For more than 80 years, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has alleviated the suffering of individuals, families and communities affected by both natural and humanmade disaster.

UMCOR journeys with communities throughout a disaster’s cycle. It focuses on disasters that overwhelm a local community’s ability to respond, such as storms and flooding, earthquakes, fires, volcanoes, war and civil unrest.

Through a strong network of worldwide partners, UMCOR quickly assesses needs in the wake of disaster. UMCOR comes alongside communities at their invitation and encourages their involvement in and ownership of their recovery. UMCOR works collaboratively with local partners to connect survivors to the help they need to rebuild their lives.

From initial relief efforts such as distributing food, water, clothing and hygiene items, to long-term recovery projects like home repair, case management, psychosocial support and restoring livelihoods, UMCOR’s partners select beneficiaries based on need and vulnerability as opposed to other categories such as gender, race or religion.

In 2024 and 2025, UMCOR has provided US relief with the Northwest and Los Angeles wild
fires, hurricanes Helene, Ernesto, Debby, and Beryl, as well as flood and tornado recovery in Missouri and North Georgia. UMCOR has additionally provided disaster relief in the Philippians and Africa.

UMCOR’s ministry would not be possible without the support of those who give generously of their time and resources. Donations to UMCOR allow them to respond quickly and effectively to disasters as they arise. Your gifts this month will help underwrite UMCOR’s administrative and operating costs. This offering allows UMCOR to use 100% of all funds given to humanitarian response and recovery efforts directly to communities in need.

Together, we can alleviate the suffering of those affected by disaster, bringing hope and healing to communities worldwide.

*During March, our Mission collection will be going to UMCOR. We are asking you to go the extra mile and give an additional $12.00. This extra giving will be used to purchase the supplies and pay for shipping for an UMCOR Health Kit.  We will be putting the Health Kits together on Sunday, March 30th. You can also donate on-line. Missions Team will purchase the supplies and have them ready for assembling. There is a tremendous need for Health Kits …from North Carolina to California.

Gathering

Prelude
Cynthia Hibbetts

Welcome
Rev. David Petty

Over the Threshold
Rev. David Petty

Leader: Professor of Jewish Mysticism and beloved author, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, said this: “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement… Get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.”
 
 Sung: Open my eyes that I may see
glimpses of truth thou hast for me.
Place in my hands the wonderful key
that shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Leader: This Lent, we are invited to consider that one of the most important gifts we can give is to be “purveyors of awe.” A purveyor is someone who spreads or promotes a particular idea or who deals in a particular good. Our quest in this season is to promote a state of awe about the lives we’ve been given and revel in the sheer miracles of life that surround us. This is a spiritual journey in the tradition of biblical poets and of mystics. In our modern day, researchers who study wellbeing know that when we cultivate elements that deepen our awe of life, our appreciation for others, our dedication to the good, we live longer, more purposeful and more joyful lives. In a time when we are exposed to the weight of the world by the messages around us, we will spend time on a journey of being exposed to the wonder of the world.

Sung: Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
Open the eyes of my heart,
I want to see you
I  want to see you

Leader: The “wide eye of wonder” creates optimal conditions for awe. When we open our
senses to the “extraordinariness of the everyday ordinary,” we have begun the journey
to a deeper existence than what resides at surface-level. Wonder can be an antidote to
anxiety and depression, pulling us instead toward the awe-filled knowledge that there is
more than meets the eye, there are solutions in the midst of problems, possibilities
where we sense only dead-ends. Let us rise in body and/or spirit and pray:

People: Awe-inspiring God, we come together this day because we need to be reminded
to see through the lens of wonder. Too often, we relegate what is always amazing to what is ever familiar, forgetting that there are mysteries and miracles in the ordinariness of our lives.
Open us to perceive anew. Inspire us to receive our surroundings with awe. Forgive us when we focus only on what’s wrong rather than allowing the right and good to show us the way forward. Be with us on this journey as we seek again to marvel at your works.

Sung: Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Be still and know that God is God. Wonders never cease. God forgives us. Jesus embraces us. The Spirit enlivens us. We are whole. With awe, we accept this belovedness. And all God’s people say, “Amen.”

*Greet Your Neighbor – Passing the Peace of Christ

Mystery Box

*Opening Hymn
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
UMH 384

1. Love divine,
all loves excelling,
joy of heaven,
to earth come down;

fix in us Thy
humble dwelling;
all Thy faithful
mercies crown!

Jesus, thou art
all compassion,
pure, unbounded
love Thou art;

visit us with
Thy salvation;
enter every
trembling heart.

2. Breathe, O breathe
Thy loving Spirit
into every
troubled breast!

Let us all
in Thee inherit;
let us find that
second rest.

Take away
our bent to sinning;
Alpha and
Omega be;

end of faith,
as its beginning,
set our hearts
at liberty.

3. Come, Almighty
to deliver,
let us all
Thy life receive;

suddenly return
and never,
nevermore Thy
temples leave.

Thee we would be
always blessing,
serve Thee as
Thy hosts above,

pray and praise Thee
without ceasing,
glory in Thy
perfect love.

