Welcome to the first Sunday of the Lenten Season, 2021. Lent is a forty – day potential season of spiritual preparation for the seasons of Easter and Pentecost. It is a time of reflection,
confession and self – examination. It is also the time when we redouble our human efforts, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to draw closer to God in Christ Jesus. Here at Chilmark Community Church, apart from our Sunday Worship, I have circulated prayers of petition along with Pray Chart with suggested items for reflect and pray for during this Season. I am encouraging you to spend some special quiet time with God in the privacy of your own home. Jesus, we are told by St. Mark, got up early in the morning before daybreak and, “Went out to a quiet place and there, prayed ” (Mark 1:35). Sabbath time is time in quiet with God! I invite you to do all you can to make this Lenten Season a holy time of spiritual renewal. Let us strive to be in a new spiritual place, nearer to God on the road of life by the time this Lenten Season is ended and we arrive at Easter Tide.
Thanks for worshiping with us today.
Sincerely,
Ernest Belisle
(Pastor
A psalm of David, regarding
the time Nathan the prophet came to him after
David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1
Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
2
Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
3
For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
4
Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.
5
For I was born a sinner—
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6
But you desire honesty from the womb,
teaching me wisdom even there.
7
Purify me from my sins,
and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8
Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—
now let me rejoice.
9
Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
10
Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11
Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit
from me.
12
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
13
Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
and they will return to you.
14
Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
15
Unseal my lips, O Lord,
that my mouth may praise you.
16
You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
17
The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O
God.
The Gospel Reading is from Mark 1:9-
15
The Baptism and Temptation of Jesus
9
One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John
baptized him in the Jordan River.
10
As Jesus came up out
of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the
Holy Spirit descending on him
like a dove.
11
And a voice
from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you
bring me great joy.”
12
The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the
wilderness,
13
where he was tempted by Satan for forty
days. He was out among the wild animals, and angels
took care of him.
14
Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into
Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News.
15
“The
time promised by God has come at last!”
he
announced.
“The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your
sins and believe the Good News!”