PRELUDE
 
CALL TO PRAYER
Let us worship God, who has done great things.
We rejoice in our God, who made a way through the desert of this world.
Let us worship God, who has caused streams of mercy to flow in the wasteland.
We are the people God has formed through Christ; we worship him, and we rejoice!
Let us worship God in spirit and in truth.
 We praise God for the grace that has saved us.
 
OPENING PRAYER
Heavenly Father, may we seek you and find you, may we knock and the door be opened, for we are sojourners looking for your Kingdom. As we encounter suffering in this world, turn our hearts, our ears, our eyes, our souls toward Christ, who emptied himself, and was tempted, and suffered for us, even giving his own life. In this suffering, plant seeds of hope, and let us never stray so far into despair, that we forget the resurrection of Christ and the power of his Spirit. Amen
 
HYMN OF PRAISE     Stand Up and Bless the Lord     
Stand up and bless the Lord, ye people of his choice;
stand up and bless the Lord your God with heart and soul and voice.
 
God is our strength and song, and his salvation ours;
then be his love in Christ proclaimed with all our ransomed powers.
 
Stand up and bless the Lord; the Lord your God adore;
stand up and bless his glorious name, henceforth forevermore.
 
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
 
SCRIPTURE     Romans 4:13-25
For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”)—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
 
SCRIPTURE     Mark 8:31-38
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
 
This is the Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God!
 
SERMON
 
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH     A Lenten Affirmation
We believe in God, Father, Creator who gives us steadfast love, and shares with us our joy, Our God sustains us in our weakness, and empowers us with His strength. We trust Him. We follow Jesus Christ, God’s Son. His death is our victory, His resurrection is our hope; in Him the Word became flesh; in Him we find forgiveness, renewal from failure, reconciliation from brokenness, and release from despair. We are saved through Him. We are guided by the Holy Spirit, God’s presence in the world. That same Spirit calls us to be the Church, to celebrate love, to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen. We are empowered through Him. We are disciples, pilgrim people. We joyfully covenant to walk together in love. To live in fellowship, in life, in death, in life beyond death. God is with us! We are not alone! Thanks be to God!
 
CELEBRATING OUR GIFTS
 
DOXOLOGY
Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him all creatures here below.
Praise him above ye heavenly hosts; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
 
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
All things come from you, O God, and with praise and thanksgiving we return to you what is yours. You created all that is, and with love formed us in your image. When our love failed, your love remained steadfast. You gave your only Son Jesus Christ to be our Savior, that we might have abundant and eternal life. All that we are, and all that we have, is a trust from you. And so, in gratitude for all that you have done, we offer you ourselves, and all that we have, in union with Christ's offering for us. By your Holy Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
HYMN OF PRAYER     Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone       
Must Jesus bear the cross alone, and all the world go free?
No, there's a cross for everyone, and there's a cross for me.
 
The consecrated cross I'll bear till death shall set me free;
and then go home my crown to wear, for there's a crown for me.
 
PASTORAL PRAYER
 
THE LORD’S PRAYER
 
HYMN OF PROMISE     Take Up Thy Cross, the Savior Said      
"Take up thy cross," the Savior said, "if thou wouldst my disciple be;
deny thyself, the world forsake, and humbly follow after me."
 
Take up thy cross, nor heed the shame, nor let thy foolish pride rebel;
thy Lord for thee the cross endured, to save thy soul from death and hell.
 
Take up thy cross and follow Christ, nor think till death to lay it down;
for only those who bear the cross may hope to wear the glorious crown.
 
BLESSING
 
POSTLUDE


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Resources used from umcdiscipleship.com, ministrymatters.com and re:worship.  CCLI 20094815

PRELUDE
 
CALL TO PRAYER
Loving Lord, at the beginning of this Lenten season, we are met with the challenge of handing over every bit of our lives that do not come from you. To rid ourselves of what clutters our lives, and all that distracts us from the simple truth of your love for us.
Your prophets have called us to change the way we worship - to make internal sacrifices instead of external ones. To seek justice, and love kindness, and walk humbly with you each and every one of our days.
If we don’t give anything up for Lent, then let us at least give up this: that we might live cease living in ways that disconnect us from you, for every one of our steps is like a circle around Your temple. Perhaps this Lent, we can give up our way and give ourselves to your way for us.
So, lead and guide us on this Lenten way. May we walk with Jesus toward the hill just outside of Jerusalem. May we like him take up our cross and follow, spending each moment of our lives living responsively to you, just as Christ himself did. For that is the faithful way. Amen.
 
