Service Sunday February 22, 2026
HIGHLAND HILLS UNITED CHURCH
Minden, Ontario
All are Welcome!
First Sunday of Lent & Communion
Worship Leader: Rev. Max Ward
Music Director: Melissa Stephens
Watch a video recording of the whole service using YouTube below.
(For a Printer Friendly PDF version click this link)
The Gathering
WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS:
FOCUSING MOMENT:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF LAND:
I would like to acknowledge that we are worshipping on the Traditional territories of Anishinaabe nation. May we glean ancestral wisdom from the Indigenous Knowledge Keepers and Elders, whose footsteps from generation to generation walked gently on Turtle Island territory when it was all unceded territory. May we all travel together as Treaty peoples of Canada, on a good path with harmony and respect as we move toward a healthy, peaceful future together.
THE APPROACH
CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: You enter into this place wondering where you will be taken this time around on the Lenten journey.
ALL: Yet we know that it is a safe place, a place of comfort.
One: You also know that this is a place of transformation. Yet you return.
ALL: Transformation is precisely who we are as a church. We are not afraid.
One: How can you be so certain?
ALL: We’ve travelled this path before. We know what it takes when times get tough.
One: You’ll be challenged, questioned, backed into a corner…
ALL: But we will never be alone.
One: Praise be to God!
ALL: Praise be to God!
Written by Eric Hebert-Daly, Executive Minister, Eastern Ontario Outaouais Regional Council
Gathering, Lent-Easter 2026, p.28. Used with permission.
HYMN: “Fairest Lord Jesus” VU #341
1 Fairest Lord Jesus, ruler of all nature,
O thou of God to earth come down:
thee will I cherish, thee will I honour,
thou my soul's glory, joy, and crown.
2 Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,
robed in the blooming garb of spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
who makes the troubled heart to sing.
3 Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight,
and fair the twinkling, starry host;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
than all the angels heaven can boast.
4 All fairest beauty heavenly and earthly,
wondrously, Jesus, is found in thee;
none can be nearer, fairer or dearer
than thou, my Saviour, art to me.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION Spoken in Unison
Expansive, Holy One, you steadfastly forgive our faults and grant grace when we have the courage to humble ourselves and admit our failures and our weaknesses. It is exhausting trying to maintain a façade that implies that our lives are perfect. There is a sense of relief when we admit to our mistakes, our weaknesses, our imperfections. We yearn to find you. Is this but a reflection of your yearning for us to humble ourselves before you and ask for your grace? Receive now the yearnings of our hearts:
(a time of silent prayer) We are not alone; thanks be to God. Amen
Written by Susan Silverthorne, First U.C., Wetaskiwin, Alta.
Gathering, Lent-Easter 2023, p.34. Used with permission.
WORDS OF ASSURANCE
One: On the journey of Lent, we seek a spirit of discernment and wisdom. On the journey of Lent, we move toward relationship with God. So follow Jesus and know new life. Seek the Spirit and know new insight. Move toward God and know grace. You are forgiven. Amen
Written by Eric Hebert-Daly, Executive Minister, Eastern Ontario
Gathering, Lent-Easter 2024, p.34. Used with permission
MINISTRY OF MUSIC
THE WORD
Scripture: Matthew 4:1-11
Leader: Hear and listen to what the Spirit is saying to the church.
ALL: Thanks be to God.
MESSAGE:
“Tell Me the Stories of Jesus”
Listen to an audio recording of the message below or read it at the bottom of this page.
NEW HYMN: “When the Wind of Winter Blows” MV #71
1. When the wind of winter blows,
bringing times of solitude,
fill the silent icy night;
be our hearts’ compassion.
Refrain:
Holy Light, warm our night;
warm the time of winter.
Holy Light, warm our night;
warm the time of winter.
2. When we shiver in despair,
when the chill of death comes near,
hold us, Spirit, calm our fear,
while the evening deepens. Refrain:
3. When in days of fallen snow,
change confounds or love burns low,
from the ashes may there rise
phoenix of our growing. Refrain:
OUR RESPONSE
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE and A CONTEMPORARY INTERPRETATION OF THE LORD’S PRAYER:
“Heavenly Father, heavenly Mother,
Holy and blessed is your true name.
