Ministry Matters. . .supporting Christian ministry with resources, community, and resources - Preach. Teach. Worship. Reach. Lead. - Tuesday, 25 February 2014 "Are You Ready for Easter? - Good Teaching & Resources"
LivingStone Lent
#LivingStone
Living Stone is a free multimedia worship series from MinistryMatters.com with content to be shared—on social media, on your church website, and with your congregation.
#LivingStone
Now you are coming to him as to a living stone. Even though this stone was rejected by humans, from God’s perspective it is chosen, valuable.--1 PETER 2:4 CEB
Living Stone is a free multimedia worship series from MinistryMatters.com and the content is meant to be shared - on social media, on your church website, in your bulletin, with friends, colleagues, small groups, and your congregation.
Each week we will make a group of content available for you to use each week of Lent including PowerPoint backgrounds and visuals, worship elements including an opening prayer, calls to worship, benedictions, sermon starters or sermons, and more.
We are also providing you with three professional videos: one overview or trailer video (available now), one 3-minute video for Palm Sunday, and one 3-minute video for Easter Sunday (coming soon).
Stones are a basic imagery used for Lent, but not overused, which is why we eventually went in this direction. We were pleasantly surprised by the number of stories we found around stones in the Bible.
Here’s a synopsis of the stories and the key verses from each:
Week 1: Sacred Pillar
After Jacob got up early in the morning, he took the stone that he had put near his head, set it up as a sacred pillar, and poured oil on the top of it.
GENESIS 28:18
Week 2: Covenant Stone
Remember—don’t ever forget!—how you made the Lord your God furious in the wilderness. From the very first day you stepped out of Egypt until you arrived at this place, you have been rebels against the Lord. 29 But these are your people! Your own possession! The people you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm!
DEUTERONOMY 9:7 & 29
Week 3: 12 Stones
This happened so that all the earth’s peoples might know that the Lord’s power is great and that you may always revere the Lord your God.”
JOSHUA 4:22
Week 4: Foundation Stone
Therefore, the Lord God says: Look! I’m laying in Zion a stone,
a tested stone, a valuable cornerstone,
a sure foundation:
the one who trusts won’t tremble.
ISAIAH 28:16
Week 5: Stones to Food
The tempter came to him and said, “Since you are God’s Son, command these stones to become bread.”
MATTHEW 4:3
Week 6 (Palm Sunday) : Stones Cry Out
He answered, “I tell you, if they were silent, the stones would shout.”
LUKE 19:40
Week 7 (Easter Sunday): Empty Tomb
Look, there was a great earthquake, for an angel from the Lord came down from heaven. Coming to the stone, he rolled it away and sat on it.
MATTHEW 28:2
In the end we hope that there is one nugget, one Scripture, one thought that makes you stop and say "Aha!" or brings you or someone in your congregation closer in your walk with God. Or maybe this series will provide inspiration to you as a preacher or worship leader, as you seek to make Easter worship fresh, and new, and engaging.
As with #FollowTheStar, the content is free - free to use, free to share, free to modify. It's YOUR content, do with it as you will. We only ask that you share with others, if you believe they will find value in it.
Blessings on you, and on your ministry.
Your MinistryMatters.com team,
Betsy, Myca, and Shane
http://www.ministrymatters.com/livingstone/?utm_campaign=eNews25Feb2014&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=LivingStone
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Lent: Come Home
Lent: A Yearly Reminder of the Daily Call to Come Home by Kasey Hitt and Peggy Jennings
A series of seven guided meditations with prayers, and discussion questions in written and audio form. Use these to create Lent displays for teaching or worship.
AudioLent: A Yearly Reminder of the Daily Call to Come Home (Audio) by Kasey Hitt
http://www.ministrymatters.com/all/media/entry/4709/lent-a-yearly-reminder-of-the-daily-call-to-come-home-audio
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Lent Displays for Teaching and Worship
Lent Displays for Teaching and Worship by Kasey Hitt, Betsy Hall, Peggy Jennings
The Lent and Easter stories can become so familiar that they become rote. Yet, Lent can be a time of tremendous spiritual growth and a deepening commitment to live as disciples of Jesus Christ. Now is a great time to introduce people to the practice of spiritual disciplines (i.e. study, prayer, worship, fasting) and the content here will help with that but you'll also want to supplement with some hand's on mission work in your community.
Encouraging each other to participate fully in spiritual disciplines will help us see the stories with fresh eyes.
The original idea for this content was to plan prayer stations to use in worship during Lent to help people understand what Lent celebrates using scripture, illustrations, readings, and other props. Not everyone uses prayer stations so we've developed this in a way that you can pick and choose what will work in your setting.
What is available for free as download content are the stations which we refer to as displays. Your space will dictate how you use what we've provided and allows for your own creativity and ideas. Tailor the displays to your church setting, needs, and your audience.
Ways to use these resources:
plan to set up each display in your worship space, fellowship hall, classroom, hallway or gathering space, wherever you have room
change the displays each week or if you have room set leave them set up until after Easter
Free resources to download:
Lent Display Chart (scripture links, planogram item inventory, kind of an at a glance)
7 Display Planograms (the displays photographed with notes, thanks Peggy Jennings!)
14 Illustrations (four color photos)
17 Bible Verse Signage (vertical format used on the display table)
17 Bible Verses for Projection (jpgs in horizontal format, could be used in worhship)
7 Readings "Lent: A Yearly Reminder of the Daily Call to Come Home" (thanks Kasey Hitt!)
7 Audios by Kasey Hitt (thanks Russ Hitt for the music!)
CEB Study Bible scripture and study notes for the readings (free download is 45 pages)
7 Table Identification Signs (on display table)
Ideas to get you started:
invite people to help plan the displays
download the free resources to review
select the scriptures and pictures appropriate to your setting
decide where the displays will be set up [note: the table on the planogram is a 6 foot round]
decide on a schedule (will all of the displays be set up at once or will you change them weekly)
be creative, collect additional props for the displays (other religious art and tangible symbols that are meaningful to your people)
promote, communicate, and invite people to come visit the display
plan a date now to discuss ways to improve on the experience for next year
Finally...
This is an introduction to Lent only, it's not perfect.
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Preparing for Lent and Ash Wednesday
Preparing for Lent and Ash Wednesday by Kasey Hitt
Lent: A Yearly Reminder of the Daily Call to Come Home is a series of seven writings that incorporate guided imagery, prayer, and questions to use in worship or in your small group.
Imagine
Lent is a journey home. Home to the heart of God. To begin, this journey requires that we stop and notice which direction we are going if we're not going home to God!
Close your eyes and with your mind's eye, picture the place where you stop where you are going. Take in the surroundings, is it a familiar place or a new place? What do you notice—see, smell, hear, touch, taste, what feelings are stirred?
Now see Jesus meeting you in this place of stopping. Although we are the ones who need to come home, thankfully we do not make the journey alone. Allow yourself to be greeted by Jesus, you might also greet Him. Is there anything He wants to say to you in this place? Anything He wants to show you about this place?
Allow the scene to unfold for a few moments and then close with this prayer.
Pray
God, we remember through Ash Wednesday how prone we are to get lost and through Lent, how You are always calling us home. Yet for many of us it is hard to return home to Someone we don't know, have forgotten or fear. Remind us once again or for the first time of the sound of Your voice. “Here is the Voice you're to return to,” said Your prophet Joel to Israel, “The Lord is merciful and compassionate, very patient, full of faithful love, and ready to forgive.”
As we journey, especially when it is hard, remind us who You are, Lord. We pause in silence to listen once again and allow the prophet's words to make their own journey from our minds to our hearts.
You, our God, are:
merciful
compassionate
very patient
full of faithful love
ready to forgive.
(20 seconds or ~ of silence)
With Jesus as our guide, we are ready to stop going our own way, to turn around, and come home.
Amen.
