WORSHIP RESOURCES
First Sunday in Lent
Romans 10:8b-13
Believe with Our Hearts
Additional Scriptures
Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16; Luke 4:1-13; Alma 16:153-154;
Doctrine and Covenants 163:2b-c
Preparation
The traditional color of Lent is purple. Consider decorating the chapel with purple cloth, or if your service is online, consider using purple in your background or on the slides for the service.
For the Focus Moment, either prepare paper cutouts of a seed, a sprout, and a full-grown plant for each participant, or have participants imagine a seed growing as part of the activity or project the images.
Prelude
Welcome and Lent Explanation
I welcome each of you today into Christian community as we gather during our journey through Lent.
Lent is a time of reflection, introspection, and penitence. It is a forty-day period mirroring Jesus’s forty days of fasting and temptation in the desert. We embark on this spiritual journey together as a community, tracing the path from the ashes of Ash Wednesday to the glory of Easter Sunday.
This season is a call to fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. We are reminded of our humanity, our fragility, and our shared reliance on God’s grace. It is a time to confront our weaknesses, confess our sins, and seek reconciliation with God and one another.
Today, we worship in the knowledge of God’s unfailing love for us, even as we recognize our own failings. As we continue to travel the Lenten path, let’s challenge ourselves to engage more deeply with our faith, to turn away from what separates us from God, and to embrace a spirit of repentance and renewal.
May this service be a source of grace and encouragement for us all.
Call to Worship: Responsive Reading
Leader: You who live in the shelter of the most high, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
All: My refuge and my fortress; my God in whom I trust.
Leader: Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the most high your
dwelling place, no evil shall befall you.
All: My refuge and my fortress; my God in whom I trust.
Leader: For he will command his angels to guard you in all your ways. On
their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
All: My refuge and my fortress; my God in whom I trust.
Leader: Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know
my name. When they call to me, I will answer them, be with them
in trouble, rescue them, and honor them.
All: My refuge and my fortress; my God in whom I trust.
—Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16, adapted
Hymn of Gathering
“God, We Gather as Your People” CCS 274
OR “Gather Us In” CCS 72
OR “Called to Gather as God’s People” CCS 79
Opening Prayer
Response
Lent Scripture Reading and Reflection
Read Luke 4:1-13.
Reflection
This passage is about Jesus’s forty days of fasting in the wilderness prior to beginning his ministry. Explain how the forty days of Lent reflect Jesus’s days of fasting and preparation in the wilderness. Similarly, Lent is a yearly period of fasting and preparation for Christians.
Focus Moment
Objective: Teach about the growth of faith using paper to create a “growing plant” as a visual representation.
Preparation: Either prepare paper cutouts of a seed, a sprout, and a full-grown plant, or have the kids imagine a seed growing as part of the activity.
Introduction
How does a plant grow?
Lead them to the answer—a seed growing into a small plant, and then into a full-grown plant.
Explain that today they will learn how our faith is like a growing plant.
Read Alma 16:153-154, adapted.
If you have just a little bit of belief, like a tiny seed, and you don’t give up on it, that seed of belief can grow inside you. Like a plant, our faith can grow bigger and stronger every day.
If you have paper cutouts, pass these around to participants. If not, use the explanation and imagination. OR find images of these stages to project for all to see.
Discussion
Q1: “What does our paper plant show?”
Guide them to the answer: growth from a tiny seed to a big plant.
Q2: “What can help our faith grow like this plant?”
Discuss actions like praying, learning about Jesus, and being kind.
Assembling the Growth Sequence
Have the participants assemble their cutouts in order of growth—seed, sprout, full-grown plant—and attach them side by side on another piece of paper or the wall, using tape or glue. Or project these images. Or help participants imagine the growth sequence.
Explaining the Growth
Relate the growth of the plant to the growth of faith. As participants learn more about God, their faith (belief) grows from a small “seed” into something bigger and stronger.
Hymn of Change
“O Christ, My Lord, Create in Me” CCS 507
OR “I Will Talk to My Heart” CCS 168
OR “Into My Heart” Sing at least twice. CCS 573
Encourage participants to sing in languages other than their own.
Prayer for Peace
Light the peace candle.
Feel free to use this prayer or your own prayer.
Peace Prayer
Gracious God,
Amid life’s storms and uncertainties, we seek your peace. Bless our hearts with calm, our minds with clarity, and our world with unity. Transform our conflicts into opportunities for understanding and let your love guide us to harmonious living, today and always. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Sermon
Based on Romans 10:8b-13
Hymn of Reflection
“There’s a Church within Us” CCS 278
OR “O Christ, My Lord, Create in Me” CCS 507
OR “Spirit, Open My Heart” CCS 564
Disciples’ Generous Response
Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 26:1-2
Statement
Just as those in ancient times, we still bring our first fruits to God to give as an offering every Sunday.
God’s astonishing compassion and love in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate example of generosity. God loves us abundantly and unconditionally. As we open our hearts to courageously and generously share by placing money in the offering plates or through eTithing, we reflect the movement of God’s astonishing love and compassion for the world.