We pray for your reign of peace to come,
We pray that your good will be done,
Let heaven and earth become one.
Give us this day the bread we need,
Give it to those who have none.
Let forgiveness flow like a river between us,
From each one to each one.
Lead us to holy innocence
Beyond the evil of our days —
Come swiftly Mother, Father, come.
For yours is the power and the glory and the mercy:
Forever your name is All in One. Amen.”
COMMUNION HYMN: “Eat This Bread” VU #466 sung three times
Eat this bread, drink this cup;
come to me and never be hungry.
Eat this bread, drink this cup;
trust in me and you will not thirst.
SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION
Jesus said: “I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry;
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Prayer
God of all, we give you thanks and praise,
that when we were still far off
you met us in your Son and brought us home.
Dying and living, he declared your love,
gave us grace, and opened the gate of glory.
May we, who share Christ’s body, live his risen life;
we, who drink this cup, bring life to others,
we, whom the Spirit lights, give light to the world.
Keep us firm in the hope you have set before us,
so that we and all your children shall be set free,
and the whole earth live to praise your name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Communion
According to Luke, when our risen Lord ate with his disciples at Emmaus, he took bread, and blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him in the breaking of bread.
The body of Christ.
Thanks be to God for the bread of life.
The blood of Christ.
Thanks be to God for the cup of blessing.
Prayer after Communion – In Unison
For these symbols of God’s bounty and love, the bread and wine we have taken, we give God thanks. May they nourish us and strengthen us for the journey, so putting their mark upon us that our lives may be love in action. Amen.
COMMUNION HYMN: “Eat This Bread” VU #466 one time only
Eat this bread, drink this cup;
come to me and never be hungry.
Eat this bread, drink this cup;
trust in me and you will not thirst.
YOUR GENEROSITY MATTERS:
PRESENTATION OF OUR OFFERINGS
OFFERTORY PRAYER: In Unison
Generous God, we offer to you a portion of what you have given us:
Gifts of time, of talent, and of treasure, gifts that care for those of us too often on the margins, gifts to support our partners overseas and within Canada, gifts that seem small, but that have large effects in Jesus’ name. Bless what we give you your purposes in the world, we pray. Amen.
Written by Gord Dunbar, Kincardine, Ont.
Gathering, Lent-Easter 2024, p.33. Used with permission
SUNG BLESSING: (VU #701)
1 What does the Lord require of you?
What does the Lord require of you?
2 Justice, kindness,
walk humbly with your God.
3 To seek justice, and love kindness,
and walk humbly with your God. ©
SENDING FORTH:
A Time of Fellowship
© Music Reproduced with permission under License number A-605748, Valid for: 26/10/2025 - 25/10/2026; One License - Copyright Cleared Music for Churches.
Sermon 2026 02 22
“Tell Me the Stories of Jesus”
Matthew 4:1-11
Gracious God, be with us today in this place, in the Scriptures and in our words.
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts praise your Holy name. Amen.
Today’s scripture lesson tells the story of Jesus’ temptation.
The temptation of Jesus is one of the clearly mythical stories of Jesus but it holds important lessons for us all.
I had a hard time this week thinking about what I would say in response to such a story.
What do you say when the whole story takes place between Jesus and the Devil; the devil being a character from the Bible that I don’t believe to be a real individual?
How can this story be connected to the reality of our everyday lives when it seems so outrageous?
Well, here is my best attempt at trying to make this story a meaningful message to us all this morning!
Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert.
At his baptism the voice of God spoke and in that moment Jesus was called into the ministry that he came to fulfill.
He would begin healing and teaching throughout the land.
But the Spirit did not lead him at first to the cities where the people were, but away form the cities.
The Spirit led Jesus to the emptiness of the wilderness.
It led him there for a long time and Jesus ate nothing.
And after that time of fasting, Jesus was hungry.
Now I have fasted for 1 meal or for a day.
Once, I started a fast after an early supper one day and then 24 hours later I ate a late supper.
