Lent 2C
Lent 3C
Lent 4C
Lent 5C
Palm/Passion Sunday Year C
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Lent 1C LECTIONARY GENERATED LITURGY First Sunday in Lent Year C Deut. 26: 1-11; Psalm 91:1-2,9-16; Romans 10:8b-13; Luke 4:1-13. Rec. text - NRSV. Hymns are from the Australian Hymn Book (AHB) or Together in Song (TIS) unless otherwise indicated. Worship Leader - normal type. Congregational responses - bold type. Permission is granted to churches to use this material in services of worship. This liturgy remains the property of Moira B. Laidlaw Additional resources for Lent 1C: People, placards and visuals as below - children’s talk; Be Our Freedom Lord, Terry C Falla,Openbook Publishers, Adelaide, South Australia, 1994. CALL TO WORSHIP: Based on Psalm 91 verses1,2,10-13; Romans 10:13 We gather here, trusting in God as our refuge and strength - assured of God’s everlasting care for us. And so, at the beginning and throughout our Lenten journey we have confidence in God’s presence with us in every time of trial and temptation. For everyone who calls on God for help is saved through the sacrificial love of Jesus, our Lord and our Saviour. TIS 574/AHB 485: “Captain of Israel’s host, and Guide” TIS 564/AHB 49: “O God of Bethel” TIS 111/AHB 28: “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation” TIS 211/AHB 139: “Jesus, lover of my soul” PRAYER OF ADORATION AND PRAISE Liberator God, we praise you for acting to release people from whatever enslaves them. Your people of old remembered your great acts of mercy when you freed them from a land of oppression and led them into one flowing with milk and honey. Like them, we remember and celebrate the great gift of your mercy - your love in action. Love revealed forever in Jesus Christ Through his sacrificial life and love, we have been released from enslavement to sin and death. We remember today the beginning of his journey towards an agonising death for him, but towards the gift of life for us. May words of praise and adoration for such love be forever on our lips and in our hearts. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen A WORD WITH CHILDREN/YOUNG PEOPLE. You could perhaps tell something like the following with 3 people with placards around their necks identifying them as a NARRATOR, EVIL THOUGHTS, JESUS, plus a hamburger shaped stone, a crown and money, a picture of the Temple or maybe a church with a large spire. WORSHIP LEADER: In Jesus’ time, it was a regular thing to go without food for a few days or even weeks. This was to help people concentrate more on what God wanted them to do with their lives because it took away the hassle of having to think about what to buy or prepare to eat and so gave extra time for prayer and thinking abut God. Some people still do that today. I don’t think I’d be very good at going without food for any length of tme - I have difficulty just staying on a diet - I find temptations everywhere! Our story from the Bible today about Jesus, tells us how he did not eat for many, many days. This happened after he had heard the voice at his baptism claiming him as God’s beloved Son and he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Maybe he played these events over and over again in his mind like a movie, wondering what God had in mind for him to do next. NARRATOR: After Jesus had been walking through wild, desert country and hadn’t eaten for a week or so, he felt very hungry.... EVIL THOUGHTS: (Holding out the stone) See this stone - looks just like a hamburger doesn’t it. Why don’t you use your power to turn it into one - you wouldn’t be hungry then. JESUS: No - I refuse to use God’s power in that way. I would only be serving myself , and God’s power is for all people. NARRATOR: As Jesus walked a bit further, perhaps thinking about this power he possessed... EVIL THOUGHTS: (Holding out crown and money) Just think how wealthy and powerful you could be. You could live in luxury and rule the whole world. JESUS: No - God is the only one who is to be worshipped. God’s power is for building others up, not to build me up. NARRATOR: And then, as Jesus walked along in prayer, perhaps he pictured the temple in Jerusalem... EVIL THOUGHTS: (Holding up a picture of the temple) You could jump off the very highest point of the temple and wait for the angels to catch you. They would, wouldn’t they?? JESUS: God’s power is not to be used in sensational, high-powered acts. God’s power will be found enabling poor and powerless people to live lives of worth and dignity. EVIL THOUGHTS slinks away. JESUS stands with head bowed and hands together in attitude of prayer. NARRATOR sits down. WORSHIP LEADER: Jesus understood these temptations as evil - tempting him to use his power in ways which would bring glory to himself rather than to God. He was able to resist temptation because he was happy to let God be in control at all times. He must have prayed for God’s strength to keep him strong. There are times in our lives when we will be tempted to do other than what God wants us to do. If we follow Jesus’ example and believe that his power and strength are in us, we will be able to resist doing wrong even as Jesus did. TIS 412/AHB 324: “God sends us his Spirit to befriend and help us” TIS 590/AHB 165: “What a friend we have in Jesus” TIS 745: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God” PRAYER OF CONFESSION Gracious and merciful God, we confess to you our reluctance to enter the wilderness places where we are confronted with our true selves. The places where we are tempted to put wordly values before our desire for you, and when our hunger for power and wealth is greater than our hunger for seeking and doing your will: Forgive us, O God, and increase our trust in you. When we are tempted to use the gifts you give us to benefit ourselves at the expense of serving others: Forgive us, O God, and increase our trust in you. When we are tempted to use sensational means to increase people’s faith, rather than being guided by the humility of Christ: Forgive us, O God, and increase our trust in you. When we are tempted to use bribery to influence and control people: Forgive us, O God, and increase our trust in you. When we are tempted to manipulate you, O God, to satisfy our own needs: Forgive us, O God, and increase our trust in you. A time of silence for personal confession ALL: Merciful God, save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. Forgive us our sins and fill us with the joy and peace of your salvation. So strengthen us with your Spirit during this Lenten season that we put our whole trust in you as confidently as Jesus did. This we pray in his name. Amen ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS As the Apostle Paul wrote: “...if you confess with your lips that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) These words contain the good news that in Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Thanks be to God! OLD TESTAMENT: Deuteronomy 26: 1-11 EPISTLE: Romans 10: 8b-13 GOSPEL: Luke 4: 1-13 SERMON TIS 463/AHB 396: “May this Lenten discipline” TIS 591/AHB 506: “Forty days and forty nights you were fasting in the wild” TIS 430/AHB 337: “Your words to me are life and health” PRAYERS FOR OTHERS ‘Vision and mirage’ page 306f. in Be our Freedom, Lord THE LORD’S PRAYER OFFERING OFFERTORY PRAYER God of grace and mercy, we give thanks for Jesus’ witness to the power of your Spirit, guiding and strengthening him in times of testing. We offer these gifts and the service of our lives as tangible signs of our thanksgiving. As we embark on our Lenten journey, guide and strengthen us with the Holy Spirit to follow Jesus wherever he leads us. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen TIS 684: “Love will be our Lenten calling” Alternate tune Westminster Abbey TIS 432. TIS 609/AHB 537: “May the mind of Christ my Saviour” BENEDICTION: Go into this week secure in the knowledge that the mercy of God enfolds you the love of Jesus Christ holds you fast the power of the Holy Spirit keeps you strong. THREEFOLD AMEN |