ORDER OF SERVICE FOR LENT 1
21st February 2021
INTRODUCTION
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
HYMN
Forty days and forty nights
Thou wast fasting in the wild,
Forty days and forty nights
Tempted and yet undefiled.
Sunbeams scorching all the day,
Chilly dewdrops nightly shed,
Prowling beasts about thy way,
Stones thy pillow, earth thy bed.
Let us thine endurance share,
And awhile from joys abstain,
With thee watching unto prayer,
Strong with thee to suffer pain.
Keep, O keep us, Saviour dear,
Ever constant by thy side,
That with thee we may appear
At the eternal Eastertide.
APPROACH TO GOD led by Margaret Pederson and Jane Stevenson
Call to remembrance your compassion and mercy O Lord;
your loving kindness, which you gave us of old.
To you O Lord I lift up my soul;
my God I trust in you; do not let me be confounded.
The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Be strong and do not fear;
for God is our refuge and strength.
INVITATION TO CONFESSION
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son Jesus Christ
to save us from our sin, to be our advocate in heaven,
and to bring us to eternal life.
So let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.
Silence
CONFESSION
Almighty and merciful God,
we have strayed from your ways like lost sheep.
We have followed too much the desires of our own hearts.
We have left undone what we ought to have done;
we have done what we ought not to have done.
We are in need of health and restoration.
But you, O Lord, are merciful to sinners.
Restore us, and grant that we may live
In peace and love
to the glory of your holy name.
Amen.
THE ABSOLUTION
May God, who is the strength of love, through the gift of Christ his son,
heal and strengthen us by his spirit, that, being crucified with Christ in his death,
we may rise with him to new life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
FIRST READING: read by Robert Murray
1 Peter 3:18-22
3:18 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,
3:19 in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison
3:20 who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.
3:21 And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you--not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
3:22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.
GRADUAL HYMN
1 Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us
O'er the world's tempestuous sea;
Guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us,
For we have no help but thee;
Yet possessing every blessing
If our God our Father be.
2 Saviour, breathe forgiveness o'er us,
All our weakness thou dost know;
Thou didst tread this earth before us,
Thou didst feel its keenest woe;
Self denying, death defying,
Thou to Calvary didst go.
3 Spirit of our God, descending,
Fill our hearts with heavenly joy;
Love with every passion blending,
Pleasure that can never cloy;
Thus provided, pardoned, guided,
Nothing can our peace destroy.
GOSPEL: read by Sally-Jayne Murray
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark
Mark 1:9-15
1:9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
1:10 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.
1:11 And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
1:12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
1:13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
1:14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God,
1:15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."
SERMON
INTERCESSIONS led by Liz Williams
PEACE
We meet in Christ’s name.
Let us share his peace.
HYMN
Now is the healing time decreed
For sins of heart and word and deed,
When we in humble fear record
The wrong that we have done the Lord:
Therefore with fasting and with prayer,
Our secret sorrow we declare,
With all good striving seek his face,
And lowly-hearted plead for grace.
Cleanse us, O Lord, from every stain,
Help us the gifts of grace to gain,
Till with the angels, linked in love,
Joyful we tread thy courts above.
We pray thee, holy Trinity,
One God, unchanging Unity,
That we from this our abstinence
May reap the fruits of penitence.
Amen.
PRAYERS OF OFFERING
Unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Jn 12:24
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give him thanks and praise.
Worship and praise belong to you, maker of light and darkness.
Your wisdom draws beauty from chaos, brings harvest out of sorrow,
and leads the exiles home. In Christ your Son, enemies are reconciled,
debts forgiven and strangers made welcome.
Your spirit frees us to live
as sons and daughters in our Father’s house.
We, who by Christ’s power follow the way of the Cross, sharing in the joy of his obedience,
now offer you praise, with angels and archangels
and the whole company of heaven
singing the hymn of your unending glory.
SANCTUS AND BENEDICTUS
Holy Holy Holy Lord, God of power and might
Heaven and earth are full of Thy Glory
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is He who cometh in the name of the Lord
Hosanna in the highest.
CONSECRATION PRAYER (please sit)
Glory and thanksgiving be to you,
most loving Father,
for Christ the reconciler of the world.
Condemned by those who feared the claims of overwhelming love,
he still forgave.
Lifted on the cross,
he spanned the gulf our sins had made.
In that dark struggle
death was swallowed up in victory
that life and light might reign
and we no longer fear the costly path
of self-denying service.
Before he was given up to suffering and death,
recalling the night in which the sons of Egypt died,
himself the firstborn, he freely offered his life.
At supper with his disciples,
he took bread and offered you thanks.
He broke the bread, and gave it to them, saying:
‘Take, eat. This is my Body: it is broken for you.’
After supper, he took the cup,
he offered you thanks, and gave it to them saying:
‘Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new covenant;
it is poured out for you, and for all, that sins may be forgiven.
Do this in remembrance of me.’
We now obey your Son’s command.
We recall his blessed passion and death,
his glorious resurrection and ascension;
and we look for the coming of his Kingdom.
Made one with him, we offer you these gifts
and with them ourselves,
a single, holy, living sacrifice.
Hear us, most gracious God, and send your Holy Spirit upon us and upon this bread and this wine,
that, overshadowed by his life-giving power,
they may be the Body and Blood of your Son,
and we may be kindled with the fire of your love
and renewed for the service of your Kingdom.
Help us, who are baptised
into the fellowship of Christ’s Body,
to live and work to your praise and glory;
may we grow together in unity and love
until at last, in your new creation,
we enter into our heritage,
in the company of the Virgin Mary,
the apostles and prophets,
and of all our brothers and sisters living and departed.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, with whom, and in whom,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honour and glory be to you, Lord of all ages, world without end.
Amen.
THE FRACTION
The living bread is broken for the life of the world.
Lord, unite us in this sign.
LORD’S PRAYER
As our Saviour has taught us, so we pray:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name;
your kingdom come; your will be done;
on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread;
forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom,
the power and the glory are yours,
now and for ever.
Amen.
PRAYER OF HUMBLE ACCESS
Most merciful Lord,
your love compels us to come in. Our hands were unclean,
our hearts were unprepared; we were not fit to eat the crumbs from under your table.
But you, Lord, are the God of our salvation, and share your bread with sinners.
So cleanse and feed us with the body and blood of your Son:
that he may live in us and we in him; t
hat we, with the whole company of Christ, may sit and eat in your kingdom.
Amen.
COMMUNION HYMN
1 O for a closer walk with God,
A calm and heavenly frame;
A light to shine upon the road
That leads me to the Lamb!
2 Return, O holy Dove, return,
Sweet messenger of rest;
I hate the sins that made thee mourn,
And drove thee from my breast.
3 The dearest idol I have known,
Whate'er that idol be,
Help me to tear it from thy throne,
And worship only thee.
4 So shall my walk be close with God,
Calm and serene my frame;
So purer light shall mark the road
That leads me to the Lamb.
POST-COMMUNION PRAYER
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is gracious.
And his mercy endures for ever.
Almighty God, by the cross and passion of your Son, Jesus Christ,
you saved and redeemed your people.
May we, who have shared this day in holy things,
find within ourselves the grace
to take up our cross and follow him.
This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
BLESSING:
Now may Christ give us the grace to grow in holiness,
deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him;
and the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be with you,
and those for whom you pray, now and always.
Amen.
DISMISSAL
Let us go in peace, to love and serve the Lord.
In the Name of Christ. Amen.
FINAL HYMN
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
VOLUNTARY
Bach “Höchster, was ich habe, ist nur Deine gabe”