March 22, 2026

Fifth Sunday in Lent

Order of Worship

In-Person Sunday Morning Service at 9:30 am

or Recorded Worship Service

To access our recorded service, please visit our website:

www.umcw.org/sermons

The Best Is Yet To Be

BOLD indicates congregational SPEAKING participation

GATHERING AS THE BODY OF CHRIST

Prelude

"When Jesus the Healer Passed Through Galilee"

UMH #263

Welcome and Sharing of Announcements

A Time to Connections

(in-person service only)

Meditation Time

Call to Worship

Liturgist: Friends, we gather in this season of Lent, a time of waiting, questioning, and hope.

People: We come with hearts that know both sorrow and expectation.

Liturgist: In Bethany, Jesus stood among the grieving and shared in their tears.

People: Our Savior knows our pain and walks beside us.

Liturgist: Yet even before the tomb, Jesus spoke a word of life.

People: God's power is greater than death.

Liturgist: Even when the stone seems heavy and the future uncertain,

People: God's is still bringing life out of darkness.

Liturgist: Come, let us worship the One who calls us by name.

People: For with God, our story is not finished - the best is yet to be.

Opening Prayer

God of life and resurrection, We come before you carrying the weight of this world – our griefs, our questions, and the hopes we hardly dare to name. In the story of Lazarus, we see that Jesus does not stand far from human sorrow. He stands among the grieving. He shares our tears. Yet even in the shadow of the tomb, your power to bring life is revealed. Meet us where we are today, O God. Stand with us in the places where we feel stuck and speak again your word of life. Call us out of whatever binds us, and help us trust that even now your grace is still at work and your future is still full of life. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, the resurrection and the life. Amen.

Opening Hymn

"O How I Love Jesus"    

UMH #170

Message in Music

"It Is Well with My Soul"

by John Ness Beck

Adult Choir

Young Disciples' Time

Courtney Till

Joys and Concerns

Lord's Prayer

Prayer Response

"O Lord, Hear My Prayer"

TFWS #2200 (2 times)

ATTENTION TO THE WORD OF GOD

Scripture Readings: John 11:32-45

32When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35Jesus began to weep. 36So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” 38Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” 40Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” 41So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” 43When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

45Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. (NRSV)

Liturgist: The word of God for the people of God.

People: Thanks be to God.

Message

 "The Best Is Yet To Be”

Pastor Jinyong Choi

WE RESPOND

Offering

"Hymn of Promise"

UMH #707

Doxology

UMH #95

Offertory Prayer

Generous and faithful God, Everything we have comes from your gracious hand – the breath in our lungs, the strength for each new day, the hope that carries us forward even in uncertain times. Today we bring these gifts before you, not simply as an obligation, but as a sign of trust in your abundant future. Use these offerings to bring life where there is weariness, hope where there is despair, and compassion where the world has grown cold. Just as Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb, use your church to speak words of life in a weary world. Bless these gifts and those who give them, so that through them your love may be seen, your grace may be shared, and your life may continue to rise among us. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

Closing Hymn

   "I Am Thine, O Lord"

UMH #419

The Blessing and Sending Forth

Pastor: Friends, we have heard again the story of Jesus standing before the tomb.

People: The place that seemed like the end.

Pastor: Yet even there, Christ spoke a word of life.

People: "Come out."

Pastor: So go now into the world, trusting that God is still at work - even in places that feel closed, dark, or uncertain.

People: We go with hope.

Pastor: Go knowing that Christ walks with us in our sorrow and calls us toward new life.

People: We go with courage.

Pastor: And may the God who brings life out of death, the Christ who weeps with us and calls us by name, and the Spirit who unbinds what holds us captive be with you today and always.

People: Amen. The best is yet to be.

Benediction Response

"Peace"

by Gregory Norbet, O.S.B

Adult Choir with Larry Guilmartin, soloist

(in-person service only)

IN-PERSON WORSHIP SERVICE

Liturgists: Bev Welsh

Ushers/Greeters: Nancy Keelan

Organist: Matt Cron

Sound: Joe Solodiuk

Projection: Sharon Lipp

Video: Sharon Lipp

Our Mission Statement

“God calls us to be disciples of Jesus, building community through service and fellowship and sharing the love of Christ with all.”

Our Openness Statement

“The United Methodist Church of Westford is an open and welcoming community of Christian Faith. Without any exceptions, we welcome anyone who seeks to love and to serve God.”

Please click here for “A Statement of Our Openness”.

www.umcw.org

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