1st Sunday in Lent 22/02/2026

SENTENCE FROM SCRIPTURE:
I will confess my transgressions to the Lord [Psalm 32]

HYMN-

GREETING

Grace and peace to you from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

COLLECT FOR PURITY

Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

SUMMARY OF THE LAW

Our Lord Jesus Christ said: The first commandment is this:

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.”

The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these. Amen. Lord, have mercy.

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

God is love and we are God’s children. There is no room for fear in love. We love because God loved us first.

Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.

SILENCE

God our Father,
we confess to you
and to our fellow members in the Body of Christ
that we have sinned in thought, word and deed,
and in what we have failed to do.
We are truly sorry.
Forgive us our sins,
and deliver us from the power of evil,
for the sake of your Son who died for us, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

ABSOLUTION

God, who is both power and love,
forgive you and free you from your sins,
heal and strengthen you by the Holy Spirit,
and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.

GLORIA
sung by Dougie Byers

COLLECT

Almighty God,
whose son fasted forty days in the wilderness,
and was tempted as we are, yet did not sin:
give us grace to discipline ourselves in submission to your Spirit,
that, as you know our weakness,
so we may know your power to save;
through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.Amen

PROCLAIMING & RECEIVING GOD’S WORD

FIRST READING
Genesis 2.15–17; 3.1–7 ,
read by Annette Beagrie

¹⁵ The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. ¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.’ ¹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden”?’ ² The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; ³ but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.”’

⁴ But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die; ⁵ for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ ⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.

⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

SECOND READING
Romans 5.12–19,
read by David Kerr

¹² Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned – ¹³ sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. ¹⁴ Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.

¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. ¹⁶ And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgement following one trespass brought condemnation but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification.

¹⁷ If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so the act of righteousness of one leads to justification and life for all. ¹⁹ For just as by the one person’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

GRADUAL HYMN

GOSPEL
Matthew 4.1–11,
read by Kay Solaja

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St Matthew, chapter 4, beginning at verse 1

Glory to Christ our Saviour

Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. ³ The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’

⁴ But he answered, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’ ⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ⁶ ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you,” and “On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”’

⁷ Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’ ⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; ⁹ and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”’ ¹¹ Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious Gospel
Praise to Christ our Lord.

SERMON

From the beginning God created boundaries, physical ones defining seas and land, light and darkness, each having their space in the greater picture of things. Creatures were to co-exist with Creation and God brought every creature before the human to give them their name. (Gen 2:19,20)

Those of us who drive, depend upon everyone maintaining the vehicle in their own defined space, be it motorway or narrow country roads. We speed along within the permitted guide lines confident that everyone will do the same; we remain safe, even at high speeds.

When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree they had the freedom to make a choice,” Shall I live by God’s defined structures or shall we make up our own rules? As we expand in knowledge the desire to know more, cross another boundary, create a new structure is ever present. Dividing the atom was a challenge but those who did it did not have in mind the potential for destruction .

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-ND

So, leaving the garden; out in the world, God gives humankind the option of choice: staying within defined structures and boundaries that give life and harmony or to develop, evolve those structures and step into the unknown. Too late we discover what has been unleashed and we can never go back to being the innocent bystander.

Those first human beings were still cared for by God, he took their vine leaves and gave them garments of skin (Gen.3:21), a greater dimension of security. Still God desires good things for his creatures. There will always be a choice of turning back and being thankful or grasp the new and forge our own path in the world. The choice is ours, a divine gift to work with God’s defined ways or ravish the gift in what Jesus later defined as riotous living (Lk15:11).

As we journey through Lent we find the compassionate God, waiting for us to turn to him in awe and wonder for all that is good or in sadness for what has come to pass through our extravagance.

THE CREED

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one substance with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son,
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

PRAYERS

Let us pray

Heavenly Father, you gave Adam and Eve all that they needed but they were swayed by the temptation to have yet more. Give us grace to acknowledge your care for us and challenge us when we think that something that we want will be better than the provision you have made

Lord, hear us
Lord, graciously hear us.

Heavenly Father, Jesus was tempted to use his power to meet his own needs. Guard us from using the skills and opportunities you have given us for our own gratification and show us how to use them in the service of others

Lord, hear us
Lord, graciously hear us.

Heavenly Father, Jesus was tempted to test your care for him. Help us not to put you to the test if we want to do something that we are not sure is part of your plan but we expect you to resolve any problems that may occur

Lord, hear us
Lord, graciously hear us.

Heavenly Father, Jesus was tempted to turn away from you and follow another leader with the promise of untold greatness. If we are tempted to turn away from your standards keep us firm in our commitment and trust in you

Lord, hear us
Lord, graciously hear us.

Heavenly Father, Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted but we read in the Gospels that during his ministry he took time away from the disciples and the crowds to be alone with you. Help us to make time to be with you this Lent, to hear what you have to say to us and to deepen our understanding of your love and grace

Merciful Father accept these prayers for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Do not bring us
to the time of trial
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power
and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.

BLESSING

Christ the Son of God gladden your hearts with the good news of his kingdom; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

HYMN –

DISMISSAL

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord
In the name of Christ. Amen