Lent and Living with Probabilities

1 Lent B      February 18, 2024
Gen. 9:8-17           Ps    25:1-9  
1 Peter 3:18-22         Mark 1:9-13

Lectionary Link
 

Holy Scripture sometimes places together in proximity the notion of temptation, trial, and ordeal.

In the Our Father, we pray, "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."  Or the contemporary translation, "save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil."

Temptation, trial, ordeal, and evil have to do with probabilities in life, which for many are unavoidable.

The lessons from Scripture for today, might pertain to some insights about the covenant that we live in with God, each other and with life itself.  The covenant that we live is our baptismal covenant.  And what is this covenant?  It is a strategy within community to live best with the probabilities of life.

The probabilities of life include everything that may happen to us and how does one prepare for such a great task?  What does one desire when faced with many weals and woes of what may happen to us?

We cannot be unrealistic about freedom; freedom is.  Things happen.  And we have only varying degrees of control over what happens to us in life.  So to have a baptismal strategy is prepare ourselves to live with the probabilities in life.

And what do we desire in living with the probabilities in life?

We want good timing.  We want to be doing the right things, at the right time, and in the right way.  This means that we need training, wisdom, and insights about avoiding what is harmful and unworthy.  We also need to be taught about what is good and beneficial to us and those in our life.  And we also need training to know how to bear up when the things over which we have no control confront and afflict us.

Good timing in life is a desirable goal to have, but to find good timing and to have optimal responses to trouble we need to have training and practice.  And this is part of the reason we have the season of Lent.  Because we know that things can go wrong, how do we purposeful deny ourselves so as to be better prepared to face the conditions of unchosen exigent threats.

The reason athletic teams have pre-season extended training periods is so they can simulate actual game conditions in preparation for the possible game events.

What did Jesus actually have to experience in his life?  Rejection by his family, criticism and persecution by religious leaders, being called crazy or mad, being called one who had a demon, being threatened, being called a drunkard, being called a sinner, being called blasphemous, mocked, betrayed by a disciple, denied by his disciple, abandoned by his disciples, tried for false charges, being  flogged, and being crucified.  How could Jesus be prepared for these?

Those who knew Jesus best believed that he was prepared in an ordeal of an extended temptation.  In his interior life, Jesus had to be prepared for everything that was going to happen to him.  The synoptic Gospels give us accounts of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, a time like a Vision Quest which would tempt his role in controlling the timing of his life.

Jesus understood that he had to live in God's will, God's timing.  The temptations of Jesus in the wilderness are presented as efforts of that inward accuser to get Jesus to do things in the wrong way, at the wrong time, for the wrong motive.  The result of the temptation was Jesus being true to the timing of God for his life.  He was to eat, he was to attain glory and fame, and he was to die, in God's time and way and not in the timing of the evil one.

Where you and I have freedom, means that mistiming is the chief temptation of our lives.  Lent is a season for you and I to ponder continuously good timing for what we do and say.  If probability is the rule of the freedom of life, then you and I need to have insight and wisdom about where we exercise our freedom in what we do and say.

Lent is a good season of probability training for us.  We can use this time to simulate what might happen to us and prepare for how we can maintain ideal timing in our potential responses.  Prayer, Study, discerning from Scripture strategies of ideal timing, seeking community support, and doing the good preventive work of giving alms; these are ways that we can prepare in constructive ways for living with the vast probabilities of life.

So much of this, like the temptation of Jesus, is interior work, because we have to be inwardly prepared before we take on the details of our mission and work in our lives.

Today, let us continue to pray, "lead us not into temptation, save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil,"  but let us also work during this season of Lent to learn good timing in our lives, doing and saying the right things, at the right times, for the right motives, and so progress in our desire to be more Christ-like.  Amen.

Sunday School, February 18, 2024 1 Lent B

  Sunday School, February 18, 2024   1 Lent B

Themes:

The temptation of Jesus

What is temptation?

Temptation is about being tricked into doing things at the wrong time.

