Lent 2A-March 1

March 1, 2026
Lent 2A
John 3:1-17 | “Of Water and Spirit”

Call to Worship
Leader: First, the water was deep chaos
and the beginning,
and the Holy witnessed its goodness.

Congregational Sung response, Option 1

I am here in the heart of God.
God is hear in the heart of me.
Like the wave in the water and the water in the wave.
I am here in the heart of God.

In the Heart of God, by Erin McGaughan
Arr. Chanda Rule

Congregational Sung response, Option 2
Wade in the water.
Wade in the water, children.
Wade in the water.
God’s gonna trouble the water.

Wade in the Water, African-American Spiritual

Leader: Then, the water was flooding destruction
and the end,
and the Holy vowed, never again.

Congregational Sung Response

Leader: And then, the water was a saving path
and freedom,
and the Holy brought forth liberation.

Congregational Sung Response

Leader: Then, the water was a sacred sign
and grace
and the Holy said, beloved.

Congregational Sung Response

Leader: And then, the water was a new way
and birth,
and the Holy promised, this is how the kindom comes.

Congregational Sung Response

Invocation
Let this prayer be a womb, nurturing us in water
until the time comes.
Let this prayer be a river, making a way out of no way
until we reach the place that holds us all, together.
Let this prayer be a tear, spilling over with love which is grief which is love
until we cannot tell the difference between a prayer, and a river, and a womb.
Let this prayer be the Spirit, drenching us in new life,
until the kindom comes.

Seeking Transformation and New Life
Call to Transformation
Leader:
I wonder if when Jesus said to Nicodemus,
“…no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit,”
what he was trying to say was,
the river runs through the middle of our body
or
all water is a part of all water everywhere
or
water is life.

This Lent, how might our lives be tested, new understandings opened, and vulnerabilities recognized if we knew ourselves as water and the kindom of God as a watershed?

Time of silent reflection
[Consider accompanying this time of silence with the sound of water, either by pouring water into a basin, bowl, or font or by playing river or ocean sounds].

Prayer for New Life
Leader: For the water in our faucets
and the water in our cells, we pray:
Assembly: God, have mercy.
Leader: For the still polluted water in Flint, Pittsburgh, Newark…
and all the bodies poisoned by racist policies and practices, we pray:
Assembly: Christ, have mercy.
Leader: For the water frozen in tear-gas encrusted snow in Minnesota
and the waters melting in precious glaciers in Antarctica, we pray:
Assembly: God, have mercy.
Leader: Keep us accountable to all the waters that bring forth life;
Assembly: turn us around, Holy One. Amen.

Words of Grace
Leader: Let your soul receive this rest:
justice will roll down like a river
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Assembly: Praise God who forgives us and frees us
inviting us to embrace the grace that goes on and on
like water, an unending cycle of new life.

Invitation to Generosity
The season of Lent invites us to consider what it means for us to live life sacrificially, to lean into Jesus’ call to costly discipleship. How might God be calling you to a new way of sharing your resources to build care and equity in our communities and world? Let us offer whatever gifts we have to love the world like God did in giving God’s Son.

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Dedication
For the loving of the world, these gifts.
For the flowing of the water, these hearts.
For the coming of the kindom, these lives.
May it be so. Amen.

Communion Prayer
Invitation
Leader: In this body, water.
Assembly: In these bodies, water.
Leader: In this bread, these grapes, water.
Assembly: In this flesh, these bones, water.
Leader: Under this floor, water.
Assembly: Above this roof, water.
Leader: All water is a part of all water everywhere.
Assembly: As a part of one another, of this earth,
of the Living Water that brings new life,
all are welcome at this table.

Prayer
First, the water was deep chaos and the beginning,

and the Holy witnessed its goodness.
Then, the water was flooding destruction and the end,
and the Holy vowed, never again.
And then, the water was a saving path and freedom,
and the Holy brought forth liberation.
Then, the water was a sacred sign and grace
and the Holy said, beloved
And then, the water was a new way and birth,
and the Holy promised, this is how the kindom comes.

Then the water was kneeling and washing feet And the Holy said, this is what love looks like. And then the water was a body broken and blood poured out and the Holy prayed, remember.

“Toni Morrison writes, All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was. Back to the body of earth, of flesh, back to the mouth, the throat, back to the womb, back to the heart, to its blood, back to our grief, back back back.

Will we remember from where we’ve come? The water.

And once remembered, will we return to that first water, and in doing so return to ourselves, to each other?

Do you think the water will forget what we have done, what we continue to do?”

Words of Institution

Prayer of Thanksgiving
Leader: For the bread and the cup, for the quenching of communion,

Assembly: Thanks be to God.
Leader: For the flow of liberation which the world cannot destroy,
Assembly: Thanks be to God.
Leader: For the hope of water and Spirit and kindom come,
Assembly: Thanks be to God.

Benediction
As you go out from this wilderness into another
hold close to your heart this promise:
there will be wellsprings
to quench
and cleanse
and lead you to new life.
You are already born of water and the Spirit.
Beloved and blessed.
Like the river
that always finds its way to the sea,
there is a way to be made
toward the kindom
that we can only make
together.
So may God’s blessings flow
in, among and through us.
Amen.

Of Water and Spirit: Service Prayers for the Lent 2A was written by Dr. Sharon R. Fennema who serves as a free-range facilitator, ritualist, activist, teacher, and writer whose work lives at the intersections of race, gender, sexuality and embodied spiritual practices. She is a founding member of the Liberating Lineages Collective.