Home Worship for the week of February 22 – 1st Sunday in Lent
Morning Prayer: Holy God, by the grace of Jesus Christ, You know the tests and trials we face. Journey with us through this wilderness. Come to us with ministers of healing and visit us with messengers of hope, so that we may return to You in faith, believing the good news of the gospel; through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Opening Hymn: #269 Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days
- Lord, who throughout these forty days for us didst fast and pray,
teach us with Thee to mourn our sins and close by Thee to stay. - As Thou with satan didst contend, and didst the victory win,
O give us strength in Thee to fight, in Thee to conquer sin. - As Thou didst hunger bear, and thirst, so teach us, gracious Lord,
to die to self, and chiefly live by Thy most holy word. - And through these days of penitence, and through Thy passion-tide,
Yea, evermore in life and death, Jesus, with us abide.
- Abide with us, that so, this life of suffering over past,
An Easter of unending joy, we may attain at last.
Old Testament Lesson: Genesis 3:1-7
3 The snake was the most intelligent of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say that you shouldn’t eat from any tree in the garden?”
2 The woman said to the snake, “We may eat the fruit of the garden’s trees 3 but not the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden. God said, ‘Don’t eat from it, and don’t touch it, or you will die.’”
4 The snake said to the woman, “You won’t die! 5 God knows that on the day you eat from it, you will see clearly and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 The woman saw that the tree was beautiful with delicious food and that the tree would provide wisdom, so she took some of its fruit and ate it, and also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then they both saw clearly and knew that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made garments for themselves.
Prayers of Intercession: (CORE, adapted) Let us lift our hearts and voices to the Lord in prayer, asking the Lord to be merciful to all people.
Father, thank You for Jesus. Thank You for letting Him be tempted just as we are when we’re at our weakest! Thank You because He stands with us, and for us. Thank You for causing Him to dwell in us, through the worst temptations and struggles we face.
Lord, forgive Your Church when it falls into lukewarm worship, wayward teaching, fractured fellowship, stingy charity, and halfhearted witness. Forgive it when it condemns certain sinners, but re-brands its favorite sins as virtue. Help it to stand firm in Your Word when it is tempted by sins of faithlessness.
Forgive our persecuted brethren throughout the world when their anguish curdles into bitterness, retribution, or loss of faith. Strengthen and heal them, so by their witness, You lead their tormentors to repentance and true faith.
Forgive missionaries and all who seek to be Your disciples, when their passion for the Gospel cools, or when they become impatient or distracted. Kindle the fire of Your Holy Spirit within them, so that they glorify You in all they say and do.
Forgive this congregation when we focus on the speck in another’s eye, ignoring the log in our own. Forgive us when we seek our own will, not Yours. Forgive us when we boast of ourselves, not the Cross of Christ. Fashion us into the image of Jesus, so others, seeing our good works, glorify You alone.
Strengthen us when we are tempted to sin. Warn and rebuke us, so we resist and repent. Guide us, so we feed on Your Word and commit ourselves into Your care. Humble us, so we rely only on our Savior, who in all things was tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Forgive the nations and leaders of the world, including our own. Forgive the arrogance and ambition that drive decisions. Forgive the cruelty, suspicion, and hatred that fuel wars. Forgive the apathy and prejudice that fuel neglect and injustice. Create new hearts within us, and grant us Your peace.
Lord, have mercy on all who are sick, injured, or handicapped; addicted, abused, or abandoned. Be with the frightened, grieving or dying. Deliver them from the powers of sin, death, and the devil. Restore them to fellowship with all who love them. Renew their faith in You, their Savior and Lord.
Into your hands, gracious Father, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy; for the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who taught us to pray together by saying …
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us, not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Offering spotlight: We have entered into the season of Lent. If your Lenten journey includes a financial offering, take a look at the 30 Pieces of Silver offering supplies.
Judas Iscariot betrayed our Savior for money. But when he realized the impact of his betrayal, he confessed and tried to return the money. When considering the sin in your life, confess and ask our LORD how you can sacrifice. What sacrifice of time, repentance and money will atone? What sacrifice will bring you close to the body of Christ, help you in your journey to become more like Jesus and will bless the world.
Offering prayer: Surprising God of Mercy, You meet us in wilderness places and walk beside us through trial and temptation. Even when we feel alone, Your grace is never far, Your presence never absent. In this moment of giving, we offer not just our resources, but our trust that You are already at work, shaping us through challenge, strengthening us through sacrifice, and surrounding us with unseen angels. Use these gifts to bring hope where there is hunger, healing where there is pain, and light where there is despair. May what we give reflect our desire to walk more closely with You, even in the hard places. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Hymn of Preparation: #377 It Is Well With My Soul
- When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.
Refrain: It is well with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul.
- Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
let this blest assurance control,
that Christ has regarded my helpless estate, and hath shed His own blood for my soul.
(Refrain) - My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
(Refrain) - And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
the clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, even so, it is well with my soul.
(Refrain)
4 Then the Spirit led Jesus up into the wilderness so that the devil might tempt Him. 2 After Jesus had fasted for forty days and forty nights, He was starving. 3 The tempter came to Him and said, “Since You are God’s Son, command these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus replied, “It’s written, People won’t live only by bread, but by every word spoken by God.”