If you see a piece of chocolate cake in the kitchen and it is only an hour before dinner, you may want to eat the lovely piece of cake.  But you also know that your mom wants you to wait until it is time for dessert after you eat a good healthy meal.

But you really want to eat the chocolate cake right now.  And so you do and when it comes supper time, you are not hungry to eat good food.  And your mom wants to know about the missing cake.

We are tempted all the time.  We are tempted to have lots of mis-timing in life.  We desire things, right now and we don’t want to wait, even though by not waiting we get into trouble.

So we need to practice doing the right things at the right time.  The church has an entire season for learning how to practice doing things at the right time.  We fast.  That is, we say no to certain foods and things so that we can develop our muscles of choice to be strong enough to do the right things at the right time.

We don’t like to say “no” to ourselves.  But we need to learn how to practice self-control.  The season of Lent is a season to build our muscles of self control.  How do we do this?  One way is to say no to some of our favorite pleasures and to use our time and our money to share with people who do not have as much as we do.  We do more community service.  We take on projects to help others because we are using the energy that we used to use for ourselves for others.

The season of Lent helps us to learn self control so that we can practice good timing in our lives, do the right things at the right time.

Exercise:

Think about things that you really like to do but that may not be good for you if you do too much or do them at the wrong time.

Then develop a strategy, a plan during Lent to practice self control so that you can learn the very best timing for doing everything in your life.

Sermon

What season of the Church are we in now?  Lent.  And what is the color for Lent?  For the season of Lent we make some changes.  We change colors.  You noticed that we changed candle holders on the altar.  We have changed our collection plates from silver to basket.  We have change our wine cup and bread plate from silver to pottery.  And we have dropped a very, very happy word that means “yeah God” out of the service.  And we won’t say it during Lent, at least not on purpose.

  Why do we do all of this?  Because the season of Lent is not a season of celebration.  It is a season of hard work and preparation.  And it lasts 40 days, not including Sundays.   And when does it end?  It ends on the biggest celebration of the year, on Easter Sunday.

  Why do we have Lent?  Why does a baseball team have spring training?  Why does a football team have training camp?

  To get ready for the real games.  What are the baseball players doing right now?  They are in spring training.  They are do lots of exercises.  They are practicing fielding and throwing the ball.  They are practicing making double plays.  Over and over again.  Why?  So, their team can be ready when the real games start.  And why do they want to be ready?  Because they want to win as many games as they can and go to the most important game of all, the World Series.

  Lent is a Season of Practice.  And there are lots of things that we need to take time to practice.  We need to practice taking care of our health and our bodies.  So, we try to practice something new in health and safety.  Eating good food.

  We practice helping other people.  We might do something to help people in our world who are in need.

  We practice loving God.  How do we do this?  We learn how to pray a little bit more.  We spend more time talking to God.  And we learn more about the Bible and we learn more about God.  Why do we do this?  Because, we need to have faith.  Why do we need to practice our faith?  Because there are things in life that are hard and difficult.  There are things that might make us afraid.  Things that might make us worry.  And so we have to build our faith to help us be prepared for some of the difficult things that we might have to do.

  During Lent, we try to spend more time together.  We are a church family.  We are like a team.  And if we are going to be a good team, then we have to spend some time together, getting to know each other so that we can work together.

  So we have the season of Lent as a season of training and preparation to become better Christian.  Sometimes practice is hard work and sometimes it is not fun.  Most baseball players would rather play games than practice.  But if we want to do well in the game, we must practice.  So, too, if we want to be better Christians, and a better parish team, we need to practice.  In the season of Lent, we work on practicing our Christian faith.   Are you ready for practice?  I hope you and your family can find some things to practice during the season of Lent.  Amen.

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

February 18, 2024: First Sunday In Lent

Gathering Songs: Yield Not to Temptation, Change My Heart, O God, Eat This Bread, Peace Before Us

Liturgist: Blessed the Lord who forgives all our sins.

People: God’s mercy endures forever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Opening Song: Yield Not to Temptation (LEVAS # 170)

Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin, each victory will help you some other to win.  Fight pressing onward, dark passion subdue.  Look ever to Jesus, he will carry you through. 