That way I only really skipped two meals.
And frankly that by itself was difficult.
But Jesus had fasted for 40 days.
The phrase “40 days” in the Bible is a metaphorical way of saying a long time.
It was in the midst of this weakened state that the Devil came to Jesus; Also Known As the Tempter.
I prefer the word tempter since it helps me to get rid of the image of a little guy with pointy horns in a red suit holding a flaming trident!
Anyway, the tempter was seeking to take advantage of Jesus.
His first temptation to Jesus was to turn the stones into bread.
But Jesus replied, “It takes more than bread to stay alive.
It takes a steady stream of words from God’s mouth.”
Now this is significant.
Whether this really happened or not, Matthew is telling us the truth about who Jesus really was.
Matthew is telling us the true message in a poetic way to illustrate the point.
Most people think that Jesus, being the Son of God, wasn’t really tempted by this obvious ploy to use his physical appetites.
But don’t forget that Jesus was fully human.
The Jesus that we read about before Easter was a human just like the rest of us.
I don’t know about you, but I get feeling like I’ll do just about anything to get something to eat when I am really hungry.
But Jesus, despite being human, he resisted the temptation.
Lesson Number One for us.
Jesus shows us that even under extreme pressure, we always have a choice in how to behave and act.
But the tempter pressed on.
He took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple.
And said, “Since you are God’s Son, jump.
God has placed you in the care of angels.
They will catch you so that you won’t so much as stub your toe on a stone.”
This was a little more sophisticated.
What would happen if Jesus did jump and all the religious leaders and people saw angels come down from heaven to catch Jesus?
They would recognize him as the Messiah and declare that to be fact.
This “temptation” seemed to end with the result that would please God.
God wanted people to acknowledge Jesus as God’s Son and worship him.
But Jesus resisted this temptation, there are no easy ways out.
God wanted people to respond in faith.
In contrast, how many of us are willing to work for the kingdom of God?
We see a need and know that God wants us to do something about it.
Often times we know what we need to do to address it.
But sometimes we are unwilling to make the investment of time or energy.
We may look for an easy way to put a bandaid on the problems of this world instead of committing the time, money and personal effort that it takes to do it God’s way.
Lesson Number two for us.
Jesus shows us that even under extreme pressure, we always have a choice in how to behave and act.
Hey, that was the same lesson!
Just in case any of us are still not seeing the lesson clearly, the story continues.
But the tempter didn’t stop.
He then took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the Kingdoms of this world and said,
“They’re yours—lock, stock, and barrel.
Just go down on your knees and worship me, and they’re yours.”
But Jesus responded, “Beat it, Satan!
Worship the Lord your God, and only him.
Serve him with absolute single-heartedness.”
This may have seemed a rather transparent ploy on the part of the tempter.
But you can’t blame the tempter for trying what had worked in the past.
The temptation to seize power and wealth has led many people to fall.
Many have been willing to bow down to the gods of greed, wealth, prejudice and so on to have power over the kingdoms of this world.
Just think of the war going on in the Ukraine right now!
When we are tempted to worship the dollar, the economy or our things how often do we say,
“It is written, worship only the Lord your God.”
Jesus realized that, as golden as the kingdoms of this world are, they are fleeting.
Lesson Number Three for us.
Jesus shows us that even under extreme pressure, we always have a choice in how to behave and act.
There it is again for emphasis a third time!
This story is so important to us because we see in our time and place how many people have given in to worldly appetites.
We understand that it is easier to look for the easy way out instead of following the way of life that Jesus calls us to follow.
We know that throughout history humanity has succumbed to the call to power and wealth.
So what are we to do?
We seem to be always confronted with temptation.
But Jesus shows us a way of life.
He was fully human like the rest of us are.
He had the Spirit of God just as each of us has the Spirit too.
The difference is that Jesus was fully attuned to the Spirit of God and chose to resist the temptations.
Let that same Holy Spirit that lived in Jesus live in us and guide us.
We may fail if we trust only in our own abilities.
So we are wise to trust in Jesus’ strength in times of trial and temptation.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