4. Finish, then,
Thy new creation;
pure and spotless
let us be.

Let us see Thy
great salvation
perfectly restored
in Thee;

changed from glory
into glory,
till in heaven
we take our place,

till we cast our
crowns before Thee,
lost in wonder,
love, and praise.

Contemporary Reading
Jackie Fletcher

Reader: Our first reading is a contemporary one–an excerpt from Monica C. Parker,
author of The Power of Wonder:

“Gently peeking its head around mental corners or bombastically announcing its arrival
into our trembling psyche, wonder changes our perspective, our bodies, our souls, and
our lives. Art, music, religion, politics, science, nature, love, fear, birth, death; each of
the myriad experiences that compress to form the bedrock of human life has a golden
vein of wonder running through it.”

Ancient Reading

Excerpts from Psalm 107 and 139
Reader: Ancient poets in our faith tradition saw the world of wonder as an ongoing
expression of creation and care of God. Hear now from the psalmists in chapters 107
and 139.

They called to YHWH in their trouble, and God rescued them from their sufferings, guiding them by a direct route to an inhabited town. Let them thank YHWH for this great love, for the marvels done for all people—for God has satisfied the thirsty and filled the hungry with good things. For all these mysteries I thank you—for the wonder of myself, for the wonder of your works—my soul knows it well.

Approaching an Awesome God

Holy and Living God, we approach this time of prayer with wonder at your world. With all
our senses, we open to you.

Give us lenses of awe with which to perceive and love others as you perceive and love
us. We imagine in our mind’s eye now the people in our lives, the people of our
communities, and the people of our world. Each of them is beloved by you, and this
alone creates awe in us. We especially lift up those who need our prayers in this
moment…For all these people and those we name in our hearts,

People: Hear our prayer, Awesome God.

Give us lenses of awe with which to perceive and love your creation as you perceive
and love it. Each blossom, each sunrise, each unfurling fern reminds us that new life is
possible. You are making all things new all around us. Help us to care for the nature
around us. This week, we name… For all these places, creatures, and lifeforms, and those we name in our hearts,

People: Hear our prayer, Awesome God.

Give us lenses of awe with which to perceive and love life as you perceive and love the
life you have given us. Open us to the wonders around us–the art-fullness of each
encounter, each moment, as a possibility for amazement waiting to happen. Slow us
down in this season of Lent so that we might savor anew the gift of life. We pause in this
silence, setting intentions of awe for the week ahead.

Silent Prayer, 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 trespasses,

as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
Lead us not
into temptation
but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the Kingdom,
and the Power
and the Glory forever.
Amen

Prayer for Illumination

Leader: May the words of my mouth,
People: and the meditations of all of our hearts
All: be acceptable in your sight, O Lord our rock and our redeemer.
Psalm 19:14

Message
Wonder
Rev. David Petty

Invitation to Offering
Jackie Fletcher

Offertory
Sanctuary Choir

Prayer of Thanksgiving
Rev. David Petty

*Doxology
Praise God from Who All Blessings Flow
UMH #94

Praise God, from whom
all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures
here below: Alleluia! Alleluia!
 
Praise God, the source
of all our gifts!
Praise Jesus Christ,
whose power uplifts!
 
Praise the Spirit,
Holy Spirit!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia!

*Closing Hymn
How Great Thou Art
UMH #77

1. O Lord my God!
when I in awesome wonder
consider all
the worlds thy hands
have made,

I see the stars,
I hear the rolling thunder,
thy power throughout
the universe displayed.

Refrain
Then sings my soul,
my Savior God to thee;
how great thou art,
how great thou art!

Then sings my soul,
my Savior God to thee;
how great thou art,
how great thou art!

2. When through the woods
and forest glades I wander,
and hear the birds
sing sweetly in the trees;

when I look down
from lofty mountain
grandeur
and hear the brook,
and feel the gentle breeze;

Refrain
Then sings my soul,
my Savior God to thee;
how great thou art,
how great thou art!

Then sings my soul,
my Savior God to thee;
how great thou art,
how great thou art!

3. And when I think
that God, his Son
not sparing,
sent him to die,
I scarce can take it in;

that on the cross,
my burden gladly bearing,
he bled and died
to take away my sin;

Refrain
Then sings my soul,
my Savior God to thee;
how great thou art,
how great thou art!

Then sings my soul,
my Savior God to thee;
how great thou art,
how great thou art!

4. When Christ shall come
with shout of acclamation
and take me home,
what joy shall fill my heart.

Then I shall bow
in humble adoration,
and there proclaim,
my God,
how great thou art!

Refrain
Then sings my soul,
my Savior God to thee;
how great thou art,
how great thou art!

Then sings my soul,
my Savior God to thee;
how great thou art,
how great thou art!

*Benediction
Rev. David Petty

And now may you go forth remembering Rabbi Heschel’s words: “Get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.”

Be a purveyor of awe this week. Be amazed as you gaze with the lens of wonder at the world around you, as you wonder with hope about what will unfold, as you invite wonder to live and breathe new life in you.

Be a “purveyor of awe,” curating a life of spiritual depth that inspires others to join you on the journey.

May the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of Awe, the Holy One-in-Three,be with you now and throughout these days,
Amen.

Postlude
Cynthia Hibbetts