WELCOME
PRELUDE
*CALL TO WORSHIP:
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love;
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Let us worship God!
*HYMN: Open My Eyes, That I May See (451)
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 51:1-17
1Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
3For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4Against 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.
5Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.
6You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
11Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
12Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.
13Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.
15O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16For you have no delight in sacrifice;
if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
17The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
MUSICAL INTERLUDE
SCRIPTURE: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
1“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.
2“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. 3But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Concerning Prayer
5“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. 6But 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.
Concerning Fasting
16“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. 17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so 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.
Concerning Treasures
19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
PRE-SERMON PRAYER
SERMON: Reframing Lent
POST-SERMON PRAYER
ANTHEM
INVITATION TO OBSERVE A HOLY LENT
LITANY OF PENITENCE:
Holy and merciful God, we confess to you and to one another, …We have not forgiven others as we have been forgiven.
Have mercy on us, O God.
We have not listened 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.
We confess you to, O God, all our past unfaithfulness. For the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience in our lives,
have mercy on us, O God.
For our self-indulgent appetites and ways and our exploitation of other people,
have mercy on us, O God.
For our anger at our own frustration and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves,
have mercy on us, O God.
For our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and our dishonesty in daily life and work,
have mercy on us, O God.
For our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to command the faith that is in us,
have mercy on us, O God.
Accept our repentance, O God, for the wrongs we have done. For our neglect of human need and suffering and our indifference to injustice and cruelty,
have mercy on us, O God.
For our false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts towards our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us,
have mercy on us, O God.
For our waste and pollution of your creation and our lack of concern for those who come after us,
have mercy on us, O God.
Restore us, O God of our salvation, and show us your steadfast love.
Turn to us in your mercy and redeem us.
Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth. May these ashes be for us a sign of our morality and penitence, for it is only by your gracious gift we are given everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
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 our Savior,
bring us with all your saints to the joy of Christ’s resurrection.
SILENT CONFESSION AND IMPOSITION OF ASHES
ASSURANCE OF PARDON:
*HYMN: God of Compassion, in Mercy Befriend Us (436)
*CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
*CHORAL RESPONSE
*POSTLUDE
*- those who can stand are invited to stand
