Ash Wednesday Liturgy, 2017.

Order of Worship

Ash Wednesday

March 1, 2016

Gathering Song:  

Call to Worship

Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
and relents from punishing.
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain-offering and a drink-offering
for the Lord, your God? 

Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sanctify a fast;
call a solemn assembly; gather the people.
Sanctify the congregation;
assemble the aged;
gather the children,
even infants at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her canopy. 

Between the vestibule and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep.
Let them say, ‘Spare your people, O Lord,   

and do not make your heritage a mockery,
a byword among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,

“Where is their God?” ’ Joel 2:12-17

*Hymn: #293, “This Is My Father’s World”

First Reading, Isaiah 58:1-14

Psalm: “The Sacrifice You Accept, O God” Psalm 51 196

Second Reading, 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

Gospel Reading, Luke 5:33-39

Sermon

*The Apostles’ Creed P. 14 (Traditional)

Invitation to the Observance of the Lenten Discipline

In the world of ego-centric selfishness

the goal is acquisition.

But in God’s Realm

we strive to empty ourselves of ourselves,

and lose whatever separates us

from God and each other.

For Christ the Lord

empties himself in taking on our mortality

to dwell among us.

Even to the point of dying on a Roman cross

for blasphemy and sedition.

In the season of Lent

we symbolically journey with Christ

on the path of renunciation and divestment

realizing how much we have to lose.

We begin our walk with the ancient sign of ashes.

Ashes are what we are reduced to

once the fire of life has gone out of us.

Ash is what this beautiful and holy Earth becomes

when our greed, lust, gluttony, and envy

have exhausted themselves.

Ash is the carbon,

the most basic building block of life

the element of which we are all made.

So the sign of our death and destruction

is also the sign of our beginning and rebirth.

We wear ashes to remind is that we are nothing.

We wear ashes to remind us that out of nothing

God makes everything!

Responding to his own baptism,

the Lord Jesus himself fasted in the desert for forty days.

I invite you, therefore, in his name and after his example, 

to enter a time of self-examination, prayer, fasting, 

and reading and meditating on the Word of God, 

bearing fruit in works of love, peace, and justice.

Let us bow before God, our Creator and Redeemer, 

and confess how we fall short and veer wide

of of the goodness and truth

for which God creates us.

Litany of Penitence

O God,

you are the Light behind all lights,

the Life of all that lives,

and the Love that pulses

at the heart of all that is.

We are made by your Word,

shaped by your Wisdom,

with your Image indelibly stamped within us.

Body, soul, and spirit,

we are yours

and yours alone.

Your steadfast love

endures forever!

Yet we forget ourselves as soon as we open our eyes

and we fall into a fatal fear

thinking we are alone

and at risk of harm.

And we slouch into existence

spinning a web of lies

around us and within us

for protection and projection.

We carefully sculpt our first idol:

our supposedly independent, separate, 

self-sufficient, disconnected self. 

Lord, have mercy.

We think we are guilty, 

so we blame others.

We think we are isolated, 

so we withdraw further.

We think we are abandoned, 

so we try to control.

We think we are lost, 

so we become obsessed with planning.

We think we are wrong, 

so we strive to improve.

We think we are humiliated, 

so we manipulate.

We think we are insecure, 

so we get defensive.

We think we are helpless, 

so we work to achieve.

We think we are unlovable, 

so we lose ourselves in denial.

And we generate a world of violence and enmity,

full of enemies and competitors

threats and assailants

fear, shame, and rage.

Lord, have mercy.

[Prayers of the People]

O God, 

we know that idolatry always leads to injustice,

and injustice inevitably attracts your righteous wrath.

We know that you will not be mocked

and that you will correct imbalances,

cleanse what has been defiled,

lift up what has been cast down,

and bring down what has lifted itself up in pride.

As you act in justice and mercy to redeem creation, O Lord,

hear our cry and save us.

Make us new people by the power of your Spirit.

And grant us the blessing of your peace.

Amen.

Offering of Ashes

In the day that the Lord God made earth and sky --- 

before any wild plants appeared on the earth, 

and before any field crops grew, 

because the Lord God hadn’t yet sent rain on the earth, 

and there was still no human being to farm the fertile land, 

though a stream rose from the earth 

and watered all of the fertile land — 

the Lord God formed the human from the topsoil of the fertile land 

and blew life’s breath into his nostrils. 

The human came to life.                 Genesis 2:4b-7 (CEB)     

Almighty God, 

you have created us out of the soil of this blessed and holy planet.  

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.

The minister touches the ashes.

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.

Offertory Music: 

Those wishing to receive the imposition of ashes may come to the Table.