Reflect
Download (for free) the scriptures and study notes from the CEB Study Bible below
Do you believe the prophet Joel's description of the Lord found in Joel 2:12-13? Which aspect is most difficult for you to trust? Ask God to reveal or remind you of this part of God's self.
As you review your life at the moment (or reflect on how the place you imagined at the beginning intersects with your life right now), what part of you needs to stop where it's going, turn around, and start heading home?
Putting ashes on the head is a sign of humility, being sorry. Weeping and fasting not only express humble sorrow but they offer cleansing of our hearts, minds & bodies which creates space for God. What are some ways God is inviting you to cleanse and create space during Lent?
The complete series and audio are available here.
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The Journey of Lent
The Journey of Lent by Kasey Hitt
Lent: A Yearly Reminder of the Daily Call to Come Home is a series of seven writings that incorporate guided imagery, prayer, and questions to use in worship or in your small group.
Imagine
Stopping and turning toward home is only the beginning of the journey. Like Israel in the desert and Jesus in the wilderness, we, too, will experience difficulty after our journey home begins.
Close your eyes and imagine yourself coming to a wilderness or desert place soon after you've started the journey home to the heart of God. Take in the surroundings with all of your senses. Become aware of your thirst and hunger. Notice your vulnerability in this place and any temptations presenting themselves.
Now invite Jesus to join you here. He has experience with being in a place of thirst, hunger, and temptation. Is there anything He wants to say to you or show you? Anything He wants to offer you in this place?
Allow the scene to unfold for a few moments and then close with this prayer.
Pray
God, sometimes the journey home to You is hard. We may discover how far away we are from Your path of Life or how the path of Life doesn't always look like it. We may realize how thirsty and hungry our souls really are and find ourselves in places of vulnerability and temptation.
In the silence we allow ourselves to become aware of this now—If there are no words, simply allowing the ache of our thirst and hunger. If there are words, perhaps naming what we are deeply thirsting and hungering for and where we feel vulnerable and tempted at this time in our life.
(20 seconds or ~ of silence)
We need Your help, God, not just helping us to begin or welcoming us at the end of the journey but along the way, too. Help us have the strength to invite You to join us, whether in our personal wilderness or in our community's desert place. Help us to trust that You are with us giving us what we need and reminding us that this desert time, this wilderness, will pass.
Amen.
Reflect
Having begun your journey home to the heart of God during Lent, what desert or wilderness place(s) are you discovering in your life? In the life of your church community? What temptations are found there at this time? How can you join Moses in Exodus 17:4 by crying out and listening to God in this desert place?
Whether through purposeful fasting or the difficult experiences life brings, how might places of thirst, hunger, vulnerability, and temptation deepen trust in God? Why is this important for the journey home?
In your moments of hunger, thirst, vulnerability and temptation, what do you need to remember? In Matthew 4, when in the desert, Jesus remembered who He and His Father were through the words of Scripture. What words do you need to drink deeply, what images do you need to feast on this week?
The complete series and audio are available here.
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Palm/Passion Sunday
Palm/Passion Sunday by Kasey Hitt
Lent: A Yearly Reminder of the Daily Call to Come Home is a series of seven writings that incorporate guided imagery, prayer, and questions to use in worship or in your small group.
Imagine
As we continue on the path of Life toward home, the glory of who we've been made to be may grow more apparent to those around us. Just as people were full of hope and praise to God when they glimpsed the glory of who Jesus truly was, people are drawn to and often respond with blessing when they get a glimpse of who God has made someone to be.
Close your eyes and imagine people gathered around you at this place on your journey with and toward God. Notice the surroundings and who is present (you may recognize some, others you may not). As they get a glimpse of who God has made you to be, what do their faces and voices say? Allow yourself to receive their blessing.
Now see Jesus among those who are present. What does His face convey to you? Allow yourself to receive His blessing. How do you respond? What does your face say or what might you want to communicate to Jesus?
Allow the scene to unfold for a few moments and then close with this prayer.
Pray
God, when You came to earth, there were those who got glimpses of Your glory, the truth of You. We pause now to join in that glimpse and allow praise of You to rise up in our hearts.
(20 seconds or ~ of silence)
We ask that You receive our praise and blessing for You know it to be true even though we can be so fickle. And for this reason our hearts instinctively cry out what the crowd cried to You, Jesus, Hosanna—save us, help us! For in this moment we recognize that You are our Savior, our Mighty Helper, and we are in need of You especially when You know how easily we lose heart, how in the next moment we may change our minds. So Hosanna. Hosanna.
Amen.
Reflect
Ponder the people covering the street with their own garments for Jesus to ride over (signifying honor and victory) and Jesus riding on a humble donkey (rather than a war horse). See Matthew 21 for an overview of the scene. What is stirred in you? What thoughts come as you compare and contrast? What is Jesus revealing about the heart of God in this scene?
Imagine yourself in the crowd. Hear yourself shout, “Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” Repeat it as many times as you desire. Allow it to become your prayer for this day (silent, spoken or even shouted!). You might reflect later on as to your experience of this prayer of praise.
How might you allow yourself to receive blessing from others and yet continue on your way “home” with Jesus? What is the danger in refusing the blessings of others? What is the danger in staying with the crowd and their blessing for too long?
The complete series and audio are available here.
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Holy Thursday
Holy Thursday by Kasey Hitt
Lent: A Yearly Reminder of the Daily Call to Come Home is a series of seven writings that incorporate guided imagery, prayer, and questions to use in worship or in your small group.
Imagine
Silence is woven throughout our journey. This silence can be jarring, scary, and unwanted, but it can also be a gift.
Closing your eyes, imagine you've abruptly come to an end in your journey. You had planned to go further and had envisioned what the end would look like and this is definitely not it! Notice the terrain, notice what you're feeling.
You look around and Jesus is nowhere to be found. Now what? Where do your mind, heart, and actions go?
Allow the scene to unfold for a few moments and then close with this prayer.
Pray
God, Your silence can be so difficult, especially when it seems our hope has died and been laid to rest in a stone sealed tomb. In times like these we don't know what to do. Like the disciples after Your death, Jesus, we are overwhelmed with fear, sadness, shock, and disappointment. We want to crawl into the tomb ourselves, for the life has gone right out of us.
At times like these silence can feel unbearable. Yet in this silent place we allow these words of your prophet Jeremiah, to call us to remember something You've been teaching us all along our journey:
“Certainly the faithful love of the Lord hasn't ended; certainly God's compassion isn't through! They are renewed every morning. Great is your faithfulness.” (say 2x)
(20 seconds or ~ of silence)
Amen.
Reflect
Let “remembering” be a prayer practice for you today. What memories arise that built your trust in God and can speak to you when what you see or news you have received say otherwise?
Read Matthew 27:57-60. Walk through the Scripture as though you are Joseph of Arimathea. Envision yourself asking Pilate for Jesus' body, getting permission, taking the body, wrapping & laying it in your own tomb, rolling a stone in front of it, and walking away. Reflect on interacting with the Scripture in this way.
How could silence possibly be a gift? Now recall a time when God seemed silent. What is/was God's invitation through your time of silence? Allow some space for silence in your life today as a way of letting go and trusting God's heart.
The complete series and audio are available here.
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Good Friday
Good Friday by Kasey Hitt
Lent: A Yearly Reminder of the Daily Call to Come Home is a series of seven writings that incorporate guided imagery, prayer, and questions to use in worship or in your small group.
Imagine
Our journey of Love will take unpredictable turns and lead to unexpected places. Some of these places we don't want to go, some of these places others don't want us to go.
Closing your eyes, imagine the landscape of this Way of Love you've been on, what do you picture? Now picture this road taking an unexpected turn. It seems to be heading in the opposite direction than the way you wanted or others expected you to go! Notice the responses provoked in you and others. What will you do?
Allow yourself to see Jesus still with you even as you question and some of your friends and the crowd who once blessed you begin to turn against you. What does Jesus say to you about continuing on? About your cost and loss on this journey?
