Welcome to worship this evening at St. John’s Lutheran in Schuyler and thank you for joining us. As you prepare for this time of worship, we encourage you to set aside distractions and prepare your heart and your space to be a sanctuary. This may include lighting a candle, having a bowl of water in front of you to remember your baptism, or having your bible or a hymnal handy.
Wednesday, March 2, 2022 • Ash Wednesday
Ministers: the people
Pastor: Day Hefner
Organist: Chrissi Bywater
Lector:
Communion ass’t:
Usher:
PowerPoint:
Click here to see the announcements and the prayer list.
WELCOME
GATHERING SONG (ELW 326) Bless Now, O God, the Journey
Bless now, O God, the journey that all your people make, the path through noise and silence, the way of give and take. The trail is found in desert and winds the mountain round, then leads beside still waters, the road where faith is found. Bless sojourners and pilgrims who share this winding way; your hope burns through the terrors, your love sustains the day. We yearn for holy freedom while often we are bound; together we are seeking the road where faith is found. Divine eternal lover, you meet us on the road. We wait for lands of promise where milk and honey flow, but waiting not for places, you meet us all around. Our covenant is written on roads, as faith is found.
GREETING
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Let us pray.
Almighty and ever-living God, you hate nothing you have made, and you forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create in us new and honest hearts, so that, truly repenting of our sins, we may receive from you, the God of all mercy, full pardon and forgiveness through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
FIRST READING: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near—
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness spread upon the mountains
a great and powerful army comes;
their like has never been from of old,
nor will be again after them
in ages to come.
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?’ ”
Word of God, word of life.
Thanks be to God.
PSALM: Psalm 51:1-17
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; in your great compassion blot out my offenses.
Wash me through and through from my wickedness, and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my offenses, and my sin is ever before me.
Against you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are justified when you speak and right in your judgment.
Indeed, I was born steeped in wickedness, a sinner from my mother’s womb.
Indeed, you delight in truth deep within me, and would have me know wisdom deep within.
Remove my sins with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be purer than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness; that the body you have broken may rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my wickedness.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.
Let me teach your ways to offenders, and sinners shall be restored to you.
Rescue me from bloodshed, O God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
For you take no delight in sacrifice, or I would give it. You are not pleased with burnt offering.
The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit; a troubled and broken heart, O God, you will not despise.
SECOND READING: 2 Corinthians 5:20b–6:10
We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,
“At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
Word of God, word of life.
Thanks be to God.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
Return to the Lord, your God, for God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.
GOSPEL: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
The holy gospel according to Matthew.
Glory to you, O Lord.
[Jesus said to the disciples:] “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
SERMON
HYMN OF THE DAY (ELW 334 (vs1-3, general) Tree of Life and Awesome Mystery
Tree of life and awesome myst’ry, in your death we are reborn; though you die in all of hist’ry, still you rise with ev’ry morn, still you rise with ev’ry morn. We remember truth once spoken, love passed on through act and word; ev’ry person lost and broken wears the body of our Lord, wears the body of our Lord. Christ, you lead and we shall follow, stumbling though our steps may be; one with you in joy and sorrow, we the river, you the sea, we the river, you the sea. Light of life beyond conceiving, mighty Spirit of our Lord; give new strength to our believing, give us faith to live your word, give us faith to live your word.
INVITATION TO LENT
Friends in Christ, today with the whole church we enter the time of remembering Jesus’ passover from death to life, and our life in Christ is renewed.
We begin this holy season by acknowledging our need for repentance and for God’s mercy. We are created to experience joy in communion with God, to love one another, and to live in harmony with creation. But our sinful rebellion separates us from God, our neighbors, and creation, so that we do not enjoy the life our creator intended.
As disciples of Jesus, we are called to a discipline that contends against evil and resists whatever leads us away from love of God and neighbor. I invite you, therefore, to the discipline of Lent—self-examination and repentance, prayer and fasting, sacrificial giving and works of love—strengthened by the gifts of word and sacrament. Let us continue our journey through these forty days to the great Three Days of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
CONFESSION OF SIN
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.
Silence for reflection
Most holy and merciful God,
we confess to you and to one another,and before the whole company of heaven,that we have sinned by our fault,by our own fault,by our own most grievous fault,in thought, word, and deed,by what we have done and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others as we have been forgiven.
Have mercy on us, O God.
