{"id":5975,"date":"2020-03-27T08:54:52","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T13:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/?p=5975"},"modified":"2020-04-14T08:32:33","modified_gmt":"2020-04-14T13:32:33","slug":"march-15-worship-from-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/2020\/03\/march-15-worship-from-home\/","title":{"rendered":"March 15, Worship from Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chilmark Community Church<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sunday, March 15, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

Third Sunday in the Lenten Season<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIn nearness shall Thy voice be heard;<\/em><\/p>\n

Spirit to spirit Thou doth speak.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

(Alfred Henry Vine)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Scripture Reading for the day is from St John 4: 5-42<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are happy you are reading, reflecting and worshiping from home. \u00a0 Our Scripture reading for reflection is from the Gospel according to St. John. It tells the story of the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at Jacob\u2019s well as he was travelling through Samaria on his way to Jerusalem.\u00a0 (Please read the record of the event from the Gospel.)<\/p>\n

Water and Food<\/strong>\u00a0are two basic human needs. In the Gospel narrative the woman, like Nicodemus (last week\u2019s reading), misses the point regarding spiritual things.\u00a0 When Jesus offered her\u00a0\u201cliving water\u201d but\u00a0<\/strong>she thought it was physical water from Jacob\u2019s well.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0She saw and thought of only the physical and not the spiritual.\u00a0\u201cEveryone who drinks of this water will never thirst again,\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>said Jesus.\u00a0 The woman light-heartedly asked Jesus\u00a0to give her that living water so that she would have no more need to return to the well.<\/strong>\u00a0 Jesus spoke of the water that quenches our spiritual thirst and yearning.\u00a0 Jeremiah noted that\u00a0\u201cit is the Lord who is the fountain of living water.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0 Jesus pointed to the Messianic age in which,\u00a0\u201cThey shall not hunger and thirst\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0any more (Isaiah 49:10).<\/p>\n

There is the\u00a0larger theological question of the nature of the souls of human beings and the nature of the Divine Soul (Holy Spirit) and<\/strong>\u00a0how these two relate to each other.<\/strong>\u00a0Paul, in his epistle to the Romans 8:16 noted that \u201cit is that very Spirit (God\u2019s Spirit) bearing witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Your soul and my soul are connected to God\u2019s Holy Spirit and in constant communication.<\/p>\n

Along with this there is also the question of God granting us free will.\u00a0 In the midst of our Spirit to spirit connection God grants freedom of will.\u00a0 So it was for Adam and Eve. So it was for the Israelites in the desert, so it was for the people of Jesus\u2019 time and so it is for us today.\u00a0 Think of our biggest human struggle and how crucial today\u2019s reading is to the question:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWho\/What satisfies our deepest needs: \u201cliving water,\u201d wine, strong drink or what?\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>Every human soul is thirsty and needs to be quenched at the fountain of \u201cliving water\u201d given in God through Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

May God\u2019s Divine Spirit continue to speak to your spirit and mine in this time of uncertainty and dread.<\/p>\n

Richest blessing as we travel the road Jesus walked during this holy Lenten Season!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let us Pray:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Almighty and everlasting God,<\/p>\n

giver of health and salvation,<\/p>\n

we give thank for your presents with us in times of both health and illness.<\/p>\n

As your holy apostles anointed many who were ill,<\/p>\n

so pour out your Holy Spirit on us and especially on those who are ill, afraid or mourning the passing of a loved one.<\/p>\n

Increase our faith and confirm our hope in you,<\/p>\n

through Jesus Christ our Lord.<\/p>\n

Amen<\/p>\n

The Lord\u2019s Prayer:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our Father, who art in heaven,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hallowed be thy name.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,<\/strong><\/p>\n

On earth as it is in heaven.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Give us this day our daily bread.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And forgive us our trespasses,<\/strong><\/p>\n

As we forgive those who trespass against us.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amen.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chilmark Community Church Sunday, March 15, 2020 Third Sunday in the Lenten Season \u201cIn nearness shall Thy voice be heard; Spirit to spirit Thou doth speak.\u201d (Alfred Henry Vine) \u00a0 Scripture Reading for the day is from St John 4: 5-42 We are happy you are reading, reflecting and worshiping from home. \u00a0 Our Scripture […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-worship-and-teaching"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5975"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5997,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5975\/revisions\/5997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}