1st Sunday of LentReadings 1 Lent - Genesis 2.15-17; 3.1-7, Psalm 32; Romans 5.12-19; Matthew 4.1-11Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.A word: Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. Lent is the time of year when the Church calls on Christians to take part in a period of Spiritual Discipline for 40 days that ends with the great celebration of Easter. Yesterday was Shrove Tuesday when, in days of old, it was the tradition to use up all the goodies in the pantry and have a feast before Lent began as Lent used to be a time of fasting.Traditionally, Ash Wednesday is the day when children and adults would go to Church to confess their sins and receive the mark of ash on the forehead, as a sign that we are sinners in need of God’s mercy and grace. This year, we shall be making our confession in Church on the 1st Sunday of Lent and those who want them may receive the ashes. For those of you who want to - make your confession at home. For true freedom comes when we recognise our sin, are sorry for our shortfalls, confess them to God and ask God to help us change. For, no matter how bad we are, what is truly remarkable is that God loves every sinner who turns back to Him and when even one sinner repents Jesus said that the angels rejoice in heaven.Let us pray: For all my sins Lord, I am sorry and ashamed, I know I do not deserve your forgiveness, so I come to you trusting in your loving mercy and grace, asking: Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Holy God, our lives are laid open before you: rescue us from the chaos of sin through the death of your Son and bring us to healing and wholeness. Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing that you have made and forgive the sins of all those who are repentant: create and make in us new and contrite hearts that as we lament our sins and acknowledge our unhappiness, that you, the God of all mercy, grant us forgiveness through Jesus. Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be a sacrifice for sin and an example of godly life: give us grace that we may thankfully receive his gifts then undertake to follow in the blessed steps of his most holy life. Amen Thanks for joining us today.
Opening Prayer Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Readings for Sunday next before Lent: Exodus 24.12-18; Psalm 2; or Psalm 99; 2 Peter 1.16-21; Matthew 17.1-9A Word: In Exodus we hear God call Moses to come to Him and listen to His instructions. Moses did as asked and spent 40 days and nights listening to God. In the psalm we hear that God is mighty, just and righteous. A God who listens to what we have to say. A God who calls people to serve him. God who pardons and forgives us our sins. A God who we are called to worship. A God who we hear in the Gospel made himself known on the mountain when he showed who his son was to Jesus' disciples. A God who the letter reminds us declared that Jesus is His son. All of this is powerful testimony about God's love and care for us His creation. For God wants the best for each one of us and permitted His son to come here to earth to save us. The Lord's Prayer Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be they 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 them that trespass against us. Deliver us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen Prayer: Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: graft in our hearts the love of your name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, make us perfect in your love and by your great mercy keep us in the same, so we may share in his glory; through Jesus Christ, your Son our Lord, the true vine and the source of life, ever giving himself that the world may live. Amen Prayer of blessing: May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and evermore. Amen. Closing Note This message is sent to you with love and prayers as: a word of encouragement and a sign of hope.
Opening Prayer Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Readings for 2nd Sunday before Lent: 2 before Lent; Genesis 1.1 - 2.3; Psalm 136; Romans 8.18-25; Matthew 6.25-34Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. AmenA reflection to ponder: I began thinking about and reading up on the traditional practices of Lent. These are to pray, fast and give alms. I found this enlightening because I realised that the ancient writers who advocated these traditional Christian Lenten Practices were probably reasonably well fed and comfortable. So I could see that their message and teaching was fit for themselves and other well off people. However, what they said and advocated creates a terrible burden for those who are sick, or starving or poor!For, since I was a child, I have thought that the Church's pressure to fast and give alms was unkind because I saw so many hungry and sick people doing without the little they had to survive on, in order to fast. I also saw people getting into debt with the "tally-man" in order to give alms to the Church. From childhood, this all looked wrong to me and made me think that a good God would not want this. So, when I grew up and was called into ministry, I have favoured and encouraged the more modern Lenten practices. These include: taking action to enhance our prayer lives; to give up something other than food (or take on something extra); as well as doing something positive for the benefit of others (other than giving money). So here are some new ways of interpreting the Lenten Fast by maintaining its spirit (rather than the letter). For, new ways of taking part can help all of us to participate appropriately in Lent - without some of the inherent problems of the traditional Lenten Fast.- For surely all of us can enhance our prayer lives by beginning to pray regularly for the first time, or by increasing what we pray about or by praying at times, in places or with words that are different to our usual pattern. - Then for those of us with capacity to fast, maybe we should be looking to give up things we do in excess that distract us from God and the world.? Things such as: gaming, internet, social media, shopping, to name but a few of the things. - Then as we think about giving, maybe we ought to think about giving in accordance with what we have available to share with others. This may include: our time, our gifts, our skills, our compassion, our love and care, our attention or support.I hope these ideas will inspire you to think about what you could do for Lent in order to draw closer to God. For surely the most appropriate Lenten Fast is to do without and give from what God has given to us in plenty and to share this with His world. The Lord's Prayer Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be they 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 them that trespass against us. Deliver us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen Prayer: Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: graft in our hearts the love of your name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, make us perfect in your love and by your great mercy keep us in the same, so we may share in his glory; through Jesus Christ, your Son our Lord, the true vine and the source of life, ever giving himself that the world may live. Amen Prayer of blessing: May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and evermore. Amen. Closing Note This message is sent to you with love and prayers as: a word of encouragement and a sign of hope.
Feast of the Presentation also known as Candlemas Opening Prayer Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Readings: Malachi 3.1-5, Psalm 24.1-10, Hebrews 2.14-18, Luke 2.22-40 Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen A word: About forty days ago, we celebrated the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today the season of Christmas is drawn to its close on this Feast Day on which we recall the day that Jesus was presented in the Temple. In Jesus’ time, the presentation of first-born sons and purification of the mothers was a deep-rooted custom. On this particular day, when this special child was brought to the temple to be presented, an old man was called by God to come and meet his Lord and saviour. A short while later, an old woman also came and gave witness that this was the one that God’s people were waiting for. Today, we present ourselves to God, just as Jesus was presented. Today we come forward for purification just as Mary was purified. Today we come forward to meet Jesus and sing of his glory, just like Simeon and Anna did. For, today, we celebrate the joy of Jesus coming into the world and look back to the day of his birth. Today, we also look forward to the time of his passion and death because He came into the world to save us. On this feast day, the Feast of the Presentation, also known as Candlemas, we are called to turn our attention and focus away from the crib of the nativity and turn towards the cross of our salvation. For today is the time to put away our advent candles, our nativity cribs and Christmas decorations and get ready to prepare ourselves for the season of Lent. The Lord's Prayer Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be they 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 them that trespass against us. Deliver us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen Let us pray: Lord Jesus Christ, light of the nations and glory of Israel: make your home among us and present us pure and holy to your heavenly Father, your God, and ours. Amen Prayer of blessing: May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and evermore. Amen. Closing Note This message is sent to you with love and prayers as: a word of encouragement and a sign of hope.
