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Lent

two days to Ashes!

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Are you looking for Ash Wednesday resources? Look here!

Are you doing something different for Ash Wednesday?

Are you doing Ashes-To-Go? Is there a liturgy that goes with that, or do you just put ashes on anyone who walks by?

What are you singing for Ash Wednesday?

Do you burn the palms for the ashes? If so, do you do it by yourself ahead of time? How and where? (full disclosure: I order mine from Cokesbury…)

Share here so we can all do our last-minute prep and panic together!

 

And come back later today for the conversation on Lent 1!

CTW: the Messiah we need

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We come to Jesus, the author of a new and different way.
We confess that He is not the Messiah we want:
not a CEO, not a General, not a Senator,
not a Genie, not a Fairy Godmother, not Santa Claus.

We come to Jesus, who leads us in the Way of the Cross:
a path we would rather not walk,
for we are uncomfortable with sacrifice,
reluctant to abandon ourselves in self-giving love.

We come to Jesus, who is not the Messiah we want.
We come to Jesus because he is the Messiah we need.

submitted by Rev. Daniel Mayes, First Christian Church, Spencer, IA

Looking Ahead: Lent

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It seems like it should be far away, but in fact Lent begins just 5 weeks from today.

Therefore, it’s time to start brainstorming. Do you have any ideas you filed away last year, hoping to bring them out this time? Any germs of new ideas? Do you usually do a series, follow the lectionary, try to find a theme for the season? Will you have special worship environment (the fancy way of saying “decorating”) needs? Multi-media? Extra services?

Perhaps you’ll follow the Old Testament readings on the theme of God’s providing. Or on remembering what God has done and looking forward to what God is doing. Or maybe you’ll follow the gospel readings on the theme of Jesus’ encounters with various people, or on his inscrutability (everyone seems confused in these readings!).

Maybe this year you want to explore the idea of living in God’s house, using the psalms…along with a class on praying the psalms, maybe, or a midweek prayer service series that prays through the psalms like the monks (well, okay, probably not all 150, but still…).

Whatever your ideas, and however formed or un-formed they may be just now, drop a line in the comments so we can create together! Imagine the worship possibilities when all our spirit-filled comments start bouncing around off one another?

 

Question: would you like to have a Lent-idea-storming chat? We can do text chat or video. Would that be helpful to you?

prayers of the people–lent 5

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God, your faithful love surrounds us,
and we give you thanks
for the gift of life, and the gift of new life,
and for the many ways you sustain and nurture us.

We come before you this day,
some of us tired and hungry,
looking for your word to sustain us,
your spirit to comfort us.
some of us come bruised and sore,
looking for healing,
longing for wholeness.
some of us come despairing,
wondering what has happened
and where the joy of life has gone.
some of us come with heavy hearts,
praying for young people harmed by those who should protect,
praying for those who look different and so are suspect,
praying for a world on edge, tense with fear and hate and violence.
We come, looking for good news in the midst of the world’s bad news.
We come, seeking forgiveness for our wrongs,
seeking to know your presence when we feel so alone,
seeking to know your heart and will for a world with so much need.
In the silence, we offer you our prayers, and we listen for yours.

Let your grace rain down on us, O God.
May we be surrounded by your love, your peace, your hope.
Open our eyes and our hearts to see you in unexpected places,
guide our hands to show your love.
You are a God of surprises,
a God of peace, a God of hope,
a God of love.
Fill us with your spirit, that we may widen the circle until all the world knows your grace.

We pray these and all things in the name of Christ, who taught us to pray together…

 

Submitted by Rev. Teri Peterson, Ridgefield Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church, Crystal Lake IL.

great prayer of thanksgiving: maker of covenants

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L:    May the Lord of Lent be with you.
P:    May the Lord of Lent also be with you.
L:    God’s people: lift up your hearts.
P:    We lift our hearts to the One who has
       engraved them with love.
L:    God’s people:  offer thanks to the One
who creates new life in you.
P:    With our lips, and with our lives, we
       will praise the God who sustains our spirits.

Hearts overflow with joy,
Maker of covenants,
as we lift our songs to you.
In the midst of that creation
filled with bright stars and blue skies,
you shaped us in your divine image.
Cradling our hearts in compassion,
you planted those seeds of hope and joy
which could bring us the life you envisioned.
But we hardened our hearts,
preventing them from blossoming,
and we chose to live in the shadows of sin,
rather than dance in the light of your grace.
Yet even our arrogance and anger
could not keep you from loving us,
as you called to us through prophets’ voices,
inviting us to come back to your side.
And when we continued to love our way more,
your steadfast love became even more abundant
as you sent Jesus to restore our brokenness.

Therefore, we will join with all those
of every age and every place,
our mouths singing your praise:

P:    Holy, holy, holy!  God of compassion and grace!
      Heaven and earth overflow with your goodness.
      Hosanna in the highest.

      Blessed is the One who comes with a willing spirit.
      Hosanna in the highest.

Only you are holy, Engraver of our hearts,
and blessed is the Lord of Life, Jesus Christ.
Your Beloved, he was baptized
and chosen by you to share our life.
He came, to melt our frozen hearts
with the warmth of your mercy.
He came, to be broken
that we might be mended.
He came, to suffer death for our sake,
that seed of new life planted
deep in death’s cold tomb,
so he could be raised to newness,
your glory and hope made known
to all who come seeking him.

Here, at this Table of forgiveness and life,
we remember his life of humility and service,
even as we proclaim that mystery we call faith:

P:    The Word that spoke creation into being
       has become the Voice which shattered death,
       and will call us home at the end of time.

Here at the Table of peace,
we find the gifts you provide,
the bread and the cup drenched
with the Spirit of hope and life.
As we are fed by the bread
created from creation’s goodness,
may the seed of your compassion
which has been planted deep in us,
bloom forth in service to your children.
As we drink from the Cup
which is filled with your righteousness,
may our spirits overflow with justice,
as we bring your good news
and generous presence to all
who are oppressed in our world.

And when, at last, all people are free,
when creation has been restored once more,
when we gather around your Table in glory
with our sisters and brothers from all time,
we will join in singing your praise forever and ever,
God in Community, Holy in One.  Amen.

Submitted by Rev. Thom Shuman, author of Lectionary Liturgies.