Let the scene unfold for a few moments and then close with this prayer.
Pray
God, You work in ways that confound and confuse us. Your way of Love led to people shouting that you, Jesus, be killed even though they blessed you days before. Your way of Love led to the cross where you willingly gave up your life. You disrupt our expectations, especially of power. We pause to feel the disruption or give You permission to disrupt us.
(20 seconds or ~ of silence)
Will we still trust You even when our expectations of You and how our life is supposed to go get disrupted? Do we trust Your heart enough to willingly give up what we hold onto so tightly and place all, even our own lives into Your hands? And when we are left with only confusion and pain, questions and no answers, when we cannot feel Your presence, we ask that Your trustworthy hands hold us.
Amen.
Reflect
Using Isaiah 52:15 as a lens through which to view Jesus' life and death, what had kings never seen or heard before? Ponder with them.
Do you have a story in your own life or in the life of another in which following Jesus on the Way of Love cost you or the person deeply? What was the cost? Allow a prayer to be shaped by these memories.
Much happened on that Friday and many were involved, pick one of these people or objects from the story in John 19:1-37: Pilate, crown of thorns, purple robe, chief priests, cross, soldiers, notice/sign, Jesus' clothes, jar of wine vinegar. In your mind's eye, become that person or thing. As that person or object, ask yourself: What is my function or role? What is my greatest fear? What is my greatest hope?
The complete series and audio are available here.
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Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday by Kasey Hitt
Lent: A Yearly Reminder of the Daily Call to Come Home is a series of seven writings that incorporate guided imagery, prayer, and questions to use in worship or in your small group.
Imagine
Silence is woven throughout our journey. This silence can be jarring, scary, and unwanted, but it can also be a gift.
Closing your eyes, imagine you've abruptly come to an end in your journey. You had planned to go further and had envisioned what the end would look like and this is definitely not it! Notice the terrain, notice what you're feeling.
You look around and Jesus is nowhere to be found. Now what? Where do your mind, heart, and actions go?
Allow the scene to unfold for a few moments and then close with this prayer.
Pray
God, Your silence can be so difficult, especially when it seems our hope has died and been laid to rest in a stone sealed tomb. In times like these we don't know what to do. Like the disciples after Your death, Jesus, we are overwhelmed with fear, sadness, shock, and disappointment. We want to crawl into the tomb ourselves, for the life has gone right out of us.
At times like these silence can feel unbearable. Yet in this silent place we allow these words of your prophet Jeremiah, to call us to remember something You've been teaching us all along our journey:
“Certainly the faithful love of the Lord hasn't ended; certainly God's compassion isn't through! They are renewed every morning. Great is your faithfulness.” (say 2x)
(20 seconds or ~ of silence)
Amen.
Reflect
Let “remembering” be a prayer practice for you today. What memories arise that built your trust in God and can speak to you when what you see or news you have received say otherwise?
Read Matthew 27:57-60. Walk through the Scripture as though you are Joseph of Arimathea. Envision yourself asking Pilate for Jesus' body, getting permission, taking the body, wrapping & laying it in your own tomb, rolling a stone in front of it, and walking away. Reflect on interacting with the Scripture in this way.
How could silence possibly be a gift? Now recall a time when God seemed silent. What is/was God's invitation through your time of silence? Allow some space for silence in your life today as a way of letting go and trusting God's heart.
The complete series and audio are available here.
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Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday by Kasey Hitt
Lent: A Yearly Reminder of the Daily Call to Come Home is a series of seven writings that incorporate guided imagery, prayer, and questions to use in worship or in your small group.
Imagine
God's heart is infinitely better than we could ever imagine. Therefore, where our journey is heading is infinitely better than what we could ever imagine.
Close your eyes and bring to your mind's eye the place where your hope and journey has ended. Notice the surroundings and what you are doing. Think back to the beginning of your journey until now and remember how Jesus was with you...in your place of stopping, in the desert & wilderness, when others affirmed you and when others betrayed you. Now you can no longer see the One who journeyed with you. What does this stir in you?
Now become aware of someone approaching you, meeting you in this place. He says something to you that first brings a look of confusion then joy spreads over your face! What did He say? What stirs in you now?
Allow the scene to unfold for a few moments and then close with this prayer.
Pray
God, there are times that we cannot help but feel abandoned by You. It seems You have left us, turned Your back, no longer care about our pain or else You're powerless. And yet, just as Mary Magdalene discovered when she went to Your tomb on that dark third day, the very place where dead hope lies, there You are!
Oh how we need this story of Jesus being raised from the dead, of hope returning! We need to be reminded that death is not the end of our story, whether it is someone we dearly love or a dream we have dearly held onto. We can trust that You will meet us in the very place of our pain and somehow, someday we will experience the joy of resurrection.
We pause in silence now to allow You to meet us in the place of our pain and speak tender life-giving, perhaps even powerful life-raising, words to us.
(20 seconds or ~ of silence)
Amen.
Reflect
Let a symbol of resurrection speak to you today, whether from the Biblical story or from the created world. You might draw, paint, or sculpt this image. How might it become a prayerful reminder of hope for you and others?
“We are witnesses of everything he did...” said Peter in Acts 10:39. As an individual or with a group, recount what you have witnessed God doing in your life, and in the life of your group/church/community/world.
Sufferings and celebrations, death and resurrection, are part of everyone's journey with and toward the heart of God but not all recognize God in the midst of it. Peter and the disciples recognized the risen Jesus in eating and drinking with him, how have you recognized God's presence along your journey? How might you honor the Heart of Love that tenderly and powerfully holds every part of the journey, from beginning to end?
The complete series and audio are available here.
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Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday Planning
Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on March 5th, next week. We've created a bin of content to help you and your leaders with planning.
Ash Wednesday: Beginning of the Lenten Journey by Nancy Ferguson
Ash Wednesday: The Beginning of Lent
The church season of Lent is marked by the bookends of Ash Wednesday on one side and Easter on the other. Lent gives Christians the opportunity to prepare for the gifts and glory of Easter by reflecting on our need for God’s salvation and restoration. As humans created by God, we are finite and fallible; yet God loves, saves, and restores us. Recognizing the limitations of human existence alongside the amazing grace of God in Jesus Christ enhances the meaning and significance of Easter as the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. We begin this time of reflection by observing Ash Wednesday, which focuses on human mortality and sin and acknowledges our need for God’s overwhelming grace. As we begin our journey to the cross of Good Friday, the empty grave, and the gift of new life on Easter morning, Ash Wednesday sets the tone for the spiritual challenges and practices of Lent.
Lent is composed of the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter, not including the Sundays of those six weeks. It has long been the practice of the church to understand Sundays as mini-Easters anticipating the Day of Resurrection. The word Lent comes from the Anglo-Saxon meaning “spring” and is traditionally understood as a time of fasting and penance in preparation for Easter.
The Great Three Days, sometimes called Triduum or Pasch, beginning with sunset on Maundy Thursday through sunset on Easter, conclude Lent and declare the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection. Each year, we travel with Jesus through the Last Supper, the prayers and betrayal in the garden, the Crucifixion, and the empty tomb. We eat the bread of Communion and rejoice with alleluias on Easter morning for the gifts of salvation and life that overcomes death.
Lent has also been understood as a time of preparation for the renewal of our baptismal covenant. In the early church, candidates for baptism spent as long as three years preparing to be baptized. The last 40 days were known as the “scrutinies,” when candidates examined themselves and church leaders determined whether they were ready to be baptized. Later, Lent became that time when all Christians were invited to consider their need for spiritual renewal. This was common practice by the time of the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D.
According to The United Methodist Book of Worship, “Ash Wednesday emphasizes a dual encounter: we confront our own mortality and confess our sin before God within the community of faith. . . .
