Worship Leader:  Rev. Shelley Roberts                                                         Music Director: Tim Hallman, B.Mus., B.Ed.

Lent 1
Sunday, February 22, 2026

Welcome / Announcements / Celebrations

Introducing the Pride Candle:  Heather, Fay & Judy

Lighting the Christ Candle

Land Acknowledgement:
As we gather, we take a moment to remember that the land we call the Township of Elizabethtown-Kitley, Christ United Pastoral Charge, Village of Lyn, Ontario, is the territory of the Indigenous peoples. We seek to learn about past wrongs, act with justice in the present, and pray for a better future together in the spirit of truth and reconciliation.

Extinguishing the First of the Lenten Candles:
We have come together this morning for renewal- in worship and as a community of faith. We’ve greeted one another, laughed and hugged. But now the time of reflection and stillness is upon us. It is the first Sunday in Lent – the season for journeys of the heart. Close your eyes. Be still. Listen. We are entering a holy time. The Lenten candles have been lit, but over the next six weeks the light will slowly fade into darkness. For we are retelling the story of Jesus’ betrayal and suffering and death. We do this not to be morbid, but because in the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection, God is revealed – in the amazing transformation of death into life, in endings transformed into beginnings, and in dead-ends that become a source for new possibilities.

This is the sacred center of our faith – the truth made manifest in Jesus Christ – that God is in each and every one of us, quietly transforming us and the world in his pain and suffering. Jesus speaks to every pain, and loss you have endured and offers you the promise of transformation. It’s an old story, but it still has the power to reveal, to heal and to redeem. Jesus is at the heart of our faith, in the depth of our souls. He is waiting for us. Inviting us to leave ordinary time and follow along with him on the journey that brought him to the Cross. Listen in silence, for Jesus is calling you.

(SILENT TIME)

As we extinguish this light, we acknowledge the darkness and pain of injustice in the world.
(candle extinguished)

Let Us Pray Together:

Loving God, as we journey through this holy season of Lent, give us strength and courage to make the changes that are needed in our lives. Open our hearts and minds to your steadfast presence and help us to put our trust in you. AMEN

Hymn:  VU 108  “Throughout These Lenten Days and Nights” (verses 1 – 5)

Passing The Peace

Opening Prayer:  “Gathering”  Lent 2026, Karen Boivin, adapted
Loving Jesus, may your wilderness time inform our wilderness times.  Help us to align our thoughts and actions with God’s love.  Help us to plant the dry seeds of our faith so that nurtured with your living water, spring can blossom with a plan that renews hope and purpose.  We pray in your holy name.  Amen.  

Gospel Reading:   Matthew 4: 1 – 11

Story:  Jesus in the Desert, from book “Read Wonder Listen” by Laura Alary

Anthem:  “It Takes a Village”

Reflection:   “It Is So Tempting”

It Is So Tempting – February 22, 2026 – LENT 1

Have you been watching the Winter Olympics?  Were you tempted to boo loudly on Thursday when the Canadian women’s hockey team lost a heartbreaking game in overtime to their American opponents after being in the gold medal winning position for almost all of the game?  Did it remind you of the World Series baseball games last year when the Toronto Blue Jays came so amazingly close to winning and then lost in the same type of heart-breaking overtime play?  Now, don’t get me wrong.  There is nothing shabby about being the second-best team in all the world, and many, many other countries would have loved to have that honour.  I am tremendously proud of our athletes, but we hate to lose at hockey (or baseball) to our American neighbours.  The point, of course, is that good sportsmanship requires, not boos, but the courage, after a few tears, to greet and congratulate the opposing team.  Have we got the guts to do that?

