Ash Wednesday Service
Ash Wednesday
A Period of Preparation
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Hymn: “Jesus Calls Us O’er the Tumult”
OR “Listen”
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HS 371
NS 30 |
Welcome and Invitation to Worship
If you forgive the faults of others, Abba God will forgive
you yours. If you don’t forgive others, neither will Abba God forgive you. And
when you fast, don’t look depressed like the hypocrites. They deliberately
neglect their appearance to let everyone know that they are fasting. The truth
is, they have already received their reward. But when you fast, brush your hair
and wash your face. Don’t let anyone know you’re fasting except your Abba
God, who sees all that is done in secret. And Abba God-who sees everything that
is done in secret-will reward you. Don’t store up earthly treasures for
yourselves, which moths and rust destroy and thieves can break in and steal. But
store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor rust can
destroy them and thieves cannot break in and steal them. For where your treasure
is, there will your heart be as well.
-Matthew 6:14-21 The Inclusive New Testament
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*Hymn of Praise: “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”
OR “Humble Yourself”
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HS 31
NS 17 |
*Prayer of Invocation
Follow the Christ
The Message
(Consider a message on fasting. Talk about plants/bulbs
that require a time of “fasting” by being taken out of the ground, kept in
a darkened place, and not fed, in order to blossom again when replanted. In
order for us to find that blossom in our lives, we must spend our time of
doing without.)
Scripture Reading:
Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your
heart, and with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and
not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for God is gracious and
merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and God will turn
away the evil from you.
-Joel 2:12, 13, adapted
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Hymn: “Dear Lord and God of Humankind”
OR Special Music: “Like the Murmur of the Dove’s Song”
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HS 115
SP 11 |
Prayer Requests
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Hymn: “There Is a Balm in Gilead”
OR “Lay Your Hands”
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HS 147
NS 27 |
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Congregational Sharing
Prayers
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Hymn: “Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart”
OR “God! When Human Bonds Are Broken”
Testimonies
*Hymn of Affirmation: “Take My Life and Let It Be”
OR “Though the Mountains May Fall”
*Benediction
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HS 181
SP 18
HS 408
NS 50 |
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