The service focus [is] on the dual themes of sin and death in the light of God’s redeeming love in Jesus Christ.” Ash Wednesday then is a time to reflect on our nature as finite, sinful people and on God’s nature as forgiving and redeeming. On Sunday morning, many of us confess our sins and declare that we are sinners. Ash Wednesday gives us the occasion to stop—or at least to slow down—and to reflect on what exactly it means for us to acknowledge that we are sinners and that we will die. Recognizing these realities gives depth to our gratitude for God’s love and grace.
Biblical Understandings of Sin
The Genesis 3 story of the Fall gives us an overview of sin as the broken relationship between the humans and God. God created the man and woman in a garden and instructed them not to eat fruit from a certain tree. However, they failed to obey God’s command; and when God sought their presence in the cool breeze of the evening, they “hid themselves from the LORD God” (verse 8). Not only did they break their relationship with God, their disobedience led to a breach in their relationship with one another. In fact, the man seemed to blame God as well as the woman. “The man said, ‘The woman you gave me, she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate’ ” (verse 12). As a consequence, both the man and the woman lost their innocence and were driven from the garden to live lives marked by sin and by suffering and death. Verse 19 provides the reality that marks our observance of Ash Wednesday: “You are dust, and to dust you shall return” (NRSV).
The Old Testament uses a variety of words to express a complex understanding of sin. The cluster of meanings includes the concepts of “missing the mark,” “transgression,” “iniquity,” “rebellion,” and “evil.” Life with God and with one another as God’s people was based on covenant relationship with God and with one another. Sin was understood as any action that harmed that covenant community. The prophets often denounced oppression of the poor and vulnerable as a specific example.
The New Testament continues with these traditional understandings of sin. John the Baptist called for repentance and baptism “to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins” (Mark 1:4). The Gospels present the ministry of Jesus as closely involved with salvation from sin (Matthew 1:21; John 1:29). Romans 3:22-23 presents Paul’s understanding of God’s work of salvation through Jesus Christ: “God’s righteousness comes through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who have faith in him. There’s no distinction. All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory.” On Ash Wednesday, we acknowledge our own sin, our need to turn again to God, and our reliance on God’s love and grace.
The Company of Believers
Ash Wednesday is much more than a day for individual piety. It involves gathering in community to be marked by the cross of ashes. The Invitation to the Observation of Lenten Discipline read before the Imposition of Ashes reminds us of this. The invitation tells us that Lent was traditionally a time to prepare for baptism and for those who had separated themselves from the community to be restored by penitence and forgiveness. It invites us to remember that in the early days of Christianity, “the whole congregation was reminded of the mercy and forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ and the need we all have to renew our faith.” None of us come to either the days of Lent or the joy of Easter morning alone. We are joined by the company of believers—not only the ones who sit beside us on Ash Wednesday, but also those who have made the Lenten journey through the centuries. It is the latter who have left us guidance for how to prepare for the resurrection of Christ. They have left spiritual practices to enable us to walk through the valley of these 40 days and to engage with our sin and mortality and to receive with gratitude God’s love and grace.
The service for Ash Wednesday invites us to “observe a holy Lent: / by self-examination and repentance; / by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; / and by reading and meditating on God’s Holy Word.” Thus, the service offers the opportunity to consider these disciplines and the ways in which they can contribute to our Lenten journey.
Practices for the Lenten Season
In her book on the church seasons, To Dance With God: Family Ritual and Community Celebration, Gertrud Mueller Nelson describes the three disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, which are central to Lenten living. Occasions for prayer are both communal—in the congregation and family—and private. Our communal prayers remind us of our relationships in the world—of our interdependence and our mutuality with others. Private prayer allows us time to come into God’s presence in order to reflect on our own self and relationship with God.
Nelson writes, “Fasting is a form of self-denial which traditionally involves the limitation of foods we take in or an abstinence from meat.” Fasting has long been a practice of many Protestants, including Methodists. John Wesley thought this an important practice and fasted on a weekly basis.
Almsgiving provides us the discipline of giving to others and can take many forms. Nelson invites us to give out of joy and thanksgiving for what we have rather than out of guilt we may feel over the poor and sick. Almsgiving during Lent can include money for missions such as One Great Hour of Sharing, hours spent in a food kitchen, or care packages for military serving overseas.
The Destination for the Lenten Journey
The great glad news is that the story does not end with the confession of our sinfulness. For immediately after we confess, we hear the words, “In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.” The story does not end with a tomb and death. The story culminates with Christ’s victory over death. Ash Wednesday is the first day of the journey to Resurrection.
Be sure to check out FaithLink, a weekly downloadable discussion guide for classes and small groups. FaithLink motivates Christians to consider their personal views on important contemporary issues, and it also encourages them to act on their beliefs.
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Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 by Lib Campbell
Read Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
The woman at the cash register stared at the black smudge on my forehead as I swiped my credit card. Curiosity finally got the better of her. “What’s that black mark on your forehead? Here’s a tissue to help you get it off.”
“It’s OK,” I said. “It’ll wear off soon enough.” The Ash Wednesday mark was still on my brow. I had come to the grocery story on my way home and almost forgotten the cross of ashes that marked me. The ordinary task of grocery buying crashed in on my Ash Wednesday reflection. Voices from speakers in the store barking out specials began to drown out, “From dust you came, to dust you shall return.” And nothing remained but a black smudge.
Jesus’ warning to “beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them” hits me right between the eyes. Is the cross I wear an outward piety easily wiped away with a tissue, or is it a sign for the world that my life, all that I am, all I have, all I do, belongs to Christ? The hypocrite in the room might just be me. Or could it be you?
There is a false “piety” in today’s culture that is mocked for its outward show. True piety is found in the inward transformation of a life, the inner secret heart that spends itself in love and praise of God and humble service to humankind and all creation.
In this Lenten journey that begins today, locate your heart in the treasure that is Christ. Journey to a place that rises up from dust and ash to the reward that is Christ.
Lord, take the outward mark of ash inward and mark my heart again as yours. May my outward way so reflect your inward light that the world will not question whose I am. Amen.
excerpted from: Disciplines: A Book of Daily Devotions 2014 Copyright©2013 by Upper Room Books. Used with permission.
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A New Start
A New Start by Angela Roberts Jones
Read Psalm 51
Create a clean heart for me, God; put a new, faithful spirit deep inside me! Please don’t throw me out of your presence; please don’t take your holy spirit away from me. Return the joy of your salvation to me and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach wrongdoers your ways, and sinners will come back to you. (Psalm 51:10-13)
Everybody makes mistakes. We all have made bad decisions and offended someone at some point in our lives. We must take responsibility for our lives and for the mistakes we make. Why? Because there are consequences. Everything we go through is not someone else’s fault. Is this not what we teach children?
It is not the end of the world. There is an opportunity to start new and fresh. God does forgive and empowers us to start over. The Negro spirituals “Fix Me, Jesus” and “Standing in the Need of Prayer” express the need to turn the searchlight inward and allow God to heal the heart. To sin means to miss the mark. But God has provided a way to turn your life around and to live God’s way. It’s simply called repentance.
That’s what David did in this psalm; he repented. He had committed adultery with Bathsheba, and there was a baby on the way. But David, known as a man after God’s own heart, humbled himself before God. He realized that in order to become successful in his calling and purpose as king and prophet, he had to turn his heart back to God and seek cleansing of his actions, mind, and soul. David admitted his fault and earnestly sought forgiveness. He realized that the issue was not between him and the world, but between him and God. He needed the Spirit of God to accomplish his life’s goals, so he sought God.
You may not be able to relate to David’s sin, but perhaps there is an issue in your life that you know needs to be dealt with. God is ready to renew, refresh, and restore your life, but is just waiting on you. It’s time for a fresh start.