Today is the first Sunday of Lent and every year at this time, we read this gospel story of Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness as he is about to begin his ministry here on earth.  Jesus is tempted to give in to pleasure, to pride, to privilege, to power, to protection and he refuses all such temptations.  This is the story as we begin our Lenten journey.  Jesus resists all temptations and, while we are amazed at HIS actions, we feel guilty and embarrassed by our own efforts.  How many times have we wanted to just stay in bed, to eat one more cookie, to skip exercising “just for today”, to yell at our spouse or at the kids, to omit the greeting card or phone call that we really should send or make, to scroll just one more time through our phone, to enjoy just one more drink or one more vape, or to play just one more game or read one more chapter when it is clearly past our bed time?  Human beings are not created to resist temptation with ease.

Yet, as I was reminded on Ash Wednesday this week by a lovely Anglican priest in Sharbot Lake,

Lent is not set up as a time to agonize about our human bodies and our human weaknesses.  We were created by God, and in the image of God, and God has declared that all of creation is good.  Therefore we are good.  Yes, perhaps we might decide to give up chocolate or coffee or pop or screen time or video games or meat or eggs or dairy or alcohol (or something else entirely) for Lent.  I have a friend in Ontario who posted that he was giving up WINTER for Lent.  Good luck with that one!  Some people instead add on a practice for Lent – reading the Bible each day or meditating or walking outdoors or starting a yoga class or divesting one’s self of some possessions that provide clutter and not joy.  Some people, like our Muslim neighbours in Ramadan, might try fasting or making additional donations to worthy causes.

The point is not that we do any of these things to remind ourselves that we are evil or ugly or weak.

We do them to remind ourselves of the promises of our faith.  When we feel that twinge of hunger or the stretch of an unused and sore muscle, we are to remember that we are created in God’s image for good, that we are good, that we are beloved children of the most high God and brothers or sisters in Christ.  Our Lenten practice is meant to provide positive affirmation and not a negative put down.  Even when we fail, when we already have missed one day of Bible reading or exercise, we are to remember that we are forgiven and loved, that we can start again, should we wish, with Christ’s help.

Now, I should, in all fairness here, say something about the temptations that most of us are NOT facing when we deal with too much doom scrolling or an extra piece of pie or one late movie night.  There are temptations that threaten the lives of others or of ourselves.  If you are dealing with thoughts of suicide, for example, or in the midst of a serious addiction (drugs or alcohol or gambling or pornography come to mind) that is about to ruin your life or the lives of other family members, please remember that you are loved by God and you were created for good, but also please reach out for professional help if this is something that you cannot handle with just Jesus at your side. 

I remember once, when I was a young wife and mother and not yet a minister, so a hundred years ago or so, my local United Church put on a weekend retreat for the church board members with a special well known evangelistic speaker.  At that event, one of the young men on the church board was touched by the depth of his faith to reveal that he had been living a life of adultery with a lover as well as his wife.  I can’t remember now what his final decision was, whether he gave up his lover and reconciled with his wife or divorced the wife and moved on with the new lover, but what amazed me is that being reminded that he was loved by God and created for good forced him to come to terms with the mistakes that he had made, with the lies that he was hiding, and to move forward in a more healthy way.

Today is annual meeting Sunday here.  You have the chance to look at all the good that you have accomplished as a church community in the past year and to consider what you might wish to accomplish in the next ten months.  It can be tempting to say “we are too small” or “we don’t have a called or appointed minister” but, if you read the annual report, you are capable of just about anything to which you put your heart.  Jesus has created this church to do good, to support your membership with love and care and challenges, to aid your local community, to be love in a world where hate and division get all the attention.

Last month, after the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and in the midst of the ICE Crisis in the U.S.A., the Right Rev. Robert Hirschfeld told his clergy and church members that they need to “get their affairs in order, to make sure that they have their wills written, because it may be that now is no longer the time for statements, but for us with our bodies to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable.  It may mean that we are going to have to act in a new way that we have never seen perhaps in our lifetime, to put our faith in the God of life, of resurrection, of a love that is stronger than death itself.  Those of us who are ready to build a new world, we also have to be prepared.  If we truly want to live without fear, we cannot fear even death itself.” 

