For forty days and forty nights Jesus went without in the wilderness. When he was at a low ebb, the devil came to tempt him. Jesus resisted temptation, and according to Luke, the devil departed from him until an opportune time. In times of weakness, we’re more likely to give in to our harmful tendencies. Whether or not there is a devil who tempts us by whispering in our ear, or something is triggered in our minds, perhaps harking back to childhood; or we have genetic tendencies that are embedded in our dna, there’s a greater pull when we’re under stress, or miserable, or we feel as if we’re under threat: in other words, if we’re feeling negative. Jesus resisted temptation. If we follow Jesus, we’ll do the same. Why should we put ourselves in the same position as Jesus? Why should we go without for forty days and forty nights, if it means we’re more likely to be tempted? I don’t think that we have to fast in the sense of going hungry, if this might be injurious to our health. I do think it a good thing to take the opportunities that Lent gives us to become conscious of ourselves and our habits, and focus on at least one area in which we need to change. We know what they are. They’re traits that are harmful, either to ourselves or to other people. They give us negative feelings about ourselves and become a barrier, built on our side, between us and God.There’s a high likelihood that we’ll be tempted when we’re at our most vulnerable. If we’re giving up passing on gossip, for example, the best nugget we’ve been told this year may well come our way. What can we do to resist the temptation? Hold onto our faith in God, as Jesus did, until it passes.Jesus pointed his finger toward the ground when the woman was made to stand there in front of everyone, having been caught in the act of doing wrong. He didn’t point the finger at the woman. This is such an important story. Who will throw the first stone? Who is without sin? ‘What? Has no-one condemned you?’ says Jesus, ‘ Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.’ The woman can be reconciled to God if she sins no more. All people can be reconciled to God, whatever we have done, if we are going to do our best to change our ways.Let’s do it. Let’s take the time over Lent to reflect, to identify our own harmful tendencies that lead us to sin, and to take those steps that lead to positive change. Yes, God loves us as we are, but yes, God wants us to change, to be willing like St Peter to make the effort to follow the way of Jesus, and to become ever more like him. Amen.Julie Rubidge, Lay Minister
We keep a few moments of silence as we prepare ourselves to stand before Almighty God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.‘O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.’ (Psalm 51:15)Hymn: Guide me, O Thou Great Redeemer...Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10Let us come to the Lord, who is full of compassion, and acknowledge our transgressions in penitence and faith: Father eternal, giver of light and grace, we have sinned against you and against our neighbour, in what we have thought, in what we have said and done: through ignorance, through weakness, through our own deliberate fault. We have wounded your love, and marred your image in us. We are sorry and ashamed, and repent of all our sins. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who died for us, forgive us all that is past and lead us out from darkness to walk as children of light. Amen.May Almighty God, who forgives all who truly repent, have mercy upon us, pardon and deliver us from all our sins, confirm and strengthen us in all goodness, and keep us in life eternal: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer for the day: Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing that you have made and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: create and make in us new and contrite hearts that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may receive from you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; 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.John 8:1-11Please see the message from the minister.Let us kneel before God in prayer, asking for his cleansing love to be known to all people. We pray for St Peter’s Church, that your will be done, and for our work to be blessed; We pray for our world, that all of its creatures will thrive, and for peace in Ukraine;We pray for our friends, families and community, that we may share in the love of Christ; We pray for people who are sick or suffering, that they will know healing and strength; We remember the departed, and pray for all who mourn.Let us join in the words of the Lord’s prayer, whoever and wherever we are: 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.Hymn: Amazing Grace...May Christ give us grace to grow in holiness, to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him. And may the blessing of God Almighty who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon us and remain with us always.Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord, in the name of Christ. Amen.
