First Sunday of Lent, Year B February 21, 2021

Prelude: Ashes

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Opening Words and Welcome

Hear these words from Psalm 86, verse 11

Teach me your way, O Lord and I will walk in your truth;

Knit my heart to you that I may revere your name.

We come seeking forgiveness

For all we have failed to be and do

As members of Christ’s body.

Loving and all-seeing God, forgive us

Where we have failed to love one another

And to be what we claimed to be.

Forgive us where we have failed to serve you.

Forgive us our cynicism and despair;

And where our thoughts and actions

Have been contrary to yours

We ask your pardon.

In Jesus’ name. Amen

Through the cross of Christ,

God will have mercy on you,

Pardon you and set you free.

Know that you are forgiven and be at peace.

God strengthen you in all goodness

And keep you in life eternal. Amen

Collect:

God of the wilderness, your Son battled with the powers of darkness and grew closer to you in the desert:

help us to use these forty days to grow in wisdom and prayer,

so that we may witness to your saving love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

First Reading: read by Elmer Uzans

A reading from The Book of Genesis

Very early in Judeao- Christian history, God commits to preserve the diversity of life

amid all of life’s messiness. This is the first of three accounts of covenants God

makes in our Lent readings.

God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “As for me, I am establishing my

covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature

that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with

you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never

again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be

a flood to destroy the earth.”; God said,: ”This is the sign of the covenant that I make

between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future

generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant

between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen

in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every

living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to

destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the

everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the

earth.: “ God said to Noah,; “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established

between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” [GEN 9:8-17]

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.

Thanks be to God.

Hymn:

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Psalm 25:1-9 – led by Phil and Liz Milo

To you, O Lord,

I lift up my soul;

my God, I put my trust in you;

let me not be humiliated, nor let my enemies triumph over me.

Let none who look to you be put to shame;

let the treacherous be disappointed in their schemes.

Show me your ways, O Lord,

and teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth and teach me,

for you are the God of my salvation; in you have I trusted all the day long.

Remember, O Lord, your compassion and love,

for they are from everlasting.

Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions;

remember me according to your love and for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.

Gracious and upright are you, O Lord;

therefore you teach sinners in your way.

You guide the humble in doing right

and teach your way to the lowly.

Hymn :

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The Gospel

The Lord be with you

And also with you

The Holy Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ according to Mark

Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 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. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

The Gospel of Christ

Praise to you, Lord, Jesus Christ

Reflection by Rev Canon Lynn Uzans

Affirmation of Faith

Together, let us affirm our faith as we say:

We believe and trust in God the Source of all being and life, the one for whom we exist.

We believe and trust in God the Son, who took our human nature, died for us and rose again.

We believe and trust in God the Holy Spirit, who gives life to the people of God and makes Christ known in the world.

We believe and trust in one God, our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.

Hymn: Forty Days and Forty Nights