FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT  

GATHERING FOR WORSHIP

As the bell sounds, may we quiet ourselves and allow the music of the prelude to lead us into a worshipful place in our hearts and minds.

*  Those who are able, please stand.

Prelude                          

Welcome and Announcements

Choral Introit

Call to Worship 

Leader: After he was baptized by John, Jesus went by himself to the wilderness where he was tempted.

People: Forty days in the desert, Jesus was tempted to become relevant, spectacular, and powerful.

Leader: Today, we begin to journey with Jesus through the season of Lent, which brings us to face some of our own weaknesses and temptations.

People: Let us worship God and walk the journey together, seeking the spirit as our guide and companion along the way.

*Opening Hymn    Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days

1. Lord, who throughout these forty days, For us did fast and pray,

Teach us with you to mourn our sins, And close by you to stay.

2. As you with Satan did contend, And did the vict'ry win,

O give us strength in you to fight, In you to conquer sin.

3. And through these days of penitence, And through your Passion-tide, Forevermore, in life and death, O Christ, with us abide.

4. Abide with us that through this life of doubts and hope and pain,

An Easter of unending joy We may at last attain!   

Unison Prayer of Invocation 

God, you know our hearts.  You have knitted our inmost being and you know our deepest desires, fears and worries.  Help us to journey during this Lenten season into a new awareness of your presence in our lives.  Save us from our own temptations, so that we may more freely follow you.  Amen.

SHARING GOD’S WORD

Scripture Reading            Mark 1:9-15          

Leader: This is the Word of the Lord.    

People:   Thanks be to God.

Musical Interlude    

THE COMMUNITY AT PRAYER

Sharing of Joys and Concerns

Call to Prayer (#593)               Lead Me, Lord

Lead me, Lord, lead me in thy righteousness, make thy way plain before 

my face. For it is thou, Lord, thou, Lord, only, that makest me dwell in safety.

Pastoral Prayer

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 debts, as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.

*Hymn of Preparation How Firm a Foundation     

SERMON         Neither Snow nor Rain . . .            Rev. Ritts

THE SERVICE OF OFFERING

Collection and Offertory     

*The Doxology (#46)

*Unison Prayer of Dedication   

   Lord God of all, accept our offering of money this day, but also the offering of our lives. Help us to live simply, generously and courageously, that our lives may point to you. Amen.

WE GO FORTH TO SERVE

*Hymn of Parting          “Are Ye Able,” Said the Master                  

*Benediction (Colossians 3)
    And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

All: And now, may we bear fruit as we go forth in peace to love and serve the Lord, In the name of Christ. Amen.

Congregational Response     Go Now in Peace

Go now in peace. Never be afraid, God will go with you each hour of every day. Go now in faith, steadfast, strong and true. Know He will guide you in all you do. Go now in love, and show you believe. Reach out to others so all the world can see. God will be there, watching from above. Go now in peace, in faith, and in love.

Postlude                        

Poet Margaret Moss speaks for many these days:

   Wind still howling through the eaves

Giving winter one last fleeting glance;

Lift your collars, pay no mind,

It’s only one final frosty glance.

For spring will come, the robins know,

When all the Earth will dance.

More  cold, windy weather crossing our region again, temperatures bouncing around, the patience wears thin.  (A sign on a billboard on my way here: “I wish I was as thin as my patience.”  Kind of like my weight-loss mountain climb for Lent and the tough road ahead.)

These external limitations of chilly, windy weather,  create that "cabin fever" feeling - both for the elderly and for the children, too - even though they can play outside and have a good time, it’s not for long and they come in to stay and be entertained - and for many of us, our mobility is certainly challenged, even limited. 

Not unlike the spiritual season of Lent which we begin today. A"winter-time" of the soul as we wade through disciplines and services, struggling to achieve that "closer walk with God", clearing off the pathways, going inside to get out of the wind and find strength and consolation.   Eyes toward springtime and Easter.

But, In order to arrive at our hoped-for destinations, spring-like weather, our Easter celebrations, we must first pass through the difficult season of winter-like Lent.

Scripture presents at least two, Lenten-type journey stories.

First, from the Old Testament, Noah has quite an adventure. God tells him to Build an ark 510ft long, Gather together all those animals, then storm, rain, flooding for 40 days, and finally, after over a year on the ark, a rainbow.and a promise from God.

