Rescue Me

Call to Worship

On this first Sunday in Lent, we join Jesus in the wilderness, a place of wild and dangerous things, of testing and temptation away from the security of home.

God, rescue us in the wilderness!

Once again, we watch and listen as Satan throws out temptation upon temptation, and we find our security in Jesus, who does not waver from the truth.

God, rescue us within the wilderness!

Once again, we face our own frailty and realize that the wilderness is not nearly as dangerous as our choices to prioritize selfish gain and hoarding of power.

God, rescue us through the wilderness!

Once again, we call upon God in the wildernesses of our lives, and we trust God’s faithful reply:

Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble; I will rescue them and honor them. Thanks be to God! Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, August 2024.

Opening Prayer

God, you are our refuge.
You are the shore in sight,
you are hands that reach out,
you are the ground on which to rest.

God, you are our strength.
You are the life we long for,
you are the refusal to give up,
you are the keys of home we carry with us.

God, you are our help in time of trouble.
We call on you from the ruins and the rubble,
We call on you from the wildness and the deep,
ALL: We call on you to meet us in this place! Amen.

Found in Cláudio Carvalhaes, Liturgies from Below: Praying with People at the Ends of the World (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2020), 40.

Prayer of Confession

Jesus,

We confess that when we read about your temptations, we excuse ourselves. After all, we reason, we are not you. Of course, you passed the test, we say. You’re God, right? But we mere mortals have no expectation that we can withstand evil like you did. But we are reminded that you are not only Savior; you are example. You faced the temptation to prove yourself, to be spectacular, and to have consuming power. And you walked away, resisting. Forgive us when we have not resisted; when we have yielded to temptation. Forgive us for loving power and prestige more than God. Help us to choose a life rooted in God’s word and grace. Amen.

Written by Valerie Bridgeman Davis, The Africana Worship Book, Year C (Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 2008), 146.

Benediction

Beloved, you—you—who live in the shelter of the Most High and abide in the shadow of the Almighty —will find in God your refuge and fortress. Go now, in the blessing of the Triune God who shelters you and rescues you, that we all might be a shelter and a rescue for and with one another. Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, August 2024.