Ash Wednesday Worship Service – March 1, 2017

Part 1

  • Call to Worship:  Reverend Joel Weible, Pastor
    • Leader:  God says, “Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress your workers.”
    • People:  God says, “Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist.
    • Leader:  Is not this the fast that God chooses?  To loose the bonds of injustice, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
    • People:  We are to share our bread with the hungry, bring homeless poor into our house, clothe the naked, and not hide ourselves from our own kin.
    • Leader:  Then we shall call and the Lord will answer; we shall cry for help,
    • People:  And God will say, “I am here.”
  • Prelude:  “Durch Adam’s Fall” – Johann Pachelbel 

Part 2

  • Scripture Reading: Micah 6:6-8  –  Brandon Ouellette – Seminarian Minister
  • Hymn 81:   “Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days” – ST. FLAVIAN
  • Call to Confession:  Christiaan Faul – Youth Director
    • Leader: In quiet trust, in simple words, we enter a space for prayer.
    • People: As we confess our sins, both secret and public, the door to God’s heart is open.
    • Leader: And we enter into grace and mercy.  Let us pray together …
  • Prayer of Confession:  Have mercy, O God, have mercy on us.  We have many treasures on this earth that we hold too dearly; that we withhold from others in need.  When we sin against neighbor, condone injustice, and quarrel with one another, we sin against you.  Forgive us, we pray, for we are broken in spirit.  Do not see us for our faults, and do not go away from us.  Keep us
    always in your presence so that we may be restored to the joy of your salvation.  Sustain in us a willing spirit to treasure what you desire; then our hearts will be opened in joy and gladness.  In Jesus Christ, our true Treasure, we pray. Amen.
  • Declaration of Forgiveness 
    • Leader:  God creates in us clean hearts.
    • People: And gives a new and right spirit.
    • Leader: In the grace of Jesus Christ we return to God forgiven.
    • People:  Praise God for our Salvation. 

Part 3

  • Anthem:   “Sign Us With Ashes” – M. L. BRINGLE
  • Prayers of Intercession            
  • The Bread of Life and the Cup of Salvation
  • The Ashes of Forgiveness
    • Pastor:  As the bread and cup are symbols, symbols of the unity intended for the body of Christ (the church) and of the communal cup we are meant to share, the ashes, too, are a symbol – of purification.  As a fire burns, it can separate what is valuable from what is valueless, just as an assayer’s fire can separate a base metal from one that is precious.  In this same way, these ashes are pure.  They are a symbol of the new space that is now present within us for new life.  Let us claim the new life Jesus offers us by praying to our God:
    • All:  God of love and mercy, we come to you in prayer, seeking to change our hearts and minds.  We confess the baggage of idolatry, bitterness, and self-concern that we drag along with us, struggling under its weight all the while we attempt to follow Christ.  Cleanse us from our attachment to these old things.  Burn away their power in us and purify our hearts.  In place of old ways fill us with the new fire of your Holy Spirit.  Open up new opportunities for us to follow Jesus in loving you and our neighbors.  In Jesus name we ask these things.  Amen.
    • Pastor:  Friends, receive the good news of our faith, for in the name of Jesus, I announce our sins are forgiven.  The old has died.  Behold, the new is coming!

Part 4

  • Communion by Intinction:  Sign of the Cross (if desired)
  • Communion Music:  “Setting on ST. CHRISTOPHER” – Dale Wood
  • Hymn 85:   “What Wondrous Love is This”  – WONDROUS LOVE
  • Scripture Reading:    2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:2 – Brandon Ouellette
  • Prayer of Dismissal:   Rev. Weible 

Part 5

  • Postlude:  “Passacaglia in C minor, BWV 580” – Johann Sebastian Bach  

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