Refrain: Ask the Savior to help you. Comfort, strengthen and keep you.  He is will to aid you.  He will carry you through.

Shun evil companions, bad companions disdain.  God’s name hold in reverence, nor take it in vain.  Be thoughtful and earnest, kind-hearted and true.  Look ever to Jesus, he will carry you through.  Refrain

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Litany phrase: Praise the Lord (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have made us! Praise the Lord

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Praise the Lord

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Praise the Lord

A Reading from the Book of Genesis

God said to Noah and to his sons with him, "As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 25

Show me your ways, O LORD, *and teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth and teach me, * for you are the God of my salvation;

in you have I trusted all the day long.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy (chanted)

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Liturgist:         The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:            And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Offertory Anthem: Change My Heart O God,   (Renew! # 143, gray paperback hymnal)

Change my heart, O God.  Make it every true.  Change my heart, O God, may I be like you.  You are the Potter, I am the clay; Mold me and make me, this is what I pray.  Change my heart, O God, make it ever true; change my heart, O God, may it be like you.

(Repeat)

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist.

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of God.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of our birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbors as our self.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed by thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.   

Words of Administration.

Communion  Song: Eat This Bread, (Renew! # 228)  

    Eat this bread, drink this cup, come to me and never be hungry.  Eat this bread, drink this cup.

    Trust   in me and you will not thirst.

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: Peace Before, (Wonder, Love and Praise # 791) 

Peace before us, peace behind us, peace under our feet.  Peace within us, peace over us, let all around us be peace.

Love before us…

Light before us..

Christ before…

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ.

People: Thanks be to God! 

The Nuances of Temptations and Trials

1 Lent B      February 21, 2021
Gen. 9:8-17           Ps    25:1-9  
1 Peter 3:18-22         Mark 1:9-13

Lectionary Link

The first Sunday of Lent introduces to us the temptation of Jesus Christ for forty days in the wilderness.  I think that it useful to consider the symbolic importance of this for the New Testament writers, and also how the later church came to assign forty days to the season of Lent.

What did Paul say about temptation?  No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

In the Epistles of Hebrews it is written: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.

The New Testament writers believed that Jesus was Emmanuel, God with us.  And God was with us authentically because he was tested as we are, and yet he remained completely faithful to his Father.

St. Paul calls Jesus the second Adam.  Adam got blamed for the human fate of sin because in his naivete, he and Eve got tricked by the manifestation of Satan in the Garden of Eden, the wily serpent.

The second Adam, Jesus arrived in the state of humanity being evicted from the Garden of Eden.  Jesus did not have a perfect environment to deal with the trickster; he was summoned by the Spirit of God after his baptism into the lonely wilderness with the wild beasts.  He fasted for 40 days and his inner life was made completely vulnerable to the accusing and persuasive powers of this very slick crooked lawyer, the devil, a parasite that could form upon the inner life of Jesus, and all people.

The Gospel writers believed that Jesus was a hero in his time of trial so that he provided for all who followed him, the example, but also the one who as the Risen Christ would be the higher power accessible to all people in their time of trial.

We may be forgiven if we are confused about the notions of temptation and trial.  In the traditional "Our Father," we say, "And lead us not into temptation."  And in the contemporary translation of the "Our Father," we say, "Save us from the time of trial."  The one Greek word is translated by two different English words, temptation and trial, and these words have different nuances in English.

Temptation seems to mean that we can easily be tricked into coveting, or wrongly focusing and acting out upon wrongly directed desire.  We know that moral life involves learning delayed gratification and impulse control.  Laws exist to teach us what the practice of delayed gratification and impulse control.

So what does temptation involve?  It involves mistiming.  Sin is essentially, doing something at the wrong time or for the wrong number of times.  The other Gospel accounts of the temptation of Jesus indicate that Satan tried to get Jesus to mistime his obedience to God regarding food or physical need, fame or glory and how he would die.  "Throw yourself off the pinnacle of the temple;the angels will catch you."  Temptation in our English language refers to human ability to handle impulse control and that involves human choice.