If you have participants joining the worship online, remind them that they can give through www.CofChrist.org/give or through eTithing at www.eTithing.org (consider displaying these URLs)
Blessing and Receiving of Local and Worldwide Mission Tithes
Hymn for the Journey
“There’s an Old, Old Path” CCS 244
OR “Tenderly, Tenderly, Lead Thou Me On” CCS 256
OR “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” CCS 499
Closing Prayer
Sending Forth
Statement
Lent is an individual and communal journey. As you take each step, consider how Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, is changing your heart and the ways participation in sacred community, including through the sacraments, has a role to play in your journey, as we are called in Doctrine and Covenants 163:2b-c.
Scripture Reading: Doctrine and Covenants 163:2b-c
Postlude
SERMON AND CLASS HELPS
Year C—Letters
First Sunday in Lent
Romans 10:8b–13
Exploring the Scripture
These few sentences in today’s lection are a fitting way to start the season of Lent. For Christians, this is the time we are called to reflect deeply on our life’s practices and how those practices affect the gospel promise set before us.
After elaborating extensively in the previous chapters on the failings (sins) of normal human life, Paul now shares a message of hope, of redemption that is near. If only we would realize it in our hearts and dare to speak aloud that Jesus is our Savior.
Unfortunately, we, too, often are blind to the harm we do to others and all creation. Our eyes need to be opened. Our hearts need to feel the pain in our world, like Jesus felt the pain in his world. We need to be reminded to see the world as God sees it. Also, some people see the pain they have caused, which shames them. It brings them to a dark place full of guilt. They feel unworthy in the eyes of God and society. For both, there is hope, resurrection, and salvation.
When? We do not have a clear answer. But it is not far away, as the first sentence of the text alludes to.
How? By confessing, meaning believing with your entire being that Jesus is God’s Word, Jesus is the One to follow, Jesus is resurrected, and we have the promise of resurrection and new life. Paul’s use of mouth and heart suggests that there is more than simply a verbal expression of our belief in Jesus’s redeeming grace. We must internalize that belief in our entire being, to the core of who we are. This will change how we live and express the Christ in us.
Lent invites us to reflect on our practices. We especially focus on deeply set beliefs and convictions we are not fully aware of but have internalized throughout our lives. They guide and justify what we do daily. Paul’s struggle with the Jewish belief in us versus them, Jews versus Greeks, clean versus unclean, reminds us that in our beliefs or understandings we have unconscious practices contrary to God’s redeeming work.
Paul is direct. God’s grace is for all. Salvation is for all. Thus, we need to assess how we affect others, so they do not believe they are unworthy. Also, we are called to assess how our day-to-day practices justify how others live unexamined lives. Do we walk the talk?
Lent is a time of examination. Paul’s message is not to linger on our sinfulness, but to see the hope of new life and resurrection.
Central Ideas
1. There is hope in confessing our individual and collective failings or sins.
2. The hope of salvation is for everyone, regardless of our background or whether we feel worthy.
3. The promise of redemption and salvation is not in the faraway future, but near.
Questions for the Speaker
1. When have you felt unworthy? Who have you been close to who felt that way? What brought redemption in your or their lives?
2. What acts of kindness can you or the congregation do, even if they contradict public opinion?
3. What practice has been difficult for you to confess and change?
4. How will you use the season of Lent to examine your life as a disciple?
5. What hope do you have for the congregation and its ministries?
SACRED SPACE: A RESOURCE FOR SMALL-GROUP MINISTRY
Year C, Letters
First Sunday in Lent
Romans 10:8b–13
Gathering
Welcome
We join other Christians who for many centuries have observed Lent as the forty days between Ash Wednesday and Easter, not counting Sundays. During Lent, we center our attention on Jesus as we remember his life and ministry. Lent also provides a means to sharpen our focus on our own lives in relationship to Jesus. And the Lenten season encourages us to turn from whatever distracts or blocks our commitment to discipleship. May the season of Lent help us walk with Jesus, even though the path leads to the cross.
Prayer for Peace
Ring a bell or chime three times slowly.
Light the peace candle.
Maker of all things and loving Parent to humankind, open our minds and our imaginations to the working of your Spirit in us. Direct our minds in the way of your purposes, strengthen our will and deepen our spirits in the pursuit of justice and mercy, peace and harmony. For this we pray in Christ’s holy name. Amen.
—Bonnie Wesemann
Spiritual Practice
Silent Personal Reflection
Read the following to the group:
Lent is the time that represents Jesus going into the wilderness, where he fasted forty days. Life is not comfortable in the wilderness. The wilderness is a wild, lonely, dark place. In our Lenten wilderness we spend time preparing for our journey with Jesus.
Take a moment to center yourself. Find a comfortable position. If you wish, you may close your eyes. Imagine you are in a wilderness.
Listen as I read Psalm 91:9–16. Listen for words that stand out to you. What images come to mind? What will you carry with you on your Lenten journey?
