March 2, 2022 "Ash Wednesday" Worship

PIONEER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

7:00 p.m.                                      ASH WEDNESDAY                             March 2, 2022

 

*CALL TO WORSHIP (Unison)

Now, O Lord, call me into a quietness that heals and listens, and molds my longings and passions, my wounds and wanderings, into a more holy and human shape.

 

*PRAYER OF THE DAY (Unison)

O God of my salvation, send your Holy Spirit upon me.  Open my heart to receive your blessings.  Open my mind to think new thoughts.  Open my hands in generous sharing.  Open my lips to declare your praise. Keep me from pious pretension, that I may approach you with genuine yearning to please you, not to impress others.  I hear you calling me: Now is the acceptable time of salvation.  Here I am, God.  I seek your healing touch.   Amen.

 

*OPENING HYMN       “Change My Heart O God”                                     LU#61

 

1st SCRIPTURE READING:  2 Corinthians 5:20b – 6:10

 

2^nd SCRIPTURE READING: John 3:1-16

 

LENTEN REFLECTION                                                                  Rev. Jean Hurst

 

HYMN                 “I Will Come to You”                                        Glory #177

 

 

 

 

 

PRAYER (Unison)

Gracious God, out of your love and mercy you breathed into dust the breath of life, creating us to serve you and neighbors.  Call forth our prayers and acts of tenderness, and strengthen us to face our mortality, that we may reach with confidence for your mercy; in Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.       

 

3^rd SCRIPTURE READING: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

(Jesus said:)  “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.  But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:16-18)

 

HEART OFFERINGS, ASHES AND OIL

     Prayer over the heart issues

Lord, as we have brought to the cross those things that weigh heavily on our hearts, grant us healing for the wounds, release of sorrows, resentments, and disappointments, the ability to forgive, and forgiveness for our own sins. Just as you didn’t remove the snakes in the wilderness but instead helped the people to deal with them, help us to deal with these issues. Give us strength and courage to walk this Lenten journey.

 

     Prayer over the ashes:

Lord, you call us to repentance, to turn away from all in life that separates us from you, you call us to return to your love and your ways.  Let these ashes be a symbol of our repentance, our yearning for you, marked upon our palms and our hearts, not for the world to see, but for you to see.  Change our hearts, we pray.

 

     Prayer over the oil:

Almighty God, you have created us, not for death, but for life and for love.  May this oil be for us a sign of our calling to life.  We ask your blessings upon this oil and upon us as we are anointed with it.  May it be a clear calling to follow in the way of Jesus who is our path to life, who is our example of love.  Amen.

 

In silence, open your heart to God’s presence.  Psalm 139 says that before a word is even on our lips, God knows it.  Think about what comes between you and God by coming between you and someone else.  Think about what weighs on your heart at the start of this Lenten season. Write on your slip of paper a word or two of what burdens your heart. Then bring it to the cross and offer that up to Jesus.

When you are ready to come forward and tape it to the cross, letting go...releasing it to God...letting God’s love and grace fill your heart. Then receive the application of ashes and oil.

 

CLOSING PRAYER (Unison)

          Time of Silence

Creating God, still center of the world you have made, we come to you in this season of turning and returning.  We do not know how to seek you with our whole hearts, but we know you are our source and our destiny.  In the midst of life, we return to you.  You feed us and give us strength for the journey.  We thank you that you receive even the broken heart, the troubled conscience, the conflicted spirit.  May the way we live and love be a reflection of our calling to new life in Jesus.  Amen.

 

*CLOSING HYMN                 “Spirit, Open My Heart”                         Glory #692

 

*BENEDICTION