Remember that you are dust, 

and to the dust you shall return. Genesis 3:19 

God of compassion,

through your Son Jesus Christ

you reconciled your people to yourself.

Following his example of prayer and fasting,

walking lightly on the Earth, healing, and humility,

may we obey you with willing hearts

and serve one another in holy love.

As we perceive the darkness, brokenness, and violence of our own self-interest

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

*Hymn: “There in God’s Garden” {G2G#226}

*Blessing and Dismissal

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. 1 Thessalonians 5:23

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

All quietly depart. 

Liturgies for Lent, 2017

The Service for the Lord’s Day 

3/5 The First Sunday in Lent

3/12 The Second Sunday in Lent

3/19 The Third Sunday in Lent

3/26 The Fourth Sunday in Lent

4/2 The Fifth Sunday in Lent

GATHERING

Gathering Music:

(Welcome & Announcements) 

Entrance Song: “Kum Ba Yah” (verse 1) 338

Call to Worship 

The time is fulfilled.

The Kingdom of God has come near.

Repent and believe the good news. Mark 1:15

Filling the Baptismal Font 

The celebrant fills the font with water and says one of the following.

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus 

were baptized into his death? 

Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, 

so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, 

so we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:3, 4

*Hymn:  

3/5 “Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days” 166

3/12 “Jesus Walked This Lonesome Valley” 80

3/19 “Seek Ye First”                 333

3/26 “Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us” 187 

4/2 “I Will Come to You”                 G2G#177

Prayer for Wholeness 

3/5

God of forgiveness and love:

we turn our eyes to Jerusalem,

as we follow Jesus to the place of judgment

and condemnation.

Make us conscious

of the ways we fall short

and miss the mark

of discipleship.

We prefer convenient and self-serving lies to the truth.

We give ourselves over to anger,

lashing out at those we perceive to be threats.

We hide ourselves in shame,

denying our own shortcomings and defects

We run away in fear,

refusing to trust in your love.

Release us from judgment and condemnation.

Open our hearts to your saving Presence.

Make us people of mercy and forgiveness.

Ever restore us to communion with and in you.

3/12

Great God of power:

We admit to our anger

boiling in our bellies

in righteous indignation

pouring out in violence

of word and act.

We express it in unchained desire

that consumes and wastes

nature and people.

We deny it 

so it festers in our hearts

paralyzing us in silent rage.

We repress it in a self-righteous resentment

and condemning perfectionism.

We want to make a better world

by our own strength and will…

which only makes the world worse,

a wasteland of dashed hopes

and broken dreams. 

And we languish in the smoking ruin

of a world we destroyed in order to save.

O God, our Creator,

have mercy on us.

3/19

God of goodness and love:

We admit to our shame

twisting our hearts

in neediness and grief,

craving attention and affection

in which it is all about us.

We repress it by glomming on to others 

to make them need us.

We deny it by dedicating ourselves 

to success and distracting achievement.

We express it in a deluded individualism

aglow with our own specialness and independence.

Addicted to approval

we forget who we are,

becoming what we think will sell.

And our own emptiness

threatens to consume us. 

We corrupt love into a commodity,

and lose our own souls.

O God, our Creator,

have mercy on us.

3/26

God of light:

We admit that we are in darkness

and trapped in fear. 

We cower in an anxiety

causing us to placate and protect

against the unknown.

We express our fear by hoarding

and building unassailable walls of knowledge.

We repress it in schemes of insurance

and selling ourselves in loyalty to protectors.

We deny it by filling our time

with distracting new and better experiences.

Finally “safe” we dissolve in loneliness,

behind and within a thick and complex net,

choked and strangled

by what we can’t release.

We whimper in an impenetrable darkness

of our own making.

O God, our Creator,

have mercy on us.

4/2

O God of peace:

you love this world you made

and declared very good.

You come to us

not to condemn us

but to save us

from our own sin

that leads to death.

Banish our anger

in the breath of your peace. 

Wash away our shame

in the flow of your forgiveness.

Dissolve our fear

in the radiance of your love.

For you cherish each one of us,

body, heart, and mind.

And you love all of us,

your whole creation.

O God, our Creator,

we rely on your mercy.

Kyrie: “Kyrie, Kyrie Eleison” [Dvorak] STF#2275  (“Sing the Faith”)

Affirmation

O Holy God, you dwell among us, 

worshiped by all the heavenly powers. 

You have brought all things out of nothing into being. 

You have created man and woman in your image and likeness 

and adorned them with all the gifts of grace. 

You give wisdom and understanding to those who ask,

and have established repentance as the way of salvation. 

You have enabled us to offer to you due worship and praise. 

Master, accept our prayers  

and visit us in your goodness. 