After the reading we will spend two minutes in silent reflection. At the conclusion a chime will sound.
Psalm 91:9–16 NRSVue
Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
the Most High your dwelling place,
no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder,
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
Those who love me, I will deliver;
I will protect those who know my name.
When they call to me, I will answer them;
I will be with them in trouble,
I will rescue them and honor them.
With long life I will satisfy them,
and show them my salvation.
End the reflection time with a chime or bell.
Invite the group to respond to this question: What words or images from this psalm will you carry with you on your Lenten journey?
Sharing Around the Table
Romans 10:8b–13 NRSVue
But what does it say?
“The word is near you,
in your mouth and in your heart”
(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim), because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart, leading to righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, leading to salvation. The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Our lectionary text is a fitting way to start the season of Lent. For Christians, this is the time we are called to reflect deeply on our life’s practices and how those practices affect the gospel promise set before us. If only we would realize it in our hearts and dare to speak out loud.
Lent is a time of examination. Yet often we are ignorant of the harm we or a community does. Paul’s message is not to linger on our sinfulness but to see the hope of new life and resurrection. Acknowledging harm done is important, but reconciliation is the goal.
While it is important to recognize that one person cannot change the difficulties and harm done in the world, we can call attention to it. It might be easier to look within others or organizations to see harm done; it also is imperative to look within ourselves to see, even in the slightest, how we might be contributing to this. Further, we must examine what we can do to bring attention, reconciliation, and healing.
We are the body of Christ, and we have committed ourselves to the ways of Jesus. Our words and our actions are important. Paul reminds us that grace is for all. What does grace afford us this season? What message are we called, individually and collectively, to share? May we remember the generosity that God provides when we put the call into action.
Questions
1. What is your summary of the gospel message? How can you be bold in sharing it?
2. We cannot have peace without justice. How should that be lived in society or as people of faith?
3. How does grace assist in the work of reconciliation?
Sending
Generosity Statement
Faithful disciples respond to an increasing awareness of the abundant generosity of God by sharing according to the desires of their hearts; not by commandment or constraint.
—Doctrine and Covenants 163:9
The offering basket is available if you would like to support ongoing, small-group ministries as part of your generous response. You also may give at CofChrist.org/give.
The offering prayer for Lent is adapted from A Disciple’s Generous Response.
Ever-present God, forgive us when we are less than loving, less than hope-filled, less than you have created us to be. Your mercy and grace are always with us. May we find strength in your presence, and may we respond to your love with generous spirits. Amen.
Invitation to Next Meeting
Closing Hymn
Community of Christ Sings 449, “Jesus, Tempted in the Desert”
Closing Prayer
Optional Additions Depending on Group
- Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
- Thoughts for Children
Thoughts for Children
This Lenten activity continues through the season of Lent.
Materials:
· small squares of light-purple paper (large enough to write on but small enough to be used in a mosaic)
· pencil
· glue stick
· poster board
(Before beginning this activity, pick an Easter symbol such as the cross and lightly outline it on the poster board. When participants place their pieces of paper in the mosaic the first four weeks of Lent, have them avoid the inside of the area you have outlined. This area will be filled during the final week of Lent. Alternatively, you could choose to create a more elaborate mosaic that depicts an Easter scene such as Golgotha or the empty tomb. If you choose to do this, see the note at the end of this lesson about alternating the colors you need. Choosing to create a more elaborate mosaic could be more interesting for participants because they won’t be able to tell immediately what they are creating and will be excited to see the mosaic grow over the weeks of Lent.)
Say: We are in the season of Lent. Lent lasts forty days. The number forty is meaningful in a few ways. Perhaps most meaningful to the season of Lent, Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness preparing to minister to people. Our Lenten journey is modeled after Jesus’s time in the wilderness because we also are using this time for preparation. During Lent, we prepare for Holy Week and Easter by doing things that help us live like Jesus and recognize God’s presence in our lives and the world.
Jesus chose to go to the wilderness to spend time with God. Sometimes we need to go spend time with God, too. Although we can’t just pack up and go to the wilderness, we still can find ways to spend time with God. One of my favorite ways is…(share an example of how you enjoy sharing time with God).
Ask: What are some ways you like to spend time with God? (Affirm all answers.)
Say: Those are all good examples! There is no one right way to spend time with God. I am going to give you each a purple square of paper. Purple is an important color during Lent. It reminds us that we should honor Jesus. I would like you to write or draw a picture of your favorite way to spend time with God.
Once everyone has written on a square of paper, we are going to put them together to create a beautiful mosaic! We will continue to add to our mosaic all during Lent, so we can see the preparations we have made!
Help participants attach their square and their piece of paper to the correct part of the mosaic. Keep it someplace safe for the next week.
* If you choose to create a more elaborate mosaic that depicts an Easter scene instead of just a symbol, alternate the color mentioned in the script for the colors you need for each part of your mosaic. (For example, one week you could write on green paper, which then could be used in your mosaic to create a grassy landscape.)