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TRINITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
March 29, 2026
Sixth Sunday of Lent
GATHERING AND PREPARING TO WORSHIP GOD
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Leader: Christ is risen!
People: He is risen indeed!
PRELUDE: “Fanfare on All Glory, Laud and Honor” Michael Burhardt
Readying Our Hearts (A time of silent prayer and reflection in preparation for worshiping God together.)
Scripture for Meditation and Memorization for Lent – Jesus’ sixth “I Am” statement as recorded in John’s Gospel, where Jesus said (John 14:6):
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
LENTEN CANDLE EXTINGUISHING.
Call to Worship: (based on John 4:24; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21)
Leader: Let us worship God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ.
People: We are a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Leader: Let us worship God as Christ’s ambassadors.
People: Through us and through our worship may we announce the good news to all.
Leader: Let us worship God in spirit and in truth.
People: Praise God! We are reconciled, redeemed, renewed!
Scripture Reading: John 14:1-10 (Pew Bible p. 1675)
[Jesus said] “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
Lenten Meditation.
The mood of our day is tolerance. And the reason for such a climate within political, social, and religious circles is the absence of Absolute Truth. Yet today we read from John’s Gospel of One who claims to be the Way, the Truth, the Life.
Jesus Christ was making an absolute truth claim that He alone is the only way to God.
So what are we to do with such a statement?
Are these the words of a Lunatic?
If so then how do we explain the miracles, the comfort He brought to so many people, and the compassion and self-control exhibited in His hour of greatest trial.
Are these the claims of a great teacher yet mere man?
Would a teacher be considered great if the focus of his teaching was himself and his family?
Yet, the center of Jesus’ teaching was Himself, and His Father.
Would a teacher be considered great if the things he taught were lies?
Yet, the content of Jesus’ teaching was His Deity – that He was equal to God and was in fact God.
Therefore, if Jesus were a mere man, He could certainly never be called a great teacher.
So who then was Jesus – what was Jesus?
The only fair and logical conclusion from the evidence is that Jesus is who He claimed to be, our Savior and the only Lord. He is the way to the Father for all who wish to make that journey.
He is truth. And His life and teachings demonstrate the truth.
He is the author of life and the giver of eternal life, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
Jesus’ claims are absolute and exclusive. Consequently if we wish for the peace and hope God offers, it can only and must come through a relationship with Christ as Lord and Savior.
Jesus is not tolerant when it comes to our object of worship and devotion. Any substitute — no matter how politically, culturally, or religiously correct — is idolatry.
Jesus is the way and the truth and the life. This is a very bold statement made by either a lunatic, a liar, or the only true Lord and God. Which of those options we believe Him to be is our choice, but choose we must – one day.
May the grace of Almighty God empower us to choose Jesus as our Lord and Savior – today and every moment of every day – for our eternal blessing and God’s unmatchable glory.
Extinguishing a Lenten Candle.
Over the past five Sundays of Lent we’ve reflected upon the first five of the ‘I Am’ statements of Jesus as recorded in John’s Gospel. With those reflections we saw Jesus as the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Good Shepherd who also serves as the Gate for His sheep, and “the Resurrection and the Life.” And through these metaphors we encounter Jesus as the only Savior who is our provider, guide, protector, and giver of eternal life – as we trust in Him.
As we extinguish the sixth candle of our Lenten Cross, we’re reminded that Jesus, being “the Way, the Truth and the Life,” is the revelation of the Father – the very Son of God who came to us that we might draw near to and know God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and in knowing God have life eternal with Him.
(Extinguish a purple candle.)
Unison Prayer: Let us pray together . . .
Gracious Father, You have sent Your Son Jesus into this world to offer us forgiveness, peace, and eternal life. You ask only that we believe that He is indeed the Way and the Truth and the Life. Yet our society has so distorted the truth that it is hard at times to distinguish right from wrong, the truth from a lie. Grant us the wisdom to walk in the way of the Lord – keeping our eyes upon You. And give us and the discipline and courage to choose the truth even when the world makes a lie look so attractive. We ask this in the name of Jesus, who is our Savior and Lord, and who made the way for life to the full in You. Amen.
