Scribd
Upload
6 views

For TCH February 26 2023

Uploaded by

Jeffrey Ramirez Jr.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
6 views

For TCH February 26 2023

Uploaded by

Jeffrey Ramirez Jr.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

For TCH February 26, 2023

Spirituality of Fasting
(Read Matthew 4: 1-11)

Traditionally, on this First Sunday of Lent the Gospel speaks of the temptations of Jesus in the
desert. Jesus has just completed his forty days of preparation in the desert and he now faces one more
test before he begins his mission. This incident takes place between the baptism of Jesus and the start of
his public ministry beginning (in Luke’s gospel) at Nazareth.
It is not random that Jesus was tempted in the wilderness after he had fasted for 40 days and 40
nights. We are more vulnerable to inner conflict, more likely to see our own temptations revealed after
fasting. The fast is a spiritual emptying — a revealing practice of what is holding us captive, what we turn
to for sustenance and support that is not the “Bread of Life.” Marjorie Thompson writes, “In a more
tangible, visceral way than any other spiritual discipline, fasting reveals our excessive attachments and
the assumptions that lie behind them. Food is necessary to life, but we have made it more necessary
than God. How often have we neglected to remember God’s presence when we would never consider
neglecting to eat! Fasting brings us face to face with how we put the material world ahead of its spiritual
Source.”
Matthew’s passage, and this first Sunday of Lent, invites us into the wilderness with Jesus. In the
Bible, the wilderness is a place of struggle, a place where God’s people battle with temptations to
neglect and abandon God. Our temptations are not always as obvious as an embodied evil telling us to
throw ourselves off the temple’s pinnacle. But the struggle is real. When we are inadvertently neglecting
our relationship with God, we are more susceptible to easy answers and seek worldly ways to flee
discomfort.
In studying this passage, we will notice the ascending heights to which the tempter led Jesus starting
in the wilderness, to the pinnacle of the Temple and then to “a very high mountain.” Each ascent offered
more power, more prestige, more wealth and more distance from the grounding of his faith. Where are
you on this journey with Jesus? To what extent are you entangled in temptation? Wealth and power
segregate and separate us from the people and the societal problems Jesus actively sought. Our
capitalistic, consumerist society leads us to the same heights, separating us from the poor and the
oppressed, tempting us to greedily jump all in. But Jesus knew not to fall for the tempter’s ploys. Do we?
Contemplating this question, or practicing a spiritual fast, will help us discern the grip these temptations
have on our lives.
This Lent, we are invited into a journey that has the potential to set us free. Maryetta Anschutz’s
writes, “Lenten penitence is not about guilt. It is about freedom.” Lent is a season that begins with an
honest examination of our spiritual lives leading us to confess what is keeping us from God and return us
to our faith.
Do you feel free? Let us not deceive ourselves, but lean into the truth, confess our sins and our
temptations, and return to God as our ultimate source of life.

References: The Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV)


Commentary on the First Sunday of Lent, Luke 4:1-13, @livingspace.sacredspace.ie
Teri McDowell Ott, “Can We Find Freedom This Lent?” @pres-outlook.org
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
#Church Greetings/Concerns/Announcements:
1. Good morning sisters and brothers in the Lord! Welcome to the UCCP Cosmopolitan Church. It is
so nice to see all that have gathered here today. Thank you for coming to our church to take part in
today’s Sunday worship. We are so blessed for our short time together and thank God for uniting us as
one. We give thanks to God for both our regular churchgoers and the visitors to the UCCP Cosmopolitan
Church today. Each one of you is special to us and we want you to feel the love of Jesus as we worship
together in spirit and in truth. For those who are joining our worship for the first time, I am Jerome
Canales Baris, one of your Pastors of the UCC serving as Minister and Preacher this morning. Our
Liturgist today is Brother Jheffrey Sanchez.
2. To those guests who have no home church here in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, we
invite you to join with us and consider the UCCP Cosmopolitan Church as your home church. Please feel
free to contact our Board of Elders and/or the Ministerial Team for that purpose.
3. Today is February 26, the 4rd and last Sunday of February which our Church celebrates as the
Membership Renewal Month. Our messages focus on strengthening our membership quantitatively and
qualitatively by God’s grace. Organizationally, the Board of Elders and the Ministerial Team are now in
the process of updating our Local Church Membership Records for church’s Administration,
Management and Operations purposes. One strategy is to fill out the form provided located at the table
beside the center entrance of this sanctuary. Thanks in advance for your kind cooperation.
4. We extend our heartfelt greetings to all birthday and wedding anniversary celebrants of the
week, starting today, February 26 until next Saturday, March 4, 2023. May God’s bountiful blessings be
upon your life in this new added year under His grace and mercy. (Note: Sing Birthday Song “Happy
Birthday to You” and Wedding Song “Sweeter as The Years Go By,” both for 10AM & 3PM Services).
5. We give thanks for God’s generosity which we have witnessed through the donors of the
beautiful floral offering at the altar and our snacks for the fellowship this morning in thanksgiving to
God’s blessings to their lives/families.
6. For those who would like to sponsor or donate for snacks or flowers, please fill out the form at
the table near the center entrance door of this sanctuary.
7. All the time, even in these difficult times, the UCCP Cosmopolitan Church recognizes with great
appreciation to your responses thru cheerful and generous offering of your tithes, pledges and other
offerings, especially now that we have new way of giving online for those who cannot attend our
worship in-person.
8. We continue to encourage parents to bring along their children every Sunday so that they can
attend our face-to face Sunday School Classes at the 3rd Floor at 10:00AM and at the Toddler’s Room at
the ground floor at 3:00PM. Please feel free to contact the Rev. Veronica T. Estayo, assigned Pastor for
the CEN Program of the UCC.
9. We are excited to announce our up-coming month-long 90th Church Anniversary Celebration in
March. Details will be announced soon through our different communication’s platforms.
10. Our church will implement the Blood Letting Ministry for the second half of the E.Y. June 2022-
May 2023. This will be done starting 9:00 o’clock in the morning until 4:00 o’clock in the afternoon on
the 2nd Sunday, March 12, 2023 at the Rigos Hall. For more details, please contact Rev. Veronica T.
Estayo and Sis. Sheila Mae D. Comadizo of the Board of Evangelism and Mission.
11. Please read our TCH for more detailed concerns and announcements of the week. Many thanks
for your attention.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sermon Title and Text for:

1. 10:00AM English Service – Title: “Resisting The Pressure of Temptation”


Texts: Matthew 4:1-11; James 1:2-4

2. 3:00PM Visayan Service – Ulohan Sa Wali: “Pagsukol Sa Pagpit-os Sa Tentasyon”


Mga Texto: Mateo 4:1-11; Santiago 1:2-4

You might also like