5th March, 2023, 10.30am

To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:
Grace to you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:7)

Presider & Preacher: The Rev. Austin K. Rios

Organists: Stefano Vasselli & Kenneth Miller

The readings are taken from the New Revised Standard version of the Bible; the Psalms follow the Book of Common Prayer.

This service will be live-streamed on YouTube.

Prelude

Psalm
Herbert Howells (1893-1983)

Processional Hymn

Forty days and forty nights
Aus der Tiefe

All stand and sing

Forty days and forty nights
thou wast fasting in the wild;
forty days and forty nights
tempted, and yet undefiled.

Should not we thy sorrow share
and from worldly joys abstain,
fasting with unceasing prayer,
strong with thee to suffer pain?

Then if Satan on us press,
Jesus, Savior, hear our call!
Victor in the wilderness,
grant we may not faint nor fall!

So shall we have peace divine:
holier gladness ours shall be;
round us, too, shall angels shine,
such as ministered to thee.

Keep, O keep us, Savior dear,
ever constant by thy side;
that with thee we may appear
at the eternal Eastertide.

George Hunt Smyttan (1822-1870)

Opening Acclamation

Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and for ever. Amen.

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Kyrie

All sing together.

Kyrie eleison, kyrie eleison, kyrie eleison, eleison, eleison.
Christe eleison, Christe eleison, Christe eleison, eleison, eleison.
Kyrie eleison, kyrie eleison, kyrie eleison, eleison, eleison.

The Collect of the Day

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

All are seated for the readings and the psalm.

The First Lesson

Genesis 12:1-4a

A reading from Genesis.

The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The Psalm

Psalm 121
Levavi oculos

We remain seated and sing the refrain with the choir.

Refrain: My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills; *
from where is my help to come?
2 My help comes from the Lord, *
the maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be moved *
and he who watches over you will not fall asleep.
4 Behold, he who keeps watch over Israel *
shall neither slumber nor sleep; [Refrain]

5 The Lord himself watches over you; *
the Lord is your shade at your right hand,
6 So that the sun shall not strike you by day, *
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; *
it is he who shall keep you safe.
8 The Lord shall watch over your going out and your coming in, *
from this time forth for evermore. [Refrain]

The Second Reading

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans.

What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.

For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.

For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) —in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The Gospel Hymn

Blessed Jesus, at thy word
Liebster Jesu

All stand and sing.

Blesséd Jesus, at thy word
we are gathered all to hear thee;
let our hearts and souls be stirred
now to seek and love and fear thee;
by thy teachings pure and holy,
drawn from earth to love thee solely.

All our knowledge, sense, and sight
lie in deepest darkness shrouded,
till thy Spirit breaks our night
with the beams of truth unclouded;
thou alone to God canst win us;
thou must work all good within us.

Gracious Lord, thyself impart!
Light of Light, from God proceeding,
open thou our ears and heart,
help us by thy Spirit’s pleading.
Hear the cry thy Church upraises;
hear, and bless our prayers and praises.

Tobias Clausnitzer (1619-1684)

The Gospel

John 3:1-17

The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
Glory to you, Lord Christ.

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Christ.

The Sermon

The Rev. Austin K. Rios

All are seated

The Nicene Creed

All stand and say together:

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Prayers of the People

Stand or kneel for the Prayers as you are able.
In the pauses please add you own prayers and thanksgivings, aloud or in silence.

Behold, children of God, it is the Lord who watches over you. As people sent forth into the world, let us pray, saying, “Lord, bless us, So that we may bless others.”

Lord, preserve your Church from all evil. May we, who have been born of water and the Spirit, proclaim the kingdom of God in all the world.

Pause