First Sunday of Lent

The readings for March 5, the first Sunday of Lent were:

Genesis 9:8-17
Psalm 25:1-9
1 Peter 3:18-22
Mark 1:9-15

Our first hymn was Lord, Who throughout These Forty Days by Claudia F. Hernaman. It is usually sung to the tune St. Flavian, but the United Methodist Hymnal sets the hymn to the tune to the folk melody Land of Rest.

Lord, who throughout these forty days
for us didst fast and pray,
teach us with thee to mourn our sins,
and close by thee to stay.

As thou with Satan didst contend
and didst the victory win,
O give us strength in thee to fight,
in thee to conquer sin.

As thou didst hunger bear and thirst,
so teach us, gracious Lord,
to die to self, and chiefly live
by thy most holy word.

And through these days of penitence,
and through thy Passiontide,
yea, evermore, in life and death,
Jesus! with us abide.

Abide with us, that so, this life
of suffering over-past,
an Easter of unending joy
we may attain at last!

Our second hymn was When Jesus Came to Jordan by Fred Pratt Green. In our hymnal this hymn is set to the tune Complainer by William Walker.

When Jesus came to Jordan
to be baptized by John,
he did not come for pardon.
but as his Father's Son.
He came to share repentance
with all who mourn their sins,
to speak the vital sentence
with which good news begins.

He came to share temptation,
our utmost woe and loss,
for us and our salvation
to die upon the cross.
So when the Dove descended
on him, the Son of Man,
the hidden years had ended,
the age of grace began.

Come, Holy Spirit, aid us
to keep the vows we make,
this very day invade us,
and every bondage break.
Come, give our lives direction,
the gift we covet most:
to share the resurrection
that leads to Pentecost.

Our anthem was a setting of Jesus Walked This Lonesome Valley arranged by Hal Hopson.

Jesus walked this lonesome valley;
he had to walk it by himself.
Oh, nobody else could walk it for him;
he had to walk it by himself.

We must walk this lonesome valley;
we have to walk it by ourselves.
Oh, nobody else can walk it for us;
we have to walk it by ourselves.

You must go and stand your trial;
you have to stand it by yourself.
Oh, nobody else can stand it for you;
you have to stand it by yourself.

The first Communion hymn was Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence from the fifth century Liturgy of Saint James translated by Gerald Moultrie in 1864. The hymn tune is Picardy, a French carol.

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
and with fear and trembling stand;
ponder nothing earthly minded,
for with blessing in his hand
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
our full homage to demand.

King of kings, yet born of Mary,
as of old on earth he stood,
Lord of lords in human vesture,
in the Body and the Blood
he will give to all the faithful
his own self for heavenly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven
spreads its vanguard on the way,
as the Light of Light descendeth
from the realms of endless day,
that the powers of hell may vanish
as the darkness clears away.

The second Communion hymn was Let Us Break Bread Together, the old spiritual. I've read several articles that discussed whether or not this was an appropriate hymn for Holy Communion.


Let us break bread together on our knees,
let us break bread together on our knees.
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord, have mercy on me.

Let us drink wine together on our knees,
let us drink wine together on our knees.
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord, have mercy on me.

Let us praise God together on our knees,
let us praise God together on our knees.
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord, have mercy on me.

The final Communion hymn was Come, Sinners, to the Gospel Feast by Charles Wesley, set to the tune Hursley. This hymn is in our hymnal twice, once with a set of verses that serve as an altar call, and these verse for Holy Communion. Charles Wesley wrote many, many verse for most of his hundreds of hymns. The hymnal only has four or five verses of a hymn, but for a few of them the editors included a text only page of all the many verses.

Come, sinners, to the gospel feast;
let every soul be Jesus' guest.
Ye need not one be left behind,
for God hath bid all humankind.

Come, and partake the Gospel feast;
Be saved from sin; in Jesus rest;
O taste the goodness of your God,
And eat His flesh, and drink His blood!

See Him set forth before your eyes,
That precious, bleeding Sacrifice!
His offered benefits embrace,
And freely now be saved by grace.

Our final hymn was O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High, a 15th century Latin poem translated by Benjamin Webb. The tune is Deo Gracias.

O love, how deep, how broad, how high,
it fills the heart with ecstasy,
that God, the Son of God, should take
our mortal form for mortals' sake!

For us baptized, for us he bore
his holy fast and hungered sore,
for us temptation sharp he knew;
for us the tempter overthrew.

For us he prayed; for us he taught;
for us his daily works he wrought;
by words and signs and actions thus
still seeking not himself, but us.

For us to evil power betrayed,
scourged, mocked, in purple robe arrayed,
he bore the shameful cross and death,
for us gave up his dying breath.

For us he rose from death again;
for us he went on high to reign;
for us he sent his Spirit here,
to guide, to strengthen, and to cheer.

All glory to our Lord and God
for love so deep, so high, so broad:
the Trinity whom we adore,
forever and forevermore.