This is part of the worship series,
"Good News!”
Introduction
Lent 1 | Lent 2 | Lent 3 | Lent 4
Lent 5 | Palm Sunday | Good Friday | Easter Sunday
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT
Call to Worship
Let us worship God, who has done great things.
We rejoice in our God, who made a way
through the desert of this world.
Let us worship God, who has caused streams of mercy
to flow in the wasteland.
We are the people God has formed through Christ;
we worship him, and we rejoice!
Let us worship God in spirit and in truth.
We praise God for the grace that has saved us.
Alleluia! We rejoice!
—Based on Isaiah 43:19–21, The Worship Sourcebook, 2nd ed., J.1.2.1
God’s Greeting
Worship Song
“Amid the Thronging Worshipers” Psalter
Call to Confession
Today is the first Sunday in the liturgical season of Lent, the lead-up to Good Friday and Easter. Lent is traditionally a season of preparation, reflection, renewal, repentance, and fasting. Lent is a time to mourn the brokenness of the world and the damage caused by sin, including and especially our own sin. Yet it is also a time to rejoice and to celebrate the good news of salvation that is freely given through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
We’re starting a new series in which we’ll be looking at good news. We’ll hear some testimonies from members of our congregation in something we’ll be calling the “Good News Café.” But now I invite you to join me in a moment of silent prayer in which we can acknowledge our sins before God.
Silent Prayer of Confession
Song of Reflection
“Yet Not I but Through Christ in Me” Robinson, Farren, and Thompson
Words of Assurance
Listen to these words from 1 Peter 2:9–10 NIV
For you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
As we hear these words from God, we can’t help but find ourselves both assured and challenged: assured that we are indeed God’s people who are forgiven, loved, and cherished, but also challenged to live as people of light who have been called out of darkness. For it is God’s will that we who believe and who have been shown mercy would live lives that glorify him and give praise and honor to Jesus Christ.
Children’s Message
Children’s Song
“Soon and Very Soon” Crouch
Congregational Prayer
Scripture Reading
Mark 1:9–15
Sermon
“Good News!”
Sermon Notes
As Jesus began his earthly ministry the situation around him was grim. It had been centuries since there had been a prophet in Israel. They were living under Roman occupation, and religious life was fractured as leaders from various Jewish sects all vied for the people’s attention. Every generation of God’s people has experienced trouble of some kind, and in our generation we are bombarded with bad news 24/7. Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River reveals his identity as God’s solution to humanity’s problems, and his time in the desert shows that he is prepared to do battle with the forces of evil. So we ought not to despair at bad news; the kingdom of God is coming in all of its fullness. Our response should be to repent and believe the good news of the gospel.
Prayer of Application
Gracious God, we thank you that you have drawn us to yourself. We thank you for the one who was lifted up and crucified. And while the ways in which you have worked in our lives are mysterious, and while each of us has a unique story about how you have drawn us to you, we pray that together in this congregation we would show the world how we are united in Christ. God, we thank you for the good news of the gospel that tells us that you were lifted up for us all and that all of us belong together in the body of Christ. Help us to love one another as Christ has loved us. We pray that you would use us to draw others into this family, where there is life and hope and salvation. These things we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Worship Song
“Jesus Paid It All” Hall
Blessing
Closing Song
“O Praise the Name (Anatasis)” Hillsong
Revised Common Lectionary
Year B: Lent—First Sunday in Lent