*GATHERING SONG: “Hosanna” Paul Baloche
Acoustic Worship Team
Verse 1:
Praise is rising, eyes are turning to You.
We turn to You.
Hope is stirring, hearts are yearning for You.
We long for You.
Bridge:
When we see You, we find strength to face the day.
In Your Presence all our fears are washed away. Washed away.
Chorus:
Hosanna! Hosanna!
You are the God Who saves us,
Worthy of all our praises.
Hosanna! Hosanna! Come have Your way among us.
We welcome You here, Lord Jesus.
Verse 2:
Hear the sound of hearts returning to You.
We turn to You.
In Your Kingdom, broken lives are made new.
You make us new. (To Bridge and Chorus)
PRAYER OF CONFESSION (unison prayer after silent confession)
O Lord, who on this day entered the rebellious city that later rejected You, we confess that our wills are as rebellious as Jerusalem’s, that our faith is often more show than substance, that our hearts are in need of cleansing. Have mercy on us, Son of David, Savior of our lives. Help us to lay at Your feet all that we have and all that we are, trusting You to forgive what is sinful, to heal what is broken, to welcome our praises, and to receive us as Your own.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: (adapted from Psalm 118:4-5, 14, 17)
Leader: Let those who fear the LORD say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”
People: Out of our distress we called on the LORD; the LORD answered us and set us free.
Leader: The LORD is our strength and our song; He has become our salvation.
People: We shall not die, but we shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD.
Leader: In Christ, God answers us and sets us free! In Christ, we are forgiven!
*All: (Gloria Patri)
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen.
ENCOUNTERING GOD THROUGH GOD’S WORD
SCRIPTURE READING: Matthew 21:1-11 (On the first day of the week, and what has come to be known as Palm Sunday; Pew Bible p. 1531)
As [Jesus and His disciples] approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Leader: This is the word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
ANTHEM: “Come, Sing Hosanna” Stewart/Raney
Choir
SCRIPTURE READING: John 4:4-30, 39-41 (Pew Bible pp. 1651-1653)
Now [Jesus] had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
“I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you — I am he.”
Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers.
They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
Leader: This is the word of the LORD.
People: Thanks be to God.
SERMON: “How to Witness: Imitating the Master Evangelist”
RESPONDING TO GOD’S WORD THROUGH AFFIRMATION,
OFFERING, AND PRAYER
*SONG OF REFLECTION AND RESPONSE #267 “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna”
Hosanna, loud hosanna, the little children sang;
Through pillared court and temple the lovely anthem rang:
To Jesus, who had blessed them, close folded to His breast,
The children sang their praises, the simplest and the best.
From Olivet they followed, ‘mid an exultant crowd,
The victor palm branch waving, and chanting clear and loud;
The Lord of earth and heaven rode on in lowly state,
Nor scorned that little children should on His bidding wait.
“Hosanna in the highest!” That ancient song we sing,
For Christ is our Redeemer, the Lord of heaven our King.
O may we ever praise Him with heart and life and voice,
And in His blissful presence eternally rejoice!
THE CELEBRATION OF THE LORD’S SUPPER AND OFFERING
Invitation
Affirmation of Faith: (Heidelberg Catechism Question #1)
Q#1. What is your only comfort, in life and in death?
That I belong — body and soul, in life and in death — not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of His own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that He protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit His purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for Him.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Words of Institution
Partaking of the Elements and the Giving of Our Offering
“The Palms” Jean Baptiste Faure
(For those joining us in the Sanctuary this morning, you are invited, as you come forward to receive the Communion Elements, and as you feel so led, to place your offering in one of the plates up front. For those unable to be with us physically, you are encouraged to partake of the elements in your home at this time. Also, as you are able, we invite you to set aside your offering as an act of personal dedication at this time, either to be mailed in, dropped off at the church, or brought in when you are able to join us in worship. Let this time be one of receiving from and offering yourself to our Lord — to the praise of His glory.)
