What we’re singing at First Baptist Church of Berkeley this Sunday
Fourth Sunday in the Season of Lent (theme for Lent: “Lifting Up Our Souls”)
Opening Hymn: “How Deep the Silence of the Soul”
(words: Sylvia Dunstan, 1989; tune: resignation, traditional American tune)
How deep the silence of the soul that lives within your grace.
How full the gratitude of heart in your abiding place.
What rich serenity is found, what courage and release
when wisdom teaches us to seek the gentle path to peace.
Following the Prayer of invocation and Confession, we sing these Words of Assurance (Taíze chant):
In the Lord I’ll be ever thankful, in the Lord I will rejoice.
Look to God, do not be afraid, lift up your voices – the Lord is near.
Psalm of the Day: No. 107 (selected verses)
Sung Response: “Give Thanks unto Our Gracious Lord” (stanza 1)
(words: The Scottish Psalter, 1929; tune: ellacombe)
Give thanks unto our gracious God, who loves us faithfully,
whose tender mercy shall endure through all eternity.
Let God’s redeemed proclaim these words and give God thanks and praise,
who rescued them from danger’s hands, preserved them all their days.
Hebrew Scripture Reading: Numbers 21:4–9 (“Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?”)
Sung Response: “Give Thanks unto Our Gracious Lord” (stanza 2)
God gathered them from distant lands, from north, south, east, and west.
They strayed in desert pathless ways, no city found to rest.
Their weary souls within them faint when thirst and hunger press;
in trouble, then, they cried to God; who saved them from distress.
Gospel text, John 3:14–21 (“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.”)
Sung Response: “Give Thanks unto Our Gracious Lord” (stanza 3)
God made the way before us straight, and God became our guide,
that we would find a lasting home, and there we might abide.
Let all the children of our God sing praises for this grace,
and for the works of wonder done in every time and place!
Hymn in response to the preached message: “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”(words: Isaac Watts, 1707; tune: hamburg, Lowell Mason, 1825)
Stanza 3:
See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Hymn of Dedication: “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”
Stanza 4:
Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.
Hymn for the Lenten Journey: “Go Walk with God in All You Do”
(words: Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, 2004; tune tallis canon, Thomas Tallis, c. 1567)
Go walk with God in all you do, and may God’s love bring joy to you.
May gifts of peace fill all your days, and may God’s truth guide you always.
FBC Berkeley worships at 10:00 am every Sunday in Crouch Classroom, Hobart Hall, on the ABSW campus. Rev. Dr. Nancy E. Hall (ABSW faculty) is the pastor. Our preacher this Sunday is Dr. Norman Gottwald. Come sing with us! We are a Welcoming and Affirming congregation for the LGBTQ community (www.fbcberkeley.org).
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