Welcome (Genesis 9:8-17)

Then 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."

Preparation: Open our eyes, Lord

Call to Worship: Psalm 25:1-10

To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.

O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me. Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.

Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.

Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O LORD!

Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

Hymn: Morning has broken

Prayer

O God,
You are steadfast. Your love is for us always. Through your Son you complete your love so that we may have life full of joy and gladness. Through your Spirit you establish your reign of compassion in ways that we may be the servants who share your compassion in this world.

By your Spirit, be present with us in this worship, not because we are worthy of your presence, but because you overlook our frailties and fill us with your grace and mercy. Be kind to us as we come to lift up our voices in praise. Be gentle with us as we pour out our souls before you.

May you be glorified in this worship! In your Son our Lord’ we pray. Amen.

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:18-22 & Mark 1:9-15

1 Peter 3:18-22
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,  in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you--not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

Mark 1:9-15
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."

Sermon: God’s purpose

The passage from 1 Peter we are meditating on today clearly shows what God intended in Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection. We are being reminded as we begin our journey with Christ during these forty days of Lent that Jesus’ baptism set him on the path of our salvation in the most unexpected way. It was the way of suffering, not of painless victory. God continues to reveal to all that the victory Jesus gained from death was only possible through his death on the cross and the resurrection on the third day.

Initially the baptism of Jesus, though it set a course for Jesus’ life, did not reveal to the world what he would face in his ministry. It signalled the very beginning point of his service to God and humanity. In Gospel Mark, just before he ascended to the high mountain with Peter, James and John, he began teaching that he would suffer, be killed and be resurrected on the third day. Peter did not want to hear this and told Jesus so only to hear Jesus say to him, “Get behind me, Satan!” This was the shocking revelation of how God was to save the world. The baptism was the beginning of the road to his suffering, death and resurrection.

In these forty days of reflection we carefully remember how those who were so close to Jesus, who were called and were taught by him utterly failed to see God’s plan of salvation unfolding right before their eyes. We come humbly to confess that we, too, are unable to see God’s salvation history being revealed through his suffering, death and resurrection today. We are no better than those disciples who were so close to him. Yet, as we remind ourselves of our inability to fully understand God’s saving plan, we hang onto Christ as best as we can.

These forty days of journey with Christ in his suffering, death and resurrection is our steadfast faithfulness being expressed through all that we do. Unlike the disciples, we commit ourselves to stay with Jesus through thick and thin. Unlike those who ran to save their lives, as the Easter people we run to cling to Jesus as he is dragged away onto the cross and do our utmost to stay with him in his death so that we might rise from the dead with him on the third day. This ritual of Lent helps our eyes to focus on God’s love for the world.

Many, many years ago, I heard music as I was passing by a television in a store. A movie was being played to showcase many televisions. For some reason, the haunting sound of the singer’s voice immediately mesmerised me. I stopped for a few minutes and listened. But I had to get going. It was not easy to forget the melody. I became obsessed with the tune and I wanted to learn it. Those were the days when we did not have the internet. It was impossible to find the song I heard.

A couple of weeks later when I was in the same store, I went to the television section hoping to see that they were playing the same movie. No luck. I asked a sales associate. She had no idea what I was talking about. I went through the whole video section (in those days there were racks full of VHS tapes) but failed to find the movie that might have had that music. Though defeated, that short tune never left me. The strange thing was I could recognize the tune, but could not hum it.

Many years later, I was watching a movie at home. I knew the moment the tune came out. It was the very music I had been looking for for years. I went to the end of the movie to the credit section and found the name of the music. Later I bought a CD. Yes, this was a way before MP3 time. I learned the tune. I know its title. I know where I can find it. I still enjoy hearing and singing it. Not only that if I hear it even now I get mesmerised by it.

This Lenten journey for me is like this beautiful tune taking all my effort and energy to find it each year. The story that began with Jesus’ Baptism, taking us through the passion, suffering, death and resurrection is this life-giving breath that I immediately search for and continually seek for. It is elusive, yet fully present. After all, in Jesus’ baptism I am able to find my baptism, in his ministry I find who I am in relation to him and in his death and resurrection I find what it means for me to share in his eternal life.

This may sound strange. However, our own forty days begin also with remembering our baptism. The forty days of Jesus in the wilderness represents symbolically our days in the world being tempted away from God until we begin participating in his ministry. With this understanding we follow Christ through his ministry in the Spirit faithfully.

Each day, as the living body of Christ here now we tread the road following Jesus who walked all the way to the cross. In this spiritual journey we take up the challenge to deny ourselves, giving up all that we are and letting the dead bury the dead, taking up our crosses and following him. Our way is to leave behind who we are and be made part of the new creation in Christ Jesus in this forty days of spiritual journey. Our eyes are for God, shown in Christ, not the world that offers us better choices, more riches and greater self-actualization. We give up all that we can gain in the world and follow Jesus.

