Bible Readings:
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 &  2 Corinthians 5:16-21
 
Reflecting on the well-known story of the Prodigal Son, Anne’s sermon this week is entitled “Good News” and can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/TbEQrTQ2SkQ

Psalm 32 (New Living Translation)
Oh, what joy for those
    whose disobedience is forgiven,
    whose sin is put out of sight!
Yes, what joy for those
    whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,
    whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
When I refused to confess my sin,
    my body wasted away,
    and I groaned all day long.
Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
    My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. 
Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
    and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
    And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. 
Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time,
    that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
For you are my hiding place;
    you protect me from trouble.
    You surround me with songs of victory.
The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
    I will advise you and watch over you.
Do not be like a senseless horse or mule
    that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”
Many sorrows come to the wicked,
    but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.
So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!
  Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!

Readings: Isaiah 55:1-9 & Luke 13:1-9

Choosing wisely: Exploring the parable of the fig tree that would not bear fruit.
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View the recorded sermon here: https://youtu.be/pBZ2oAAwt6w

​One of the greatest challenges of having faith and loving God, and knowing we are loved by God, is to let God be God. We have faith that God will come to us, that God will heal us that God will save us – but it is not always on our schedule. Are we prepared to give God the great gardener time to nurture us and tend us as the gardener requested for the fig tree?

With Arms Open Wide
Readings: Genesis 15: 1-12 & 17-18; Luke 13: 31-35
 
Rev Dr Geoff King is our guest preacher this week, and his Sermon – With Arms Open Wide – can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/yyc1muUz2kc

As usual, the weekly service sheet can be found on our News page, if you would like to use it for personal worship at home.
 
And we also wanted to share with you the words for this hymn by Shirley Murray – Community of Christ
 
Community of Christ, who make the cross your own
Live out your creed and risk your life for God alone:
The God who wears your face, to whom all worlds belong,
Whose children are of every race, and every song.

Community of Christ! Look past the Church’s door
And see the refugee, the hungry and the poor:
Take hands with the oppressed, the jobless in your street
Take towel and water, that you wash your neighbour’s feet.

Community of Christ through whom the Word must sound
Cry out for justice and for peace the whole world round:
Disarm the powers that war and all that can destroy,
Turn bombs to bread, and tears of anguish into joy.

When menace melts away, so shall God’s will be done,
The climate of the world be peace and Christ its sun;
Our currency be love, and kindliness our law,
Our food and faith be shared as one forevermore.

Readings:
Deuteronomy 30: 15-20
Luke 4:1-13 (The Temptation of Jesus in the desert)

This is the first Sunday in Lent. Lent started on Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, when people around the world apply the charred remains of last year’s palm crosses to their foreheads. It is a symbol of identification with Jesus in the desert for 40 days, fasting and tempted by the devil. The ash in part symbolises the dry, barren desert landscape in which we find Jesus near death and taunted by the devil. And so it marks for us also a 40 day journey towards Easter! The journey starts in the dry, barren, dead desert and ends with resurrection and life at sunrise on the 40th day.

A journey from the desert to the resurrection.

A resounding theme of this journey is from death to life, a theme that has laser like focus on it in the Easter events. But it is there in the temptation of Jesus in the desert
 
View the recording of this week’s sermon here:
https://youtu.be/yD0O89WbSLw