Ash Wednesday
Feb. 10
https://lifeinliturgy.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/ash-wednesday-feb-22/ contains service and other helps for the day from prior entries.
Scripture (from the Revised Common Lectionary, with links provided by TextWeek.com – a source for thoughtful worship and preaching throughout the year):
Click on Scripture Lessons below for study links and resources:
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12 Psalm 51:1-17 2 Corinthians 5:20b – 6:10 Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Call to Worship
L: The day of the Lord is coming! The day of the Lord is near!
P: The time is fulfilled: The reign of God is at hand!
L: O people, repent! Believe in the gospel!
P: Come, let us turn and follow the Lord!
OR
L: Once again, as the season of Lent begins, we are summoned by a gracious and merciful God.
P: We respond to God’s steadfast love, calling us into solemn assembly.
L: Let all the people gather for self‑examination; let all bow in awe before the One Who Creates.
P: We approach God in reverence and wonder, rejoicing in the invitation to holy places.
L: Walk humbly before God in secret disciplines, in prayer and fasting and giving.
P: We seek the One who grants us life, upholding us with a willing spirit.
OR
L: 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.
P: Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.
L: 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?
P: Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.
L: Why should it be said among the peoples, “Where is their God?”
P: Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.
Opening Prayer
Faithful God of life and of all the living, we give you thanks that you have not called us to walk the road to the cross alone. Thank you that you are there with us, and that we have these friends who journey by our sides. Bless our time together in worship, so that we may draw strength from you, be encouraged by your Holy Spirit to go on, and never lose sight of your Son Jesus Christ, our brother and our Lord.
OR
Most holy God, your Son came to save sinners; knowing our own humanity and the frailty of life, we come to this season of repentance confessing our unworthiness, asking for new and honest hearts, and the healing power of your forgiveness. Grant this, we pray, through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
OR
We, your people, come to claim your promise of salvation, O reconciling God. In your wholeness, we find healing. In your power, we gain strength. In your love, we are thrust beyond our own concerns to embrace a hurting world. Blow the trumpet, that this solemn assembly may rejoice, that remembrance can bring renewal, through Christ. Amen
OR
Holy God, our lives are open before you. Rescue us from the chaos of sin, through the death of your Son bring us healing, and in his resurrection, make us whole, for we wait upon you.
Hymn of the Day from Rev. William Flewelling (© 2016, William Flewelling; All rights reserved)
On Isaiah 58:1-12
Cry out, spare not, lift up your voice,
by trumpet call announce
the challenge of our holy God
to these who hold aside.
Proclaim afresh the way of God,
of righteousness and grace,
wherein is found our satiety,
delighting to draw near.
The fast we take, the fast desired
conflict in attitude.
So draw we nearer to the Lord
to loosen sin’s harsh snare.
Let loose the habit wickedness
obliges with a leer;
let free the lost, oppressed and lone,
that God’s grace may be known.
Intent upon the wonder sought,
the lively flair, the dare
of constant earnest eagerness
we hear of God: ‘I’m here’.
CM Suggested tune: Martyrdom
Note: Except where otherwise noted, items are created or adapted by the editor. If you are aware of source notations which are missing, please bring them to his attention. No copyright infringement is intended, but is sure to happen.
Collect of the Day from Rev. William Flewelling (© 2016, William Flewelling; All rights reserved)
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Called boldly to the deeper reaches of your way, O God,
we come explicitly beyond our ken.
For in this closet, secreted in awe,
we know the privacy of your enticing glance.
Become in us, O God,
the undertow of practiced grace
that in completion we may trace
the absolute exhilaration of your call.
MORE…
Resources from the Jubilee Fund: This stewardship ministry serving the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) offers weekly emails for each Sunday’s service. Visit http://www.thejubileefund.com/ to learn more.
Rev. Tim Graves offers Liturgy Bits with valuable, culturally sensitive and creatively contemplative works, well worth your time.
You may also want to visit Worship Connection at MinistryMatters.com, which offers numerous helps, including electronic versions of print resources for worship and preaching planning.
Intercessions and other helpful planning materials geared to the Lectionary (using Roman Catholic version, but normally quite useful for all traditions) for preaching and worship are supplied for several weeks in advance at The Sunday Website of St. Louis University.
Common Worship Almanac and Lectionary for the year beginning Advent Sunday 2015. Compiled by Simon Kershaw August 2015 from the Common Worship Calendar and Lectionaries using Almanac Maker; compilation © Simon Kershaw 2015; Almanac Maker © Simon Kershaw 2010. The Revised Common Lectionary is copyright © the Consultation on Common Texts 1992. The Daily Eucharistic Lectionary is adapted from the Ordo Lectionum Missae of the Roman Catholic Church reproduced by permission of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy. Adaptations and additions to the RCL and the DEL, together with Second and Third Service lectionaries and the Weekday Lectionary for Morning and Evening Prayer are copyright © the Archbishops’ Council 1997-2010. http://almanac.oremus.org/lectionary
Book of Common Prayer (1979), Public domain.
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