Prayer of Commitment
*Sung Response (Doxology)
Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts; Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
SHARING OF JOYS AND CONCERNS
PASTORAL PRAYER OF INTERCESSION/SUPPLICATION
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 debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil; for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
BRINGING OUR WORSHIP INTO OUR WORLD
*SENDING SONG: #268 “Ride On, Ride On in Majesty!” (alternate tune)
Ride on, ride on in majesty! Hear all the tribes hosanna cry;
O Savior meek, pursue Your road with palms and scattered garments strowed.
Ride on, ride on in majesty! In lowly pomp ride on to die.
O Christ, Your triumphs now begin o’er captive death and conquered sin.
Ride on, ride on in majesty! The host of angels in the sky
Look down with sad and wondering eyes to see the approaching sacrifice.
Ride on, ride on in majesty! Your last and fiercest strife is nigh,
The Father on His sapphire throne awaits His own anointed Son.
Ride on, ride on in majesty! In lowly pomp ride on to die,
Bow Your meek head to mortal pain, then take, O Christ, Your power and reign.
*BENEDICTION: (Hebrews 13:20-21)
May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
*POSTLUDE: “Ride On in Majesty”
(please remain standing in silence until completed)
ANNOUNCEMENTS
(Note: Church’s email address – office@trinitychurchtroy.org. Website address – www.trinitychurchtroy.org.)
- If you would like to help support the work of Hope 7 in our local community, we encourage you to drop off non-perishable food items, toiletries and other hygiene items either at Trinity Church, or at Hope 7 directly (M-F 9:30-11:45), or call Sue Laz (518-892-4042) to arrange for a pick-up.
- We are receiving new or gently used clothes for the Capital City Rescue Mission (CCRM). There is a box in the narthex for donations. You may bring your items to the church or call Sue Laz to arrange for a pick-up.
- Church “business-style” cards are available in the narthex. You are encouraged to take some to hand out as you invite others to join us in worship.
- Sunday morning prayer, 8:30-9:00am in the Prayer Room/Library. Join us as we pray for Sunday’s worship as well as other needs, concerns, praises, and thanksgivings. (On Easter morning prayer time will be from 8:45-9:15.)
- Adult Sunday morning Bible Study meets before worship (9:15-10:00am). We’re doing a short study (approx. 8 weeks) on “Revival: Spiritual Awakening in the Reformed Tradition.” (There will be no Sunday school on Easter Sunday.)
- To go along with our Lenten sermon series on Evangelism there are some resources in the literature rack in the narthex to aid us in praying for and sharing our faith with others.
- Holy Week Services – Maundy Thursday (4/2), soup supper at 6:15 followed by worship with communion at 6:45; Good Friday (4/3), worship at 7:00PM.
- We will hold a clothing giveaway on April 18th from 10-1. This is a great time to interact with families in our community and fill a need they have, and hopefully have opportunities to share our faith and invite them to worship with us. If you can help with setup Friday morning and/or Saturday during the event please speak with Sue Laz.
- Serving at the Capital City Rescue Mission, Saturday, April 18th. We will meet at the church at 5:00 for those wishing to carpool to the mission or you can meet us there around 5:30. Serving involves ensuring the tables are set for dinner, serving the meal, and cleaning up the tables afterwards. If you can help, please speak with Sue Laz.
- Spring Clean Up Day, April 25th at 9:00 If you can help please speak with Andy Miller. The tasks to be done will be determined based on the volunteers available to help.
- Blood Drive – Saturday, May 2. We will be hosting a blood drive with the American Red Cross. Please keep this in your prayers that God will bring donors to our church to help supply blood donations that are so desperately needed. Consider donating yourself — your small act of giving blood can be a lifesaving blessing to someone in need. If you would like to provide some snacks for the donors we could use fruit juice boxes, oranges, granola bars or homemade cookies. If you would like to help during the drive either checking in donors or talking with them at the refreshment table, please speak with Peter Laz.
- Community Yard Sale, June 6th from 9-2. If you would like to reserve a space, please speak with Andy Miller. If you would like to help with set-up, clean-up, or manning the food table or church information table, please speak with Sue Laz.