Prayer: Lord, it’s me at this moment standing in the need of prayer. I take responsibility right now for any and all of my wrongs. Forgive, cleanse, and heal me. In the name of Jesus I offer my life. Amen.
excerpt from: African American History Month Daily Devotions 2014 by Angela Roberts Jones. Copyright©2013 by Abingdon Press. Used with permission.
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The Journey of Lent
The Journey of Lent by Kasey Hitt
Lent: A Yearly Reminder of the Daily Call to Come Home is a series of seven writings that incorporate guided imagery, prayer, and questions to use in worship or in your small group.
Imagine
Stopping and turning toward home is only the beginning of the journey. Like Israel in the desert and Jesus in the wilderness, we, too, will experience difficulty after our journey home begins.
Close your eyes and imagine yourself coming to a wilderness or desert place soon after you've started the journey home to the heart of God. Take in the surroundings with all of your senses. Become aware of your thirst and hunger. Notice your vulnerability in this place and any temptations presenting themselves.
Now invite Jesus to join you here. He has experience with being in a place of thirst, hunger, and temptation. Is there anything He wants to say to you or show you? Anything He wants to offer you in this place?
Allow the scene to unfold for a few moments and then close with this prayer.
Pray
God, sometimes the journey home to You is hard. We may discover how far away we are from Your path of Life or how the path of Life doesn't always look like it. We may realize how thirsty and hungry our souls really are and find ourselves in places of vulnerability and temptation.
In the silence we allow ourselves to become aware of this now—If there are no words, simply allowing the ache of our thirst and hunger. If there are words, perhaps naming what we are deeply thirsting and hungering for and where we feel vulnerable and tempted at this time in our life.
(20 seconds or ~ of silence)
We need Your help, God, not just helping us to begin or welcoming us at the end of the journey but along the way, too. Help us have the strength to invite You to join us, whether in our personal wilderness or in our community's desert place. Help us to trust that You are with us giving us what we need and reminding us that this desert time, this wilderness, will pass.
Amen.
Reflect
Having begun your journey home to the heart of God during Lent, what desert or wilderness place(s) are you discovering in your life? In the life of your church community? What temptations are found there at this time? How can you join Moses in Exodus 17:4 by crying out and listening to God in this desert place?
Whether through purposeful fasting or the difficult experiences life brings, how might places of thirst, hunger, vulnerability, and temptation deepen trust in God? Why is this important for the journey home?
In your moments of hunger, thirst, vulnerability and temptation, what do you need to remember? In Matthew 4, when in the desert, Jesus remembered who He and His Father were through the words of Scripture. What words do you need to drink deeply, what images do you need to feast on this week?
The complete series and audio are available here.
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Preparing for Lent and Ash Wednesday
Preparing for Lent and Ash Wednesday by Kasey Hitt
Lent: A Yearly Reminder of the Daily Call to Come Home is a series of seven writings that incorporate guided imagery, prayer, and questions to use in worship or in your small group.
Imagine
Lent is a journey home. Home to the heart of God. To begin, this journey requires that we stop and notice which direction we are going if we're not going home to God!
Close your eyes and with your mind's eye, picture the place where you stop where you are going. Take in the surroundings, is it a familiar place or a new place? What do you notice—see, smell, hear, touch, taste, what feelings are stirred?
Now see Jesus meeting you in this place of stopping. Although we are the ones who need to come home, thankfully we do not make the journey alone. Allow yourself to be greeted by Jesus, you might also greet Him. Is there anything He wants to say to you in this place? Anything He wants to show you about this place?
Allow the scene to unfold for a few moments and then close with this prayer.
Pray
God, we remember through Ash Wednesday how prone we are to get lost and through Lent, how You are always calling us home. Yet for many of us it is hard to return home to Someone we don't know, have forgotten or fear. Remind us once again or for the first time of the sound of Your voice. “Here is the Voice you're to return to,” said Your prophet Joel to Israel, “The Lord is merciful and compassionate, very patient, full of faithful love, and ready to forgive.”
As we journey, especially when it is hard, remind us who You are, Lord. We pause in silence to listen once again and allow the prophet's words to make their own journey from our minds to our hearts.
You, our God, are:
merciful
compassionate
very patient
full of faithful love
ready to forgive.
(20 seconds or ~ of silence)
With Jesus as our guide, we are ready to stop going our own way, to turn around, and come home.
Amen.
Reflect
Download (for free) the scriptures and study notes from the CEB Study Bible below
Do you believe the prophet Joel's description of the Lord found in Joel 2:12-13? Which aspect is most difficult for you to trust? Ask God to reveal or remind you of this part of God's self.
As you review your life at the moment (or reflect on how the place you imagined at the beginning intersects with your life right now), what part of you needs to stop where it's going, turn around, and start heading home?
Putting ashes on the head is a sign of humility, being sorry. Weeping and fasting not only express humble sorrow but they offer cleansing of our hearts, minds & bodies which creates space for God. What are some ways God is inviting you to cleanse and create space during Lent?
The complete series and audio are available here.
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Lent Displays for Teaching and Worship
Lent Displays for Teaching and Worship by Kasey Hitt, Betsy Hall, Peggy Jennings
The Lent and Easter stories can become so familiar that they The Lent and Easter stories can become so familiar that they become rote. Yet, Lent can be a time of tremendous spiritual growth and a deepening commitment to live as disciples of Jesus Christ. Now is a great time to introduce people to the practice of spiritual disciplines (i.e. study, prayer, worship, fasting) and the content here will help with that but you'll also want to supplement with some hand's on mission work in your community.
Encouraging each other to participate fully in spiritual disciplines will help us see the stories with fresh eyes.
The original idea for this content was to plan prayer stations to use in worship during Lent to help people understand what Lent celebrates using scripture, illustrations, readings, and other props. Not everyone uses prayer stations so we've developed this in a way that you can pick and choose what will work in your setting.
What is available for free as download content are the stations which we refer to as displays. Your space will dictate how you use what we've provided and allows for your own creativity and ideas. Tailor the displays to your church setting, needs, and your audience.
Ways to use these resources:
plan to set up each display in your worship space, fellowship hall, classroom, hallway or gathering space, wherever you have room
change the displays each week or if you have room set leave them set up until after Easter
Free resources to download:
Lent Display Chart (scripture links, planogram item inventory, kind of an at a glance)
7 Display Planograms (the displays photographed with notes, thanks Peggy Jennings!)
14 Illustrations (four color photos)
17 Bible Verse Signage (vertical format used on the display table)
17 Bible Verses for Projection (jpgs in horizontal format, could be used in worhship)
7 Readings "Lent: A Yearly Reminder of the Daily Call to Come Home" (thanks Kasey Hitt!)
7 Audios by Kasey Hitt (thanks Russ Hitt for the music!)
CEB Study Bible scripture and study notes for the readings (free download is 45 pages)
7 Table Identification Signs (on display table)
Ideas to get you started:
invite people to help plan the displays
download the free resources to review
select the scriptures and pictures appropriate to your setting
decide where the displays will be set up [note: the table on the planogram is a 6 foot round]
decide on a schedule (will all of the displays be set up at once or will you change them weekly)
be creative, collect additional props for the displays (other religious art and tangible symbols that are meaningful to your people)
promote, communicate, and invite people to come visit the display
plan a date now to discuss ways to improve on the experience for next year
Finally...
This is an introduction to Lent only, it's not perfect.
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Quick Links for Lent
Quick Links for Lent
We've created bins to make planning for Lent and Easter easier for you. Share the links with your worship planning team or small group leaders.
If you've never celebrated Lent the links below include articles that will explain the season to you. We hope you find them inspiring and helpful.
Pretzel Sunday (the Sunday before Ash Wednesday)
Shrove Tuesday (the Tuesday the day before)
Ash Wednesday
Ideas for Lent
Palm/Passion Sunday
Holy Maundy Thursday
Good Friday
Holy Saturday
Easter
Quick Links for Lent with Children (for parents and volunteers in children's ministries)
[Note: content for all three years of the Revised Common Lectionary is included in the bins which will provide more content for planning for those who don't use the lectionary. An online version of the RCL is located in the Ministry Matters Library, additional lectionary content will also be added to our This Sunday bin.]
