Welcome to the beginning of our Lent journey. We begin with Psalm 91 – we’ll read this responsively. Please join in with the words in purple (properly “magenta”!)
We sing Luther’s great hymn – Ein feste burg ist unser Gott, “A safe stronghold our God is still …”
Now we pray …
Our Bible reading is Matthew 4:1-11
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you’,
and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
Talk by Glyn – “Join the Resistance”
Here’s an audio-only version for those who cannot see the video:
We sing – “Before the throne of God above” …
Our prayers for the church and the world:
And a prayer from Ann Richards:
Dear Lord we confess our sins but thinking of the temptations which
confronted Jesus in the wilderness we realise this is the easy part.
He rejected the easy way out and chose a path of humiliation at the
hands of those he had come to love. Help us to know right from wrong
when making judgments on the actions of others in this troubled world
where, for many, each day is a test. In all the chaos of present times
help us to see signs of your presence in the natural world, people
about us and by the power of your love let us become bearers of hope,
renewal and life to our world. Amen
We close by saying the grace for each other:
You are most welcome to join us for “virtual” coffee after the service via Zoom – the link is below.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87871925037?pwd=OWlwYWErdG44aWUzVlV3S1hhS1JSQT09
Meeting ID: 878 7192 5037
Passcode: 802672