Bulletin – Wednesday, March 5, 2025 – Ash Wednesday
Wednesday, March 5, 2025
Ash Wednesday
(prepared by Laura Steidl)
Scripture Reading: Joel 2: 1 – 2, 12 – 17
1 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—2 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.
12 Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. 14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD, your God? 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; 16 gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy. 17 Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep. Let them say, “Spare your people, O LORD, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
And so, with the prophet Joel’s powerful call to repent, another season of Lent is upon us.
This year it seems that we need this season of Lent more than ever. We are living in a time of immense upheaval, immense challenge, immense change, and it can feel as if we have once again been ripped loose of our moorings. We are in a time of challenge where we don’t know who to believe or what to do.
Tonight, we invite you to join us in a time of prayer and worship. Each year, we start our Lenten journey on Ash Wednesday…
As we begin, take a few slow, deep breaths.
Quiet your mind and still your body. Settle and become aware of God’s presence around you.
If God spoke to you what would that sound like? A voice you can hear? A voice in your head? A feeling you have inside? Part of hearing God’s voice is learning how to listen. Close your eyes and listen to the sounds in the room. Tell God that you are listening and want to hear God’s voice.
Now, imagine that you have a piece of clay. Notice how cold and inflexible it is. Imagine slowly warming the clay in your hands, gently working it until it becomes soft and moldable. When we come to pray, we often feel cold and tough inside. If we can become still and allow our hearts to warm, they will grow soft and moldable again. As we go through the service, you are invited to continue to think about softening and molding a piece of clay.
Music – Come and Find the Quiet Centre (Voices United #374)
Come and find the quiet centre in the crowded life we lead,
Find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed:
Clear the chaos and the clutter, clear our eyes, that we can see
All the things that really mater, be at peace, and simply be.
Silence is a friend who claims us, cools the heat and slows the pace,
God it is who speaks and names us, knows our being, face to face,
Making space within our thinking, lifting shades to show the sun,
Raising courage when we’re shrinking, finding scope for faith begun.
In the Spirit let us travel, open to each other’s pain,
Let our loves and fears unravel, celebrate the space we gain:
There’s a place for deepest dreaming, there’s a time for heart to care,
In the Spirit’s lively scheming there is always room to spare.
Invitation to Confession
Ash Wednesday has traditionally been seen as a day of sackcloth and ashes, of shame, guilt, and confession. Viewed another way, the season of Lent invites us to think of our journey of discipleship. Ash Wednesday has the potential to be a day of new beginnings, a day for choices, a day to think about how we touch the cross. How will we let God mold and shape us? What are we looking for as we make choices and choose to follow Jesus, even through the despair? As we offer God our shortcomings, we also share our desire to move closer to God.
Let us pray.
Prayer of Confession
Holy God, we confess that we don’t return to you fully. We share with you the pieces of our lives that are convenient. We put on different hats in different rooms. We forget that we are called, invited, and loved with all that we are – including our mess, our beauty, our faith, and our doubts. Forgive us and give us hearts that long to return. Amen.
Scripture Reading: Psalm 51
We are now going to hear the words of David through Psalm 51. In this psalm, David confesses his sins to God, holding back nothing. David does not blame anyone for his errors and makes no attempt to excuse his actions. These words display absolute humility and anguish over sin. David appeals to God’s mercy and love, knowing that he can be forgiven. At the same time, David makes no attempt to ask God to spare him from the earthly consequences of his sins. That judgment had already been given and was not going to be rescinded.
Among the Psalms, Psalm 51 is the best-known and most-cited expression of confession and is a traditional Ash Wednesday reading. This psalm gives us a model for how to approach God when we’ve sinned. The right spirit is one of humility and repentance, without making excuses or blaming others. Even so, we can be confident that God will forgive those who sincerely seek that mercy.
Sung response
God, I call to you for help;
In your mercy hear my prayer.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
Sung response
God, I call to you for help;
In your mercy hear my prayer.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
Sung response
God, I call to you for help;
In your mercy hear my prayer.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. 14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. 15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.
Sung response
God, I call to you for help;
In your mercy hear my prayer.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
Sung response
God, I call to you for help;
In your mercy hear my prayer.
Words of Assurance
Friends, God sees you. God hears you. God loves you. You are forgiven and claimed with all that you are. Rest in that good news. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Music – “And When You Call for Me” (More Voices #96)
And when you call for me, I have already answered.
And when you call for me, I am already there.
During this Lenten time as we journey with Jesus towards Jerusalem, we know the horror that awaits and we question how we can carry on, both with the journey of Jesus and also, with everything that is occurring in our world right now. Sometimes the only refuge we have is prayer, and so let us pray our sense of helplessness, our confusion, and our hope.
Time of Prayer
Let us Pray:
Jesus, you are the Prince of Peace. The God of justice. You can change hearts and work miracles.
Tonight, we pray for the people of the world, – we pray for the people of Gaza – protect them, deliver them, grant them peace. – we pray for Israel and Palestine and all nations of the Middle East. Lord, give the people in power humility and wisdom. Help them to find agreements without further bloodshed. Stop those whose only aim is destruction.
We pray for Ukraine. Stop the war against this nation. Give courage to world leaders to stand up against injustice and tyranny and stand for justice for those who have suffered 3 years of this invasion.
