Description
Mark 1:9-15
Mark chronicles three distinct events just in these few verses- The baptism of Jesus by John where God speaks and says He loves and is pleased with His Son. (We can see the Trinity in verses 10-11) The temptation of Jesus by Satan for forty days in the wilderness. And Jesus starting his ministry in Galilee with a very specific message of the good news, “The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe.”
We Lift Our Hearts in Worship
[Preservice options include video countdowns, worship song videos, welcomes), CDs, or live music.]
Welcome & Time of Greeting
Time of Praise and Worship
King of My Heart
John Mark McMillan & Sarah McMillan, © Meaux Jeaux Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)
Raucous Ruckus Publishing (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing) McMillan, Sarah (Admin. by Moniker Music Group)
The Way
Ben Smith | Daniel Bashta | Pat Barrett, © Heritage Worship Publishing (Admin. by Bethel Music Publishing) Capitol CMG Genesis (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing) Housefires Sounds (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing) Go Forth Sounds (Admin. by Heritage Worship Publishing) Bread & Wine Sounds (Admin. by Watershed Music Group)
The Power Of The Cross
Keith Getty & Stuart Townend, ©2005 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
[Traditional Options]
Cross of Jesus, Cross of Sorrow
CH 335; EH 160; HS98 823; HLC 153; LSB 428; WC 214
In The Cross Of Christ I Glory
BH 91 554; CH 328; CW 345; ELW 324; HFG 251; LBW 104; LSB 427; LW 101; NCH 193; PH 84; WC 209
Mark How the Lamb of God’s Self-Offering
LSB 600; NCH 167
Invocation
Pastor / Worship Leader
We come, trusting in God’s mercy and love, longing to know and to learn more about God’s ways.
Worshipers
We come, to be guided in the ways of God’s truth—to experience the joy of God’s salvation.
Pastor / Worship Leader
We come at the beginning of our Lenten journey, aware of God’s steadfast love helping us to overcome
the trials and temptations which can descend on us at any time.
Worshipers
Lead us, O God, to do what is right in your eyes and teach us to follow the humble way of Christ, your beloved Son, our crucified and risen Lord.
Pastor / Worship Leader
God of revelation, unveil your Kingdom in our midst. Show us who we truly are in you.
Worshipers
So, lead and guide us on this Lenten way. May we walk with Jesus toward the hill just outside of Jerusalem. May we, like Him take up our cross and follow, spending each moment of our lives living responsively to You, just as Christ Himself did. For that is the faithful way.
Pastor / Worship Leader
Praise the Lord. Amen!
Worshipers
Amen!
Opening Prayer / Theme Introduction
Pastor / Worship Leader
Lord, after you were baptized by John, you went by yourself to the wilderness where you were tempted.
Forty days in the desert, you were tempted to become relevant, spectacular, and powerful. God, you know our hearts. You have knitted our inmost being and you know our deepest desires, fears, and worries. Help us to journey during this Lenten season into a new awareness of your presence in our lives. Save us from our own temptations, so that we may more freely follow you. Help us to believe and repent and proclaim, as you did, the good news; That the kingdom of God is near. Amen.
Worshipers
Amen!
Time of Confession and Forgiveness
[Alternate location: following Message]
Pastor / Worship Leader
Jesus says: “The time is ready, the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the Gospel.”
Worshipers
O come, let us return unto our God, who will have mercy and abundantly pardon.
Pastor / Worship Leader
Most holy God, we confess to you and each other that we are so dazzled by the false gods of this age, that we find it hard to recognize who we are, where we came from, or where we are going.
Worshipers
We easily become caught up in selfishness, seduced by cynicism, waylaid by glittering consumerism, and led by the nose along the highways and byways created by powerful, vested interests. Please open our eyes that we may see ourselves more clearly, and seek you more diligently.
Pastor / Worship Leader
Most loving God, arrest the false god’s that have diverted us, show us the deceits that have blurred our vision, unmask the poverty of our goals and longings, expose the cheap values that parade as virtues, save us from permitting a rift between Christ and us, and deliver is from cheap guilt and trivial remorse.
Worshipers
Please bring us to an honest repentance, the forgiveness of sins, and the renewal of our faith and love.
Pastor / Worship Leader
May the Father of all mercies cleanse us from our sins and restore us in his image to the praise and glory of his name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Worshipers
Amen!
We Hear God’s Word
[Read aloud both the introduction and Scripture]
First Reading Genesis 22:1-18
Abraham, who had waited until he was 100 years old to have a son, is now faced with the supreme test of his faith. God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Abraham is obedient- and trusting. He builds an altar and places wood and Isaac upon it, ready to slay him. He is stopped at the last second and provided with a ram to sacrifice. The Lord in Heaven, who will someday send His own son to be sacrificed, commends Abraham, and blesses him and his descendants through all the nations.
Sometime later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” 3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you. ”6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together. 9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” 13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” 15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