Forgive our voluntary and involuntary transgressions, 

sanctify our souls and bodies, 

and grant that we may worship and serve you 

in holiness all the days of our lives.

Amen. Eastern Orthodox, alt.

*Gloria: “Holy God, We Praise Your Name” (verse 4)                          460

*Procession of the Word

TF A child processes into the Sanctuary carrying a Bible, as the people sing or say the Gloria.

*The Peace

Christ is in the midst of us.

He is and ever shall be.

May the grace and peace of Christ our God be with all of you.

And also with you.

The people exchange words and signs of God’s peace.

*Spiritual:  “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me” 363

THE WORD

Psalm

3/5 “How Blest Are Those” Psalm 32 184

3/12 “I to the Hills Will Lift My Eyes” Psalm 121 234

3/19

Come, let us sing to the LORD; *

    let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving *

    and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.

For the LORD is a great God, *

    and a great King above all gods.

In his hand are the caverns of the earth, *

    and the heights of the hills are his also.

The sea is his, for he made it, *

    and his hands have molded the dry land.

Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, *

    and kneel before the LORD our Maker.

For he is our God,

and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *

    Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!

Harden not your hearts,

as your forebears did in the wilderness, *

    at Meribah, and on that day at Massah,

    when they tempted me.

They put me to the test, *

    though they had seen my works.

Forty years long I detested that generation and said, *

    "This people are wayward in their hearts;

    they do not know my ways."

So I swore in my wrath, *

    “They shall not enter into my rest.” Psalm 95

3/26 “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need” Psalm 23 172

4/2 “Out of the Depths”         Psalm 130 PFAS#130B

4/9 “Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna”              Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 232

(Our young disciples continue worship and learning downstairs.)

Prayer for Understanding

3/5, 3/12, 3/26, 4/2

Enlighten our hearts and minds by your Word, O God.

Open our eyes to the truth of your saving love, revealed in Scripture,

Move our legs to walk in your way of peace.

Open our hands to do your work,

and our arms to welcome others in your name.

For you are the enlightening of our souls and bodies, O Christ our God, 

and to you we give glory, now and forever.  

Amen. 

3/19

“Lord, Let My Heart Be Good Soil” SANC#79

Scripture Readings 

Hebrew Scriptures

3/5 Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7

3/12 Genesis 12:1-4a

3/19 Exodus 17:1-7

3/26 1 Samuel 16:1-13

4/2 Ezekiel 37:1-14

Gospel

3/5 Mark 1:14-20

3/12 John 3:1-17

3/19 John 4:5-42

3/26 John 9:1-41

4/2 John 11:1-45

Sermon

Prayers of God’s Creation and People

Invitation

O Great Healer:

let your Spirit swing 

around us and through us,

over us, under us, and among us,

with healing in her wings,

making us whole

and restoring us to our created goodness.

Intercessions

O Deep Mystery:

Bless all of us here today, 

as we offer our worship and praise to you,

and for all those baptized into your Name of every time and place

who have sought to trust and follow you.

We pray especially for disciples chosen for leadership in your church….

And as we gather we also represent our whole community, especially: 

travelers… 

workers… 

the aged and infirm…

the grieving and abandoned…

the sick and the addicted…

the poor and the oppressed…  

the unemployed and the destitute…

prisoners…

the undocumented, migrants, and refugees…

indigenous peoples…

victims of war and violence… 

victims of natural disasters…

victims of domestic abuse…

and all who remember and care for the needy among us…. 

As you commanded, O Lord,

we pray for our enemies and those who wish us harm.

And we gather the voices of your entire creation

giving words to the manifold sounds of birds,

animals, insects, and creatures of the waters,

whom you made to praise and glorify you….

We gather as well with all those who have died in the hope of resurrection,

and are now at rest….

Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.

In the communion of all the saints, 

we commend ourselves, one another, 

and our whole life to you, O Christ our God.

THANKSGIVING

Offering   

The Earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof,

the world and all that dwell therein.            Psalm 24:1 (KJV)

Offertory Music: “” 

TF The bread and wine for communion are carried to the Table as the congregation sings:

*Doxology: “O What Shall I Render?” (verse 1)                    557

The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper

Invitation to the Lord’s Table

This is the meal of paradise!

The foretaste of the blessings coming to us,

a sign of abundance and generosity,

forgiveness and deliverance. PfR 

This is the Lord’s table.

Our Savior invites those who trust in him

to share in the feast

which he has prepared.

Communion Preface

We need not hide ourselves from you, 

before whose justice no one can stand. 

Your mercy was proclaimed by the apostles and the prophets, 

and shown forth to us in Jesus Christ. 

