conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

evangelical covenant liturgy

Click on the link to read the liturgy we used from the Evangelical Covenant book of worship this Wednesday. It was a nice service. I'll include the hymns we chose as well. The first hymn was a suggestion from the worship book that was in the hymnal we are using. Other hymns were suggested, but we did not have access to them.

Ash Wednesday

A Service of Penitence and Confession Wednesday February 9, 2005

Ash Wednesday developed as a day of penitence to mark the beginning of Lent. It emphasizes a dual encounter: we confront our own mortality and confess our sins before God within the community of faith. Ash Wednesday, as indeed the entire season of Lent, is a time particularly appropriate for new beginnings in the faith, or returning to the Lord. During this time we intentionally recall our own mortality and wait upon the Lord for the renewing of the Spirit. This is a time for putting aside the sins and failures of the past in the light of who we are yet to become by the grace of God. We are to be prepared by the Spirit so that our participation in the meaning of our Christian faith may be authentic and a true dying and rising with Christ to a new life in God. Ashes are a sign both of mortality ("ashes to ashes and dust to dust") and of purification and cleansing.

GATHERING
In silent meditation

GREETING

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

--And also with you.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless God's holy name.

--Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all God's benefits,

who forgives all your sins and heals all your infirmities,

--who redeems your life from the grave, and crowns you with mercy.

OPENING PRAYER

HYMN #324 Lord Jesus, Think on Me

OLD TESTAMENT LESSON Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

EPISTLE LESSON 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

RESPONSE

Cry, and God will answer.

--Call, and the Lord will say, "I am here."

If you do away with the yoke, the clenched fist, the wicked word; if you give your bread to the hungry, and relief to the oppressed.

--Call, and the Lord will say, "I am here."

Your light will rise in the darkness and your shadows become like noon. The Lord will always guide you, giving you relief in desert places.

--Cry, and God will answer. Call, and the Lord will say, "I am here."

GOSPEL LESSON Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

SERMON

OBSERVANCE OF A HOLY LENT

The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled, by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need that all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial and by reading and meditating on God's holy word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel
before the Lord, our Maker and Redeemer.

Period of silence is kept.

THANKSGIVING OVER THE ASHES

Almighty God, in the beginning you created humankind from the dust of the earth. Bless these ashes now and make them become for us a sign of our mortality and our penitence. Help us to remember that it is only by your love and grace through the unspeakably precious gift of your Son that we are given everlasting life. In his name we pray.
--Amen.

IMPOSITION OF ASHES

PSALM LESSON (read in unison) Psalm 51:1-17

PRAYER

Prayers will conclude with Lord's Prayer (Sins).

HYMN#381 My Faith Looks Up to Thee

BENEDICTION

Depart in silence.

(This order of worship is taken from the Covenant Book of Worship, 2003)

Posted by tripp at February 11, 2005 05:39 AM