Description
Matthew 4:1-11
We mark this first Sunday of Lent with a reading of the forty days that Jesus spent in the desert being tempted by the devil prior to his public ministry. As Lent leads us to the celebration of Holy Week and Easter, we have our own forty days ahead of us. This Lenten journey calls us to reflect on our lives, the wandering we have done, the temptations which we have experienced, the struggles we have endured and the dark places we have entered. But like our Jewish ancestors, we are reminded that God is faithful and compassionate as we wander, leading us forward with “a strong hand and outstretched arm.” And Jesus, no stranger to temptation, kept walking forward united with the Father and committed to the mission he had received. During this time, we are invited to remember God’s faithfulness to us no matter where our journey has led us; to discover that our wanderings surprisingly may be the very place where the power of God’s mercy and love for us are most evident; and to acknowledge that the gifts that come from mercy are gratitude, humility and freedom. Receiving them, we can stop our wandering and begin building a home where the gifts we have been given provide a restorative place for fellow wanderers.
We Lift Our Hearts in Worship
[Preservice options include video countdowns, worship song videos, welcomes), CDs, or live music.]
Welcome & Time of Greeting
Pastor / Worship Leader
I welcome each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ! Today we celebrate the first Sunday of Lent. Let us welcome in this season of reflection, sacrifice, and dedication. In so doing, we will receive the much-needed grace it offers and be made ready to celebrate the Resurrection. Today, let us enter into the desert with and in Jesus, and overcome the devil through the strength He alone can give.
Time of Praise and Worship
Blessed Be Your Name
Beth & Matt Redman, ©2002 Thankyou Music
Who You Say I Am
Ben Fielding | Reuben Morgan, © 2017 Hillsong Music Publishing (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)
Lord I Need You
Christy Nockels, Daniel Carson, Jesse Reeves, Kristian Stanfill, & Matt Maher, ©2011 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) sixsteps Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Sweater Weather Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Valley Of Songs Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing) Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
[Traditional Options]
O Lord, Throughout These Forty Days
CHH 180; EH 142; ELW 319; LBW 99; LSB 418; LW 92; NCH 211; PH 81; RS 553; WC 200; UMH 269; WAR 252
God, Who Made the Earth and Heaven
ELW 564; HFG 4; LBW 281; LSB 877; LW 492; WC 366; UMH 688
Praise to You, and Adoration
LSB 692
Invocation
Pastor / Worship Leader
God, our Creator, as we begin our journey through Lent, help us to listen more intently to your Word so that we may return to you with our whole heart. Give us the grace to honestly acknowledge our sinfulness and accept your forgiveness. Send your Spirit upon us now as we gather together and experience your endless mercy and love.
Worshipers
Lord, lead us to the fullness of your grace. Amen.
Opening Prayer / Theme Introduction
Pastor / Worship Leader
God of wilderness and water, your Son was baptized and tempted as we are. Guide us through this season, that we may not avoid struggle, but open ourselves to blessing, through the cleansing depths of repentance and the heaven-rending words of the Spirit. Amen.
Worshipers
Loving creator, we ask you to guide our hearts back to you during this season of Lent. Let us be aware of the many ways you reach out to help us today and let us stand in awe of the power that you use in such loving ways.
Time of Confession and Forgiveness
[Alternate location: following Message]
Pastor / Worship Leader
Bring us back to you. This week we pray for a renewal of our lives. We are beginning to be more attentive and alert. We are trying new patterns. The difficulties we encounter keep us humble. Our desire is clear. We want the “self-sacrificing love of Christ” – which brings us mercy and healing – to be “reproduced in our lives.” In our journey, we seek to savor the meaning of Jesus’ self-less love, that we might reflect that love to others. Today, we desire nothing less than God’s re-creating us – breathing new life into us.
Worshipers
O God, whose heart is deep and wide with mercy, I long to be filled with your light and peace. In spite of my failings and my fruitless efforts you never give up on me. May the life of Jesus continue to inspire me on my Lenten journey of conversion. May my every word and deed reflect Your generous love.
We Hear God’s Word
[Read aloud both the introduction and Scripture]
First Reading Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
In his reading we go back to the origins of Man’s Fall in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve are living in paradise with God, caretaking their lush and verdant home in the Garden God has created for them. God gives them one restriction – “You must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil,” because to do so would mean death for mankind. Enter the serpent, who tempts the humans to disobey God through manipulating the truth, casting doubt about God’s trustworthiness and promoting self-will over God’s rule. Adam and Eve, of course, fail this test and fall from grace into temptation and disobedience.
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so, they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
