ASH WEDNESDAY, February 22

The First Day of Lent: Ash Wednesday

COLLECT

Mystery of Goodness,  by whose gaze we are called into being and held in life:  teach us the secrecy of prayer which seeks no reward;  the generosity of love which forgets itself;  the gift of a treasure uncountable and unconsumed;  through Jesus Christ, the Son of the Wilderness. Amen.

GREETING

Leader: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

PREPARATION

CALL TO WORSHIP — from Psalm 42:5; 124:8, NRSV

Our help is in the name of the LORD,

who made heaven and earth.

Why are you cast down, O my soul,  and why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God; for we shall praise him,  our help and our God.

SONG:

Be Still

Be still, and know
that I am God.

Psalm 46:10
music: Karl Digerness, 2017

SILENT REFLECTION

SONG

All the Poor and Powerless

All the poor and powerless
and all the lost and lonely.
All the thieves will come confess
and know that You are holy;
and know that You are holy.

All will sing out, hallelujah!
We will cry out, hallelujah!
All will sing out, hallelujah!
We will cry out, hallelujah!

All the hearts who are content
and all who feel unworthy.
All who hurt with nothing left
will know that You are holy;
will know that You are holy.

All will sing out, hallelujah!
We will cry out, hallelujah!
All will sing out, hallelujah!
We will cry out, hallelujah!

Shout it! Go on and
scream it from the mountains!
Go on and tell it to the masses,
that He is God.

All will sing out, hallelujah!
We will cry out, hallelujah!
All will sing out, hallelujah!
We will cry out, hallelujah!

WORDS OF WELCOME

LESSON I - Isaiah 58:1-12
Janet Harris, Reader

Shout loudly; don’t hold back;
  raise your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their crime,
  to the house of Jacob their sins.
They seek me day after day,
  desiring knowledge of my ways
  like a nation that acted righteously,
  that didn’t abandon their God.
They ask me for righteous judgments,
  wanting to be close to God.
“Why do we fast and you don’t see;
  why afflict ourselves and you don’t notice?”
Yet on your fast day you do whatever you want,
  and oppress all your workers.
You quarrel and brawl, and then you fast;
  you hit each other violently with your fists.
You shouldn’t fast as you are doing today
  if you want to make your voice heard on high.
Is this the kind of fast I choose,
  a day of self-affliction,
  of bending one’s head like a reed
  and of lying down in mourning clothing and ashes?
  Is this what you call a fast,
  a day acceptable to the Lord?

Isn’t this the fast I choose:
  releasing wicked restraints, untying the ropes of a yoke,
  setting free the mistreated,
  and breaking every yoke?
Isn’t it sharing your bread with the hungry
  and bringing the homeless poor into your house,
  covering the naked when you see them,
  and not hiding from your own family?
Then your light will break out like the dawn,
  and you will be healed quickly.
Your own righteousness will walk before you,
  and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
  you will cry for help, and God will say, “I’m here.”
If you remove the yoke from among you,
  the finger-pointing, the wicked speech;
  if you open your heart to the hungry,
  and provide abundantly for those who are afflicted,
  your light will shine in the darkness,
  and your gloom will be like the noon.
The Lord will guide you continually
  and provide for you, even in parched places.
  He will rescue your bones.
You will be like a watered garden,
  like a spring of water that won’t run dry.
They will rebuild ancient ruins on your account;
  the foundations of generations past you will restore.
You will be called Mender of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Livable Streets.

SONG

Create in Me

Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Create in me a clean heart, O God.

Against you only I have sinned, Done evil in your sight. But you have shown me what I’ve done
With mercy in your eyes.

Then wash my shame and guilt away;
My weary soul renew. From all my sinning, turn your face: Let me return to you.

Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Create in me a clean heart, O God.

So I will give you what you ask: a humbled, broken heart, a spirit burning down to ash
within your flame, O God.
And this will be your mercy, Lord,
transforming all of me 'til every act and every word your love and glory speak.

Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Create in me a clean heart, O God.

Have mercy on me, O my God,
According to your endless love

from Psalm 51
by Kate Bluett, Orlando Joel Palmer, Paul Zach

LESSON II - Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Kim Watson, Reader

“Be careful that you don’t practice your religion in front of people to draw their attention. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

“Whenever you give to the poor, don’t blow your trumpet as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may get praise from people. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that you may give to the poor in secret. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.

“When you pray, don’t be like hypocrites. They love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners so that people will see them. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. But when you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.

“And when you fast, don’t put on a sad face like the hypocrites. They distort their faces so people will know they are fasting. I assure you that they have their reward. When you fast, brush your hair and wash your face. Then you won’t look like you are fasting to people, but only to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

“Stop collecting treasures for your own benefit on earth, where moth and rust eat them and where thieves break in and steal them. Instead, collect treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moth and rust don’t eat them and where thieves don’t break in and steal them. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

LENTEN MEDITATION
Rev. Emily McGinley (she/her)

OFFERING PRAYER

God of light and life, 
you have blessed us to be a blessing to others.
Use these offerings to bring renewal  and hope to our city and our world.
In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

MUSICAL OFFERING

Beautiful Things

All this pain I wonder if I'll ever find my way;
I wonder if my life could really change at all.
All this earth could all that is lost ever be found;
could a garden come up from this ground at all?

