Ash Wednesday Service

WELCOME/INVITATION TO A HOLY LENT

Leader: Peace be with you.

People: And also with you.

From our book of common worship:

Friends in Christ, every year at the time of the Christian Passover we celebrate our redemption through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lent is a time to prepare for this celebration and to renew our life in the paschal mystery. We begin this holy season by acknowledging our need for repentance, and for the mercy and forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I invite you, therefore, in the name of Christ, to observe a holy Lent by self-examination and penitence, by prayer and fasting, by works of love, and by reading and meditating on the Word of God.

OPENING PRAYER

Almighty and merciful God, you hate nothing that you have made and forgive the sins of all who are desire it; create in us new and humble hearts, so that when we turn to you we may receive your full and perfect forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Redeemer who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.                  

TIME OF REFLECTIVE SILENCE (with selections from Joel 2) **Spoken by unseen voice**

(Silence)

Joel 2:1

(Silence)

Joel 2:12-13

(Silence)

Joel 2:15-16

(Silence)

Joel 2:17

LITANY OF CONFESSION

Leader: We have not loved you with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. We have not forgiven others as we have been forgiven. Lord have mercy.
People: Lord have mercy.

Leader: We have been deaf to your call to serve. We have been unfaithful, proud, and hypocritical. Christ have mercy.
People: Christ have mercy.

Leader: We have been self-centered, and have taken advantage of others. Lord have mercy.
People: Lord have mercy.

Leader: We have been envious of those more fortunate than ourselves. Christ have mercy.
People: Christ have mercy.

Leader: We have loved worldly goods and comforts too much. We have been dishonest in daily life and work. Lord have mercy.
People: Lord have mercy.

Leader: We have neglected prayer and worship, and have failed to commend the faith that is in us. Christ have mercy.
People: Christ have mercy.

Leader: We have been blind to human need and suffering, and indifferent to injustice and cruelty. Lord have mercy.
People: Lord have mercy.

Leader: We have thought uncharitably about others, and we have been prejudiced towards those who differ from us. Christ have mercy.
People: Christ have mercy.

Leader: We have wasted and polluted your creation, and lacked concern for those who come after us. Lord have mercy.
People: Lord have mercy.

ALL: Merciful God, we have sinned in what we have thought and said, in the wrong we have done and in the good we have not done. Our sin is found in ignorance, in weakness, in our own deliberate fault. We are filled with sorrow so we repent and turn to you. Forgive us and renew our call to work for the glory of your grace. Amen.  

NOTHING CAN TROUBLE (Hymn 820, Acapella)

IMPOSITION OF ASHES

Loving God, you create us from the dust of the earth; may these ashes be for us a sign of our penitence and our mortality, and a reminder that our life is lived eternally only in living for Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

Please come forward and receive the ashes.

Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

LITANY OF ASSURANCE AND SIGNS OF GRACE

Leader: In our deepest darkness, God beckons us, calling us to peace, to quietness, to wholeness.

People: The world around us is filled with coldness, fear and restlessness.

Leader: It is of our creation, via greed, hatred, envy, all things broken and selfish.

People: Take us and heal us of every evil. Bring us back into the closeness of your embrace, O God.

Leader: Your cleansing love, O God, purifies, restores us with warmth and rest

People: In our night we hear God call, offering love and strength and forgiveness.

Leader: With God we need not fear, hate, nor control. Let us walk in the light of God.

ALL: Amen.

REMEMBERENCE OF BAPTISM

The grace of god that overcomes all things and is symbolized in our baptism.  So you are now invited to come forward and remember your baptism and receive the water of grace.

Repent and believe the Good News: God is making all things whole.

LITANY OF FAITH

Leader: The end is God’s and the beginning is God’s.

People: The storm is God’s and the peace is God’s.

Leader: The depths are God’s and the heights are God’s.

People: The dark is God’s and the light is God’s.

Leader: For all times, all things and all creation belong to God.

People: Travel with God towards the end from the beginning.

Leader: Walk with the God who is your salvation.

People: Continue with God through the storm and the peace.

Leader: Walk with the God who is your deliverance.

People: Wander with God across the depths and the heights.

Leader: Walk with the God who is your restoration.

People: Tarry with God in the dark and the light.

Leader: Walk with the God who is your assurance;

People: For all times, all things and all creation belong to God.

ALL: Amen.

BENEDICTION

Go with God’s grace, in the name of Christ, with the power of the spirit to observe a holy Lent by self-examination and penitence, by prayer and fasting, by works of love, and by reading and meditating on the Word of God.