Worship & Prayers for The  First Sunday of Lent

Opening Rite

If you’re at home you might wish to light a candle, make sure you are sitting comfortably and take a few deep breaths to still yourself. 

The Lord is here  His Spirit is with us

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.

Let us confess our sins remembering before God thetimes when we have fallen from temptation into sin.

Prayers of Penitence

After a period of reflection

Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sin: Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Make me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me: Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.

Cast me not away from your presence and take not your holy spirit from me:  Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

cf Psalm 51

May almighty God, who sent his Son into the world to save sinners, bring us his pardon and peace, now and for ever. Amen

The Collect

You might like to keep a few moments of silence

Almighty God, whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness, and was tempted as we are, yet without sin: give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit; and, as you know our weakness, so may we know your power to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

Genesis 2.15-17,3:1-7

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.’ Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden”?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.”’ But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

Psalm 32.1-8

 /R: I will confess my transgressions to the Lord

Happy the one whose transgression is forgiven, and whose sin is covered. Happy the one to whom the Lord imputes no guilt, and in whose spirit there is no guile. /R:

For I held my tongue; my bones wasted away through my groaning all the däy long. Your hand was heavy upon me day and night; my moisture was dried up like the drought in summer. /R:

Then I acknowledged my sin to you and my iniquity I did not hide. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the guilt of my sin. /R:

Therefore let all the faithful make their prayers to you in time of trouble; in the great water flood, it shall not reach them. You are a place for me to hide in; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with songs of deliverance. /R:

Romans 5.12-19

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned— sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.  But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgement following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.  Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

The Gospel according to Matthew                                  Chapter 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” ’ Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying 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, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’ Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” ’ Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

This is the Gospel of the Lord  Praise to you O Christ

Reflection

The Gospel is only tangentially about sin. But it is all about choices. God’s Spirit drives Jesus into the desert to be tested by ‘the devil’. Three specific moments of testing are mentioned, all of them broadly political, demonstrating that these temptations are like the scene in the garden where what is at stake is the human desire for good and capacity to partner with God in the management of creation, the governance of the world.  It is a test that Jesus passes unlike the first couple in the garden. We also know that he will face these challenges again and many more times on his journey to and through the cross. Jesus passes the test because he has paid attention to what God has said and chosen to obey it whatever others might suggest.

The links between the readings

The season of Lent begins with a recognition of our sinfulness, and its origins, and the need for God’s forgiveness. At the same time, it recalls Jesus’ time of testing in the wilderness as a model for how we face testing times in our walk with God. These are profound Lenten texts that take us into the beating heart of our relationship with God in a world of trouble and temptation. They are texts that remind us that God has made us moral agents capable of choice and that God is always waiting to forgive and restore us when we make the wrong one.

Reproduced with permission www.rootsontheweb.com 2002-2021  

Prayers

Spend a few moments praying for the people you know and love, for the world, for peace and for the relief of refugees everywhere. 

On the First Sunday of Len

Heavenly Father, your Son battled with the powers of darkness, and grew closer to you in the desert: help us to use these days to grow in wisdom and prayer that we may witness to your saving love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Praying for the Earth                                                      Renewable energy

We give thanks for the power of the sun above us, for the warmth of the ground beneath us, for the freedom of the wind around us, for the strength of the waves and the rhythm of tides. We pray for ingenuity and inspiration in the research and development of renewable energy.  Amen

From the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer for the Church

Porvoo Communion: Diocese of Peterborough and the Diocese of Meath and Kildare (Ireland)

Anglican Communion: The Church of Ireland Primate: The Most Reverend John McDowell

Bedlington Deanery: Benefice of Killingworth Priest in charge: Sarah Moon Assistant Curate: Yvonne Gardner Readers: Hilary Elder and Frances Pattison (PTO)

From our Parish Prayer Cycle this week 

pray for all who give and all receiving medical care in Freeman Hospital and the Disability Centres

For the sick and those being cared for in hospital or at home      

For those in residential care    

For those whose year’s minds are this week 

Susan Vickers, Patricia Richardson, Veronica Joan Peakholme, Evelyn Whinham, Ernest Scott, Jim Hall, Helen Linsley, Doris Hunter Smith, Tom Webster, William Gordon, James Holmes

You might like to end your prayers with The Lord's Prayer  

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.  And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever.  Amen.

The Conclusion

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen 

Let us bless the Lord!  Thanks be to God!