good morning and welcome to the kitchen garden today of the dna at canterbury cathedral as we say our morning prayers on this thursday morning i've come in here at a time when those that have been growing as seeds and seedlings have been brought from the propagating house into here before they go out into the harsher climate of the garden and we'll think a little bit about that later on but let's just begin our morning prayers as we pray for one another right across the world oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise in your resurrection o christ let heaven and earth rejoice hallelujah christ our passover has been sacrificed for us so let us celebrate the feast not with the old leaven of corruption and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth christ once raised from the dead dies no more death has no more dominion over him in dying he died to sin once for all in living he lives to god see yourselves therefore as dead to sin and alive to god in jesus christ our lord christ has been raised from the dead the first fruits of those who sleep the night has passed and the day lies open before us let us pray with one heart and mind does we rejoice in the gift of this new day so may the light of your presence o god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever are men our son this morning on this seventh morning of the month is psalm 36 sin whispers to the wicked in the depths of their heart there is no fear of god before their eyes they flatter themselves in their own eyes that their abominable sin will not be found out the words of their mouth are unrighteous and full of deceit they have ceased to act wisely and to do good they think out mischief upon their beds and have set themselves in no good way nor do they abhor that which is evil but your love o lord reaches to the heavens and your faithfulness to the clouds your righteousness stands like the strong mountains your justice like the great deep you lord shall save both man and beast how precious is your loving mercy oh god all mortal flesh shall take refuge under the shadow of your wings they shall be satisfied with the abundance of your house they shall drink from the river of your delights for with you is the well of life and in your light shall we see light oh continue your loving kindness to those who know you and your righteousness to those who are true of heart let not the foot of pride come against me nor the hand of the ungodly thrust me away or there are they fallen all who work wickedness they are cast down and shall not be able to stand we continue on this day reading through the gospel of saint luke and we have come to chapter 4 and begin at verse 1 and jesus full of the holy spirit returned from the river jordan and was led by the spirit in the wilderness for forty days being tempted by the devil he had nothing during those days and when they were over he was hungry the devil said to him if you are the son of god command this stone to become bread and jesus answered him it is written man shall not live by bread alone so the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time said to him to you i will give all this authority and their glory for it has been delivered to me and i give it to whom i will if you then will worship me it will all be yours jesus answered him it is written you shall worship the lord your god and him only shall you serve and he took him to jerusalem and set him on a pinnacle of the temple and said to him if you are the son of god throw yourself down from here for it is written he will command his angels concerning you to guard you and on their hands they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone jesus answered it is said you shall not put your law the lord your god to the test and when the devil had ended every temptation he departed from him until an opportune time as i said this is a time of year when growing things which have been fostered from seed looked after well watered given light begin to grow are given more space and become growing plants in this way are being made ready to go out and face the outside that they may not only grow but become fruitful lettuces and tomato plants and radishes and pumpkins and cucumbers and sweet corn all kinds of plants which will give food and provide fruitfulness so long as they are strong when they go outside and can eventually find a continuation of refreshment and light jesus has come from the seed time of his preparation in the house of mary and joseph he has come from the refreshing and challenging water of his baptism and now he finds himself immediately in a place where he is challenged by demands and temptations thrusting in upon his growing sense of vocation as the christ who will be a light to lighten all the nations himself tells a story later on about seed being thrown out by a sewer and some going into ground where they had no root or were choked by thorns or were eaten by the birds on the wayside but some grew and became fruitful the preparation years of those hidden years in luke's gospel jesus now being as we were told yesterday about the age of 30 well prepared by an education of devout parents so that it's quite clear he knows the scriptures and the word of god very well when he meets the challenges of the desert the challenge is to become or the temptations to become more than human then he's able to face those temptations simply with remembered words of the lord in scripture nothing more nothing less each quotation that he uses counters the devil's temptations to become more than human be glorious throw yourself down angels will protect you make these stones into bread you will never know hunger but no the life of the christ and the vocation of the christ which has been nurtured refreshed and fully formed into that vocation must share every aspect of our humanity in order to accomplish that salvation health healing and glorification to which he calls us that is his task preaching that good news to those who are far off and to those who are near and in the desert he proves himself well rooted well prepared to face those challenges and then to go on as we shall see tomorrow and find that fruitfulness beginning to flourish develop and grow first in his own community and then much farther afield let's say our prayers together on this spring morning as always in this place we remember areas of the anglican world and today in the communion we pray for the diocese of mumias in kenya for joseph wanderer the bishop and his people there of yola in nigeria and for marcus ibrahim the bishop there and then here in england the diocese of york pray for the archbishop of york and bishop of that diocese john center and all those he looks after there in this diocese we pray for justin archbishop of canterbury rose bishop of dover tim bishop at lambus and today the parish of chatham and upper hearts with stelling praying for philip brown in his ministry and the people he serves so we say the easter prayer for this week of easter almighty god whose son jesus christ is the resurrection and the life raise us who trust in him from the death of sin to the life of righteousness that we may seek those things which are above where he reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit one god now and forever amen this place is not only a place of light and refreshment for the plants as they grow it's also a place where people who come to canterbury can enjoy the outside spaces and come in here and be taught the plants and the life of the garden and special breeds and all those things which gardeners are interested in they come from all over the world and so it's a place of light and learning as well as of fruitfulness and growth we pray for that for all of us today light and learning refreshment and growth and the grace of the holy spirit as we pray for one another and we use the prayer that our lord taught us saying it in whichever language you would like to use and in whatever words you would normally say our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever amen so we make our prayers for one another and for ourselves that at this time of challenge we may be deep rooted in the faith and find refreshment to give us fruitfulness and encouragement for each other the god of peace who brought again from the dead our lord jesus that great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the everlasting covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you and upon all whom you love and would pray for this day and always amen [Music] you