Ministry Matters Premium Subscribers
Use the links below to view commentary on the scriptures used during Lent. (Note: you may want your worship team to do additional research in the Library, this does not include everything)
March 5, 2014-Ash Wednesday
March 9, 2014-First Sunday of Lent
March 16, 2014-Second Sunday of Lent
March 23, 2014-Third Sunday of Lent
March 30, 2014-Fourth Sunday of Lent
April 6, 2014-Fifth Sunday of Lent
April 13, 2014-Palm/Passion Sunday
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Taking Ash Wednesday Public
Taking Ash Wednesday Public by Emily Case
Sometimes making a difference is as simple as trying something new. As simple as stepping outside our comfort zone and trying. As simple as going to Starbucks.
Ash Wednesday has always been a powerful day to me. As uncomfortable as it can be, I relish the chance to publicly wear my faith. The metaphors of dying to self, of repentance, of new life rising from the ashes, all stretch and grow my faith. It begins 46 days of reflection, of penitence, of forgiveness and grace. It is a sacred rite that I look forward to each year. Perhaps this is because my faith has been so influenced by the tangible. I have been changed more by actions than words. So communion, baptism, ashes, mission projects, and community have all contributed to my faith in ways I can describe. I’ve always felt Christ’s power in ashes being placed on my head, and I have always been thankful for the witness that I have worn as I have walked out the door.
But still, I’ve always wondered why Ash Wednesday was an evening service. Maybe your church is different, offering ashes in the morning, but I have never been in a church that had anything but a 7 pm Ash Wednesday Service. It means that we place a witness on people’s heads and then send them home to go wash them off before bed.
So, last year, I decided to try something different. I decided to offer ashes in the morning. In public. At Starbucks. Posting on our church’s website and Facebook Page as well as the bulletin, I invited our congregation to come have ashes imparted at a central Starbucks.
“It’s not sacred,” some told me. “You have to impart ashes in the church. In a service. Its meaningless without context. Like drive-thru communion.”
“You can’t impart ashes outside a church! Will they even understand what they are doing? Will they really let you do that?”
I heard so many concerns, but I had made up my mind. We were going to do something new and different.
And, in the end, they were wrong. It was powerful. Sacred. Transformational. Meaningful. Life-changing.
I walked into Starbucks before the sun rose. Finding a quiet spot in the corner, I centered myself and ordered my regular drink. I took a few deep breaths and waited. I read the Ash Wednesday scriptures to calm my nerves, and still nervously dropped a some ash on my Bible.
Eventually people came. I handed them a carefully crafted card (download the PDF below). One side held a prayer of confession from the hymnal with some scripture, andvthe other side had bullet points as reminders of why we wear ashes. As each person came, I asked them to take a moment to reflect and read the card. When they had, they each stood before me.
Heads bowed, I imparted this blessing as I imparted the ashes.
“Let these ashes on your head remind you that you are broken, but Christ will make you whole. That the cross on your head isn't nearly as important as the one in your heart, the one by which Christ names you and claims you. Let these ashes remind you that, one day we will all be ashes, but we love a God who has overcome even ashes. Now, repent, and believe the Gospel"
Starbucks customers watched us repent of our sins and admit to our brokenness. They listened to us quietly speak the truths of our faiths. I watched people cross themselves as they passed. I watched people stop while I was praying. I spoke with people who were reminded to go to their own churches or places of worship. I gave some people ashes. And I had many, many conversations.
“Why are you doing that?” they would ask pointedly.
“It’s a sign of our brokenness and sin. Today’s Ash Wednesday, and we are remembering our humanity, our mortality. Here, I have a card if you’re interested.”
They would take the card, and walk away. I don’t know what seeds were planted in them, but I know God was at work in us. We were tangible, living examples of humble, penitent, loving Christians. Christians more willing to accept our own sin than to point out the sins of others.
By the end of the morning I had given ashes to more than 75 people. That means 75 people went into the world as a witness. Throughout the day, Facebook reflected our ashes. Teenagers posted pictures of their ashes. Mothers, fathers, and business folk all changed their statuses to talk about getting to share the Gospel through the ashes on their heads. Just think of how many conversations these people had, imagine the witness they wore. Imagine the people they touched. Together, we were able to make a difference. I was covered in ashes, yet my heart was full of the working of Christ.
So, I challenge you to step out on faith and do an early public Ash Wednesday remembrance. Find a place. A Starbucks. A country diner. The local breakfast place. A local coffee shop. A place where people gather and pass by—lots of different people, not just people from your church. Ask your congregation to meet you there, and celebrate the beginning of Lent. Be a public witness in a way you never imagined.
I’ll be sitting at my Starbucks again this year, sipping my tea and waiting. I’ll remember to bring wet wipes this time, and hopefully to wear a black dress. I will be there, your community will be there, and so will Christ. The question is, will you?
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Terrified!
Terrified! by Randy Horick
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and continues for the next forty days (not counting Sundays). Christians around the world will remember Jesus’ sacrifice by giving up something, such as chocolate or video games, or by participating in Lenten Bible studies.
But the final Sunday before Lent begins, is Transfiguration Sunday, when we celebrate the time Jesus took three of his disciples—Peter, James, and John—to the top of a mountain and was transformed before their eyes. “[H]is clothes were amazingly bright, brighter than if they had been bleached white” (Mark 9:3), and Moses and Elijah appeared next to him. The event gave the three disciples a glimpse of Jesus’ resurrection body and affirmed that Jesus was the fulfillment of the law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah). But the Transfiguration was also a terrifying experience for Peter, James, and John. They were so afraid of what they saw that they didn’t know how to respond.
Fear is a common response from people in Scripture who have incredible encounters with God. When the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote a message on a wall in Babylon, King Belshazzar was so terrified that “[a]ll the color drained from his face” (Daniel 5:9). When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce Jesus’ birth, he had to say, “Don’t be afraid” (Luke 1:30). The angel who announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds likewise said, “Don’t be afraid!” (Luke 2:10).
We All Get Scared
Everyone feels fear at some time. During the hours before his arrest and execution, even Jesus sweated drops of blood while he prayed for God to spare him (see Luke 22:44). But he faced his fears with faith and trust, and his story didn’t end on the cross.
In some sense fear has defined the relationship between God and humans from the beginning. Fear has kept us from enjoying the type of relationship with God that God has always intended and desired. In the garden of Eden, after they had disobeyed God, Adam and Eve noticed they were naked and hid. The Hebrew word for “naked” also translates as “vulnerable.” Even though God had provided everything for them, they responded in fear to their perceived Perhaps Jesus was thinking of this story when he urged his listeners not to worry about what they would have to eat or drink or what clothes they would wear (see Matthew 6:25-34). Jesus knew that our fear leads us to put ourselves, not God, first. In fear, like Adam and Eve, we stop trusting God and try to do it all ourselves. Fear leads to selfishness, selfishness leads to sin, and sin separates us from Perfect Love Drives Out Fear
All of us experience times when we’re afraid to let go of ourselves enough to trust God completely. Sometimes, like the disciples who witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration, we react to our experiences of God with fear instead of joy. And sometimes, like the Israelites who ran into the Red Sea on their way out of Egypt, we’d rather return to an old way of life instead of facing our fears head on and seeing what God has in store for us. During the Lenten season, in times of trial, and when we are weak and have little to fall back on, we should remember that we cannot survive on our own. We must learn to trust in God and claim the truth of 1 John 4:18: “There is no fear in love, but God’s perfect love drives out fear.”
This article is also published as part of LinC, a weekly digital resource for youth small groups and Sunday school classes. The complete study guide can be purchased and downloaded here.