5 After that the devil brought Him into the holy city and stood Him at the highest point of the temple. He said to Him, 6 “Since You are God’s Son, throw Yourself down; for it is written, I will command my angels concerning You, and they will take You up in their hands so that You won’t hit Your foot on a stone.”
7 Jesus replied, “Again it’s written, Don’t test the Lord your God.”
8 Then the devil brought Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 He said, “I’ll give You all these if You bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus responded, “Go away, satan, because it’s written, You will worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.” 11 The devil left Him, and angels came and took care of Him.
Message: Pastor Becky
Wednesday began Lent, the 40 days minus the Sundays that cover the time from now until Easter morning. 40 days is chosen to align with Jesus’s fast in the wilderness before beginning His ministry and setting His face toward Jerusalem.
These 11 verses in the 4th chapter of Matthew in essence tell us four things and they become the model of what it looks like as we too struggle with temptation and times of trial.
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- Jesus was led away
- Jesus fasted
- Jesus was tempted
- Jesus was cared for
As we look at each of these, we will see the framework we can use in times of disorientation.
Jesus was led away by the Spirit. It became a time of contemplation, prayer, denial, and meditation. He's preparing to fully embrace and embody who He is and what God has ordained for Him to do. I imagine it much like training, when you focus completely on your objective. We understand training, whether that's for our job, for a sport, or for a hobby or passion. Training could look like college, apprenticeship, internships. It could be specialized camp or reading every book on a subject. It could be watching endless YouTube videos showing us how to do anything – whether that be painting still lives or rebuilding vehicle engines.
Training is vital to commitment. Jesus was focused on obedience to God's will for Him.
Jesus fasted. Scripture highlights His physical hunger from lack of food, yet His fast also included a fast from companionship, comfort, and conversation. His only counsel was God. In order to prepare, He had to remove barriers and distractions. This isn't a judgment against companionship or comfort or conversation. Because Jesus knew He would have time for that after this time of preparation.
We have been known to delay things in our lives as well when we are focused on preparing. I'm sure we can each point to an unattended event because we focused on something else. Maybe we missed a concert or a social event. We would have loved to have been there, yet we were on the path to a destination and the little side trips could have derailed the entire plan.
Jesus was tempted. I want you to notice the timing of these temptations. They didn't come early in Jesus' time alone; they came at the end. The Spirit led Jesus out so that He might be tempted by the devil. Temptations that come too early in our training aren't really temptations. The things that might tempt us don't tempt us early on. We kind of expect them, the little naysaying voices that tell us that we can't, that play in our heads. We can easily fight those off when our conviction, our determination is fresh. We don't heed them. We don't give them any space. We carry on toward our goal.
It's the temptations that come toward the end of our preparation that are the hardest to overcome. Sometimes we think we've done enough. We move ahead before we're truly ready to begin. Our pride conflates our sense of being ready, and sometimes we think that we've gotten this far, we can just wing it from this point. Yet our foundation isn't quite finished and then we come up short and we either end up on a different path entirely or we end up at the very beginning.
We will know our training is complete when nothing can move us from our intended goal.
Jesus was cared for. God knew what Jesus needed after His time away. In my mind I see the angels feeding Jesus, nursing up any physical wounds. They were hearing His thoughts, His confessions, revelations and realizations. The angels came at the end to fill Jesus’ needs.
Here's the thing though, the angels could only be there because God knew what Jesus was doing. God knew about the wilderness, the temptations, the fasting, all of it. And God knew where to find Jesus.
We need angels, and we need to be angels when we're going through a time in the wilderness when everything can disorientate us. We need angels to care for us. We need someone to listen, feed us, care for us. We know that our first response when somebody's going through something is to pray for them, and the second is to feed them, to care for their physical needs.
We are better at being angels, than accepting the help of angels. But I really need you to hear me. When we deny someone from coming to our aid, we're denying them the ability to live into what God has called for them to do. We block their blessing from God. God is sending love and grace to us from each other and we need to accept it as part of our obedience to God.
Here's the other part. In order to be cared for, you have to let someone know that you're going through something. I realize that you may not want a cake or a meal. But by speaking your needs, it offers a relationship and we can only care for each other through relationship. God and Jesus knew each other; they spoke to each other. That should be our model as well, to know each other as God knows us. Often we take each other's word about who someone is. Relationship calls us to see each other as God sees us, it brings us into deeper relationship with God and deeper relationship with all humanity.
Can we spend this Lent looking to be angels to each other and our community? So that we will all experience resurrection and new life with Jesus. Amen.
Closing Hymn: #395 Take Time to Be Holy
- Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord; abide in Him always, and feed on His word.
Make friends of God's children, help those who are weak,
forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek. - Take time to be holy, the world rushes on; spend much time in secret with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be; thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see. - Take time to be holy, let Him be thy guide, and run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord, and, looking to Jesus, still trust in His word. - Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul, each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His spirit to fountains of love, thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.
The blessing: May the Lord bless you as you repent of sins and make Lenten sacrifices.
Go Now in Peace: Go now in peace. Never be afraid. God will go with you each hour of ev’ry day. Go now in faith, steadfast strong and true. Know He will guide you in all you do. Go now in love and show you believe. Reach out to others, so all the world can see. God will be there, watching from above. Go now in peace, in faith, and in love.
