BULLETIN FOR SUNDAY, MARCH 9TH, 2025

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​​​​​​​​​​​​​FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT
SUNDAY, MARCH 9TH, 2025

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INTRODUCTION​

These forty days called Lent are like no other. It is our opportune time to return to
     the God who rescues, to receive the gifts of God’s grace, to believe with the heart
     and confess with the mouth the wonder of God’s love in Jesus, and to resist
     temptation at every turn. This is no small pilgrimage on which we have just
     embarked. It is a struggle Jesus knew. It is a struggle Jesus shares. The
     nearness of the Lord, in bread and wine, water and word, will uphold and sustain us.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

O Lord God, you led your people through the wilderness and brought them to the
     promised land. Guide us now, so that, following your Son, we may walk safely
     through the wilderness of this world toward the life you alone can give, through
     Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
     Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.​

FIRST READING

DEUTERONOMY 26:1-11
The annual harvest festival, called the Feast of Weeks, provides the setting for
     this reading. This festival celebrates the first fruits of the produce of the land
     offered back to God in thanks. In this text, worshipers announce God’s gracious
     acts on behalf of Israel.

1 “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, 2 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. 3 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.’ 4 When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down
     before the altar of the Lord your God, 5 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. 6 When the Egyptians treated us harshly and
     afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, 7 we cried to the Lord, the God of our
     ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our
     oppression. 8 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;
     9 and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk
     and honey. 10 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. 11 Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens
     who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God
     has given to you and to your house.”

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PSALM

PSALM 91:1-2, 9-16
(Response) God will give the angels charge over you, to guard you in all your ways. (Ps. 91:11)

1 You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty—
2 you will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my stronghold,
my God in whom I put my trust.”
(Response) God will give the angels charge over you, to guard you in all your ways. (Ps. 91:11)

9 Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
and the Most High your habitation,
10 no evil will befall you,
nor shall affliction come near your dwelling.
11 For God will give the angels charge over you,
to guard you in all your ways.
12 Upon their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
(Response) God will give the angels charge over you, to guard you in all your ways. (Ps. 91:11)

13 You will tread upon the lion cub and viper;
you will trample down the lion and the serpent.
14 I will deliver those who cling to me;
I will uphold them, because they know my name.
15 They will call me, and I will answer them;
I will be with them in trouble; I will rescue and honor them.
16 With long life will I satisfy them,
and show them my salvation.
(Response) God will give the angels charge over you, to guard you in all your ways. (Ps. 91:11)

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SECOND READING

ROMANS 10:8b-13
Paul reminds the Christians at Rome of the foundation of their creed, the
     confession of faith in the risen Christ as Lord.

8b “The word is near you,
     in your mouth and in your heart”
     (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim), 9 because if you confess with your
     mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the
     dead, you will be saved. 10 For one believes with the heart, leading to
     righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, leading to salvation. 11 The
     scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” 12 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. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

​​​​GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Matt. 4:4)

GOSPEL READING
LUKE 4:1-13
After being filled with the Holy Spirit at his baptism, Jesus is led in the wilderness.
     Through his responses to the temptations of the devil, he defines what it means
     to be called “the Son of God.”

1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit
     in the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tested by the devil. He ate
     nothing at all during those days, and when they were over he was famished.
     3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to
     become a loaf of bread.” 4 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live
     by bread alone.’ ”

     5 Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the
     world. 6 And the devil said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their
     glory, for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7 If you,
     then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered him, “It is written,
     ‘Worship the Lord your God,
     and serve only him.’ ”

     9 Then the devil led him to Jerusalem and placed him on the pinnacle of the
     temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from
     here, 10 for it is written,
     ‘He will command his angels concerning you,
     to protect you,’
     11 and
     ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
     so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

     12 Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”    
     13 When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an
     opportune time.​

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​SERMONS​
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TAKING FAITH HOME