ORDER OF WORSHIP
Ash Wednesday
2-17-2021
PRELUDE
WELCOME
CALL TO WORSHIP
Let us worship God
John 3:17; Ps. 46:1–3
God sent Christ into the world not to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
God’s love endures forever.
God is our refuge and strength, a present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear
though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though the waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
God’s love endures forever.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Almighty God, you despise nothing you have made and you forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create in us new and contrite hearts, that truly repenting of our sins, and acknowledging our brokenness, we may obtain from you, the God of all mercy,
full pardon and forgiveness; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Redeemer, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
OPENING HYMN: “Jesus Walked This Lonesome Valley”
Jesus walked this lonesome valley;
He had to walk it by Himself.
Oh, nobody else could walk it for Him;
He had to walk it by Himself.
We must walk this lonesome valley;
We have to walk it by ourselves.
Oh, nobody else can walk it for us;
We have to walk it by ourselves.
You must go and stand your trial;
You have to stand it by yourself.
Oh, nobody else can stand it for you;
You have to stand it by yourself.
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
God our helper, by your Holy Spirit open our minds, that as the scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may be led into your truth and be taught your will, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Speak to us, Lord, for we are listening
SCRIPTURE READINGS
Isaiah 58:6-12
6 Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.
If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
10 if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you continually,
and satisfy your needs in parched places,
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters never fail.
12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to live in.
SPECIAL MUSIC: “Come as You Are” Donna Flint, soloist & Bonnie Foster, pianist
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10
20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
1As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says,
“At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! 3 We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
John 3:1-20
1Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
11 “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed.
Holy Wisdom, Holy Word.
Thanks be to God. (Isaiah 40:8; Mark 13:31)
INVITATION TO OBSDERVE THE LENTEN DISCIPLINE
Friends in Christ, every year at the time of the Christian Passover we celebrate our redemption through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lent is a time to prepare for this celebration and to renew our life in the paschal mystery. We begin this holy season by acknowledging our need for repentance, and for the mercy and forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We begin our journey to Easter with the sign of ashes. This ancient sign speaks of the frailty and uncertainty of human life,
and marks the penitence of this community.
I invite you, therefore, in the name of Christ, to observe a holy Lent by self-examination and penitence, by prayer and fasting,
by works of love, and by reading and meditating on the Word of God.
Let us come before God, our Creator and Redeemer.
We continue our prayer in song.
ANTHEM: “Be Merciful O Lord” (congregation joins in refrain)
Be merciful, O Lord, we have sinned,
Be merciful, O Lord, we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness,
In your compassion, blot out my offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt and my sorrow,
And cleanse me from all of my sin.
Be merciful, O Lord, we have sinned,
Be merciful, O Lord, we have sinned.
My offences, truly I know them,
And my sins are always before me;
Against you, alone have I sinned, O Lord,
What is evil in your sight I have done.
Be merciful, O Lord, we have sinned,
Be merciful, O Lord, we have sinned.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
Put your steadfast spirit in my soul.
Cast me not away from your presence, O Lord.
And take not your spirit from me.
Be merciful, O Lord, we have sinned,
Be merciful, O Lord, we have sinned.
Give back to me the joy of your salvation,
Let your willing spirit bear me up
And I shall teach your way to the ones who have wandered,
And bring them all home to your side.
Be merciful, O Lord, we have sinned,
Be merciful, O Lord, we have sinned.
LITANY OF PENITENCE
Let us pray.
Holy and merciful God, we confess to you and to one another,
and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth,
that we have sinned by our own fault in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and strength.
We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We have not forgiven others as we have been forgiven.
Have mercy on us, O God.
We have not listened to your call to serve as Christ served us.
We have not been true to the mind of Christ.
We have grieved your Holy Spirit.
Have mercy on us, O God.
We confess to you, O God, all our past unfaithfulness:
The pride, hypocrisy, and impatience in our lives,
we confess to you, O God.
Our self-indulgent appetites and ways
and our exploitation of other people,
we confess to you, O God.
Our anger at our own frustration
and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves,
we confess to you, O God.
Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts,
and our dishonesty in daily life and work,
we confess to you, O God.
Our negligence in prayer and worship,
and our failure to commend the faith that is in us,
we confess to you, O God.
Accept our repentance, O God,
for the wrongs we have done.
For our neglect of human need and suffering
and our indifference to injustice and cruelty,
accept our repentance, O God.
For all false judgments,
for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors,
and for our prejudice and contempt
toward those who differ from us,
accept our repentance, O God.
For our waste and pollution of your creation
and our lack of concern for those who come after us,
accept our repentance, O God.
Restore us, O God,
and let your anger depart from us.
Favorably hear us, O God,
for your mercy is great.
IMPOSITION OF ASHES
Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth.
May these ashes be for us a sign of our mortality and penitence,
and a reminder that only by your gracious gift are we given everlasting life;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
From dust you have come and to eternal life you shall go.
Accomplish in us, O God, the work of your salvation,
That we may show forth your glory in the world.
By the cross and passion of our Savior,
bring us with all your saints to the joy of Christ’s resurrection.
PRAYER
God of compassion, through your Son Jesus Christ you reconciled your people to yourself. Following his example of prayer and fasting, may we obey you with willing hearts and serve one another in holy love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
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 debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
HYMN “We Walk by Faith and Not by Sight”
We walk by faith and not by sight;
With gracious words draw near,
O Christ, who spoke as none e’er spoke:
“My peace be with you here.”
We may not touch your hands and side,
Nor follow where you trod;
But in your promise we rejoice
And cry, “My Lord and God!”
Help then, O Lord, our unbelief;
And may our faith abound
To call on you when you are near
And seek where you are found.
Help then, O Lord, our unbelief;
And may our faith abound
To call on you when you are near
And seek where you are found.
BENEDICTION
May the God of peace make you holy in every way and keep your whole being--
spirit, soul, and body—free from every fault at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
May the Lord watch between me and thee while we are absent,
one from the other. Amen. (Mizpah Benediction)
Sources: from the Book of Common Worship, Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville KY, 1993; pg. 221-233