This year during Lent we focus on the Gospel passage for each week. To help our thoughts a cardboard image of Jesus will be place somewhere in the church.
Today he is on a baptismal font. Following his baptism by John, Jesus went into the wilderness. There he was working out what type of Messiah he would be. The three temptations remind us of the possible ways of Messiahship he rejected. When the time of temptation was over he began his ministry. His message was that the Kingdom of God was near and that people should turn away from their sins and believe his good news. Looking at it, it is hard to believe this font was made by Malcolm Bentley for Broomfield from a dirty old roof timber of the old church. It is an appropriate place to find Jesus today. Its transformation is a sign of what can happen when we repent and turn away from whatever holds us back from believing and following the good news of Jesus.
Jesus,
Human as we are human,
In the heat of loneliness of a dry and dusty desert,
you did not shrink from your calling.
You resisted the temptation to take the easy way.
In our journey of faith encouraged by your example
may we find the strength to make the right choices in our discipleship
and enough courage in the barren desert experiences to know the joys of victorious living. Amen
(from WYSEbook 14. “Ready Steady … Prayers of Preparation”)