HYMN OF PRAISE     Come, Thou Almighty
Come, thou almighty King, help us thy name to sing, help us to praise!
Father all glorious, o'er all victorious, come and reign over us, Ancient of Days!
 
Come, holy Comforter, thy sacred witness bear in this glad hour.
Thou who almighty art, now rule in every heart, and ne'er from us depart, Spirit of power!
 
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
 
SCRIPTURE                                                1 Peter 3:18-22
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

SCRIPTURE                                                Mark 1:9-15
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
 
This is the Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God!
 
SERMON
 
ANTHEM     I Want Jesus to Walk with Me     solo, Amy Stovall 
 
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH*     A Lenten Affirmation
I believe in God the Creator, who made me and all things, who set me on my path in this world. I believe in God the Savior, who is one with the Creator, who rescued me and all creation from the depredations of our violations against God and creation. This man, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, walked a path through this world, taking on human form having been born of a woman through the power of the Holy Spirit. He lived and worked in this world among people just like me. He walked God’s path to death on a cross, and rose from the dead to open our pathway to eternal life. I believe in God the Holy Spirit, my counselor and guide, who is one with the Creator and the Christ, who through the body and blood of Jesus brings me into communion with all people, past, present and future; who calls me to walk a sacred way of life through this world, caring for creation and the people I meet on the way, loving them, helping them, welcoming them without prejudice, being God’s hands and feet in the world.
 
HYMN OF PRAYER     O Jesus, I Have Promised   
O Jesus, I have promised to serve thee to the end;
be thou forever near me, my Master and my friend.
I shall not fear the battle if thou art by my side,
nor wander from the pathway if thou wilt be my guide.
 
O Jesus, thou hast promised to all who follow thee
that where thou art in glory there shall thy servant be.
And Jesus, I have promised to serve thee to the end;
O give me grace to follow, my Master and my Friend.
 
PASTORAL PRAYER
 
THE 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, the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
 
HYMN OF PROMISE     Take Time to Be Holy     
Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
abide in him always, and feed on his word.
Make friends of God's children, help those who are weak,
forgetting in nothing his blessing to seek.
 
Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
spend much time in secret with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like him thou shalt be;
thy friends in thy conduct his likeness shall see.
 
Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
each thought and each motive beneath his control.
Thus led by his spirit to fountains of love,
thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.
 
BLESSING
 
POSTLUDE

 
 


Resources used from umcdiscipleship.com, ministrymatters.com and re:worship

*Affirmation of Faith was written by Lisa Frenz, and posted on Lisa’s Liturgies at: https://sites.google.com/site/lisasliturgies/home
Copyright Lisa Frenz. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

CCLI 20094815

GREETING
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 
And also with you.
Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins. 
God's mercy endures forever.
 
OPENING PRAYER
O God, maker of every thing and judge of all that you have made, from the dust of the earth you have formed us and from the dust of death you would raise us up.  By the redemptive power of the cross, create in us clean hearts and put within us a new spirit that we may repent of our sins and lead lives worthy of your calling through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. 
 
HYMN     Would I Have Answered When You Called   (verses 1 and 2)

Would I have answered when you called, Come, follow, follow me!""?
Would I at once have left behind both work and family?
Or would the old, familiar round have held me by its claim
and kept the spark within my heart from bursting into flame?

Would I have followed where you led through ancient Galilee,
On roads unknown, by ways untried, beyond security?
Or would I soon have hurried back where home and comfort drew,
where truth you taught would not disturb the ordered world I knew?
 
LESSON     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.

HYMN     Sunday’s Palms are Wednesday’s Ashes   
Sunday's palms are Wednesday's ashes as another Lent begins
Thus we kneel before our Maker in contrition for our sins
We have marred baptismal pledges, in rebellion gone astray,
Now returning seek forgiveness, grant us pardon God this day
 
We have failed to love our neighbors their offences to forgive
Have not listened to their troubles nor have cared just how they live
We are jealous proud impatient, loving over much our things
May the yielding of our failings be our Lenten offerings
 
We are hasty to judge others, blind to proof of human need
And our lack of understanding demonstrates our inner greed
We have wasted earth's resources, want and suffering we've ignored
Come and cleanse us then restore us, make new hearts within us Lord
 
LESSON     Psalm 51:1-17
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. Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me. You desire truth in the inward being; therefore, teach me wisdom in my secret heart.  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. 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 away 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.  Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.  O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.  For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

LESSON     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! 3 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, 7truthful 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.
 