You give your law to guide us, 

and you promise new life for all, 

that we may live to serve you among our neighbors 

in all we do and say. BCW

Sanctus St. Anne Sanctus

And so we join our voices 

with those of all your people

in every time and place,

in the angels’ song of praise to you:

Holy, holy, holy Lord

God of power and might.

Heaven and earth are full of your glory

Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is he,

O blessed is he 

who comes in the name of the Lord!

Hosanna in the highest,

Hosanna in the highest!

Eucharistic Prayer

We give you thanks, O God,
through your beloved Servant, Jesus Christ, 

whom you have sent in these last times
as savior and redeemer,
and messenger of your will.
He is your Word,
inseparable from you,
through whom you made all things
and in whom you take delight. 

You sent him from heaven into the Virgin’s womb, 

where he was conceived, and took flesh.
Born of the Virgin by the power of the Holy Spirit, 

he was revealed as your Son. 

In fulfillment of your will
he stretched out his hands in suffering
to release from suffering those who place their trust in you, 

and so won for you a holy people. 

He freely accepted the death to which he was handed over, 

in order to destroy death
and to shatter the chains of the evil one;
to trample underfoot the powers of hell 

and to lead the righteous into light; 

to fix the boundaries of death
and to manifest the resurrection. 

And so he took bread, gave thanks to you, 

and said: “Take, and eat;
this is my body, broken for you.”
In the same way he took the cup, saying: 

“This is my blood, shed for you.
When you do this, do it for the remembrance of me.” 

Remembering therefore his death and resurrection, 

we set before you this bread and cup,
thankful that you have counted us worthy
to stand in your presence 

and serve you as your priestly people. 

We ask you to send your Holy Spirit
upon the offering of the holy church.
Gather into one all who share these holy mysteries, 

filling them with the Holy Spirit
and confirming their faith in the truth,
that together we may praise you and give you glory, 

through your Servant, Jesus Christ. 

Through him all glory and honor are yours, almighty Father, 

with the Holy Spirit in the holy church, 

now and forever. Amen. Hippolytus of Rome

O God,

like a mother-bird feeding her chicks,

so our mouths are open to receive you.

And so we are bold to pray in the words Jesus taught us,

saying: Our Father….

The Breaking of Bread

The Lamb of God is broken and distributed.

He is broken but he is not divided.

He is forever eaten, but he is never consumed.

And he restores and makes holy

all who participate in him. Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom

Agnus Dei: “O Lamb of God” [Land of Rest]                          G2G#555

The Holy Communion of the People of God

With hearts trusting in an awesome God, 

come to the Table.  

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.

Receive the Body of Christ:

taste the fountain of immortality.

Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Alleluia! Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom

The people come to the Table to share in Christ’s body and blood by intinction:

taking a piece of bread, dipping it into the cup, and eating it.

Those who wish to pray with the pastor before or after communion

may meet with him to the side.

May the Body and Blood of Christ our God bring you to everlasting life.

Communion Music: 

Closing Prayer

God of love and life,

Source of light and joy:

we thank you for this holy supper,

sharing in and anticipating your resurrection life.

May Christ’s life infuse us and fill us,

energizing every part of us: 

body, heart, and mind.

We thank you that your Spirit 

binds us together into one beloved community of peace,

and empowers us: 

to act on behalf of the poor and powerless,

to bring peace and healing into the world,

to devote our lives to your mission,

to nurture ourselves and others, 

to live exemplary lives of trust and love, 

to let go of the past and grow in infectious freedom,

to celebrate life without judgment or condemnation,

and to trust in your love and goodness,

ever watching for the emergence

of your new heaven and new earth,

praying, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

Amen.

*Hymn: 

3/5 “When We Are Tested”         G2G#783

3/12 “Jesus Loves Me!”         304

3/19 “Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us with Your Love” 367

3/26 “You, Lord Are Both Lamb and Shepherd” CH#355

4/2 “Lonely the Boat”          373

SENDING

*Charge 

Blessed are the poor in spirit, 

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  

Blessed are those who mourn, 

for they will be comforted.  

Blessed are the meek, 

for they will inherit the earth.  

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 

for they will be filled.  

Blessed are the merciful, 

for they will receive mercy.  

Blessed are the pure in heart, 

for they will see God.  

Blessed are the peacemakers, 

for they will be called children of God.  

Blessed are those who are persecuted 

for righteousness' sake, 

for theirs is the kingdom of  heaven.  

Blessed are you 

when people revile you and persecute you 

and utter all kinds of evil against you 

falsely on my account.  

Rejoice and be glad, 

for your reward is great in heaven. Matthew 5:3-12                                                                                                        

*Benediction

And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the love of God,

and the communion of the Holy Spirit

be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:13

*Choral Benediction: 

*Dismissal

*Postlude:

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