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The Village Shepherd
(Sermons, Children's Stories & Liturgies)

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Janice Scott ... The Village Shepherd

After being ordained in 1994 with the first wave of women priests, Janice became curate in a large city centre parish in Norwich and from there, moved to South Norfolk in 1999 as Rector of a rural benefice of six parishes. After completing her MA in Pastoral Theology with the Cambridge Theological Foundation in 2008 she was appointed Honorary Canon of Norwich Cathedral. Janice now lives with her husband Ian just outside Norwich. In addition to her diocesan work and writing "The Village Shepherd," she is a freelance writer for Redemptorist Publications in the UK. She has also written and broadcasts "Pause For Thought" on a local radio station and has written several novels, all with a church background.

Ash Wednesday - A

Sermon

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Janice B. Scott
When children are baptised in the Church of England, their parents and godparents make three negative promises and three positive promises on behalf of the child. They promise to reject the devil and all rebellion against God, to renounce the deceit and corruption of evil, and to repent of the sins that separate us from God and neighbour. Then those negative promises are balanced by the three positive promises - to turn to Christ as Saviour, to submit to Christ as Lord, and to come to Christ, the way, the truth and the life.

Sermon

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Janice B. Scott
The story's told, that in the 3rd and 4th centuries, out of the Germanic areas of Europe, came the custom of men disarming themselves before going into church to worship. As men entered the church they would lay their wooden clubs in a pile at the back of the church. Eventually they developed a kind of game, by rolling stones at this pile of clubs and seeing how many they could knock down. The more clubs they knocked over, the more sins the individual was believed to have left behind. This contest eventually evolved into the game of "nine pins" which was very popular in Europe during the Reformation - finding its way to England even into the early part of this century. When the game was exported to the U.S.

First Sunday in Lent - A

Children's Liturgy and Story

Matthew 4:1-11

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:
Even after weeks alone in the desert with nothing much to eat, Jesus refused to use his powers to his own advantage. In today's worship, let us explore the nature of temptation.

Invitation to Confession:
Jesus, help me to be aware of the times when I'm vulnerable to temptation.
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus, help me to distinguish between temptation and sin.
Christ, have mercy.
Jesus, help me not to rely just on keeping the rules but also on your spirit within me.
Lord, have mercy.

Reading:
Matthew 4:1-11 (NRSV)

Children's Story

Matthew 4:1-11

Janice B. Scott
Stella Martin first became aware of her unusual gifts when she was quite small. When she was three, Stella had been a bridesmaid at her cousin Katy's wedding. Just three months later, Stella had looked at Katy and uttered just one word, "baby." Katy's mouth had fallen open in astonishment. She'd looked at Stella's mum and asked, "How did she know? I only found out myself yesterday. I was coming to tell you - we're expecting a baby in September."

Intercession

Matthew 4:1-11

Janice B. Scott
Prayers usually include these concerns and may follow this sequence:

The Church of Christ

Creation, human society, the Sovereign and those in authority

The local community

Those who suffer

The communion of saints


These responses may be used:


Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer
Lord, hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.

Sermon

Matthew 4:1-11

Janice B. Scott
I once fasted for five days. Not for any religious reasons, but because I was interested in food allergies, and fasting is the quickest and most effective way of clearing the system in order to begin to identify the allergens.

It was an interesting experience. Although I felt pangs of hunger from time to time, to my surprise I never felt ravenously hungry, for frequent drinks of water seemed to keep the hunger at bay. I remember a ferocious headache for the first day or two, but after that the headaches cleared and I felt very well. I was, of course, young at the time!

Sermon

Genesis 2:15-17

Janice B. Scott
We in the West have an interesting culture in which we quite like to be shocked. Many of us enjoy films which are shocking to a greater or lesser degree, and it sometimes seems to be that the higher the rating, the more popular the film. Even huge natural or man-made disasters have a worrying degree of entertainment value in the way they are presented to us over and over again on our television screens. We meanwhile sit in our armchairs munching our chocolates feeling scandalised or shocked or disturbed, but seldom switching off the set. Those newspapers which aim for as much sensationalism as possible are extremely popular and often also carry a high moral tone. It's as though the more they can say, "Look at this! Look, look, look!

