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Ash Wednesday

CTW: Return to the Lord

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Return to the Lord.
We leave behind all our sins and fears, embracing the mercy and hope given by Christ.

Return to the Lord.
We drop all the pain and hate, coming back to the true and abundant life given by Christ.

Return to the Lord.
We cast aside the old and hurtful ways, embracing the forgiveness given by Christ.

Return to the Lord.
We come with open hearts receive the Good News and receive his Grace.

Submitted by Rev. Will Ryan, First Christian Church, Fulton MO

Dedication: No Extra Credit

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God, you do not demand sacrifice
or give us extra credit for our offerings.
We present these gifts as a grateful response to your grace
and a commitment to lives
that reflect your forgiving and transforming love,
in Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Submitted by Rev. Nathan Williams, Covenant Presbyterian Church, West Des Moines, IA

Litany: Ash and Starstuff

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When you take away your breath,
We die; we return to ash and starstuff
When you send your breath,
Ash and starstuff dance and we live.
When all was watery chaos and dusty void, God’s breath hovered over the waters
And life began.
When we were adamah, creatures of soil with no spark of life within us,
God’s breath filled our lungs and gave us life.
When waters filled the earth and all was destroyed,
A breath from God cleared them away.
When the people fled Pharoah and became trapped at the shores of the Reed Sea,
God’s ruah, God’s breath, parted the seas to make them a path
When Ezekiel looked out at the valley of dry bones,
It was God’s breath that gave them new life.
When a baby was born in Bethlehem
His first breaths were God’s breaths, too.  
When a young man died on a cross,
God’s breath was there as he breathed his last.
When the women went to the tomb, their breath caught in their throats,
And that was God’s breath too.
When God’s people gathered for Pentecost,
God’s breath – God’s Spirit – was there.
We are God’s people, all gathered in the same place.
God’s breath – God’s Spirit – is here. 
submitted by Rev. Madeline Hart-Anderson (she/hers; ella/suya), Westminster Presbyterian Church, Santa Fe, NM

Prayer: God of our Knowns and Unknowns

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God of our Knowns and our Unknowns,

We come to you today in a mixture of places. Some of us arrive excited and proud, ready to start another day with a new step forward.  While many of us come to you worn and torn by the torrent of mounting realities that seem to swirl around us. And yet you know us, you know our places of confidence and our places of doubt.  You know when we speak out of authenticity and when we let the realities of the world around us code our words and our stories.

And in your knowing we find comfort, in your knowing we find our place at the table, in your knowing we learn what grace means, in your knowing we find our call.

In the whisper of our names from the lips of the Holy we are reminded of our commitments to you O God. We know that we are called to renounce the forces of wickedness that create pain and terror in the world around us, that we are called to love with our whole selves, and to remember who and whose we are.

Move us out of our complacency and remind us that grace is at work in our lives, in this room, in our world. Embrace us that we may walk on days when it is hard to put our feet on the ground. Hold us when we struggle to know what to do next. And love us by continuing to call our name that we would continue to know yours.

Amen

submitted by Rev. Megan Armstrong, Arvada United Methodist Church, Arvada, CO

Prayer: Mercy and Justice

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written for National Day of Prayer, for the government.
Lord, as we delicately balance a relationship between mercy and justice
Give us a prudence for Good News when only Sheol surrounds us.
Suffering is real, death is real, this pandemic is real, and you are real.
Those who discern their power in the midst of crisis through wisdom
comfort the poor, shepherd the vulnerable, feed the hungry, and heal sick.
May their work translate from the language of illness to the celebration of wholeness.
Those who discern their power in the midst of crisis through foolishness
ignore the poor, endanger the vulnerable, hoard from hunger, and heal only some.
We know now that you show no partiality and we search to find you in all creatures.
Make our leaders grow as people worthy of their civic calling.
Make us uneasy when they act with injustice, and proud when they pursue peace.
Dissuade any political entity or party from propaganda, misinformation, & scapegoating.
Bring forward in our government the best of who we are when we are fully human
And actively decide to love our neighbor as ourselves.
We do this because you first loved us.
In Jesus Name.
submitted by Brian Merritt, First Presbyterian Church of Hackettstown, NJ