First Sunday in Lent
March 6, 2022
Holy Communion at 8:30 and 11am
Livestream at 8:25am
Bulletin for the service
Prayer of the Day
O Lord God, you led your people through the wilderness and brought them to the promised land. Guide us now, so that, following your Son, we may walk safely through the wilderness of this world toward the life you alone can give, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Scripture
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
Romans 10:8b-13
Luke 4:1-13
Sermon
“Baptized for the Wilderness”
Luke 4:1-13
We have gone from the dazzling mountaintop to the desolate wilderness. Here wonder and awe have been replaced with hunger and temptation. Jesus has entered his time of testing. With Jesus we now begin our forty-day pilgrimage toward his passion. In this rocky and barren place, we come face to face with our appetites, cravings, and desires. The liturgies of this world have catechized us to seek after all kinds of things. All leading us inward barreling towards sin and death. Like Jesus, though, we have been baptized. We are accompanied by the Spirit. Life has already been transformed in our Jordan River. In the mystery of God, we have already died to those appetites, cravings, and desires. Risen again with Christ they have no power over us any longer. Fed by the provision of promise we keep walking undaunted. Joyfully we seek after justice, chase after mercy, and pursue life. A life that even in the wilderness is cruciform.
Hymns
When We Are Tested, ACS 922
Lord Jesus, You Shall Be My Song, ELW 808
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, LBW 228
ACS, All Creation Sings
ELW, Evangelical Lutheran Worship
LBW, Lutheran Book of Worship
In our prayers we remember the Harmony Community Church Food Pantry.