09 March 2025
10:30 | 
Posted by
Dr Platts |
The first Sunday in Lent was a Parish Eucharist. The children left for their own session in the Parish Rooms, and the congregation continued with the service.
We are singing a new setting for Lent, the Downside Service. This helps to make our Lenten services different from those of other parts of the Church Year.
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| The children share their work with the congreation |
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| Father Chris keeps a lighted candle on the alter to remind us the children are still with us |
A reading from the book of Deuteronomy.
Moses spoke to the peopple saying:
When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you
as an inheritance to possess,
and you possess it, and settle in it,
you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground,
which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you,
and you shall put it in a basket
and go to the place
that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name.
You shall go to the priest
who is in office at that time, and say to him,
‘Today I declare to the Lord your God
that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.’
When the priest takes the basket from your hand
and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God,
you shall make this response before the Lord your God:
‘A wandering Aramean was my ancestor;
he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number,
and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous.
When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us,
by imposing hard labour on us,
we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors;
the Lord heard our voice
and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.
The Lord brought us out of Egypt
with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm,
with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders;
and he brought us into this place and gave us this land,
a land flowing with milk and honey.
So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground
that you, O Lord, have given me.’
You shall set it down before the Lord your God
and bow down before the Lord your God.
Then you, together with the Levites
and the aliens who reside among you, s
hall celebrate with all the bounty
that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.
Romans 10:8b-13
A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans.
What does scripture say?
‘The word is near you,
on your lips and in your heart’
(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);
because if you confess with your lips 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 and so is justified,
and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
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.’
Luke 4:1-13
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan
and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,
where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. H
e ate nothing at all during those days,
and when they were over, he was famished.
The devil said to him,
‘If you are the Son of God,
command this stone to become a loaf of bread.’
Jesus answered him,
‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone.” ’
Then the devil led him up
and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
And the devil said to him,
‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority;
for it has been given over to me,
and I give it to anyone I please.
If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’
Jesus answered him,
‘It is written,
“Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” ’
Then the devil took him to Jerusalem,
and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him,
‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,
for it is written,
“He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you”,
and “On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’
Jesus answered him, ‘It is said,
“Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’
When the devil had finished every test,
he departed from him until an opportune time.
