Covenant 1: Profession of Faith

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Read along with Genesis 9:8-17.  

 

In this podcast: 

1. Prayer of illumination 

2. Epistle reading: 1 Peter 3:18-22 

3. Chanting Psalm 25:1-10 

4. Gospel reading: Mark 1:9-15 

5. Anthem of the day: "Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days" (Erik Meyer) 

6. Old Testament reading: Genesis 9:8-17

7. Sermon: "Covenant 1: Profession of Faith" 

8. Covenant Renewal Service 

 

Sermon excerpt: 

There is an ominous quality to this season of the church year, as we once again remember how Jesus walked through the lonesome valley all the way to the cross; an ominous quality reflected in the Scripture passages appointed for each of the Sundays in Lent.

But there is a thin thread of hope and light running through those same lectionary passages, the flip side of Lent, you might say.

And it is the hope found in the covenants God makes us with.

Henri Nouwen writes, “When God makes a covenant with us, God says: ‘I will love you with an everlasting love. I will be faithful to you, even when you run away from me, reject me, or betray me.’”[i]

[i] Henri J.M. Nouwen, Bread for the Journey.

 

Covenant Renewal Service 

Opening litany
Leader: Our lives are full of choices but one choice informs all the others: who will be our God?
People: Who has been with us from before the beginning? Who has loved us and blessed us and sent us on our way? Who will celebrate with us when we have finished running the race and seek the comfort of eternity?
Leader: The holy One, the God of the covenant.
People: We choose this day to place our whole trust in the Holy One. We choose this day to commit our talents and resources to the One who first gave them to us. We choose this day to love the One who loved us first.
ALL:  And today we renew the covenant you made with us: the promise that you will be our God and we will be your people.

Sung response

Unison Prayer  
Covenant-keeping God, I am no longer my own, but yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will. Put me to doing; put me to suffering. Let me be employed for you or laid aside for you, exalted for you or brought low for you. Let me be full; let me be empty. Let me have all things; let me have nothing. And now, glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you are mine, and I am yours. Amen.