The word trial has a different meaning.  Trial means tests or ordeals which face us over which we have no choice.  The pandemic is a trial.  The current severe cold weather in Texas and the South is a trial.  

I think the way trial and temptation get conflated is that we can understand the entire human condition of living in the imperfect conditions of sin which is experienced in the significant events of social and natural disharmony as being the big trial of life itself.

The state of sinful conditions is the trial of living and within this state of disharmony, we can be willfully out of control, but also events in nature can be totally out of our control and force us to lose our faith in God who is good and well-disposed towards us.

We have fires, earthquakes, hurricane, freezing cold, the pandemic, people living in poverty, racial injustice and Noah experienced the flood.  Noah went through the trial and in the end received the gift of a rainbow which essentially was saying, "I, God do not personally destroy through nature but I share freedom with everyone and everything which accounts for the conditions of harmony and disharmony."

God lays out the conditions of freedom to allow all manner of wonderful harmonies and terrible disharmonies.  The condition of freedom is the big test.  And we have to learn how to prevail in the varieties of little tests which face us in the specific circumstances of our lives.  We have the freedom of self-control so as not to mistime what we do and say in our lives.

And we have the promise that God in Christ has gone through the biggest human test of all, the test of death.  In fact, the Epistle of Peter states that Jesus became an evangelist to the spirits in the grave, so that Jesus used the experience of death itself to let God's salvation be known.

The temptation and trial of Jesus is presented to us because the Gospel is that God is with us completely in everything, including death itself.  Death itself and our deaths will be only another occasion for the salvation God.

Let us look to Jesus as we can know him now to be the higher power of the Risen Christ to give us impulse control to regulate the timing of the words and deeds of our lives.  And let us know that Jesus has gone to death and back to identify fully with the trial of human experience.

As we pray, deliver us from temptation and save us from the time of trial, let us know that it does not mean being exempt from temptation or trials; what it means is that we can always come out of temptation and out of the trial into a fuller experience of salvation.  Why, because we are simply following Jesus who leads us through everything.  Amen.

Sunday School, February 21, 2021 1 Lent B

 Sunday School, February 21, 2021   1 Lent B

Themes:

The temptation of Jesus

What is temptation?

Temptation is about being tricked into doing things at the wrong time.

If you see a piece of chocolate cake in the kitchen and it is only an hour before dinner, you may want to eat the lovely piece of cake.  But you also know that your mom wants you to wait until it is time for dessert after you eat a good healthy meal.

But you really want to eat the chocolate cake right now.  And so you do and when it comes supper time, you are not hungry to eat good food.  And your mom wants to know about the missing cake.

We are tempted all the time.  We are tempted to have lots of mis-timing in life.  We desire things, right now and we don’t want to wait, even though by not waiting we get into trouble.

So we need to practice doing the right things at the right time.  The church has an entire season for learning how to practice doing things at the right time.  We fast.  That is, we say no to certain foods and things so that we can develop our muscles of choice to be strong enough to do the right things at the right time.

We don’t like to say “no” to ourselves.  But we need to learn how to practice self-control.  The season of Lent is a season to build our muscles of self control.  How do we do this?  One way is to say no to some of our favorite pleasures and to use our time and our money to share with people who do not have as much as we do.  We do more community service.  We take on projects to help others because we are using the energy that we used to use for ourselves for others.

The season of Lent helps us to learn self control so that we can practice good timing in our lives, do the right things at the right time.

Exercise:

Think about things that you really like to do but that may not be good for you if you do too much or do them at the wrong time.

Then develop a strategy, a plan during Lent to practice self control so that you can learn the very best timing for doing everything in your life.

Sermon

What season of the Church are we in now?  Lent.  And what is the color for Lent?  For the season of Lent we make some changes.  We change colors.  You noticed that we changed candle holders on the altar.  We have changed our collection plates from silver to basket.  We have change our wine cup and bread plate from silver to pottery.  And we have dropped a very, very happy word that means “yeah God” out of the service.  And we won’t say it during Lent, at least not on purpose.