Talk about being called to follow Jesus and resist temptation!  Now, you can say that these words come from The United States of America and that we live in Canada and that is true, but who knows what challenges we may face in the next ten months?  Who knows what threats from inside or outside our country will come to confront the depth of our commitment to follow Jesus on behalf of those most in need of love and compassion?  Here is a closing reflection from Facebook posted on Her View from Home.  I don’t know the author.

You don’t have to do the next 40 days perfectly.  I used to think that was the goal.
Giving something up just to prove I could. Coffee. Sugar. Social media.  A small act of willpower.
Maybe even a quiet pat on the back from God.  But the next 40 days aren’t about proving anything.
They’re about laying myself down.  The one who thinks I have to hold it all together.
The sin I keep circling back to.  The noise that keeps me distracted from what actually matters.
These 40 days are for remembering we are dust.  Not worthless.  Not forgotten.
Mere dust made beautiful because God bent down and breathed life into it.  Into you.  Into me.
The next 40 days aren’t about chasing perfection we’ll never achieve.
They’re about turning our faces toward Jesus.
From dust we were made.  To dust we will return.
And in between?  We are loved. 
Thanks be to God.  Amen. 

Hymn: VU 115 “ Jesus, Tempted in the Desert”

Invitation For the Offering:
Generous God, we offer to you a portion of what you have given us - gifts of time, talent and treasure.

These gifts support the work of this church and this community and our gifts to Mission and Service support your ministries across Canada and around the world.  We present our tithes and offerings. 

Offering Hymn: VU 541 “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow”

Offering Prayer:  “Gathering” Lent 2026, Beth W Johnston
Receive our gifts, O God.  May they be used to show to the world the greatness of your love. 
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, your perfect gift and our Saviour.  Amen. 

Prayers & Lord’s Prayer:
Loving, liberating, life-giving God, you call us to be your church, to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil, but temptations come and we are afraid.  Be with us, Holy One.  Strengthen our nerves, comfort our spirits, command us once again to fear not.  We pray for all the places in the world where there is war, where there is violence, where there is fear and uncertainty and division and hatred.  Bless the decision makers and the emergency workers and the faith leaders who believe in non-violent, just, and peaceful solutions where those who are the least of our brothers and sisters deserve and receive our compassion and care.  May relief efforts provide life for those so badly in need of food and water and shelter and medical care.  May peace prevail and reconciliation begin.  We pray for all affected by weather this weekend, for the homeless, for those without lights or heat or water. 

We pray for snow plow drivers and for all who must be outdoors in dangerous conditions.  We pray for travelers and for the people of Cuba as they struggle without tourists and fuel.  Holy One, we pray for those who grieve.  We pray for those who suffer from racism or hatred simply because of their skin colour, their religion, culture, or nationality, or because of their sexual or gender identities.  We pray for those who are struggling with addictions, for those who live with violence, for those dealing with mental health crisis, for those who simply do not have the resources to make ends meet and pay their expenses.  We pray for our Moderator, The Right Rev. Dr. Kimberly Heath.   We pray for those dealing with mind, body, or spirit health challenges and we ask for your blessing of renewed health, comfort and strength in difficult times. Together we pray the words of Jesus saying:  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 trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever.  Amen.

Hymn:  VU 120  “O Jesus, I Have Promised”

Commissionin
As we move from here to the annual meeting of this church, may God guide and encourage us so that we may journey the on the path that Jesus walked before us and may the peace of God enfold you, the compassion of Jesus stir you to many good actions and the sustaining power of the Holy Spirit keep you strong, this day and forever more.  Amen. 

Hymn:  “Go Now in Peace”​​​

         "A Village Church With A Heart For The World"

Christ United Church

12 Perth St., Lyn, ON, K0E 1M0
(613)498-0281 (Phone)   (613)498-2589 (Fax)

 lynunitedchurch@cogeco.net               www.lynunitedchurch.com               Follow on Twitter:  @Ch1United