Ash Wednesday Worship Bulletin
Ash Wednesday Service
March 5, 2024 | noon and 7:00 pm
“Return to Me”
Joel 2:12-13
Rev. Phyllis Barren, Associate Pastor
Rev. Lance Marshall
Senior Pastor
Welcome
Dr. Mike Marshall, Associate Pastor (noon)
Rev. Brenda Brooks Alexander, Associate Pastor (7:00 pm)
Pastoral Prayer
Organ Voluntary: “O Mensch, bewein’ dein’ Sünde groß” (noon)
(O man, bewail thy grievous sin)
S. Bach, composer
Peggy Graff, organ
“In Paradisum” (7:00 pm)
(Into Paradise)
Charles Callahan, arranger
Taylor White, trumpet
*Call to Worship
Rev. Zhenya Gurina Rodriguez, PhD, Associate Pastor (noon)
Rev. Tom McDermott, Associate Pastor (7:00 pm)
One: Return to the Lord with all of your heart, with fasting, with weeping and with mourning. Take a good look at what is going on in your heart.
All: We will return to God because our God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, loves us without wavering and relents from punishing.
One: We, too, can relent – from the things that keep us from God.
All: Let us offer ourselves to God and bless others, gathering all to return to the Lord and embrace God”s works.
(Inspired by Joel 2:12-17)
*Hymn 269: “Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days“
Sacrament of Baptism (noon)
Maximus Cole Putnam, son of Hollyanne and Jesse Putnam
Offertory:
“In Paradisum” (noon)
“Create in Me” (7:00 pm)
Victor C. Johnson, arranger
Choral Union
Thomas Williams, director
Scripture: Joel 2:12-13
Rev. Lance Marshall, Senior Pastor
God speaks to us through the reading of scripture.
Thanks be to God.
*Hymn: 402 “Lord, I Want to Be a Christian”
Sermon: “Return to Me”
Rev. Phyllis Barren, Associate Pastor
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, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13)
Imposition of Ashes
You may come forward as you wish and receive the ashes. Come via the center aisles and return by the outside aisles.
Prayer of Confession and Pardon for Ash Wednesday
Almighty and most merciful God, we have erred and strayed from Your ways like lost sheep. We confess that we have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed. We have left undone things which we should have done, and we have done things that we should not have done. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of Your son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name. Amen.
Benediction
*Postlude: “Herzliebster Jesu” (Ah, Jesus, Dear) noon
Johannes Brahms, composer
Download Ash Wednesday Worship Bulletin
Lent Banners
The season of Lent provides a blessed opportunity for reflection as we approach the altar of our Lord’s sacrifice with hope in God’s mercy.
The seasonal wall hangings (paraments) reflect the themes and color of this liturgical season. The purple of Lent represents sorrow and repentance. Grey, the color of ashes, calls us back to Ash Wednesday, when we received this symbol of mourning and humility on our foreheads. The tan fabric suggests desert sands and the arid nature of sin.
The coarse ropes suspended between the fabric panels also carry symbolic meaning. The five groupings of ropes remind us of the five wounds Christ bore on the cross. The rope itself is a symbol of the betrayal of Christ as the soldiers bound him after the kiss of Judas. The stones, woven into the ropes, represent the sin that weighs down our souls. The knots in the ropes suggest the discord in our families, the hurts between married couples, and the absence of peace and joy caused by our pride and failure to depend on God.
These paraments provide a visual reminder of the mercy God offers us not only in the Lenten Season but also throughout the entire year.
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