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Blinding Light into Lent
Blinding Light into Lent by Clifton Stringer
The harshest and most unwelcome light I can recall woke me up at 6 AM in Brownsville, TX during the mission trips on which my church sent the middle school youth group. Lights abruptly flipped on, my youth director's voice came crashing down upon our heads in the words of a too-cheerful song: "Rise, and shine, and give God the glory, glory!" That was quite a horrible and jarring way to wake up, and because of the early cataclysm it caused in my teenage psyche I will always love that song about Noah and the "arky arky." And I will always remember that wonderful unwelcome light.
On Transfiguration Sunday, we hear the voice of the Father speak out of a cloud: "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" This, as the Light of Jesus' divinity shines before Peter, James, John, and us, blinding.
The theme of light came before on Christmas Eve, as the Light of our God incarnate shone on a people in deep darkness. The Father's voice in Jesus' transfiguration bookends this theme of the light of the revelation of the Son of God, which also received an emphatic introduction in Jesus' baptism, when the Spirit descends and the Father's voice speaks: "This is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I am well pleased."
Transfiguration is the culmination and (temporary) end of this season of Light.
The light is not precisely gone. There is a light brighter even than the light of Jesus' transfiguration, a light which is the Church's sole reason for existing: the Light of Jesus' resurrection. But between the light of the Transfiguration and the light of the Resurrection there is a great chasm to be traversed.
This chasm we call Lent. Lent is a season of penance, fasting, and spiritual preparation for the feast of our Lord's resurrection. It seems the light of Christ's incarnation reveals much, too much, of us: it reveals the sins we would rather keep hidden, and it reveals the paths by which we avoid looking too closely at ourselves and our choices. Standing before the radiance of the Son of God, the ways in which we have become creatures of darkness are all the more clear.
And so we need Lent. We need the desert. We need the ashes on Ash Wednesday. We need the desolate places of the spiritual life, in order to journey from grace unto grace: from the grace of our creation, unto the double-grace of God's holy redemption.
So let us reach up, and let Jesus take us by the hand, and go where we do not wish to go. The desert beckons. The Spirit drives us out. And we will find, as we approach the terrible mystery of Good Friday, that even wandering in the desert, we are not without divine fire and cloud—just enough light—to guide us.
O God, who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
[from The Book of Common Prayer]
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Standing in the Footsteps
Standing in the Footsteps by Missy Buchanan
At last year’s Ash Wednesday service, my husband and I sat behind an older couple who had been our friends since we first joined the church thirty years before. The elderly pair had served in every imaginable church leadership position during their long lives. Even at age ninety-one, he still taught their adult Sunday school class. She had belonged to the same Methodist congregation since birth.
Years ago when their only child—a son—died tragically at age fourteen, longtime church members said it was the strong faith of the heartbroken couple that had led the rest of the community through the dark days of doubt. Now all these years later, they were still active in the church, supporting every youth program, mission effort, and building project. Incredibly generous and faithful, they were what most people would have described as pillars of the church.
As the first hymn of the Lenten service was announced, we watched the older couple struggle to get to their feet. It would have been understandable if they have chosen to remain seated, but they seemed determined to stand. No doubt their joints were aching and their energy was waning.
After we were seated again, we heard them discuss in loud “stage whispers” if they would go down to the front of the church for the imposition of ashes. She was concerned that she’d be slow and hold up the line. Maybe they should wait for the minister to come to them, she said. But after a brief back-and-forth conversation, they chose to go forward with the rest of the congregation.
When the moment came to get in line, the elderly woman purposely left behind her three-pronged cane. She clung to her elderly husband as they inched their way into the center aisle. At the same time my husband and I slipped out of our seats and took our places behind them in a line of familiar faces.
That’s when I experienced a holy moment. I glanced at the floor and saw the feet of this older couple. Sensible shoes, slow painful steps. I realized that we were literally and figuratively walking in their footsteps.
As the couple drew near to the ministers, I felt my eyes fill with tears. I was humbled by their powerful witness and faith. Though life was not easy, they pressed forward. They stopped and leaned on each other as they received the sign of the cross on their foreheads then began their trek up a side aisle.
Once we were seated again, I kept my eye on the line of congregants continuing to file past us as they made their way down the center aisle. There were several families with young children, single mothers, middle-aged professionals, retired empty-nesters and a large group of teenagers. I wondered if any of them had paid attention to the older couple who had gone before them. Had they seen them modeling courage in the face of uncertainty? Had they looked around to see other older adults who were also standing firm in faith?
One thing I know for sure. Caught up in our own hurried lives, we have a tendency to miss holy moments that are right in front of us. Sometimes all we have to do is look down to see the feet of those going before us in faith.
Each month, Missy Buchanan shares insight and strategies for rethinking 50-plus ministry. Her latest book, Aging Faithfully: 28 Days of Prayer, is now available. You can find Missy online at www.missybuchanan.com.
Connect with Missy: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn
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Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday by Nancy C. Townley
CALLS TO WORSHIP
Call to Worship #1:
L: Let all the inhabitants of the earth tremble, for the Lord is near!
P: Have mercy upon us, O Lord.
L: The night of darkness is upon us - we await in fear.
P: Have mercy upon us, O Lord.
L: Spare your people, O Lord. Heal and prepare us for service.
P: Let your love and healing mercies flood through us, Lord. AMEN.
Call to Worship #2:
L: This is a night for contemplation.
P: There is little rejoicing this night.
L: The time of learning and testing is at hand.
P: Strengthen us and give us courage, O Lord. AMEN.
Call to Worship #3:
[Using THE FAITH WE SING, p. 2273 “Jesus, We Are Here”, have a soloist sing each verse as directed]
L: In the midst of darkness we have come.
P: Heal us, Lord Jesus.
Soloist: singing verse 1 “Jesus, we are here”
L: Save us from the darkness of our souls.
P: Save us, Lord Jesus.
Soloist: singing verse 2 “Savior, we are here”
L: Let us follow you and obey your commands
P: Direct and guide us, Lord Jesus.
Soloist: singing verse 3 “Master, we are here”
L: Brighten our lives and lift our spirits.
P: Bring us to your glorious presence, Lord Jesus.
Soloist: singing verse 4 “Spirit, we are here”
L: AMEN.
P: AMEN.
Call to Worship #4:
L: Come into the light!
P: We know the darkness better. The Light frightens us.
L: Come into the presence of Love.
P: Our fears and doubts overwhelm us. We feel unable to move.
L: Come let God’s love wash away your sorrow.
P: Please help us. We are filled with fear and sorrow. Bring us healing. AMEN.
PRAYERS, LITANY/READING/BENEDICTION
Opening Prayer:
Lord, help us to know your powerful presence this night. We have come to this place shrouded in darkness both of night and of spirit. Bring us to your healing light. Lift our souls and spirits to receive your direction. In Christ’s Name, we pray. AMEN.
Prayer of Confession:
Just last Sunday we experienced such joy! We were on the mountain top with Jesus, witnessing his conversation with Moses and Elijah. Now we have been cast into the darkness. And this darkness is deeper than night - it is the darkness of the unknown. Tonight we will hear words that will chill our spirits. We will receive the mark of the ashes and be reminded of the sacrifice and commitment we are about to make for the journey. Forgive us for our fears and hesitancy, Lord. Heal our spirits. Enable us to enter into this time of learning and testing with courage and trust. For we ask this in Jesus’ Name. AMEN.
Words of Assurance:
The night is dark, but there is a Light which has overcome the darkness. He is the Light of the World - he will illuminate your pathway. Place your trust in him. AMEN.
Pastoral Prayer:
Tonight we receive the smudges of ashes. We come forward and are marked as disciples, as those who have been called, cleansed, forgiven, and healed. We do not step foot on this journey lightly - for it will not be easy. There will be times of great joy and wonder; and there will be times of confusion and fear. But through all of this, God is with us, guiding, comforting, leading us. We have raised in prayer names of those we love who need your healing mercies, O Lord. We have lifted up situations of pain, loneliness in confidence of your amazing grace. Though the night is dark, and there is much darkness in the world, we will place our trust in your Son, whom you have blessed and given to us. Help us to follow in His steps and place our trust in Him as we enter this Lenten journey; for it is in His name that we pray. AMEN.
