Order of Service / Lent 1 / February 22, 2026

 *Gathering Hymn Come, Let Us Sing of a Wonderful Love (#574 VU | vs. 1&3)

Welcome & Land Acknowledgement

Lighting the Christ Candle

Call to Worship

One: As we enter this Lenten season, God renews God’s promise to us. God promises to support us when life calls us to a tough decision.

  All: Will we renew our promise to God?

One: God promises to travel with us through the places of testing.

  All: Will we renew our promise to God?

One: God promises to show us the faithful and wise way.

  All: Will we renew our promise to God?

One: God promises that when we fail or falter, God will not forsake us.

All: Will we renew our promise to God?

One: In the life and death of Jesus Christ, we know we are able to trust God’s promises.

  All: And so we recommit to our promise to trust God’s leading in the hard places we encounter and in the hard places encountered in the life of our faith community.

One: Knowing that the promises of God are to be eternally trusted,

All: we come to worship.

*David Sparks. Gathering LE 2026. Page 28.

Opening Prayer

*Opening Hymn O God, How We Have Wandered (#112 VU)

Prayer of Confessional and Renewal (Unison)

God of life, we confess that all too often we spend too much energy on what is of no real importance. We confess the times when we forget what really matters. We confess that too often we ignore the signs of your presence that are all around us, that we fail to celebrate them. Call us once again to trust in you, God of life. In silence, we bring before you our personal prayers of confession. (a time of silent confession) Amen.

*Beth W Johnston. Gathering LE 2026. Page 32.

Words of Assurance

One: The good news is that the power of death and despair is no match for the life-giving power of God. With God’s power, even the driest of bones can spring to life and a desolate wasteland can blossom and flourish. We are a people who believe in life and hope.

All: Thanks be to God, for this is indeed good news.

*Beth W Johnston. Gathering LE 2026. Page 32.

Announcements and Minute for Mission

Time for God’s Children (I’ve God Peace Like a River, VU #557)

I‘ve got peace like a river, I‘ve got peace like a river,

I‘ve got peace like a river, in-a my soul. (Hallelujah) x2

Prayer for Illumination

Proclaiming the Scriptures

Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7 The tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Psalm 32 (VU p. 759) Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.

Matthew 4:1-11 The temptation of Jesus

This is the Good News from the Bible.

  Thanks be to God.

Anthem

Sermon

*Hymn Jesus, tempted in the Desert (#115 VU)

*Offering

*Offertory Hymn (#581 VU, v. 2 | When We Are Living)

Through all our living, we our fruits must give.

Good works of service are for offering.

When we are giving, or when receiving,

We belong to God, we belong to God.

*Offertory Prayer (Unison)
Creator God, we thank you for the ability to share our time, talent, and money to further your work in the world. We ask that you bless these gifts that they may provide for our neighbours both near and far. In the name of your son, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

*Marie Slivocka. Gathering LE 2026. Page 33.

Prayers of the People and Lord’s Prayer

*Closing Hymn He Leadeth Me (#657 VU)

*Commissioning

One: As we travel this Lenten journey,

All: we know that God leads and guides us.

One: As we travel this Lenten journey,

  All: we notice the stories of Jesus making choices for life and ministry.

One: As we travel this Lenten journey,

All: we dream and work with the Spirit for a world where peace and harmony are restored.

One: We leave this place in peace,

All: going to share the love of God. Amen.

*Beth W Johnston. Gathering LE 2026. Page 34.

*Commissioning Song May God’s Sheltering Wings (#214 MV)

May God’s sheltering wings, her gathering wings protect you,

May God’s nurturing arms, her cradling arms sustain you,

And hold you in her love, and hold you in her love.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Message: Dance of the Wind / Acts 2:1-21

Today is Pentecost Sunday. This is the day we remember when the earliest followers of Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit and the Church came into being. It is the day when a new community of faith was born through the breath of God. It is a day full of mystery, courage, and hope. According to the book of Acts, on the 40th day after the resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven. Before he left, he told his followers not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of God. He said, “This is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:4–5). So they stayed. About 120 people remained in Jerusalem. They waited and prayed. They did not know what would happen, but they trusted what Jesus had told them. Several days later, it was the day of Pentecost. This was a Jewish festival when people from many different places came together in Jerusalem to worship and celebrate. The city was filled wit...
Read more

Message: Fragrance of Love / John 12:1-8

Have you ever smelled something and, all of a sudden, it reminded you of a special memory? Maybe it was the smell of cookies baking, and it made you think of your grandmother’s kitchen. Or maybe the smell of grass after it was cut reminded you of summertime when you played outside as a child. Or perhaps the smell of fresh coffee made you feel calm, like a slow and peaceful morning. Smell is powerful. It does not just enter our nose; it reaches into our heart. This happens because, unlike our other senses, smells go directly to the part of the brain that stores emotions and important memories. In this way, a scent can take us back to moments we have experienced before. This is known as the Proust Phenomenon. The term comes from the French writer Marcel Proust and his novel In Search of Lost Time. In one scene, the main character, Marcel, dips a small madeleine cookie into warm tea and takes a bite. At that moment, a vivid memory of his childhood at his grandmother’s house suddenly retur...
Read more

Message: What We Hope For / Luke 11:1-13

To pray is to hope. Through prayer, we give thanks, confess our mistakes and failures, and ask for what we need. Even when we feel as though we are standing at the edge of a cliff, we continue to pray. Not because we are free from despair or fear, but because we refuse to surrender to them. Prayer gives us the courage to take one more step toward hope. The Danish philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) described despair as “the sickness unto death.” For him, death was not about the body but about the spirit. A person who has lost all hope and given up completely is no longer truly alive. Despair, he said, destroys relationships. It breaks the bond between us and God, between us and our neighbours, and between us and the world. It eventually causes us to lose our true selves. That is why Kierkegaard believed prayer to be an act of courage. He once prayed, “God, give me once more the courage to hope. Fertilize my barren mind. Let me hope again.” Some Christians question ...
Read more