HYMN     Open Our Eyes 
Open our eyes Lord; we want to see Jesus to reach out and touch Him, and say that we love Him.
Open our ears Lord, and help us to listen. Open our eyes Lord, we want to see Jesus. 

LESSON     Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21
“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.
 
LITANY OF PENITANCE
Even now, return to me.
Even now, God says, return to me.
Let the sirens in the streets rage; let the trumpet from the church house blow.
Let those consumed with darkness, gloomy from bad fortunes know that:
Even now, God says, return to me.
Let the abused and abusing hear, the defiant and disobedient revere.
Let the sinner and the scornful draw near.
Even now, God says, return to me.
Return from your ignorance, return from your injustice.
Return from your apathy, return from your agony.
Even now, God says, return to me.
Return from your selfishness, return from your greed.
Return from your neglect, return out of your need.
Even now, God says, return to me.
Return to me, with a clean heart.
Return to me with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
Return to me, God says, for I am gracious and merciful; I am slow to anger and full of steadfast love. Return to me, God says, for I am your God.
 
Holy God, on this Ash Wednesday, we come before you acknowledging your greatness, exalting your supreme power, declaring that you are the God of our salvation. We come confessing the multitude of our transgressions known and unknown. God, we know that we have not helped the needy when there has been need. We have been greedy even in the land of plenty. Lord, we know that we've abused our brother, misused our sister, forgotten about our parents, manipulated our friends. We're guilty and we need your grace so we bow before you, kneel before you, lay down prostrate before you, asking that you would intervene for our sinful, sorrowful, and sick souls. Have mercy on us because we need you to respond to our human need. Wash us, because we're muddy from our indiscretions. Teach us so that we may live and declare your truth. Purge us, so that the shame of today will not be the guilt of tomorrow. Create in us newness of life, happiness of heart. Restore to us the full blessings of heaven. Deliver us from the penalty we deserve, and we will rise up. We will stand up. We will get up and live up to the expectations of your calling on our lives. These things we pray in the powerful and mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
 
HYMN     Would I Have Answered When You Called   (verse 3)
Would I have matched my step with yours when crowds cried, ""Crucify!""
When on a rocky hill I saw a cross against the sky?
Or would I too have slipped away and left you there alone,
A dying king with crown of thorns upon a terrible throne?
 
INVITATION TO THE OBSERVANCE OF LENTEN DISCIPLINE
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: the early Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church that before the Easter celebration there should be a forty–day season of spiritual preparation. During this season converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when persons who had committed serious sins and had separated themselves from the community of faith were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to participation in the life of the Church. In this way the whole congregation was reminded of the mercy and forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ and the need we all have to renew our faith. I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to observe a holy Lent: by self–examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self–denial; and by reading and meditating on God's Holy Word. To make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now bow before our Creator and Redeemer.
 
THANKSGIVING OVER THE ASHES
Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth. Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence, so that we may remember that only by your gracious gift are we given everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
 
IMPOSITION OF ASHES *
At this time, pleases use the ashes to make the sign of the cross on your forehead or the back of your hand. If you are with others, you may assist one another. Take a moment to reflect on these statements:
Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Repent, and believe the gospel.
 
SILENT PRAYER
 
HYMN     Change My Heart, O God          

Change my heart, oh God; make it ever true. Change my heart, oh God; may I be like You.
Change my heart, oh God; make it ever true. Change my heart, oh God; may I be like You.
You are the potter; I am the clay. Mold me and make me; this is what I pray.
Change my heart, oh God; make it ever true. Change my heart, oh God; may I be like You.

SILENT PRAYER
 
PARDON
May the almighty and merciful God, who desires not the death of a sinner but that we turn from wickedness and live, accept your repentance, forgive your sins, and restore you by the Holy Spirit to newness of life. Amen.
 
THE 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, the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
  
HYMN     Would I Have Answered When You Called  (verse 4)         
O Christ, I cannot search my heart through all its tangled ways,
Nor can I with a certain mind my steadfastness appraise.
I only pray that when you call, ""Come, follow, follow me!""
You'll give me strength beyond my own to follow faithfully.
 
DISMISSAL WITH BLESSING
 
GOING FORTH                   
 
 

Water mixed with ashes may react poorly with your skin. Oil is recommended for removal.