Sunday, March 10, 2019

Wilderness Journeys Mar 10, 2019

Worship on Sunday, March 10 …

As we enter into the Season of Lent, we begin our new series – Wilderness Journeys! 



╬ Lent!
Throughout the history of the church, Lent has been a time of reflection and preparation for the passion and the glory of the Eastertide.  For centuries, Lent was a time to separate from the habits of daily life and to focus on things of the spirit in preparation for baptism on Easter Sunday.  This season, we will embrace Lent as a wilderness journey.  The wilderness is a powerful motif throughout Scripture, a place where we are cut loose from the distractions and artificial supports of life.  It is a place of trial and testing, where illusions are stripped away and true identity is revealed, God’s and our own.

  Below are the Prayer of the Day and Readings. 

I look forward to our shared journey, and destination!

 - Pr. Brad Highum
bhighum@abidinglove.org

 PRAYER OF THE DAY --------------------
Creating God, in this blessed season call us forth from the usual, the mundane and habitual courses of our lives.  Call us into the wilderness and be at work in us there, shaping us as your people for the time to come.  Amen.

 READINGS ----------------------------------
First Reading:  Genesis 12:1-3, 15:1,5-6
12:1 Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."  15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great."  5 The Lord brought Abram outside and said, "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be." 6 And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

 Psalm 107:31-38
31 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.
32 Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
33 He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground,
34 a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.
35 He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.
36 And there he lets the hungry live, and they establish a town to live in;
37 they sow fields, and plant vineyards, and get a fruitful yield.
38 By his blessing they multiply greatly.

 Second Reading:  Acts 22:17-21
17  Paul said, "After I had returned to Jerusalem and while I was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance 18 and saw Jesus saying to me, 'Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.' 19 And I said, 'Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. 20 And while the blood of your witness Stephen was shed, I myself was standing by, approving and keeping the coats of those who killed him.' 21 Then he said to me, 'Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'"

 Gospel:  Luke 9:1-6
1 Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. 3 He said to them, "Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money — not even an extra tunic. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there. 5 Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them." 6 They departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere.
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