Opening Prayer
Ever faithful God,
you were well please with Abraham’s obedience
and you accepted the sacrifice of your Son,
who gave himself up for the sake of us all.
Train us by Christ’s teaching
and school us in his obedience,
that as we walk his way of sacrifice
we may come to share in your glory.
We ask this through Christ, our deliverance and hope,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
holy and mighty God forever and ever.
“Whoever loses their life for me and the gospel will save it”. Mark 8:35
Introit
Hymn 411
Thou my everlasting portion,
more than friend or life to me,
all along my pilgrim journey,
Saviour, let me walk with thee.
Close to thee, close to thee,
close to thee, close to thee;
all along my pilgrim journey,
Saviour, let me walk with thee.
Not for ease or worldly pleasure,
nor for fame my prayer shall be;
gladly will I toil and suffer,
only let me walk with thee.
Close to thee, close to thee,
close to thee, close to thee;
gladly will I toil and suffer,
only let me walk with thee..
Lead me through the vale of shadows,
bear me o’er life’s fitful sea:
then the gate of life eternal,
may I enter, Lord, with thee.
Close to thee, close to thee,
close to thee, close to thee;
then the gate of life eternal,
may I enter, Lord, with thee.
Opening Sentences
PRESIDENT
Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
ALL
And blessed be his kingdom, now and forever. Amen.
ALL
Blessed Lord and Father, we have assembled in your name and in fellowship with one another. Enable us by your grace to offer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving; to proclaim and respond to your holy word. Teach us to pray for your world and your Church. Grant that we, confessing our sins, may worthily offer to you our souls and bodies as a living sacrifice and eat and drink of your spiritual food in this Holy Sacrament.
Amen.
COLLECT FOR PURITY
ALL
Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE KYRIE
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy
Lord, have mercy.
The Collect of the Day
Let us pray.
Second Sunday in Lent
O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
First Reading
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous." 3 Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, 4 "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 15 God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her."
Psalm 22:22-30
22 Praise the LORD, you that fear him; *
stand in awe of him, O offspring of Israel;
all you of Jacob's line, give glory.
23 For he does not despise nor abhor the poor in their poverty;
neither does he hide his face from them; *
but when they cry to him he hears them.
24 My praise is of him in the great assembly; *
I will perform my vows in the presence of those who
worship him.
25 The poor shall eat and be satisfied,
and those who seek the LORD shall praise him: *
"May your heart live for ever!"
26 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to
the LORD, *
and all the families of the nations shall bow before him.
27 For kingship belongs to the LORD; *
he rules over the nations.
28 To him alone all who sleep in the earth bow down
in worship; *
all who go down to the dust fall before him.
29 My soul shall live for him;
my descendants shall serve him; *
they shall be known as the LORD'S for ever.
30 They shall come and make known to a people yet unborn *
the saving deeds that he has done.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son:
and to the Holy Spirit;
As it was in the beginning, is now,
and shall be forever.
Amen.
Second Reading
Romans 4:13-25
13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. 16 For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, 17 as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations")—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become "the father of many nations," according to what was said, "So numerous shall your descendants be." 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. 20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 Therefore his faith "was reckoned to him as righteousness." 23 Now the words, "it was reckoned to him," were written not for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
Gradual
SUP 161 AMR 395
Lord of all power, I give you my will,
In joyful obedience your tasks to fulfil.
Your bondage is freedom, your service is song,
And, held in your keeping, my weakness is strong.
Lord of all wisdom, I give you my mind,
Rich truth that surpasses man’s knowledge to find.
What eye has not seen and what ear has not heard
Is taught by your Spirit and shines from your Word.
Lord of all bounty, I give you my heart;
I praise and adore you for all you impart;
Your love to inspire me, your counsel to guide,
Your presence to cheer me, whatever betide.
Lord of all being, I give you my all;
If e’er I disown you I stumble and fall;
But, sworn in glad service your word to obey,
I walk in your freedom to the end of the way.
Gospel
Mark 8:31-38
31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." 34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."
Sermon
Nicene Creed
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is seen or unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
one in Being with the Father.
Through Him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
He came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
He was born of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake He was crucified
under Pontius Pilate;
He suffered, died and was buried.
On the third day He rose again
in fulfilment of the Scriptures;
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right
hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge
the living and the dead,
and His kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son
He is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic
and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
Prayers of the People
THE INTERCESSION:
Leader: Every day is a day to be renewed, to become the people God created us to be.
People: May we learn to recognize our true selves as we reflect on God’s hope and intention for creation.
Leader: God calls us to proclaim the gospel for the salvation of all humanity.
People: May we seek to be the presence of Christ in the world without creating clubs that push people away.
Leader: God calls us to shelter, nurture, and cultivate spiritual communion among all God’s children.
People: May we be a safe place for everyone to question, to know and to grow.
Leader: God calls us to worship in spirit and in truth.
People: May we abandon entertainment for profound awareness; May we share our gifts and creativity in our expression; and may the table at which we gather always have room.
Leader: God calls us to uphold the truth.
People: May we faithfully struggle to understand truth, so that instead of being chained and imprisoned to it, we may be joyfully and completely set free by it.
Leader: God calls us to be advocates for social justice.
People: May everything that seeks to undermine God’s love make us uncomfortable and passionately counteractive.
Leader: God calls us to be a visible manifestation of God’s vision of, and hope for, all creation.
People: May we live as if we truly believe, shining light in darkness, sprinkling salt on blandness, and celebrating the joy of life that we all share together. Let it be so!
Leader: O Lord our Governor, bless the leaders of our land, Sandra, Governor-General, Freundel, Prime Minister and Mia, Leader of the Opposition, that we may be a people at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth.
People: Lord, keep this nation under your care.
Leader: Almighty God, giver of all good things: We thank you for the natural majesty and beauty of this land. They restore us, though we often destroy them.
People: Heal us.
Leader: We thank you for the men and women who have made this country strong. They are models for us, though we often fall short of them.
People: Inspire us.
Leader: We thank you for the Church in this Diocese
People: Help us to be faithful disciples
Leader: Today we thank you in a special way for the Episcopal ministry of John our Bishop and Archbishop. We thank you for his leadership and guidance over the past seventeen years.
People: We thank you, Lord
Leader: We thank you for the lives and examples of the
Blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints
People: We thank you Lord
Leader: We commend to your mercy our brothers and sisters
and all others who have died in your faith
People: Grant them rest.
Silence
All:
Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us. We thank you for the splendour of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love. We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for the loving care which surrounds us on every side. We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy and delight us. We thank you also for those disappointments and failures that help us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone. Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying, through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom. Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know him and make him known; and through him, at all times and in all places, may give thanks to you in all things. Amen.