March 10, 2024

WORDS OF GREETING AND GATHERING

Neal Wong

WELCOMING STATEMENT

RISE believes that God has open arms, and so should we. Our Creator wants us to love, accept and affirm every human being, including persons of every age, race, ethnic background, nationality, gender identity, sexual orientation, family or socioeconomic status, educational background, religion or creed, and physical or mental ability. We celebrate our diversity and recognize the sacred worth and dignity of all. Everyone is invited and encouraged to join us as we seek to follow Jesus with mutual respect, understanding, and love.

*Read more about “Why Pronouns Matter” HERE.

OPENING MUSIC

Adam King

“Come Thou Fount”

Come thou fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it
Mount of thy redeeming love

Here I raise my Ebenezer
Here by Thy great help I’ve come
And I hope by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God
He to rescue me from danger
Interposed his precious love

Oh, to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be
Let thy goodness like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, oh take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above

“A Message”

~Coldplay

My song is love
Love to the loveless shown
And it goes on
You don't have to be alone

Your heavy heart
Is made of stone
And it's so hard to see clearly
You don't have to be on your own
You don't have to be on your own

And I'm not gonna take it back
And I'm not gonna say I don't mean that
You're the target that I'm aiming at
And I'll get that message home

My song is love
My song is love unknown
And I'm on fire for you, clearly
You don't have to be alone
You don't have to be on your own

And I'm not gonna take it back
And I'm not gonna say I don't mean that
You're the target that I'm aiming at
But I'm nothing on my own
Got to get that message home

And I'm not gonna stand and wait
Not gonna leave it until it's much too late
On a platform, I'm gonna stand and say
That I'm nothing on my own
And I love you, please come home

And I’m not gonna take it back
And I’m not gonna say I don’t mean that
You’re the target that I’m aiming at
And I’ll get that message home

My song is love, is love unknown
And I've got to get that message home

Scripture Reading

Roy Nelson

John 3:14-21 (CEB)

14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so must the Human One[a] be lifted up 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. 16 God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. 17 God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him isn’t judged; whoever doesn’t believe in him is already judged, because they don’t believe in the name of God’s only Son.
19 “This is the basis for judgment: The light came into the world, and people loved darkness more than the light, for their actions are evil. 20 All who do wicked things hate the light and don’t come to the light for fear that their actions will be exposed to the light. 21 Whoever does the truth comes to the light so that it can be seen that their actions were done in God.”

THEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION

Chris Zepp

TABLE AND LIVE CHAT DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

What do you think about the choice of John 3:16 as a single verse to represent the Christian faith? Can you think of another scripture that would better represent the faith? Do you think it is useful and/or good to simplify the life and teachings of Jesus into a “bite-sized” slogan?
For some, belief (in Jesus) is considered essential to salvation. For others, it is one’s actions and not their beliefs that are most important. What do you think? Which perspective is supported by this scripture (John 3:14-21)? What other scriptures support your perspective?
Judgment isn’t a favored topic among us, but it is central to these verses. Is there good news here about judgment? Are there things in these verses that bother you?

Lenten REFLECTIONS

Amy Lugo

PERSONAL SHARING, Prayer, and Ribbon Ritual

COMMUNION

Pastor Amanda Miller Garber
Servers: Gabe and Nate Carr

SONG

“We Shall Walk through the Valley”

~African American Spiritual

We shall walk through the valley of the shadow of death
We shall walk through the valley in peace
And if Jesus himself will me our leader
We shall walk through the valley in peace

There will be no sorrowing there
There will be no sorrowing there
And if Jesus himself will be our leader
We shall walk through the valley in peace

(Hums)

And if Jesus himself will be our leader
We shall walk through the valley in peace

OFFERING AND NOMOFOMO

Gabe Carr

One of our core values is, "God gives to us, so we give back." We're called to give as a joy-filled response to what we've been given. Your financial gifts make a tremendous difference in the lives of God's beloved in Harrisonburg and beyond. Whether it's helping to make sure children in our community have enough to eat, helping to respond to the mental health crisis in our community, or providing much needed backing for the operating costs of our spaces and staff — your gift is a part of God's dream and we are grateful for everyone who partners with us on this journey!

GIVE NOW

PLEASE HELP WITH WORSHIP! We are always looking for persons willing to volunteer to assist and support our worship gatherings. If you'd be willing to volunteer to help (read, provide food, set-up, serve communion, clean-up run tech, etc) please sign up on this doc for the role and the date(s) of your choosing:

Worship Volunteer Schedule

If you would like to connect more deeply with RISE, you can start by submitting this short form to Get Connected!
You might also consider:

Sign up for texting services:
- Text “RISE” to 833-803-0868 to join the primary list and receive weekly community updates and alerts
- Text “RISEcares” to receive prayer requests, care needs, and community concerns and celebrations
Requests for care and/or prayer can be sent via e-mail to cares@riseharrisonburg.org, texted to 833-803-0868, or submitted online via our RISE Cares form.

Check in and Get Connected!

LENTEN STUDIES

Journey with Lindsay Cowett in discussing all things Lent!

Open Community Study
Tuesdays at 7 pm
Icehouse #203
February 20-March 26

College Student Study
Wednesdays at 7 pm
JMU ENGEO 1207
February 21-March 27
*DOES NOT MEET THIS WEEK*
(JMU Spring Break)

Sign up for either one with the button below!

Sign up for a Lenten Study Group

WONDERING ABOUT THE RISE LEADERSHIP TRANSITION?

Make plans to stay after worship on March 24th for a Q & A time and an opportunity to ask any and all questions you may have about Amanda’s new job, what Alexis is and will be doing, and/or anything you’d like to know about the transition in leadership that is happening at RISE. Additionally, during that time we will also have a brief called charge conference for the express purpose of approving an upcoming change in salary for Alexis. And if you can’t make it - or you just want to get your question out there while you are thinking about it - you can still share your questions via this form:

Submit advance questions

COUNTDOWN to PASTOR AMANDA’s FINAL WEEKEND WITH RISE

7 more weeks to go until…

Taproom Takeover
Brothers Brewery
Saturday, April 27
4-7 pm

We will have food trucks, music, fun, and time with Amanda to hang out and tell stories!

Final Sunday Worship
Court Square Theatre
Sunday, April 28
Exactly 10ish

You won't want to miss Amanda’s last Sunday with RISE!

CLOSING SONG

“Never Gonna Give You Up”

~Rick Astley

We’re no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I
A full commitment‘s what I’m thinking of
You wouldn’t get this from any other guy

I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling
Gotta make you understand

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

We’ve known each other for so long
Your heart’s been aching
but you’re too shy to say it
Inside we both know what’s been going on
We know the game and we’re gonna play it

And if you ask me how I’m feeling
Don’t tell me you’re too blind to see