Sermon

Romans 5:12-19

Janice B. Scott
It always strikes me as strange that St Paul puts so much emphasis on Adam's sin, but that the Church has consistently blamed Eve for the introduction of sin into the world. In fact, if we stick strictly to the story in Genesis, it was neither Adam nor Eve but the serpent who introduced sin, for the serpent lied to Eve and put temptation in her path (Genesis 3:1-6).

That original temptation was an interesting one. Adam and Eve had been given the run of the garden by God. There were no "no go" areas, they could eat anything they wanted except the fruit of the tree of good and evil, and they lived in idyllic innocence. And God himself walked with them and talked with them in the cool of the day.

What is The Village Shepherd?

The Village Shepherd offers sermons, bible stories, children's stories and prayers based on the Revised Common Lectionary. These inspirational sermons, stories, and prayers are sure to touch your heart, because they reflect the simple virtues and tranquil serenity that characterize Reverend Scott's English countryside pastorate. The questions "Where is God in this particular situation?" and "Where does the Gospel story cross our own human story?" are always at the heart of these meditations -- but rather than finding overt answers, instead you will be gently led to make your own connections and discover the powerful ways in which God works. Janice Scott has the unique ability to find interesting details in ordinary life that illuminate scripture, while still challenging even the most intellectual reader. And that gift is precisely what also makes her an outstanding communicator with children.

Most weeks include:

  • Sermon based on the Gospel reading
  • Sermon based on the Epistle reading
  • Sermon based on the First reading
  • Children's stories linked with the Gospel readings
  • Children's liturgy and story (a different story than mentioned above)
  • An intercessory prayer
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Transfiguration
29 – Sermons
120+ – Illustrations / Stories
40 – Children's Sermons / Resources
25 – Worship Resources
27 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Ash Wednesday
16 – Sermons
60+ – Illustrations / Stories
20 – Children's Sermons / Resources
13 – Worship Resources
15 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Lent 1
30 – Sermons
120+ – Illustrations / Stories
31 – Children's Sermons / Resources
22 – Worship Resources
25 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
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New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Christopher Keating
Dean Feldmeyer
Thomas Willadsen
Katy Stenta
Mary Austin
Nazish Naseem
George Reed
For February 22, 2026:
  • Reading the Jesus Files by Chris Keating. Jesus temptations bring us face to face with the questions of his identity and calling as God’s Son, inviting us to discover the possibilities of Lent.
  • Second Thoughts: Worship Me by Dean Feldmeyer. Worship: (verb transitive) 1. to honor or show reverence for as a divine being or supernatural power

SermonStudio

Marian R. Plant
David G. Plant
Our Ash Wednesday service is full of rich symbols. With the Imposition of Ashes and the Sacrament of Holy Communion, we are reminded that our faith, our church, and our worship life, has much outward symbolism.
David E. Leininger
Temptation. Every year, the gospel lesson for the first Sunday in Lent is about temptation, and the temptations of Christ in the desert in particular. What's wrong with turning stones into bread (if one can do it) to feed the hungry? Later, Jesus will turn five loaves of bread and a couple fish into a feast for 5,000. What's wrong with believing scriptures so strongly that he trusts the angels to protect him? Later, Jesus will walk on water, perhaps only slightly less difficult than floating on air.
John E. Sumwalt
God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason.

Dag Hammarskj ld


Dag Hammarskj ld, Markings (New York: Knopf, 1964).

Lent 1
Psalm 32

Still Learning Not To Wobble

Rosmarie Trapp
Elizabeth Achtemeier
The first thing we should realize about our texts from Genesis is that they are intended as depictions of our life with God. The Hebrew word for "Adam" means "humankind," and the writer of Genesis 2-3 is telling us that this is our story, that this is the way we all have walked with our Lord.

Carlos Wilton
Theme For The Day
The temptation of Adam and Eve has to do with their putting themselves in the place of God.

Old Testament Lesson
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
The Serpent Tempts Eve
Russell F. Anderson
BRIEF COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS

Lesson 1: Genesis 2:15--17; 3:1--7 (C); Genesis 2:7--9; 3:1--7 (RC); Genesis 2:4b--9, 15--17, 25-3:1--7 (E); Genesis 2:7--9, 15--17; 3:1--7 (L)
Thomas A. Pilgrim
Robert Penn Warren wrote a novel called All The King's Men. It was the story of a governor of Louisiana and his rise to power. His name was Willie Stark. At the end of his story he is shot down dead.1 Here was a man who gained a kingdom and lost all he ever had.