For Jesus, it was Baptism, then off into the wilderness, and finally into his ministry. Before Jesus could begin his ministry he needed to accept God’s call - through baptism, then go off into the wilderness (and note once again) for 40 days.

  For us, we too look at 40 days within our Lenten season. (An interesting suggestion: 40 days is a good measure for an effective spiritual journey.)

That’s from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday, this year on April 19, and that does not count Sundays - 6 and a half weeks.

The "winter of our discontent" offers us some wonderful imagery!  

As some of us have chosen our own personal Lenten Mountains to climb this season, today’s Scripture lessons help us to remember that through it all, there will always be something good that comes out of our best and most diligent efforts.

The Scripture again presents us with a comforting image.

For Noah, the rainbow became a reminder not so much of the storm, but that he had survived it and God promised never to put him through that again.

For Jesus, God had some very special words as he came up out of the River Jordan:

“You are my son, the beloved son, with you I am well pleased.

Comforting and empowering words for any son or any daughter to hear.

Remember? Or haven’t we all seen it on the eyes of our own offspring, or the children in our care.

Then, following the wilderness experience, God’s angels came and ministered to Jesus. He had survived and was ready to begin.

For us, our Lenten journeys will end, too. And, no matter what we have or have not accomplished - to have been on the journey, striving for something greater in our lives, will bring deep satisfaction and a closer connection to that spiritual part of us.

And that pull, that goal, that light at the end of the tunnel urges us to stay the course.

How could Jesus have "walked that lonesome valley all by himself"? What pulled him onward? 

During Lent we are called to focus on Jesus’ struggle to stay the course through all the taunts and constant harassment by the local religious authorities, through the constant barrage of needy people, right through to that painful and tragic last (what we call “Holy”) week of his life.

Yet nothing could derail his calling.

The title of this sermon has a bit of a familiar ring, does it not?

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

Cathleen Schurr from an article in American History Magazine writes:

“The familiar quotation inscribed on the post office building in New York City was never, as many believe, the official motto of the Post Office Department. Adapted from the writings of the Greek historian Herah’dotus in the fifth century B.C., the words nonetheless suggest the determination to overcome problems that has characterized the monumental efforts to move the mail in the United States since the establishment of the Post Office Department by the Second Continental Congress in 1775.”

Things like wind, rain, heat and gloom of night often slow us down.

The changing winds of our society, shaken by family and friends; well-meaning souls around us.

The rain of criticism, teasing, self-doubt

The heat of pressure and time constraints

The gloom of discouraging news breaking in and pushing us backwards.

B. Perhaps the one thing, above all else, that kept Jesus on track was that this was his "appointed round" and he would see it through to completion.

We may never know how much personal choice Jesus exercised in his accepting the call to being God’s chosen messiah.

Yet, we all know what it is to receive a call toward some higher ground - be it from God, or a loved one, or friend - or boss, even a stranger - we have known various callings, spiritual callings in our lives.

So how strong was the call in Jesus' life? 

Pretty strong, to be sure - from day one and even before!

That calling, whenever and whatever it may be at any given time, slices into our live, calling us forward, calling us upward.

To focus on that call, is to keep our eyes and heads up, out of those things that would slow us down - the snow, the rain, the heat or the gloom of night.

The Call gets us started and gives us direction and something to keep us focused.

And along with the call, that rainbow, that joy of the ending beckons us forward.

As the apostle Paul writes:

Let us look to Jesus . . . who, for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame.

No matter how much choice he had, something kept him going. Paul would suggest it was the joy at the end. It works for us all - I would add one other, perhaps even more prevalent source of strength to see it all

through.

All along the way, between the call and the fulfillment, Jesus knew God beside him all the way.

In our Lenten journeys through the snow, the rain, the heat and the gloom of night, Between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, if we listen carefully, we can all hear that voice from a loving parent urging us along:

Come on, that’s right, this way, come on, come on, don’t be afraid.

Good! Yes!

There will probably be more cold, wind and rain to come. 

Our Spiritual, Lenten journeys will certainly meet some challenging weather along the way.

But with the call to get us going, the rainbow and the joy beckoning us onward and the voice of God and those angels to keep us on the path, we, too, can stay the course and reach the Easter glory!

(Slightly adapted:)

"Neither wind  nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays (we) couriers from the swift completion of (our) appointed rounds.”  Easter, here we come!