Lectionary resources Lent 1 Year B

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Lectionary
Genesis 9:8-17 The rainbow covenant
Psalm 25:1-10 To you O lord I lift my voice
1 Peter 3:18-22 Brought through suffering to new life
Mark 1:9-15 "Repent and believe the good news"

Suggested Hymns (From Denis Towner. TIS = Together in Song; AHB = Australian Hymn Book; SA = Sing Alleluia)

Genesis 9: 8-17
Angel voices, ever singing AHB.386
Father, we adore you TIS.716 SA.35
O love that wilt not let me go TIS.602 AHB.525

Psalm 25: 1-10
O Lord, make me know your ways TIS.14
The stars declare his glory SA.85

1 Peter 3: 18-22
Father in heaven, grant to your children TIS.465 AHB.399
Hail, our once despised Jesus TIS.373 AHB.295
O dearest Jesus, why aren't you acquitted TIS.337 AHB.254
Rock of Ages, cleft for me TIS.222 AHB.157

Mark 1: 9-15
Forty days and forty nights TIS.591 AHB.506
O let the Son of God enfold you TIS.655 P&W.477
O love, how deep, how broad, how high TIS.194 AHB.6
What a friend we have in Jesus TIS.590 AHB.165
When he was baptized in Jordan TIS.252 SA.91

Other Possible Hymns
(Numbers refer to The Australian Hymn Book and Sing Alleluia.)
SA 69 O changeless Christ, for ever new
49 O God of Bethel, by whose hand
56 Amazing grace
84 Glory be to God the Father
147 Rejoice the Lord is King
168 Immortal love for ever full (verses 1-3,7,8)
191 Christ is the worlds light, he and no other
333 Lord, your word abiding
459 If thou but suffer God to guide thee
481 Soldiers of Christ arise
488 O for a closer walk with God
512 Who fathoms the eternal thought?

Sermon summary (Click here for complete sermon)

Repent and believe

After his baptism by John, Jesus was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days [Mark 1:13-15]. We can imagine that those forty days in the wilderness before beginning his main work must have been a very significant time of preparation for Jesus. Matthew [4:1-11] and Luke [4:1-12] tell us more of what happened there. Mark says he was driven by the Spirit [Mark 1:12 compare Mark 11:15]. He had just been baptised and he heard a voice from heaven [Mark 1:10-12]. So his true nature as the Son of God was affirmed to him. Does it not make sense that he would have immediately faced temptations about how he would use his special powers? He chose to work for others and even to die the death of a criminal, as we said with Paul last week in the ancient song 'he emptied himself and took the form of a servant' rather than claim equality with God [Philippians 2:6-11].

Rebellion: the temptation to act like God
Do we have to deal with that kind of question? Of course, Jesus was different. We believe he really was the Son of God, the Messiah. Are we not tempted as Adam and Eve were: you will be like God [Genesis 3:4-5]? Do we need sometimes to come apart from the concerns of daily life and face the question: do we want to be like God? It was because people were in rebellion against God that Jesus went on after his time in the wilderness to begin his public ministry with a call to repentance [Mark 1:15] Repent and believe the good news.

The covenant with all creatures
Going back to the days of Noah in that obscure saying in 1 Peter 3:20 [cf Apostles Creed and Ephesians 4:9b] also has significance. We read today about the covenant God made with all living creatures after the great flood [Genesis 9:9-10]. A sinful world had been destroyed by the flood, and only a few survived, but now God promised not destroy all life in that way again and the rainbow is the sign of that general covenant with all creatures. It is not hard to see how human sinfulness, our rebellion against God, damages creation. Our wilful ways, seeking our own immediate satisfactions despoils the earth. Jesus came with the message Repent and believe the good news.

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The Gathering of the People of God

CALL TO WORSHIP Let us worship God

For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. -- 1 Peter 3:18
Therefore we give glory to God who raised him up and gave us the promise of salvation. Amen.

HYMN 84 Glory be to God the Father
PRAYER OF ADORATION
CONFESSION

Most merciful God, we confess to you, and to one another, that we have sinned by our own fault in thought, word and deed; by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven.
Have mercy on us, Lord.

We have been deaf to your call to serve as Christ served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved the Holy Spirit.
Have mercy on us, Lord.

DECLARATION OF FORGIVENESS

God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. -- John 3:17

Dear friends, the gospel by which we seek to live states unequivocally that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. On the authority of this gospel I declare to all who truly repent: in Jesus Christ you are forgiven;
for which we give glory to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.

DOXOLOGY: GLORY TO GOD ABOVE

1. Glory to God above!
Heavens declare his love;
praise him, you angels,
praise him all you high and heavenly host.
Worship him, sun and moon;
stars, complement their tune;
grounded in God's good purpose
let his grace become your boast.

O sing hallelujah
and praise God for evermore!

2. Glory to God below
let depths of ocean show;
lightning and hail, snow
wind and cloud perform at his command!
Let every mountain range,
forest and grove and grange,
creatures of earth and air and sea praise God in every land.

3. 'Glory to God!' now sing
commoner, queen and king;
women and men of every age
unite to praise the Lord.
Worship God's holy name
and let your lives proclaim
God's saving power extends to those who love and serve his word.
[Proposed for TIS from the Lutheran Hymn Book.]

WELCOME AND GREETING EACH OTHER

Service of the Word

INTRODUCTION OF THEME:
OLD TESTAMENT Genesis 9:8-17 The rainbow covenant
PSALM 25:1-10 To you O lord I lift my voice

Choir: Jesus calls us to meet him here

EPISTLE 1 Peter 3:18-22 Brought through suffering to new life
GOSPEL Mark 9:9-15 "Repent and believe the good news"

HYMN 333 Lord, your word abiding
SERMON
HYMN 168 Immortal love for ever full (verses 1-3,7,8)

OFFERING AND DEDICATION
SHARING TIME [Notices, celebrations, requests for intercessions]
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

A Prayer of Commitment

Teach us, good Lord, to serve you as you deserve:
to give, and not to count the cost;
to fight, and not to heed the wounds;
to toil, and not to seek for rest;
to labour, and not to ask for any reward,
except that of knowing that we do your holy will;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Ignatius Loyola, 1491-1556

COLLECT FOR THE DAY

Almighty God, whose Son fasted forty days in the wilderness, and was tempted as we are but did not sin: give us grace to discipline ourselves in submission to your Spirit, that as you know our weakness, so we may know your power to save; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

THE LORD'S PRAYER [Front of the Hymn Book]

The Sending Forth of the People of God

HYMN 481 Soldiers of Christ arise
WORD OF MISSION
BLESSING
DISMISSAL Go in peace to love and serve the Lord:
In the name of Christ. Amen.

Lent 1 , 12 March 2000, Repent and believe
Lent 2 , 19 March 2000, Those who are ashamed of me
Lent 3 , 26 March 2000, Cleansing the temple
Lent 4 , 2 April 2000, Lifted up
Lent 5 , 9 April 2000, What if Jesus had gone to Athens?
Lent 6 , Passion or Palm Sunday, 16 April 2000, Hosanna
Holy Thursday , 20 April 2000, A Service of Readings and Remembrance
Good Friday , 21 April 2000, A Service of Contemplation
Pieta : A Hymn for Good Friday