Introduction to Worship

What I value most about Ash Wednesday worship services is the chance for us all to openly acknowledge our frailty and sinfulness. In a world that often expects us to be perfect, Ash Wednesday gives us an opportunity to freely confess our imperfections. We can let down our pretenses and be truly honest with each other about who we are.

We are all capable of great evil. We have wronged one another, we have been selfish before God, and we have done disservice to ourselves.

We are all in need of a Savior – both in life and in death.

So why ashes? In the ancient world, ashes were heaped on heads and clothing torn in order to commiserate with someone in mourning. In this instance, we begin to process and mourn the cost of our recklessness.

Since we are unable to be together for this service, please feel free to create your own ashes. Be creative! Do you have a fireplace that you can collect ashes from? If not, go outside and find some dirt. Both are appropriate, as both remind us of our mortality and where our bodies shall return.

The emotional result of Ash Wednesday’s observance isn’t depression or gloom, but gratitude and new energy for living. When we realize how desperately we need God, and how God is faithful far beyond our desperation, we can’t help but offer our lives to him in fresh gratitude.

Our confession should not keep us in mourning,
It releases us from shame, guilt, and despair.
Let us worship together!

Call to Worship

Declaration of Intent

We are here on this Ash Wednesday to repent of our sins, intercede on behalf of a sinful world, and seek God’s face in the renewal of our lives and of this world. Today marks the beginning of Lent. As part of our service today, we will have an extended period of confession and an examination of our lives in the light of God’s grace. As a sign of your penitence, you are invited to impose ashes on your forehead, in the form of a cross, an ancient symbol of humility and grief.

In the moments to follow, you will be able to reflect on a long litany of sins. Read over each one and reflect upon your participation in that which does not honor our loving God.

Reflection on Sin’s Grasp on Our Lives

Pride—putting self in the place of God as the center and objective of our life. Pride is the refusal to recognize our status as creatures, dependent upon God.

Irreverence—deliberate neglect of God’s worship, or contentment with a perfunctory participation in it. Manifest as cynicism toward the holy or as use of Christianity for personal advantage

Sentimentality—satisfaction with pious feelings and beautiful ceremony without striving for personal holiness

Distrust—refusal to recognize God’s wisdom and love. Undue worry, anxiety, scrupulosity, or perfectionism. Attempts to gain or keep control of our life in various ways

Disobedience—rejection of God’s known will. The refusal to learn God’s nature through scripture. Breaking confidence by irresponsibility, treachery, and unnecessary disappointment of others. Breaking legal or moral contracts.

Impenitence—Refusal to search out and face up to our sins, or to confess them before God. Self-justification by believing our sins to be insignificant, natural, or inevitable; by refusing to apologize; by being unwilling to forgive ourselves.

Vanity—Failure to credit God and others for their part in our lives. Boasting, exaggeration, ostentatious behavior, undue concern over “things”

Arrogance—Being overbearing, argumentative, opinionated, obstinate

Resentment—Rejection of talents, abilities, or opportunities God and others give us.

Rebellion— hatred of God or human beings. Cynicism.

Envy—Dissatisfaction with our place in God’s order of creation. Manifests itself in jealousy, malice, and contempt for others or others’ things

Covetousness—the refusal to respect the integrity of other creatures, expressed in the accumulation of material things to prove self-worth, the use of others to personal advantage, or in the quest for status and power at the expense of others

Avarice—manifested in inordinate ambition or domination of others. The waste of natural resources or personal possessions. Extravagance or living beyond our means. Manifest in undue protection of our things. Stinginess, which can deprive others of life and thus kill them.

Gluttony—overindulgence of natural appetites for food and drink, and by inordinate quest for pleasure or comfort. Manifest in intemperance and lack of discipline

Lust—misuse of sex through seeing others as objects for our own pleasure without regard for their desires. Includes unchastity, immodesty, adultery, prudery.

Sloth—the refusal to respond to opportunities for growth, service, or sacrifice. Laziness in spiritual, mental, or physical duties. Neglect of family. Indifference to injustice or the world’s suffering. Neglecting the outcast or person in need.

Take a moment of silent reflection. What has been the cost of your sin? What toll has it taken on you, others, or your relationship with God? When you are ready, read Psalm 32 to be reminded of the freedom that confession to Christ affords you.

Psalm 32 NLT

1 Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,
whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
3 When I refused to confess my sin,
my body wasted away,
and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.

5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.

6 Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time, that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
7 For you are my hiding place;
you protect me from trouble.
You surround me with songs of victory.

8 The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
I will advise you and watch over you.
9 Do not be like a senseless horse or mule
that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”
10 Many sorrows come to the wicked,
but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.

Litany of Confession

Holy and merciful God, we confess to you and to one another, and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth,
that we have sinned by our own 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 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 to you, O God, all our past unfaithfulness:
The pride, hypocrisy, and impatience in our lives

We confess to you, O God.

Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, our exploitation of other people

We confess to you, O God.

Our anger at our own frustration
and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves

We confess to you, O God.

Our seemingly insatiable love of worldly good and comforts,
and our dishonesty in daily life and work

We confess to you, O God.

Our negligence in prayer and worship,
and our failure to commend the faith that is in us

We confess to you, 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

Accept our repentance, O God.

For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us, Restore us, O God, and let your love form our hearts.

Favorably hear us, O God,
for your mercy is great. Amen

Imposition of Ashes

As you gather the ashes or dirt, make the sign of the cross atop your forehead. As you trace the cross, say these words, “I Remember that I am dust, and to dust shall I return.” Then pray the following prayer.

Assurance of Forgiveness

Friends, believe the good news of the gospel

From Psalm 103:8-12
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. 9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; 10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

And from John 10:14-15, 28-29

In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven!

Response to God’s forgiveness

Thanks to your grace in Jesus Christ, these bones live to proclaim your greatness, O Lord. You love us to the end, feeding us from your own hand scarred with love. You have placed your Spirit within and among us to set our lives spinning free into the New Creation according to your designs. May we go forth to serve as vessels of praise in all we do as we rise from this table to serve a hurting world in your name, and to your glory, we pray. Amen.