You make beautiful things, You make beautiful things out of the dust.
You make beautiful things, You make beautiful things out of us.

All around hope is springing up from this old ground;
out of chaos, life is being found in You.

You make beautiful things, You make beautiful things out of the dust.
You make beautiful things, You make beautiful things out of us.

You make me new, You are making me new.

by Michael & Lisa Gungor
©2009 worshiptogether.com songs
CCLI#1914182

Invitation to the Observance of the Lenten Discipline

Siblings in Christ: Every year at Easter we celebrate with joy our redemption and renewal through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The season of Lent is a time to prepare for this celebration and to make room in our lives for the Spirit of God to renew us in this mystery. We begin this holy season by acknowledging our need for repentance and our need for the love and forgiveness shown to us in Jesus Christ. I invite you, therefore, in the name of Christ, to observe this season of Lent, by self-examination and penitence, by prayer and fasting, by practicing works of love, and by reading and reflecting on God's Holy Word.

SILENT REFLECTION

PRAYER OF CONFESSION — Psalm 51:1-4, 6, 9-12, NRSV
Rev. Jay Wilson (he/him)

Mercy, Lord have mercy, mercy on me
Every soul is searching for You
won't You save us, grant us peace?

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.

Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgment.

Mercy, Lord have mercy, mercy on me
Every soul is searching for You
won't You save us, grant us peace?

You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.

Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.

Mercy, Lord have mercy, mercy on me
Every soul is searching for You
won't You save us, grant us peace?

John Arndt & David Gungor, 2014
©2014 The Brilliance Music

SILENT CONFESSION

PRAYER

Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth:
May these ashes be a sign of our mortality and penitence.
Help us always remember that it is only by your gracious gift
that we are given everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Savior.
Amen.

IMPOSITION OF ASHES

By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
- Genesis 3:19

SONG

From the Dust

From the dust we came
To the dust we shall return
From the dust we came
To the dust we shall return

God everlasting, age unto age the same
We are a moment, then like a breath we fade

From the dust we came
To the dust we shall return
From the dust we came
To the dust we shall return

God everlasting, we are cut down as grass
Seeds in the morning, then by the night we pass

O lord have mercy
O lord have mercy
O lord have mercy

by Paul Zach, Kate Bluett, 2021

SONG

Jesus, I Come to Thee

Out of my bondage
sorrow and night
Jesus I come, Jesus I come
Into Thy freedom,
gladness and light
Jesus, I come to Thee

Out of my sickness, into Thy health
Out of my want and into Thy wealth
Out of my sin and into Thyself
Jesus, I come to Thee

Out of my shameful failure and loss
Jesus I come, Jesus I come
Into the glorious gain of Thy cross
Jesus, I come to Thee

Out of earth's sorrows,
into Thy balm
Out of life's storms
and into Thy calm
Out of distress into jubilant psalm
Jesus, I come to Thee

Out of unrest and arrogant pride
Jesus I come, Jesus I come
Into Thy blessed will to abide
Jesus, I come to Thee

Out of myself to dwell in Thy love
Out of despair into raptures above
Upward forever on wings like a dove
Jesus, I come to Thee

Out of the fear
and dread of the tomb
Jesus I come, Jesus I come
Into the joy and light of Thy home
Jesus, I come to Thee

Out of the depths of ruin untold
Into the peace of Thy sheltering fold
Ever Thy glorious face to behold
Jesus, I come to Thee

ASSURANCE OF PARDON - 1 Peter 2:24

Jesus bore our sins in his body on the cross,
so that we, free from sins, might live for righteousness;
by his wounds we have been healed.

Know that you are forgiven, and be at peace.

Thanks be to God!

PASSING THE PEACE

The peace of Christ be with you all.

And also with you.

SONG

We Are Not Overcome

Flesh will fail and bones will break; thieves will steal, the earth will shake.
Night will fall, the light will fade; the Lord will give and take away:

Because of His great Love, we are not overcome!
Because of His great Love, we are not overcome!

Put no trust in the earth, in the sod you stand up on.
Flowers fade into dust; the Lord will make a place for us:

Offer up your shoes and shirt; turn your cheek! turn your cheek!
Bear the yoke of love and death; the Lord will give all life and breath:

Composer: Robert Heiskell & Isaac Wardell, 2012

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Gracious God, out of your love and mercy you breathed into dust the breath of life, creating us to serve you and our neighbors. In this season of repentance, restore to us the joy of our salvation and strengthen us to face our mortality, that we may reach with confidence for your mercy, in Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

BENEDICTION

May God the Creator,
who does not despise the broken spirit,
give you a contrite heart.
May Christ, who bore our sins in his body on the tree,
heal you by his wounds.
May the Holy Spirit, who leads us into all truth,
speak to you words of pardon and peace.

Amen

DISMISSAL

Ever mindful of our frailty, and through humble reliance on Christ alone, let us go forth to serve the world as those who love our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Thanks be to God!

Go, in God’s Peace

Musicians

Rob Reich, accordion/piano
Lisa Mezzacappa, bass
Christi Chew, vocals
Karl Digerness, guitar/vocals

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