Sunday 1st March 2026
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
LENT 2A
A short act of worship and daily devotions
Opening Prayers
Throughout the ages, people have turned aside from productivity and business in order to worship.
Across the centuries, we have turned our praise to God on high.
Today, you are joining in with this ancient tradition,
And marking this Lord’s day, in this place, wherever you are today.
Hold a period of quiet, and then join in with these words, reading aloud or in your head, when you are ready.
Loving Lord,
As I turn my eyes towards you this morning, may I remember that I am loved, and that your love for me endures all.
God of all things,
As I turn my heart towards those around me this day, may I remember that all others on this Earth are loved and worthy in your eyes and that this worthiness endures all.
God of the psalms,
As I lift my face towards the mountains, may I remember that I am created as one with the natural world and help me to hum your presence in tune with all creation.
Loving God, help me to turn to you this day and every day, Amen.
You may now wish to say the Lord’s Prayer in a version or translation with which you are familiar.
Reading: John 3:1-17 – Click for reading
Responding to the reading
Nicodemus comes to Jesus under the cover of night: curious, cautious, open. A religious leader with questions. A seeker who suspects that this rabbi from Nazareth might just be revealing something of God.
But what he hears in return is... strange.
"Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above."
Nicodemus is confused. Who wouldn’t be? Born again? What does that even mean?
Jesus goes on to speak of Spirit and wind, of birth and breath, of being remade in a way that can’t be controlled or predicted. He points not to certainty, but to mystery. Not to status or knowledge, but to surrender.
And then he says the words many of us know by heart:
"For God so loved the world..."
Too often, this verse has been used as a gatekeeping slogan: proof that only a few are saved. But the text doesn’t say that. It says God so loved the world – the cosmos, in the Greek – not just individuals, but the whole interconnected creation. It says that God’s intent is not condemnation, but healing.
For liberal and open-minded Christians, this passage holds deep resonance. It invites us to a kind of spiritual humility, a willingness to keep being born anew. Not just once, but again and again.
To be “born of the Spirit” is not about a single moment of conversion—it’s about an ongoing transformation. A willingness to let go of the ego, the fear, the rigid ideas we cling to. It’s about making space for mystery. Letting the wind of the Spirit blow where it will.
And perhaps most importantly, it's about letting love—not fear—be at the centre of our theology and our lives.
So today, ask yourself:
Where is God inviting me to be “born anew”?
What rigid ways of seeing - myself, others, God – am I being asked to release?
How can I live out the truth that God's love is wide, inclusive, and healing: not just for me, but for the world?
Discipleship is not about having all the answers. It’s about staying open. Like Nicodemus, we come with questions. And Jesus invites us to keep going deeper; not toward certainty, but toward transformation.
May we be born again, not into fear or exclusion, but into Spirit, freedom, and love that has no end.
Hymn / Song 463 STF – Deep in the shadows of the past – YouTube
Blessing
Go from this place, with the glory of the Lord shining all around. Go from this place, with the Spirit of the Lord travelling ahead of you. Go from this place, following in the light of the Christ, In Jesus’ name, go and serve the Lord. Amen.
Prayers and Prayer Pointers For This Week
Monday 2nd March
Take 5 small slips of paper.
Imagine you are trying to explain to a small child what the nature of God is. Write a word or phrase that comes to mind on each of the 5 slips of paper.
Now look back at your slips next to one another. Are there any other words you would use that you haven’t already used here? How might you explain these to a small child?
Tuesday 3rd March
Today is celebrated as the feast day for John and Charles Wesley by the Episcopal Church in the USA, a reminder that the Wesleys continue to be recognised and celebrated by many different Christian denominations.
Perhaps today your prayers could be for unity, reconciliation (where it is needed) and joined up thinking between different parts of the Christian church – may we find fresh energy to work together, in Jesus’ name.
Wednesday 4th March
Today is marked in some traditions as the feast day of Felix of Rhuys, a hermit and abbot who opened an abbey in Brittany in Northern France.
As our thoughts turn to these ancient spots of peace and prayer, may we seek to be places of safety and connection in our own communities: may our churches, our homes, our lives, become modern monasteries and abbeys.
Thursday 5th March
Breathe on me, O Holy Sprit, that my thoughts may all be holy.
God, we are sorry for the times that we have held other things as more important than you.
For when our thoughts have been mean or selfish or greedy, we ask for your forgiveness.
Thank you, God, that through you we are forgiven, and given the chance to start afresh.
Friday 6th March
As we move into the season of Spring, as new life begins appearing all around us, today I give thanks for the gifts of creation, for the signs of hope and possibility.
Amongst all that is difficult, all that is painful, all that is uncertain, come Lord Jesus, and use the gifts that I have in your service, may they be used for your Kingdom here on earth.
Saturday 7th March
On this day in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was given a patent for his new invention – the telephone.
All these years later, he could surely not have imagined the development of ‘phones, into the multimedia tools they are today.
As you pray today, give thanks for all the ways we are now connected around the world, and pray for wisdom and grace to guide us as we work out how to use them as a blessing not a burden or an addiction.