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Event Series Event Series: 1st Sunday in Lent – Year C

1st Sunday in Lent – Year C

9 March 2025 All day

Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

The LORD your God is giving you the land, and soon you will take ownership of it, settle down there, and plant your crops. When you begin harvesting each crop, you are to take a basketful of the first pickings and take it to the place chosen by the LORD as the place of worship. You are to present yourself to whoever is the priest at the time, saying, “I am here to give thanks to the LORD our God, for I have put down roots in the land that the LORD promised to our ancestors.”

Then the priest will accept the basket of produce from you and place it in front of the sacred altar of the LORD. As he does, you are to pray to the LORD in the words of the prayer which tells the story of your people:

“I am descended from a refugee,
an Aramean who settled in Egypt.
His family was small when we arrived,
but we expanded quickly in numbers and power.
We were forced into slavery to keep us in check;
the labour was hard and the treatment was harsh.
We cried out to you, LORD, God of our ancestors,
and you heard our prayers;
you saw how we were oppressed,
and felt the weight of our suffering.
You rescued us from the land of slavery, LORD.
You broke us free and got us out
with miraculous signs and a terrifying display of strength.
You brought us here to this wonderful land,
a land of peaches and cream.
So now, LORD, I am here to say thank you;
I give you the first of my crops,
the pick of all you have given me.”

After your basket has been placed in front of the altar, and you have prayed this prayer, you are to bow down and worship the LORD your God. Then, with your whole community, throw a big party to celebrate and enjoy the good harvest which the LORD God has given you. Don’t forget to send an open invitation to share in the celebration to the attendants from the place of worship and to any refugees who have settled in the neighbourhood.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Your greatness and strength are our shelter, LORD;
we can live secure in your shade.
We call you our refuge, our place of safety;
you are the God in whom we trust.

We have nothing to fear because we have found safety in you;
we have settled down within your care.
Thanks to you, LORD of the universe, no evil can touch us;
disaster can not get a foot in the door.

You have instructed your angels to look after us;
made it their job to protect us wherever we go.
You’ve told them to catch us when we fall;
to keep us from coming to grief on hidden snags.

With your help we can face any danger;
we can stare down crocodiles and Tiger snakes.

Those who know you and love you can depend on you,
you are always there to pull them out of trouble.

The moment they call, you answer;
you’re on their side when all hell breaks loose;
you save their lives and throw a party in their honour.

You give them long and fulfilling lives, LORD;
they will see the realisation of all you have promised.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

“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 LaughingBird.net

When Jesus left the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit was pulsing through him and active in everything he did. At the prompting of the Spirit, Jesus went bush by himself in a remote area. He spent forty days out there without eating at all, and by the end of that time he was weak from hunger. During the forty days, the devil tried every trick in the book to throw him off-track. Playing on his hunger, the devil said, “If you are really the Son of God, prove it! Say the word and turn this rock into a loaf of bread.”

Jesus answered him, “As the scriptures say, ‘It takes a lot more than bread to make life worth living.’”

After that, the devil took Jesus up to a lookout with a panoramic view of every nation and state in the whole world. The devil said to him, “I can make the world your oyster. I can give you the power to accomplish everything you want, everywhere on earth. I’ve been given power over the whole lot, and I can delegate it to whoever I like. All you have to do is worship me – just acknowledge me as number one – and it’s all yours.”

But Jesus was not taken in. He said, “The scriptures leave no doubt about who we are to call number one: ‘Worship the Lord your God and no other. Give your whole-hearted service to the Lord your God and no other.’”

With that the devil decided to try quoting scripture too. Taking Jesus to Jerusalem and standing him on top of the Temple’s highest tower, the devil said, “If you are really the Son of God, prove it to everyone. Throw yourself off the top of this tower so that God can fulfil the scriptures that say:

‘God will instruct the angels to protect you from danger.’
‘They will catch you as you fall
and you won’t so much as stub your toe
on the rocks below.’”

But Jesus couldn’t be budged. He replied, “The scriptures also say, ‘Don’t go trying to test out the Lord your God.’”

After trying everything to get through Jesus’s defences, the devil backed off and laid low, waiting for a weak moment to have another go.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for you put your saving word on our lips and in our hearts
and strengthen us to endure in times of trial.

You created the world in all its glory
and called forth crops from the ground.
When your people were oppressed and enslaved,
you reached out your hand to save them,
and gave them a land flowing with milk and honey.

You sent your son, Jesus Christ,
as the first fruits of a harvest of righteousness.
He stood firm against the devil’s temptations,
trusting instead in your saving word,
and offering his worship and service to you alone.
When the forces of evil cast him into the grave,
you raised him from the dead
and made him Lord of all.
Now you save all who trust him,
and confess him as Lord in word and deed.

Therefore with .....

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

We thank you, O God, for your son, Jesus Christ,
who strengthens us to stand firm against the devil’s temptations,
trusting instead in your ever-present saving word,
and offering our worship and service to you alone.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for you put your saving word on our lips and in our hearts
and strengthen us to endure in times of trial.

You created the world in all its glory
and called forth crops from the ground.
When your people were oppressed and enslaved,
you reached out your hand to save them,
and gave them a land flowing with milk and honey.

You sent your son, Jesus Christ,
as the first fruits of a harvest of righteousness.
He stood firm against the devil’s temptations,
trusting instead in your saving word,
and offering his worship and service to you alone.
When the forces of evil cast him into the grave,
you raised him from the dead
and made him Lord of all.
Now you save all who trust him,
and confess him as Lord in word and deed.

Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

No one who believes in Christ will be put to shame.
Trust in the power of God that raised Christ from the dead,
and you will be set right with God;
confess Jesus Christ as Lord,
and you will be saved.

Sisters and Brothers,
  your sins are forgiven;
    be at peace.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Go now, confessing Christ as Lord, in word and deed.
Worship and serve the Lord your God and no other.
Stand firm in the time of trial;
tell the story of God’s goodness,
and trust in the Lord whose saving word is always with you.

And may God instruct angels to guard you wherever you go;
May Christ Jesus be your refuge and stronghold;
And may the Holy Spirit lead you
and put God’s Word on your lips and in your hearts.

We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
   In the name of Christ. Amen.

©2001 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

  1. What Does Discipleship Cost?
    A sermon on Luke 4: 1-13 by Nathan Nettleton
  2. Does the Devil make us do it?
    A sermon on Luke 4: 1-13 by Nathan Nettleton
  3. The Word is Near
    A sermon on Romans 10:8-13; Luke 4: 1-13 & Deuteronomy 26: 1-11 by Nathan Nettleton
  4. If Only . .
    A sermon on Luke 4: 1-13 by Nathan Nettleton
  5. The Systematised Salvation Temptation
    A sermon on Romans 10:8b-13 & Luke 4:1-13 by Nathan Nettleton
  6. Confronting post-modern devils
    A sermon on Luke 4: 1-13 by Nathan Nettleton
  7. The Baptismal Decision
    A sermon on Luke 4:1-13 & Psalm 91:1-2,9-16 by Sylvia Sandeman

Details

Date:
9 March 2025
Series: