First Sunday of Lent
March 9, 2025 | 10:00am
Rev. Jeremy Campbell, Temporary Pastor| Larry J. Carey, Director of Music
Thought for Worship: This narrative affirms the truth that the harvester was once an alien, and whatever they have been given and all that they are belong to God. Therefore, all of the bounty—the sumptuous, nurturing, first fruits of the ground are to be shared with the aliens who reside among them. What would it look like for you to ground yourself in ancestral and divine identity? How would it change how you live? Who are you? Whose are you? -Rev. Lauren Wright Pittman
GATHERING
Welcome
Prelude Abide with Me | Monk/Darley
Call to Worship
Votum
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Amen
Opening Sentences
Jesus went to the mountaintop to pray.
Jesus went into the city to heal.
Jesus walked to Samaria to extend love.
Jesus went to the water’s edge to teach.
Jesus went to places of peace and connection,
but Jesus also went to the wilderness.
There is nowhere we can go that God does not walk with us.
We are in God’s house.
Let us worship Holy God.
Salutation
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
Amen.
*Hymn of Praise Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
Call to Confession
Friends, we worship a God who doesn’t keep score and doesn’t hold grudges. We worship a God who invites us into a richer faith, a deeper love, a more compassionate existence with a million chances to try again. So let us speak truth into our lives, asking for God’s help where we need it. Let us pray the prayer of confession together.
Prayer of Confession
Holy God, when we think that expansive life is about power—
Teach us a new way.
Gracious Creator, when we think that expansive life is about material wealth—
Teach us a new way.
Gracious Author, when we think that expansive life is about control—
Teach us a new way.
Teach us to live as you live.
Teach us to love as you love.
Forgive us when we don’t.
Gratefully we pray, amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Siblings in Christ, no matter how many times we mess up, no matter how far we wander,
no matter how lost we feel, God’s grace is full to the brim. It overflows in desert places.
It finds us where we are and it covers us in mercy. Hear and believe this good news—
God’s love is overflowing.
We are drenched in mercy.
Thanks be to God, amen.
The Law of God:
*Gloria Patri | #579
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen.
*Commitment to Peace Keeping and Peace Seeking
One: May the peace of Christ be with you!
All: And also with you!
Share a sign of peace with one another. After sharing the peace, let us all sing together:
Together, by grace, we witness and work, remembering Jesus, in whom we grow strong. Together we serve in Spirit and truth, remembering love is the strength of our song.
THE WORD OF GOD
Anthem I Want Jesus to Walk with Me | arr. Raney
Prayer for Illumination
God of the wilderness places in our lives, it can be hard to hear you in the desert. It can be hard to hear you in the city, in the midst of our calendar reminders, rush-hour traffic, and notification alerts.
It can be hard to hear you, so we ask: make everything quiet. Pause the chaos. Still the rushing. Ease our racing thoughts. Give us ears to hear your Word for us today which promises that even in the desert you are full to the brim. We are listening. We ache for your good news. Gratefully we pray, Amen.
First Reading: Deuteronomy 26:1-11
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
*Hymn: Forty Days and Forty Nights
Second Reading: Luke 4:1-13
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Sermon: “Even In The Desert” | Rev. Campbell
Silent Reflection
THE RESPONSE TO GOD
*Affirmation of Faith
We believe God is love.
We believe God’s love is overflowing.
We believe Jesus is a river.
We believe that river is running toward us.
We believe the Holy Spirit is a vessel.
We believe that vessel holds mercy for you and for me.
We believe the wilderness is real.
We believe the desert is lonely.
We believe that Jesus has been there.
We know that we do not walk alone.
Even in the desert,
we are loved.
Even in the desert,
God is with us.
Even in the desert,
this love overflows.
Thanks be to God,
Amen.
Offering In Love Christ Came Among Us | Martin
Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him all creatures here below;
Praise him above ye heavenly hosts;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen!
Prayer of Dedication
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession (ending with the Lord’s Prayer)
Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory forever. Amen.
SENDING
*Hymn What Wondrous Love is This
Benediction
Postlude Cortège | Young
DEAR FRIENDS
Welcome to worship here at Peapack Reformed Church! If you are visiting with us, welcome! If you are a member, welcome back! Our mission is to be a congregation called by God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and committed to being the very presence of Jesus Christ in the world. This mission is the catalyst for all that we do, and is our aim for who we want to be.
If you are visiting with us via Facebook Live and would like more information about our church, send us a message on Facebook or email office@peapackreformed.org and we will be in touch with you. Even under these odd and anxious circumstances, we would love to be your church home. Our virtual doors are always open wide and our hearts are always ready to welcome new faces into our fellowship.
FOOD PANTRY NEWS
Many thanks for all those who have shared their abundance with neighbors in need.
Our church refrigerators have plenty of space to hold even more!
Please consider making a weekly donation of eggs or milk to the P-G Food Pantry.
Peapack Reformed Church is a congregation called by God, empowered by the Holy Spirit and committed to being the very presence of Jesus Christ in the world.
CALLED • EMPOWERED • COMMITTED