Ash Wednesday Service 3.2.22 Bulletin & Announcements
Lent calls us to walk with Jesus to the cross, to bring ourselves humbly before God, to reflect and prepare our hearts for the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Join us on Wednesday evenings. All are invited, encouraged and welcome to Parish Lenten Worship Services!
Lenten Schedule for our Parish
All Wednesday Lenten services will be held at Norman this year. 7:00pm There will be meals served before the Lenten services beginning at 6:00pm. The services will be livestreamed through our Parish Facebook page also.
Lenten Offering 2021
Garret Fenner is a 9th grade student at Kindred School. He is 15 years old. Garret was diagnosed in September of 2019 with FSGS (Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis). A kidney disorder in which scarring of the kidney filters occurs. His filters do not regenerate thus needing a transplant. His kidneys were barely functioning/filtering at around 10%.
He has had both kidneys removed at the U of M on February 17, 2021. He and his mom, Alicia, had been staying in the Minneapolis area where Garret had been receiving dialysis three times a week. A donor match was found. He went through the kidney transplant surgery. Garret’s journey doesn’t stop there though. He is still having trips to the cities for doctor visits and is still healing process.
I spoke to mom recently, and she said he was doing good! She said she will send me an update on Garret, so I will print that when received. She also said Thank you so much for the thoughts and prayers!
Our Parish Council decided to continue to show our love and support to Garret and the Fenner family by designating our Lenten offering for them. This may help them with travel and medical expenses. Please keep Garret and the Fenner family in your prayers!
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ASH WEDNESDAY WORSHIP
Norman Davenport Parish Wednesday, March 2nd 2022 7:00pm Norman Lutheran
PRELUDE/BELLS
GATHERING
The Holy Spirit calls us together as the people of God.
GREETING
The Lord be with you.
And also, with you.
PRAYER OF THE DAY (ELW p. 150)
Let us pray. A brief silence is kept before the prayer.
Almighty and ever-living God, you hate nothing you have made, and you forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create in us new and honest hearts, so that, truly repenting of our sins, we may receive from you, the God of all mercy, full pardon and forgiveness through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
FIRST READING: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
PSALM: Psalm 51:1-17
SECOND READING: 2 Corinthians 5:20b--6:10
HYMN OF THE DAY Lord, Whose Love in Humble Service (ELW 712) verses 1-2
GOSPEL: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
SERMON
HYMN OF THE DAY Lord, Whose Love in Humble Service (ELW 712) verses 3-4
INVITATION TO LENT (ELW p. 252)
The assembly is seated. The presiding minister may invite the assembly into the discipline of Lent.
Friends in Christ, today with the whole church we enter the time of remembering Jesus’ passover from death to life, and our life in Christ is renewed.
We begin this holy season by acknowledging our need for repentance and for God’s mercy. We are created to experience joy in communion with God, to love one another, and to live in harmony with creation. But our sinful rebellion separates us from God, our neighbors, and creation, so that we do not enjoy the life our creator intended.
As disciples of Jesus, we are called to a discipline that contends against evil and resists whatever leads us away from love of God and neighbor. I invite you, therefore, to the discipline of Lent—self-examination and repentance, prayer and fasting, sacrificial giving and works of love—strengthened by the gifts of word and sacrament. Let us continue our journey through these forty days to the great Three Days of Jesus’ death and resurrection
CONFESSION OF SIN (ELW p. 252)
The presiding minister leads the following or another confession.
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.
The assembly kneels or sits. Silence is kept for reflection and self-examination.
Most holy and merciful God, we confess to you and to one another, and before the whole company of heaven,
that we have sinned by our fault, by our own fault, by our own most grievous fault, in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others as we have been forgiven. Have mercy on us, O God.
We have shut our ears to your call to serve as Christ served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved your Holy Spirit. Have mercy on us, O God.
Our past unfaithfulness, the pride, envy, hypocrisy, and apathy that have infected our lives, we confess to you. Have mercy on us, O God.
Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people, we confess to you. Have mercy on us, O God.
Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to share the faith that is in us, we confess to you. Have mercy on us, O God.
Our neglect of human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty, we confess to you. Have mercy on us, O God.
Our false judgments, our uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us, we confess to you. Have mercy on us, O God.
Our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us, we confess to you. Have mercy on us, O God.
Restore us, O God, and let your anger depart from us. Hear us, O God, for your mercy is great.
IMPOSITION OF ASHES (ELW p. 254)
Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth.
May these ashes be a sign of our mortality and penitence, reminding us
that only by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ are we given eternal life;
through the same Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
People may come forward and kneel or stand to receive the ashes.
Ministers mark the forehead of each person with a cross of ashes, saying:
Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Accomplish in us, O God, the work of your salvation,
that we may show forth your glory in the world.
By the cross and passion of your Son, our Savior,
bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection.
The presiding minister addresses the assembly.
Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Drawn close to the heart of God, we offer these prayers for the church, the world, and all who are in need.
A brief silence.
Renew your church, O God. When we have drifted from our call to proclaim repentance and to guide your people toward justice, lead us back to you. Encourage believers who hold the church’s doors open to those who have felt excluded. Merciful God, receive our prayer.
Renew your creation, O God. Transform parched places into watered gardens and preserve every creature that awaits the arrival of spring. Turn each of us from practices of environmental exploitation to become responsible stewards of all you have made. Merciful God, receive our prayer.
Renew our civic life, O God. Teach those in authority to advocate for the liberation of all who are oppressed and grant them courage to make difficult decisions. Merciful God, receive our prayer.
Renew our lives, O God. Spare your people from diseases of the body, mind, or spirit and send healing to those overcome by illness or grief. Restore to us the joy of your salvation. Merciful God, receive our prayer.
Renew this congregation, O God. During these forty days of Lent, confirm our sense of mission and expand our imagination for ministry. Deepen our faith, increase our love, and draw us into your unfolding work of healing and restoration. Merciful God, receive our prayer.
As we mark ashes on our foreheads, we give you praise, O God, for all the saints who died and yet are alive with you. Receive us with them into your eternal embrace. Merciful God, receive our prayer.
Accept the prayers we bring, O God, on behalf of a world in need, for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen.
OFFERING PRAYER
Let us pray. A brief silence is kept.
Merciful God, accompany our journey through these forty days. Renew us in the gift of baptism, that we may provide for those who are poor, pray for those in need, fast from self-indulgence, and above all that we may find our treasure in the life of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
OFFERING SONG: Be Thou My Vision (ELW 793)
SENDING PRAYER
Let us pray. A brief silence is kept.
Merciful God, accompany our journey through these forty days. Renew us in the gift of baptism, that we may provide for those who are poor, pray for those in need, fast from self-indulgence, and above all that we may find our treasure in the life of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
DISMISSAL (ELW p. 255)
Go forth into the world to serve God with gladness;
be of good courage;
hold fast to that which is good;
render to no one evil for evil;
strengthen the fainthearted; support the weak;
help the afflicted; honor all people;
love and serve God, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thanks be to God.
