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Ash Wednesday

Worship
Lectionary Worship Aids
Cycle B, Series IV
Call To Worship
Leader: Let all who have received God's mercy come in repentance this day.
People: For even as we have been forgiven we have sinned before the Lord.
Leader: God calls to the faithful to repent and come before the Cross.
People: For at the Cross we are again washed clean.
Leader: And at the Cross we were called into the family of Almighty God!
All: Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Collect

O God, even though we are sinners, in Your mercy You have called us to repent and become members in Christ of Your family. Lead us, O Lord, back into Your ways. In Christ we pray. Amen.

Prayer Of Confession

Lord, in the passing of the days we have each again fallen short of the glory and blessings You intended our lives to be. Forgive us, Lord, and help us to return our focus to the cross and to turn our ways back to Your ways that we might bring honor and blessings to Your Holy Name. Through Christ our blessed Lord and Redeemer we lift our prayers. Amen.

Hymns

"Blessed Assurance"

"Yield Not Temptation"

"I Need Thee Every Hour"





Ash Wednesday

Second Lesson: 2 Corinthians 5:20b--6:10
Theme: Faithful servants unto the Lord

Call To Worship
Leader: Let us come together, all who are brothers and sisters in Christ.
People: For Christ died that we might have eternal salvation.
Leader: Then let us live in the ways the Lord taught us to live.
People: And let us set our hearts to choose the ways of Christ each day.
Leader: For the true followers of Christ Judgment Day will bring glory.
All: Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Collect

O God, through the prophets You called the nations to repent. Through Christ You call us each one to repent and turn to follow Your will. Lord, sustain us and lead us home to You. In Christ we pray. Amen.

Prayer Of Confession

Lord, so often in the everyday matters of living we have allowed ourselves to slip little by little and day by day away from the paths You have called us to walk. Forgive us, God, and open our spiritual eyes that we might again see where we have fallen short, and help us to recommit all that we are to being the best servants we can be. In Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.

Hymns

"Rescue The Perishing"

"O Master, Let Me Walk"

"Take My Life"




Ash Wednesday

Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Theme: Personal repentance

Call To Worship
Leader: Come, let all who would follow Christ gather this day and repent.
People: Let us weigh the goals in our lives and know our innermost heart.
Leader: The Lord has called us to be true and in all things to be faithful.
People: Then let us set our hearts upon the ways of the Lord.
Leader: And let our hearts be filled with joy for God's redeeming grace.
All: Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Collect

O God, in Your love and wisdom You have called us to repentance not for punishment but that we should know eternal joy. By Your strong and gentle hand, Lord, lead us back to Your fold. In Christ we pray. Amen.

Prayer Of Confession

Lord, You have called each of us to be faithful and in Your mercy and grace granted us each Your eternal life. But we have each fallen and failed You, and we have each chosen to go our own ways. Forgive us, Lord, and once again open our hearts to Your divine guidance that You might draw us back to Your loving care. In Christ we pray. Amen.

Hymns

"He Leadeth Me"

"Pass Me Not"

"Just As I Am"

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New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Katy Stenta
Mary Austin
Christopher Keating
Dean Feldmeyer
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Elena Delhagen
For May 19, 2024:
  • Dry Bones or Dancing Bones by Dean Feldmeyer based on Ezekiel 37:1-14. “Hope means to keep living amid desperation and to keep humming in the darkness.” Henri J.M. Nouwen

Emphasis Preaching Journal

David Coffin
Pentecost accents the belief that the Christian church is a Spirit movement, not another world institution. Imagine a pastor who is on the denomination committee for examining pastoral candidates that are on various points along their journey toward ordination either before, during or just after completion of seminary/Bible college training. All the pastoral candidates are excited about their future of making a positive change and impression on the churches they serve.
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Acts 2:1-21
Martin Luther viewed Pentecost as a day of celebration, as on a sermon in the topic he noted “it was on this present Pentecost Day that the joyful blessed and lovely kingdom of Christ was established, a kingdom filled with joy, courage, and certainty.”  Complete Sermons, Vol.6, p.152) Awareness of the Holy Spirit is a big part of the joy and certainty Pentecost brings.  John Wesley, then, offers a timely warning about how not to lose a sense of the Spirit and the joy and confidence this insight offers.  He wrote:

StoryShare

Peter Andrew Smith
“I’m not sure why we’re doing this,” Ollie muttered to himself as he took his place on the bandstand. He unpacked his guitar and played a few chords to make sure that it was in tune. “The acoustics are better in the church building.”

“They may be,” Todd said raising his voice over the sounds of the busy park. “Going to be a noisy afternoon from the sounds of it.”

“Huh?” Ollie looked over at his smiling friend. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

“You’re just saying what we’re all thinking, isn’t he Wendy?’

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: Today’s message will include a role-play. You will need one child to play the role of the shepherd and the rest of the children will be the people from town. I usually pick an outgoing child for my shepherd so they will act out a bit. Encourage everyone to have fun and ham it up a bit.

* * *

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
As I recall, there was a mighty, rushing wind at the last Bank Holiday weekend. It didn't herald the coming of God quite as much as the coming of a mighty, rushing rain, and for many unfortunate people, substantial flooding. And it was accompanied by considerable power, for it uprooted and destroyed one of our laburnum trees.

SermonStudio

Mark Ellingsen
Theme of the Day
The Holy Spirit gets around. Historically the church has also commemorated its origins on this festival. In some traditions, confirmation is celebrated.

Collect of the Day
Petitions are offered that the Spirit come and transform the faithful to give them language to proclaim the word. The Holy Spirit, Justification (by Grace), Sanctification, and Evangelism are emphasized.

Psalm of the Day
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
* Hymn to God the creator; praise for God's providential interventions.
James Evans
(Occurs in all three cycles of the lectionary; see The Day Of Pentecost, Cycle A, for an alternative approach.)

Elizabeth Achtemeier
On the previous Sundays of this Eastertide, we have heard the risen Christ tell his followers to remain in Jerusalem until he sends the Holy Spirit upon them. That will enable them to be his witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Having promised that, he ascended into heaven, to rule over all at the right hand of the Father. That promise was spoken during the forty days that the Lord was with the apostles and disciples after his resurrection.
Arthur H. Kolsti
Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord to the breath, prophesy mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
-- Ezekiel 37:4-10
Ron Lavin
The Holy Spirit is called "your Advocate" in the New English Bible translation of John 15:26. Other translations may be helpful in understanding the meaning of the Holy Spirit. The King James Version uses the term "The Comforter." The Revised Standard Version and the New International Version use the term "The Counselor." The Phillips translation and the Barclay translation call the Holy Spirit "The Helper." I like the title "The Advocate" best of all. This term "The Adovcate" includes comforting, counseling, and helping.

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