OPENING PRAYER
Holy and gracious God,
As we gather in this season of reflection and renewal,
we come before You as people both burdened and blessed—
carrying dreams and disappointments,
memories and hopes,
criticisms we’ve received and words we’ve spoken.
We confess, O Lord, that we have allowed voices other than Yours
to define who we are and what we can become.
We have clung to old wounds and worn criticism like familiar clothing,
sometimes preferring the comfort of our limitations
to the challenge of Your boundless possibilities.
Like Mary who poured out precious perfume at Your feet,
teach us the courage to act in bold faith
even when others question our judgment.
Like Paul, who counted his impressive credentials as loss,
Grant us wisdom to discern what we must release
to take hold of the future You have prepared.
In the quiet of this moment, we bring before You
those voices that have held us captive—
the criticisms that echo in our minds,
the expectations that have become burdens,
the failures we cannot seem to forget.
God of new beginnings,
as we journey through this Lenten season,
help us to recognize what we need to lay down
so that our hands might be free to reach for what lies ahead.
For our children and young families,
shield them from words that wound their spirits,
and help us to speak life and possibility into their hearts.
For those among us struggling with regret or shame,
Pour out Your grace like healing oil.
For our community of faith,
may we be quick to encourage and slow to criticize,
creating spaces where all can grow into the fullness of Your calling.
We pray this in the name of Jesus,
who faced the ultimate rejection
yet pressed forward in perfect love,
all the way to the cross and beyond.
Amen.
SERMON
POINT: The most enduring obstacles to our growth are the voices we have
POINT: We often carry people’s
DATA: According to research from the National Science Foundation, the average person has between 12,000 and 60,000 thoughts per day, and up to 80% of those thoughts are negative. Many of these thoughts are recycled criticisms we’ve internalized from others.
POINT: Jesus invites us to let go of outdated
John 12:1-8 NRSV
Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him.
Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.)
Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
Philippians 3:13-14: “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
POINT: The world will always have an opinion—but God’s voice is the only one that
QUESTION: Is this criticism helping me grow or holding me back?
POINT: Our faith is about learning to let go of old labels and embrace new
LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.