Lord, direct our thoughts, and teach us to pray. Lift up our hearts to worship you in spirit and in truth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ‘Extol the Lord our God; worship at his footstool. Holy is he!’ (Psalm 99:5)Hymn: Be thou my vision...Exodus 24:12-18; 2 Peter 1:16-21Let us meet the Lord with repentance in our hearts: Most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that we have sinned in thought, word and deed. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. In your mercy forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be; that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you, our God. Amen.May the God of love bring us back to himself, forgive us our sins, and assure us of his eternal love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Prayer for the day: Holy God, you know the disorder of our sinful lives: set straight our crooked hearts, and bend our wills to love your goodness and your glory in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Matthew 17:1-9Please see the message from the minister.Let us kneel before God, asking for his presence to be known to all. Let us pray. We pray for St Peter’s Church and the Church throughout the world, that all people will respond to the invitation to follow Christ;We pray for our world, that the Earth and all of its creatures will thrive;We pray for our friends, families and neighbours - may we all share in the love of Christ; We pray for people who are sick or suffering, to know the Holy Spirit’s healing presence; We remember the departed, and pray for all who mourn.Let us join in the words of the Lord’s prayer, whoever and wherever we are: 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. Hymn: Lord of all hopefulness...May God give us his comfort and his peace, his light and his joy in this world and the next. And may the blessing of God Almighty who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon us and remain with us always. Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord, in the name of Christ. Amen.
Such an unusual story – the account of the Transfiguration. It comes towards the end of Jesus` ministry and illustrates for the apostles and for us what he had come to do.Here is Jesus with his closest disciples – Peter James and John. They are on a high mountain away from the crowds – perhaps Mount Hermon which is the highest in the region, just a few miles from Caesarea Philippi where Jesus had asked his disciples: `who do you say that I am?` Jesus` appearance changes. Moses and Elijah appear alongside Him. And, echoing the voice at Jesus` baptism, here are the words from the bright cloud: `This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!` They were terrified and fell to the ground. Again and again throughout the bible are these strengthening words and here they are again from Jesus: `Don`t be afraid.` And he warns them not to tell anyone what they have seen until after the Resurrection.There are many things in the bible which we find hard to understand, many ways in which our faith is challenged. How can we be sure that these things really happened?For the answer to that, we turn to our Epistle reading and St. Peter`s Second Letter, chapter 1. Peter says firmly that the account of Jesus is true in every detail. Here are his words: `We did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eye witnesses of his majesty.` The Gospel is not a series of jolly stories and interesting teaching. It is about the coming of God to Man in Jesus, and about how we might respond to that coming. Jesus` deepest teaching was often limited to the apostles – as here - but he depended on them as he does on us for one reason. Here it is in that same verse: `we were eye-witnesses of his majesty.` We Saw ItThe people writing the Gospels wrote those accounts as themselves being eye-witnesses and in consultation with those who were eye-witnesses of the accounts of Jesus. In today`s Gospel, there are three witnesses: Peter, James and John, all of whom wrote letters to the early church about what they had seen. So here is their clear remembrance of the words from the cloud in Matthew`s Gospel: `This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.` If we say that these things didn`t happen, we make the apostles out to be liars. The books of the New Testament were written between fifty and one hundred years after Jesus. They were collected and read in the churches between AD 100 and 200. They were carefully examined and compared with fraudulent writings between AD 200 and 300, and what we have today in the New Testament was agreed by the year AD 400. There were clear guidelines in that decision. The words had to have come from the apostles. The Christian church carefully examined what was written, ensuring that the doctrine taught was in accordance with what Jesus and the apostles had taught.Secondly, Peter reminds us of the message of God running like a golden thread through the Old Testament and the New:-Many Books – One MessageThe same message is there through those who brought Israel the law, the ten commandments. The same message is there through each of the prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos and all the rest. The same message is there through Jesus and the apostles. The Old Testament interprets the New, and the New Testament explains the Old. Here it is in verse 19 of Peter`s letter: `We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it.` In the Gospel account of the Transfiguration, the figure of Moses represents the giving of the Law, Elijah the message of the prophets and Jesus fulfils the Old Testament in his presence as the New Testament, the new covenant.God`s Word – Listen to HimFinally, Peter reminds us that prophecy is not about people`s ideas but the word of God to his creation. Verses 20 and 21: `You must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet`s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit`.There are many bright ideas in today`s world, much teaching based on spiritual things, but the difference between those ideas and those of the bible is that those who wrote the bible wrote what was in the mind of God. The Holy Spirit guided the writers of the bible, through the centuries, writing that which was given by God, enabling us to come to faith and grow in it. Reading the bible changes lives in a way no other book can. So Peter says clearly in verse 19: `You will do well to pay attention to it.` We are about to enter the season of Lent. God calls us to come closer to him through the reading of his word and through our response of worship. There is so much he longs us to hear through his Word, `as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts`. We do well to listen.The Revd Pat Hopkins
