Sunday at First Church ~ Fourth Sunday in Lent

Sunday, March 18th

First Church of Christ,
Congregational (UCC)
190 Court Street
Middletown, CT

This Sunday we return to the Sanctuary for worship. Come and join us for worship with our interim pastor, the Rev. Brenda Pelc-Faszcza. First Church is an open and affirming congregation and all are welcome. Worship begins at 10 a.m.

Sermon: Not Your Own Doing. One of the best-known, and most often misinterpreted, of Scripture texts is John 3:16 (“For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son…”) and the passage around it. To hear in it a message that “only Christians are saved” is a mistake. To hear in it a claim that God loves the whole world gets us more on track. The Apostle Paul writes that “by grace you are saved through faith” and that this is “not your own doing.” Learning to see and experience the kind of love God has for everything, including us, depends on our understanding that grace comes freely, and is absolutely not our own doing.

Music
Prelude: Melodious Etude, Marco Bordogni
     Michael Cho, trumpet
Hymn: Lift High the Cross
Anthem: Out Of The Deep, fr. John Rutter, Requiem
     The Senior Choir
Hymn: What Wondrous Love Is This
Offertory: Rock of Ages, Cleft For Me, arr. Seth Bingham
Hymn: Amazing Grace
Postlude: The Kindsfold Trumpet, Aldred Fedak

The Sacrament of Christian Baptism

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:1-10, John 3:14-21

Church School: K-5 ~ Young Peacemakers Club!

Note: Schedule Wednesday Midweek Lenten Service, 12:10 p.m. Lunch will be served. March 21 – St. Pius X Roman Catholic, March 28 – Third Congregational Church.