Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
February 21, 2010
Worship 10:00 am              Sunday School 11:10am

First Sunday of Lent 

  Beginning with Praise (9:50 am)     "N’nung yeh dah"      "No longer blind"
  Announcements
  Prelude                                     "Andante in F"                                            Beethoven

  Call to Worship                    "Come to the water"                                      495

  Invitation

*Hymn                        "Brethren, we have met to worship"                              8

*Opening Prayer

  Scripture                             Deuteronomy 26:1-11

  Sharing a joy, a concern, a word of testimony or praise
                                 (please be brief, and aware of God's listening presence)

  Scripture                               Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16

  Song                                           "Sanctuary"

  Pastoral Prayer

  Scripture                                 Romans 10:8-13

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

  Offertory                                    "Meditation"                    Handel (arr. Christopher)
                                        (Please sign the attendance pad and pass it on)

*Response                   "Seek ye first the kingdom of God"                           324

*Lord’s Prayer

  Scripture                                     Luke 4:1-13
                                                             (synoptic comparisons)

  Message             "and let us not succumb to the trial" (mp3)

*Hymn                              "O Jesus, I have promised"                                 447

*Benediction

*Postlude                     "Freu Dich Sehr, O Meine Seele"                            Goudimel

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Invitation

The season of Lent has begun. In your mind's eye, imagine it as a journey toward the cross and the empty tomb. No one undertakes a trip without bringing along some luggage. However, much of what we carry contributes little and weighs us down. In its truest sense, confession involves going through our baggage and letting go what we really don’t need. To confess our sin means to release it, not to wallow in it. We often make that mistake by dwelling upon all our faults instead of simply letting them go and walking freely the path before us, no longer weighed down by all our "junk."
            Likewise, repentance is about listening for directions as we travel, and turning toward where God is leading. It is not a matter of beating ourselves up because we are not the persons we should be. Rather, to repent is to pay attention to who we truly are, and whose we are, and then turn toward the One who created and redeems us. Lent is the 40 day season for this journey.
            The gospel story that lies at the center of our worship today connects us with the beginning of the journey Jesus undertook as a man, heading toward his earthly destination. After he himself came to the waters of the Jordan river to be baptized by John, he spent 40 days in the wilderness. That's the dusty, thirsty story we will hear again this hour, as if for the first time.
            Brethren, we have met to worship, and I invite you to join our praise team, Seraphim, in singing an old hymn which you'll find as #8 in your hymnal or see projected upon the screen to my left. We hear echoes in this song of the 40 year journey undertaken by the children of Israel, as they left Egypt and headed through the wilderness toward the promised land. Please rise in body or spirit and let us sing this traveling song.
  

Opening Prayer

            O God, who long ago parted the waters for your people to step out of slavery and into your promise, help us this day to let go of what we really don’t need that we also might walk freely as brothers and sisters in Christ.
            O God, who long ago provided bread in the wilderness to give daily hope to your people as they traveled toward your future, help us this day to receive your nourishment and your directions for the path ahead.
            You are worthy of our trust. Your love is steadfast and true. You are greater than the limits of our imaginations, creator of all that is, even that which is beyond our ability to perceive. Bless us just now with the awareness of your presence. May your Spirit be the very air that we breathe, and your Word be like cool, refreshing water on a dry and dusty day. We confess our sins and repent, releasing them and turning toward you just now, open to receive your manna, our daily bread.
            This we pray in the name of the One whom you sent to save us – Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
  

Pastoral Prayer

written closer to the time (if not at the moment)

Romans 10: 8-13
(Laughing Bird Version)

........"The Word that saves is with you;
................it is on the tip of your tongue;
........................it is beating in your heart."

            This is the message we've been preaching and it's all about trust. If you put that trust into words, declaring that Jesus is the one you answer to; and embrace that trust in your heart, believing that Jesus lives because God raised him from the dead, then you will be put back on the right track with God. That's what salvation is! When anyone allows that trust in God to rewrite the basic beliefs they live by, their heart is put right with God; and when those rewritten beliefs are expressed openly in what they say and do, then you know they are safely in God's care. The scriptures back this up, saying, "No one who trusts God will ever be let down." Your ethnic or religious background makes no difference in this: there is only one God, and that one God has the last word on everyone. God is equally generous to all those who call out in trust for help. As the saying goes, "Anyone who wants help from God only has to ask."

©2001 Nathan Nettleton www.laughingbird.net
  

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

As you return your offering just now, think about that:

“No one who trusts God will ever be let down.”
“Anyone who wants help from God only has to ask.”

Be ready to echo in song what Jesus said about asking and seeking, and knocking, and then pray together a very familiar prayer. It doesn’t matter whether you learned it with “debts and debtors” or “trespass and trespasses.” It’s the forgiveness behind it that’s important. Or, better said, it’s the One who forgives us – our heavenly Father.

Ushers, please assist us in returning our tithes and offerings.
 

Lord's Prayer

Benediction

It was never  promised
that you will not be tempted,
not thrown into turmoil,
not stumble or fall,
but that by grace you will be saved, through trusting God.
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be

Grace is a free gift of God.
Gift. Just ongoing gift.
For me. For you.
Let it be, dear lord. Let it be.

You have a destiny to inherit, over which the angels in heaven marvel.

The quiet strength of Christ,
the humble power of God,
and the pervasive light of the Spirit,
        is yours
today and always. 

Thanks be to God.

by Bruce Prewer, Uniting Church in Australia