Two thousand years earlier a man from Galilee said, "What would it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lost his soul?" Perhaps when He made that statement He was not only addressing it to those who heard Him, but also was looking back to a time of decision in His own life.
David O. Bales
"He started it." You've probably heard that from the backseat or from a distant bedroom. "He started it." If you have a daughter, the variation is, "She started it." Children become more sophisticated as they grow up, but the jostling and blaming continue.

Schuyler Rhodes
I might as well get this off my chest. I have an abiding dislike for alarm clocks. Truth be told, more than a few of them have met an untimely demise as they have flown across the room after daring to interrupt my sleep. It's true. There is nothing quite so grating, so unpleasant as the electronic wheezing that emerges from the clock by my bedside every morning at 6 a.m. It doesn't matter if I'm dreaming or not. I could even be laying there half awake and thinking about getting up a little early.
Lee Griess
A young man was sent to Spain by his company to work in a new office they were opening there. He accepted the assignment because it would enable him to earn enough money to marry his long-time girlfriend. The plan was to pool their money and, when he returned, put a down payment on a house, and get married. As he bid his sweetheart farewell at the airport, he promised to write her every day and keep in touch. However, as the lonely weeks slowly slipped by, his letters came less and less often and his girlfriend back home began to have her doubts.
Richard E. Gribble, CSC
Once there was a man who owned a little plot of land. It wasn't much by the world's standards, but it was enough for him. He was a busy man who worked very hard, and for enjoyment he decided to plant a garden on his plot of land. First he grew flowers with vibrant colors which gave promise of spring and later fragrant flowers which graced the warm summer days. Still later he planted evergreens that spoke of life in the midst of a winter snow.
Robert J. Elder
Three observations:

1. If newspaper accounts at the time were accurate, one of the reasons Donald Trump began having second thoughts about his marriage -- and the meaning of his life in general -- can be traced to the accidental deaths of two of his close associates. The most profound way he could find to describe his reaction sounded typically Trumpian. He said that he could not understand the meaning behind the loss of two people "of such quality."
Albert G. Butzer, III
In his best--selling book called First You Have To Row a Little Boat, Richard Bode writes about sailing with the wind, or "running down wind," as sailors sometimes speak of it. When you're running with the wind, the wind is pushing you from behind, so it's easy to be lulled into a false sense of security. Writes Bode:

StoryShare

Keith Wagner
Keith Hewitt
Contents
"A Little Soul Searching" by Keith Wagner
"It’s All About Grace" by Keith Wagner
"The Gift" by Keith Hewitt

A Little Soul Searching
by Keith Wagner
Matthew 4:1-11

Several years ago there was a television program that was called "Super Nanny." The show was about a British woman who visited homes where the children were completely out of control. After a few weeks the families were miraculously transformed and the children were well behaved.

Keith Hewitt
Larry Winebrenner
Sandra Herrmann
Contents
"Silver Creek" by Keith Hewitt
"The Rich Man and the Tailor" by Larry Winebrenner
"Open My Lips, Lord" by Larry Winebrenner
"A Broken Bottle, A Broken Pride" by Sandra Herrmann
"March of Darkness" by Keith Hewitt


* * * * * * * *


Silver Creek
by Keith Hewitt
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Sandra Herrmann
It’s the beginning of Lent, and having worshiped on Ash Wednesday, we have declared that we are separated from God by our own doing. Oh, wait. We probably evaded that idea by talking about “the sins of man.” That does not absolve any of us. WE are sinners. WE disappoint and offend each other on a daily basis. (If you think that’s not you, ask your spouse or children.)

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Stella Martin first became aware of her unusual gifts when she was quite small. When she was three, Stella had been a bridesmaid at her cousin Katy's wedding. Just three months later, Stella had looked at Katy and uttered just one word, "baby." Katy's mouth had fallen open in astonishment. She'd looked at Stella's mum and asked, "How did she know? I only found out myself yesterday. I was coming to tell you - we're expecting a baby in September."

Special Occasion

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