Each day becomes this journey of turning away from this world, putting behind the life of sin and refusing to chase after what the world can offer. Instead, we humble ourselves thinking and treating others as better than ourselves lifting up the lowly, bearing witness as God blesses the poor, the ones mourning, the meek, the hungry, the ones thirsting for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and the persecuted for our Lord’s sake. Each step we take with Christ we open our eyes and see how we are surrounded by these God’s people.

Each morning we rejoice as we witness Christ embracing these lost ones. Each afternoon we embrace them as Christ does every morning on his behalf. We proclaim his good news of salvation by words and deeds with each breath we exhale knowing that God has breathed into us the very Life who is Christ. We receive in gratitude this breath of God which becomes the very source of our life that reaches out and fills the lives of others with God’s love so that all may be blessed.

Is it not true that the air we breathe today is filled with cries of the entire humanity that ever lived? Is it not true that the air we breathe contains the suffering of humanity? Is it not true that the air we breathe out will hold our suffering for our children and children’s children will breathe? The sighs of the oppressed, the poor, the lost, the afflicted, the abused, the neglected, the marginalized and the betrayed are breathed in and out in ways that form our cries to God. From God the breath of life comes and is now filling up with sighs, cries, tears, despair, pain as it returns to God.

The journey of Christ from the baptism to the resurrection becomes the way of salvation for us because we are invited to join him and we gladly take part following him every step of the way. In Christ, with Christ, by Christ, we are made his living body to share the good news of salvation with all, witnessing to the world as Christ blesses the poor, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and those who are persecuted for Christ’s sake.

A friend said to me, “Tell people to love the enemies and see how they treat you as their enemies!” The road that Jesus took is the path that humbles and humiliates us leading us to the cross of Christ. Yet, we as his followers have been on this road ever since our baptism as he was from his baptism. This is what we remember and share with one another. For though we are rejected even by our own loved one and face death as our Lord faced death, our Lent journey in faith and hope reminds us that we are raised with him in his resurrection.

Prayer

Dear Lord,
In your grace and mercy we come. Knowing that your compassion overflowed through Jesus for us, we come humbly. We confess our cowardice in keeping our silence against the sins of the world. As the powerful of this world destroy precious lives, we stay mum in hope of saving ourselves from troubles. We side with the mighty in order to make our lives more comfortable. We hide our rage and shame when we witness evil being done against the powerless and weak because we do not want troubles for ourselves. Yet we come, clinging onto your grace, asking forgiveness for our sins. Be kind to us. Restore us. Redeem us. Recreate us as your children. Hear our prayer.

We lift up our voices on behalf of those who feel powerless and weak in this world where the mighty military powers crush the weak and the helpless to demonstrate their absolute dominance. In this evil, killing has become nothing more than a collateral damage. What the leaders in power desire is to be gods over others. They heed to no moral and ethical codes of being human. They fear none including you, O God. Confronted by these demagogic war-mongering, we do not know what to do. Guide us. Teach us that your love is more powerful than all their strengths found in their bombs and military might. Make us overcome the fear of death by loving one another as your son has done.

We pray for your Church. We have lost our ways as your Church. Instead of denying ourselves and following your Son our Lord, we do our best to ally ourselves with the powers of this world in order to flourish and survive. In doing so, we have forgotten how we have been called to love all while hating sin and lay down our lives even for our enemies. We are so desperate to survive, we search for answers by seeking those false messiahs who have built their own powerful churches using your Word as their weapons. Guide us with your Spirit so that we may have the scales over our eyes peeled off and see your Son’s way. Redeem your Church from the way of this world to follow your Son our Lord.

O Lord, In the world full of human ingenuity, abilities and technologies, we rely on ourselves more than you for healing. In sickness and health we put more trust in our knowledge and know how. Many of us are no longer able to trust you as our healer and restorer. It is only when we fail in our abilities to cure ourselves, we turn to you as the last resort. Fill us with your Spirit to know that you are the source of our life. May we come to understand that from you comes life and to you our lives return.

O Holy Spirit, as we embark on our Lenten Journey, guide and protect us. Lead us to yourself every step of the way. Know that our hearts are set on you. If we falter, pick us up. If we stop, give us encouragement to continue. If we turn away from you, lead us back to you. As we lift up this prayer, we know there are more prayers that are in our hearts. Hear them when we say together… Our Father

Offering/Offering Prayer

Announcements

The first Sunday of March is our 222nd Anniversary Sunday. Please pray as we get ready for this important Sunday. It will also be our Annual Report Sunday. We will give God thanks for all God has done through us here.

Please remember that every Wednesday until the Holy Week, we will be having our Lent Devotion at 10 am. Please, come. Join us for this spiritual walk with Christ.

On Wednesday afternoons at 3:30 pm, we come together for Prayer Time. Please come and join us.

On Saturdays at 1:30 pm, everyone is encouraged to come and join us for fellowship, devotion and volunteer activities.

On Tuesday at 2 pm, the Marketing/Helping Others group will meet.

This Wednesday, after the Lent Devotion, the painting group will meet.

Hymn: O Love that wilt not let me go

Benediction