  Why do we do all of this?  Because the season of Lent is not a season of celebration.  It is a season of hard work and preparation.  And it lasts 40 days, not including Sundays.   And when does it end?  It ends on the biggest celebration of the year, on Easter Sunday.

  Why do we have Lent?  Why does a baseball team have spring training?  Why does a football team have training camp?

  To get ready for the real games.  What are the baseball players doing right now?  They are in spring training.  They are do lots of exercises.  They are practicing fielding and throwing the ball.  They are practicing making double plays.  Over and over again.  Why?  So, their team can be ready when the real games start.  And why do they want to be ready?  Because they want to win as many games as they can and go to the most important game of all, the World Series.

  Lent is a Season of Practice.  And there are lots of things that we need to take time to practice.  We need to practice taking care of our health and our bodies.  So, we try to practice something new in health and safety.  Eating good food.

  We practice helping other people.  We might do something to help people in our world who are in need.

  We practice loving God.  How do we do this?  We learn how to pray a little bit more.  We spend more time talking to God.  And we learn more about the Bible and we learn more about God.  Why do we do this?  Because, we need to have faith.  Why do we need to practice our faith?  Because there are things in life that are hard and difficult.  There are things that might make us afraid.  Things that might make us worry.  And so we have to build our faith to help us be prepared for some of the difficult things that we might have to do.

  During Lent, we try to spend more time together.  We are a church family.  We are like a team.  And if we are going to be a good team, then we have to spend some time together, getting to know each other so that we can work together.

  So we have the season of Lent as a season of training and preparation to become better Christian.  Sometimes practice is hard work and sometimes it is not fun.  Most baseball players would rather play games than practice.  But if we want to do well in the game, we must practice.  So, too, if we want to be better Christians, and a better parish team, we need to practice.  In the season of Lent, we work on practicing our Christian faith.   Are you ready for practice?  I hope you and your family can find some things to practice during the season of Lent.  Amen.

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

February 21, 2021: First Sunday In Lent

Gathering Songs: Yield Not to Temptation, Change My Heart, O God, Eat This Bread, Peace Before Us

Liturgist: Blessed the Lord who forgives all our sins.

People: God’s mercy endures forever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Opening Song: Yield Not to Temptation (LEVAS # 170)

Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin, each victory will help you some other to win.  Fight pressing onward, dark passion subdue.  Look ever to Jesus, he will carry you through. 

Refrain: Ask the Savior to help you. Comfort, strengthen and keep you.  He is will to aid you.  He will carry you through.

Shun evil companions, bad companions disdain.  God’s name hold in reverence, nor take it in vain.  Be thoughtful and earnest, kind-hearted and true.  Look ever to Jesus, he will carry you through.  Refrain

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Litany phrase: Praise the Lord (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have made us! Praise the Lord

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Praise the Lord

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Praise the Lord

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Praise the Lord

A Reading from the Book of Genesis

God said to Noah and to his sons with him, "As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 25

Show me your ways, O LORD, *and teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth and teach me, * for you are the God of my salvation;

in you have I trusted all the day long.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy (chanted)

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Liturgist:         The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:            And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Offertory Anthem: Change My Heart O God,   (Renew! # 143, gray paperback hymnal)

Change my heart, O God.  Make it every true.  Change my heart, O God, may I be like you.  You are the Potter, I am the clay; Mold me and make me, this is what I pray.  Change my heart, O God, make it ever true; change my heart, O God, may it be like you.

(Repeat)

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist.

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of God.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of our birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbors as our self.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed by thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.   

Words of Administration.

Communion  Song: Eat This Bread, (Renew! # 228)  

    Eat this bread, drink this cup, come to me and never be hungry.  Eat this bread, drink this cup.

    Trust   in me and you will not thirst.

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: Peace Before, (Wonder, Love and Praise # 791) 

Peace before us, peace behind us, peace under our feet.  Peace within us, peace over us, let all around us be peace.

Love before us…

Light before us..

Christ before…

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ.

People: Thanks be to God!