We have shut our ears to your call to serve as Christ served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved your Holy Spirit.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Our past unfaithfulness, the pride, envy, hypocrisy, and apathy that have infected our lives, we confess to you.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people, we confess to you.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to share the faith that is in us, we confess to you.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Our neglect of human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty, we confess to you.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Our false judgments, our uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us, we confess to you.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us, we confess to you.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Restore us, O God, and let your anger depart from us.
Hear us, O God, for your mercy is great.
IMPOSITION OF ASHES
Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth. May these ashes be a sign of our mortality and penitence, reminding us that only by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ are we given eternal life; through the same Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
If you are gathered to worship with other people in your home, at this time you are invited to use ashes or earth to make the sign of the cross on one another’s foreheads — or if you are worshiping by yourself, to make the sign of the cross on your own forehead — with these or similar words:
Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
The service continues
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 your Son, our Savior,
bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection.
Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life.
Amen.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Drawn close to the heart of God, we offer these prayers for the church, the world, and all who are in need.
Silence for reflection
Renew your church, O God. When we have drifted from our call to proclaim repentance and to guide your people toward justice, lead us back to you. Encourage believers who hold the church’s doors open to those who have felt excluded. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Renew your creation, O God. Transform parched places into watered gardens and preserve every creature that awaits the arrival of spring. Turn each of us from practices of environmental exploitation to become responsible stewards of all you have made. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Renew our civic life, O God. Teach those in authority to advocate for the liberation of all who are oppressed and grant them courage to make difficult decisions. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Renew our lives, O God. Spare your people from diseases of the body, mind, or spirit and send healing to those overcome by illness or grief (especially). Restore to us the joy of your salvation. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Renew this congregation, O God. During these forty days of Lent, confirm our sense of mission and expand our imagination for ministry. Deepen our faith, increase our love, and draw us into your unfolding work of healing and restoration. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
As we mark ashes on our foreheads, we give you praise, O God, for all the saints who died and yet are alive with you (especially John Wesley and Charles Wesley, whom we commemorate today). Receive us with them into your eternal embrace. Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Accept the prayers we bring, O God, on behalf of a world in need, for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
OFFERING
There are many ways to make your offering:
- Checks may be mailed or dropped off at the church
- Ask your bank about setting up automatic giving
- Make a secure offering online by clicking on the button below (opens up our Tithe.ly giving page in a new window)
OFFERING PRAYER
GREAT THANKSGIVING
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
PREFACE
It is indeed right, our duty and our joy… we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heav’n and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest.
EUCHARISTIC PRAYER / WORDS OF INSTITUTION
With this bread and cup… we proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
O God of resurrection and new life… grace our table with your presence.
Come, Holy Spirit.
Reveal yourself to us… send us forth burning with justice, peace, and love.
Come, Holy Spirit.
LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
INVITATION TO COMMUNION
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
COMMUNION
All are welcome at the Lord’s table, whether Lutheran or not. Ushers will invite you up by household to take communion at the table. Wine and juice are available.
COMMUNION SONG (ELW 592) Just as I Am, Without One Plea
Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidd’st me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Just as I am, though tossed about with many_a conflict, many¬_a doubt, fightings and fears within, without, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Just as I am, thou wilt receive, wilt welcome, pardon, and relieve; because thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Just as I am; thy love unknown has broken ev’ry barrier down; now to be thine, yea, thine alone, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
POST-COMMUNION BLESSING
PRAYER
Let us pray.
Merciful God, accompany our journey through these forty days. Renew us in the gift of baptism, that we may provide for those who are poor, pray for those in need, fast from self-indulgence, and above all that we may find our treasure in the life of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
SENDING SONG (ELW 333) Jesus Is a Rock in a Weary Land
(Refrain) Jesus is a rock in a weary land, a weary land, a weary land; my Jesus is a rock in a weary land, a shelter in the time of storm. No one can do like Jesus, not a mumbling word he said; he went walking down to Lazarus’ grave, and he raised him from the dead. (Refrain) When Jesus was on earth… the flesh was very weak; he took a towel and girded himself and he washed his disciples’ feet. (Refrain) Yonder comes my savior, him whom I love so well; he has the palm of victory and the keys of death and hell. (Refrain)
BLESSING
Almighty God, Father, ☩ Son, and Holy Spirit, bless you now and forever.
Amen.
DISMISSAL
Go forth into the world to serve God with gladness; be of good courage; hold fast to that which is good; render to no one evil for evil; strengthen the fainthearted; support the weak; help the afflicted; honor all people; love and serve God, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thanks be to God.
St. John's Lutheran Church 