Invocation Prayer
We try as best we can, to live by bread alone, or pie or cake or sweet rolls.
And then comes your word! In our hearing we are reminded that we live by every word that proceeds from your mouth, promises and gifts, blessings and threats, summons and commands, assurances and requirements.
We thank you for bread, and for the many cakes, pies and sweet rolls that inhabit our life of privilege. While we munch, give us ears, make us better listeners, give us patience with our odd utterances, give us openness to your new utterances, we vow to listen.
We pray in the name of your fleshed utterance become our bread. In Jesus’ name! Amen.
(Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth, Prayers of Walter Brueggemann)
Scripture Reading – Matthew 4:1-11 (NLT)
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. 2 For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.
3 During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”
4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,
‘People do not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, 6 and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,
‘He will order his angels to protect you.
And they will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”
7 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”
8 Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”
10 “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,
‘You must worship the Lord your God
and serve only him.’”
11 Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.
Song of Worship
The Goodness of Jesus
Come you weary heart now to Jesus
Come you anxious soul now and see
There is perfect love and comfort for your tears
Rest here in his wondrous peace
Oh the goodness, the goodness of Jesus
Satisfied he is all that I need
May it be come what may that I rest all my days
In the goodness of Jesus
Come find what this world cannot offer
Come and find your joy here complete
Taste the living water never thirst again
Rest here in his wondrous peace
Oh the goodness, the goodness of Jesus
Satisfied he is all that I need
May it be come what may that I rest all my days
In the goodness of Jesus
Come and find your hope now in Jesus
He is all he said he would be
Grace is overflowing from the Saviour’s heart
Rest here in his wondrous peace
Oh the goodness, the goodness of Jesus
Satisfied he is all that I need
May it be come what may that I rest all my days
In the goodness of Jesus
May it be come what may that I rest all my days
In the goodness of Jesus
Scripture Reflection
Prayers of Complaint and Confession
God of our yesterday, our today, and our tomorrow:
All is not as we think it should be;
The world is askew, our lives are a mess, our relationships are in tatters, our health is frail.
We fear, and fret, and fume.
All is not as we think it should be.
We grumble, and gripe, and complain, and shout!
All is not as we think it should be!
We stew in our agitations and anxieties,
We store them up in our own hearts,
Or we angrily lay them on the heads of others.
We compulsively hold on to complaints,
We are addicted to ascribing blame,
We lash out at others
Because the world is not as we think it should be.
Lord have mercy.
Lord have mercy.
Lord have mercy!
Have mercy on us for forgetting all the ways You have provided in the past.
Have mercy on us for not choosing to turn to you with all that hurts,
and disorients, and perturbs us today.
Have mercy on us for failing to trust Your goodness into the future.
But, all is not as we think it should be…
So, in Your mercy, hear our prayers….
Take a few moments to silently bring your concerns and complaints to God, not just because they represent real problems but also because God is truly good. He is able and willing to help.
Offering
We are always invited to bring our complaints to God. We are also always invited to place our trust in God. In fact bringing our complaints to God and not simply to the water cooler or social media is part of placing our trust in God. So to is giving tokens of our trust in the form of our tithes and offerings. Be encouraged as you give! It shows your trust in God.
Take a moment to make a gift and say thanks for God’s provision in your life. Then just listen to this beautiful rendition of a classic hymn which speaks of God’s holiness. Know that we get to trust in this Holy God and this God will indeed prove trustworthy!
Nathan – HCCC
Scripture Reflection
Song of Worship
Comfort My People
Do you know?
Have you not heard?
Has it been told you from the first?
Have you not understood from the forming of the earth,
He sits enthroned above the world
And spreads the heavens like a tent
A place for us to live in
A place for us to live
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
Do you know?
Who has marked off the heavens with the breath of his word
Do you know?
Comfort my people
Comfort my people says the Lord
He brought out the starry host
And one my one he calls them by name
Why do you still complain that he doesn’t know your ways?
Lift your eyes, and look to see who created all of these
And never more complain that he doesn’t know your ways…
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
Do you know?
Who has marked off the heavens with the breath of his word
Do you know?
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
Do you know?
Who has marked off the heavens with the breath of his word
Do you know?
Comfort my people
Comfort my people
Comfort my people says the Lord
Winnipeg Covenant 
Hi Julia, I really enjoyed your sermon today, and your complaints about Winnipeg! They are totally legitimate, and I agree with you on most points. But you do agree that we have many things in Winnipeg to be thankful for. Particularly in these challenging COVID-19 times. I miss church, in person, sitting next to whoever we want to sit by, the singing, the communion, chatting with the people behind us in the next row. I have attended a few Sunday services at FCC recently, and will again. In the meantime I am so grateful for these online services that the leadership of our two churches pull together and present every week. You are all a blessing to us all, and I thank you.
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