Throughout the world there are so many other conflicts and places of political unrest, but you know all things, God. Please deliver your people from waging wars against each other.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Tonight, we pray for the people of the United States and the leaders in Canada as they navigate the chaos and challenges they are facing. Let us all move to support peace and a more equal distribution of goods and opportunities.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
God, have mercy on us tonight, as we think of those affected by fires, floods and other climate disasters. Help us and our governments take efficient action against the climate crisis. Help us, as individuals, move away from thinking merely about our own convenience to working towards an understanding of what matters in the long term.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
God, we ask that you put an end to racism and the oppression of women, minorities and those we deem “different” from us. You call your people to welcome the stranger and look after the poor. Let your church rise up to be the hands and feet of Christ and the voice of positive change.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer
God our Creator, you are so good to us. We have so much to be grateful for. As we move into the season of Lent, soften our hearts so that we may more fully feel your presence. Help us grow in the knowledge of you. May we trust you in all things and give you glory in all circumstances. Help us to use our gifts for your glory and to share your love and grace with others.
May your kingdom come, in our homes, our community, this nation and the world. Amen.
(adapted from https://brightandboldlife.com/prayers-for-2025/)
Music – Come to My Heart (Voices United #661)
Come to my heart, Lord Jesus; teach me to walk in your way.
Come to my heart, Lord Jesus; come to my heart today.
Give me the peace and joy that only you can bring.
Come to my heart, Lord Jesus; give me a song to sing.
Fill me with love, Lord Jesus; teach me to walk in your way.
Fill me with love, Lord Jesus; fill me with love today.
Give me the peace and joy that only you can bring.
Fill me with love, Lord Jesus; give me a song to sing.
Answer my prayer, Lord Jesus; teach me to walk in your way.
Answer my prayer, Lord Jesus; answer my prayer today.
Give me the peace and joy that only you can bring.
Answer my prayer, Lord Jesus; give me a song to sing.
Meditation
Lent is traditionally a time when we pause to look inside; to examine our hearts and minds, to look at our faith, and to renew ourselves in God.
We come together today in a world that seems to have lost its way. We can’t turn on the television or look at our social media without hearing a litany of chaos and bad news. When we are afraid of our future, or lack of future, it’s hard to take the time to stop and look inside ourselves.
In the cycle of the church year, Lent is a time of lament and repentance. But it is also a time when we approach God with all that is weighing on our hearts and minds. Humbly, confused, lamenting, repenting, we approach God.
On Ash Wednesday it is traditional to use the ashes of the palms from the previous Palm Sunday as a symbol of our journey into Lent. Tonight, we will not be using ashes on our foreheads,
but instead will reflect on their meaning for us.
Ashes are simply the product of burning something away. They are what is left over after fire passes over or through something. They are the waste after the heat and light are gone.
We have seen many images of people pouring through the ashes after a fire, looking for any small reminder of what was there before, but knowing that they will eventually have to turn and move forward to a new life, sometimes drastically different from their old one.
The ashes are also a reminder of who and whose we are. The Bible tells us that we came from the dust and to the dust we shall return, and that God breathed life into the dust to form the first human. That is a powerful image that reminds us that without the breath or Spirit of God moving in us, we are lifeless.
The ashes of Ash Wednesday are also a sign of repentance. Lent is a time of mourning our sins, when we are called to repent and change our ways. The ashes are a symbol of our repentance and a sign that we truly seek to follow in God’s path.
Each year, we are all invited to this place of repentance and blessing. The prophet Joel proclaims “return to God with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
We come in all our brokenness, in our joy, bringing our gifts, our struggles, our laments, and our doubts. We bring it all to this time and place and we know that God accepts all that we are. We are enough. In this world where we have been struggling, we are enough. God is with us – we are not alone. Thanks be to God.
(adapted from a meditation by Rev. Patrick Woodbeck)
Music – A New Heart
God gives a deep assurance to people in despair.
When the future feels uncertain and no one seems to care,
The word of God comes ringing to still our deepest fear:
“A new heart I will give you,
A new hope for today;
A new heart and a new hope and strength to walk the way.”
Doubt crowds our fragile vision, our energy runs low.
We’re gripped by deep confusion and our response is slow.
The Jesus stands among us and clearly helps us know:
“A new heart I will give you,
A new hope for today;
A new heart and a new hope and strength to walk the way.”
Each fibre of our being cries out that we may see
God’s will and purpose for us and all humanity,
While echoes through the ages the song that sets us free:
“A new heart I will give you,
A new hope for today;
A new heart and a new hope and strength to walk the way.”
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. We are met with the challenge of looking at ourselves so that we might truly bring all that we are to you, knowing that we are accepted and loved, in our beauty and doubt.
Your prophets 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. 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.
As we come to the end of this service, we take the cross and move it to our clay and ashes. May we walk the path to Easter with Christ, moving ever closer to God as we live each day.
Our closing words are from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians 5:20-6:10:
Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:20-6-10
20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
1 As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2 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, 4 but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labours, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 in honour and dishonour, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything. Amen.
Sung Response:
May the Christ who walks on wounded feet,
Travel with you all your journey through.
May you see Christ’s face in all you meet
And may all you meet see Christ’s face in you.
