Ash Wednesday Vespers
Below are some worship resources which you are welcome to use at no charge. Please just use a copyright acknowledgment "Copyright Lisa Frenz 2004. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission."
Music for Meditation
Please respect the wish of others to meditate or pray before service. Thank you.
(The Song is played quietly during the petitions)
P: In the quiet of the night, in the comfort of darkness we come to you, O Lord. We come for peace; we come for comfort; we come for forgiveness and love.
Song “O Lord, Hear My Prayer”
Text: Psalm 102:1-2; adapt. Taize Community, 1982
Music: HEAR MY PRAYER, Jacques Berthier, 1923-1994
Copyright 1982, Copyright Administrator: GIA Publications, Inc.
O Lord, hear my prayer,...
(Silence)
A: In the softness of evening, in the solace of silence we come to you, O Lord. We come for acceptance; we come for community; we come for forgiveness and love.
Song “O Lord, Hear My Prayer”
Text: Psalm 102:1-2; adapt. Taize Community, 1982
Music: HEAR MY PRAYER, Jacques Berthier, 1923-1994
Copyright 1982, Copyright Administrator: GIA Publications, Inc.
O Lord, hear my prayer,...
(Silence)
P: In the serenity of day’s end, in the restfulness of worship, we come to you O Lord. We come to you for respite; we come to you for completion; we come to you for forgiveness and love.
Song “O Lord, Hear My Prayer”
Text: Psalm 102:1-2; adapt. Taize Community, 1982
Music: HEAR MY PRAYER, Jacques Berthier, 1923-1994
Copyright 1982, Copyright Administrator: GIA Publications, Inc.
O Lord, hear my prayer,...
(Silence)
A: In the quiet of the night, in the comfort of darkness we come to you, O Lord. We come for peace; we come for comfort; we come for forgiveness and love.
(Pause)
P: We come, O Lord of Light, seeking the illumination of your Word. We come for the path we can’t find; we come for the life we don’t have. We come to you for our lives are death and you alone have breath and being.
Imposition of Ashes
Song “O Lord, Hear My Prayer”
Text: Psalm 102:1-2; adapt. Taize Community, 1982
Music: HEAR MY PRAYER, Jacques Berthier, 1923-1994
Copyright 1982, Copyright Administrator: GIA Publications, Inc.
(Sung during the Imposition of Ashes.)
O Lord, hear my prayer,...
The Lord is my song,...
(Silence)
(During the following the altar candles are lighted.)
Stand
P: (spoken over music) O Christ Jesus, you are our Light, the bright star of our heart.
C: Shine on us, O Lord of Light. You are the glow that illumines our darkness and chases away our fears.
Response Song: “Come”
(Words & Music: W. Michael Aguilar III © 1999, Shandy Music Industries, PO Box 10402, Portland, OR 97296.)
Lord of all light, come, come....
Come Lord of light!
P: (spoken over music) O Christ Jesus, you are our Lamp, the glow of truth, the underpinning of our existence.
C: Shine on us, O Lord of Light. You are the beacon of possibilities that lights our way and leads us to completion.
Response Song: “Come”
(Words & Music: W. Michael Aguilar III © 1999, Shandy Music Industries, PO Box 10402, Portland, OR 97296.)
Lord of all light, come, come....
Come Lord of light!
P: (spoken over music) O Christ Jesus, you are our Fire, the warmth of love in our soul.
C: Shine on us, O Lord of Light. You are the Blaze of passion that consumes our lives and brings us to rebirth.
Response Song: “Come”
(Words & Music: W. Michael Aguilar III © 1999, Shandy Music Industries, PO Box 10402, Portland, OR 97296.)
Lord of all light, come, come....
Come Lord of light!
God of all grace, come, come...
Come God of grace.
Lord of all love, come, come....
Come Lord of love.
P: Out of the depths of our fears, out of the depths of our darkness, we call upon you, O God, to save us. Hear us, now.
A: Forgive me, O God,
C: For I have sinned.
A: Merciful God,
C: I confess that I am broken. I have acted in spite, hurt others by my words and deeds, deliberately done what is wrong. Forgive me, O God, for I have sinned.
A: Merciful God,
C: I confess that I am broken. I have lived for myself and not for others, judged where I should forgive, belittled where I should have built up. O Lord, I have not done justice or walked humbly with you. Forgive me, O God, for I have sinned.
P: God so loved this world and this people that God sent Christ to suffer and die for all. Accept now that gift. Know that you are forgiven, reconciled, accepted, and loved.
C: Amen.
Suggested Choir Anthem: Wondrous Love (Shackley)
First Reading Isaiah 58:1-12
"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God. `Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takest no knowledge of it?' Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD? "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. "If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. : And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.”
(Silence)
Second Reading 2 Corinthians 5:20b–6:10
: We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21: For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Working together with him, then, we entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, "At the acceptable time I have listened to you, and helped you on the day of salvation." Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in any one's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, watching, hunger; by purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;: in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
(Silence)
Stand
Holy Gospel Matthew 6:1-6,16-21
"Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. "Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
"And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Sit
Music for Meditation
Message
Stand
Theme Song: Beauty for Brokenness
Text & Music: Graham Kendrick, Copyright 1993, Copyright Administrator: Music Services, Inc.
GOD OF THE POOR
Beauty for brokenness...
Shelter for fragile lives, ....
Refuge from cruel wars, ...
Rest for the ravaged earth ....
Lighten our darkness, ...
Creed:
We believe in one God, who is Creator, Ruler of the universe, maker of all we see and all we don’t see: Source of all creation!
We believe in one God, who is Jesus Christ, God from God, Light from Light, true God and true human. He is one with the Creator; the Word made flesh, our Messiah: Savior of all creation!
We believe in one God, who is Holy Spirit, Breath of God moving among us. Who is one with the Creator; one with the Christ; our Comforter and our Guide: Mentor of all creation!
The Sharing of the Peace
Sit
Offering
Suggested Choir Anthem: Song of Peace (Chopin/Althouse)
Stand
Offering Prayer:
A: Let us pray. O God,
C: We bring to you our goods, our work and our lives. Our praise and thanks are Yours alone for you are God. You alone give us life. You alone provide for our every need. Amen.
Prayer Song: “Lord, Listen To Your Children Praying.”
Text & Music: Ken Medema, b. 1943, Copyright 1973
Tune: CHILDREN PRAYING
Copyright Administrator: Hope Publishing Company (ASCAP)
Lord, listen to your ...
send us pow’r, send us grace.
P: Lord, remember us in your kingdom and teach us to pray:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever. Amen.
(Silence)
P: In the quiet of our souls, in the comfort of your love we come to you, O Lord. We come for help; we come for wholeness; we come for forgiveness and love. For in the death of Christ is our death. In the life of Christ is our salvation. We live and die with Christ, our Lord.
All: Amen.
Sending Song: "Heal This Old Heart"
Text: Rusty Edwards, based on Psalm 51© 1999 Augsburg Fortress
Music: Swedish folk tune TRYGGARE KAN INGEN VARA
Heal this old heart;... fill my essence. continued...
.Lord, have mercy, ... that I may live.
Sacrificing? I would bring it.... it is breaking.
You are invited to stay to meditate pray, or leave quietly.
Music for Meditation