your life
Burn it (Ian can decide how best to do this!)
The ash could be placed on the forehead on back of hand, in a cross as a sign of forgiveness

Station 2
Life is about balance.
Lent is about GUS (give something up) & TOM (take on more)
Take 2 more quarters of the cross and write on them something you want to give up, and something you want to take on – place them on the ‘balance’

Station 3
We give thanks to God for all he gives us – and respond with our offertory gifts and with the offering of our prayers for others.
Use one quarter of the cross to write your prayer for another.
Place these burdens at the foot of the cross (on the High Altar) – the prayer box will also be there, and the offertory plate.

Gather back together
Now our hands are empty – all four parts of our cross have gone – we can receive.
Lent is about pausing and emptying our lives of some of the business & thinking about Easter – Jesus death on the cross and his living again.
Everyone is given a second cross, to take away with them. You might like to jot down on each part of the cross what you thought about at each of the stations.
We cannot take away any part of the cross – Peter wants to leave out the suffering of Jesus, but it is necessary. Jesus tells us to take up our cross – to accept life contains suffering, to give all of our lives to God.

Sing; Take my life and let it be

Say Lord’s prayer together

Blessing


Mark 8: 31-38 as dramatic reading

Narrator: Jesus began explaining things to his friends:
Jesus: The Son of Man must go through suffering, be tried and found guilty by the elders, high priests, and religious scholars, be killed, and after three days rise up alive.
Narrator: He said this simply and clearly so they couldn't miss it. But Peter grabbed him in protest.
Peter: Impossible, Master! That can never be!
Narrator: Turning and seeing his disciples wavering, wondering what to believe, Jesus confronted Peter.
Jesus: Peter, get out of my way! Satan, get lost! You think like a human being, you don’t think the way God thinks.
Narrator: Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said
Jesus: Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for? If any of you are embarrassed over me and the way I'm leading you when you are with your fickle and unfocused friends, know that you'll be an even greater embarrassment to the Son of Man when he arrives in all the splendor of God, his Father, with an army of the holy angels.

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