Litany/Reading:
[Note: this may be used as the prelude to the imposition of the ashes, and should be done very thoughtfully, not rushed, shouted, or whispered]
Leader: Tonight you have heard the words of instruction, to pray in sincerity, to give of yourself and your substance for the benefit of others and not for your own recognition, to reach out in service expecting no reward, to face honestly who you are. We all have instances in our lives that bring us sorrow, shame, sadness. We all feel unworthy of following Christ into the Lenten journey. But Jesus has proclaimed us ready. He has offered to us the path of Light and hope.
Reader 1: I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly. I have given to you treasures, which are not to be collected, stored, and locked up - they are gifts to be used for others, for hope, healing, restoration.
Reader 2: Create in us clean hearts, O God, and renew right and wholesome spirits within us. Restore us to the joy of your salvation, for it is in you that we place our hope.
Leader: Come, now to the place where you will receive the mark of forgiveness and discipleship. Enter the journey which will lead to your healing and hope. Come, for all is ready.
Note: Have the ushers lead the people forward to where they will receive the mark of the ashes, either on their forehead or on the back of their left hand. The Worship Leader or the Pastor will place the ashes on the communicant, then they will return to their seat. When all have received the ashes, you may offer the following words:
Leader: God so loved God’s world, that the Son was sent to it, that healing and hope may be found. He is the Light of the World and in His Name, you have received the mark of discipleship. Lord, bless these people, who have received this mark. Heal and restore them. Help them to become true disciples, serving you all their days. In Jesus’ Name we pray. AMEN
Benediction: Though the night is dark, the Light of the world goes before you. God guides your steps and surrounds your life. Go in peace, ready to serve the One who has always loved you. AMEN.
ARTISTIC ELEMENTS
The traditional color for this evening is PURPLE or GRAY
Note: Consider putting a brief paragraph describing or explaining the symbolism used in your visual display in the worship bulletin. This a good teaching tool for the congregation.
DEFINITIONS:
Risers: Any structure or support which will raise a portion of worship center above the main level. Some risers may be a stack of books; others may be made from wood or whatever will give the necessary support to the object which is going to be placed on the riser. I also refer to benches or tables which may be placed to the side or in front of the worship center as risers. I have used pieces of 2”x 4” wood, stacked on top of each other to achieve the height I desired. Most of the time, the risers will be covered with fabric.
Worship Center: Because so many churches have different worship spaces, I have chosen to call the main space for worship display: the worship center. In some instances it may be referred to as the altar, the communion table, a platform - whatever is the focal point of the worship area.
Flowers/plants: I am not a “purist”, if the definition means having only live flowers and plants in the chancel/worship area. I believe that there are some really beautiful silk flowers which will suffice in times when live plants are not available. However, go with the tradition of your local church. Generally speaking, I like to use foliage plants (non-flowering or minimally flowering) as accent pieces. “Spiky” plants, such as: mother-in-law’s tongue, snake plant, are good when you desire a harsh, hard, angular effect. Fern (especially asparagus or Boston) are wonderful along with some ivys, to soften the effect.
Puddling the fabric: Currently interior decorators use the technique with draperies of letting the fabric spill to the floor in a heap, sort of a puddle. It is a less formal design. Puddling the fabric means not creating even, smooth edges (creating a flat panel).
THE ARTISTIC ELEMENT FOR TODAY:
SURFACE: Place several risers on the worship center. The tallest riser, approximately 1 foot above the main level of the worship center, should be placed to the upper left as you are facing the worship center. The other risers, about 4-6” high, may be placed, one at the center and the other slightly to the right of the middle one.
FABRIC: Cover the worship center with dark, purple fabric, so that it puddles down onto the floor. .
CANDLES: On the middle riser, place a white pillar candle, about 10” high, representing Christ. .Place a votive candle on each of the other risers
FLOWERS/PLANTS: No plants should be placed on the worship center.
ROCKS/WOOD: Piles of rocks and sticks may be placed at the base of the worship center near the dark fabric, to represent roughness and rubble.
OTHER: A brass cross may be placed on the top riser on the worship center with the Christ Candle. Place a layer of plastic wrap down on the worship center, carefully so that the ashes will not spill onto the fabric. Place an earthen ware pot or bowl on its side and have some ashes spilling out of it onto the plastic wrap. Have another bowl with ashes placed on a stand for the Pastor, so that he/she may be able to place the marks on each member of the congregation.
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Confession and Prayer (Psalm 51)
Confession and Prayer (Psalm 51) by Tracey Allred
It is said that confession is good for the soul. Although I know this is true, I’m not sure that my five-year-old son would agree. Confession is a challenge for him. For example, he recently gave himself a haircut. It was one of those discreet little trims that led us to wonder for several weeks why his hair looked a little different, but was only revealed by the barber at his next cut. Once discovered, my son acknowledged his sin, but mysteriously had no recollection of how or when it had happened. We got the whole story only much later, as we pieced his mumbled accounts together. Had he not been “exposed” by the barber, we may have never known. Truth be told, my son hoped that he would never get caught, and only reluctantly, halfheartedly confessed after he was discovered.
It’s easy to laugh at his childhood mischief, but I think my son’s attitude mirrors many of our attitudes toward confession. As we discuss great prayers of the Bible, however, we cannot overlook the importance of genuine confession in the prayer life of the believer.
Perhaps no one in Scripture learned a more humbling lesson about the importance of confession than David. God sought out David to be Israel’s king after Saul’s failure. God led Samuel, an unexpected leader, to anoint David (1 Samuel 16). Although young and inexperienced, David proved to be up to the job. He was a valiant soldier, a beloved military leader, and would be remembered as the greatest king of Israel.
David was, as Acts 13:22 put it, a man after God’s own heart. Even in his greatness, however, David failed miserably from time to time. Perhaps one of his greatest failures occurs in 2 Samuel 11. While his soldiers are away fighting, David lusts for and commits adultery with the wife of one of his soldiers, Uriah. When the wife, Bathsheba, becomes pregnant, David tries to trick Uriah into thinking that the child is his. This attempt fails when Uriah proves to be above David’s tricks. David then sends Uriah to the front lines of battle where Uriah is killed, allowing David the opportunity to marry Bathsheba. Needless to say, the Lord is not pleased with David’s actions and sends Nathan to confront David. In 2 Samuel 12, Nathan approaches David with a parable of a rich man who the story is about him. Indeed, David is the sinner, and the penalty of his sin will be great. David grieves and seeks forgiveness.
Psalm 51 is attributed to David as his prayer of confession after Nathan’s confrontation. It is a powerful example as David pleads for mercy and cleansing after acknowledging his great sin against God. Psalm 51 has been on the lips of many since David. It is a powerful prayer that brings full circle the realization, repentance, and redemption of the sinner. Like David, we have all failed God miserably at times. Sometimes we realize our sin right away, like Peter after his denial of Jesus. Other times, like David, our sin must be pointed out to us. Whatever the situation, we realize our need for repentance and confess our sins to God. We seek not only God’s forgiveness but also a clean heart and a right spirit. We also acknowledge our need to be broken in our sacrifice to God.
The words in Psalm 51 are powerful, but true confession is about more than saying the right words. Confession must be an attitude of utter repentance and humility. When David realized his sin (it did not take much for him to connect the dots after Nathan’s parable), he sought God’s forgiveness. David fell to his knees, grieved his failures, and cried out to God. This was not very kingly behavior, but David cared only about confessing and being forgiven.
This is what God requires of us as well. It is not enough to say that we’re sorry and then go on with our lives without true change taking place. When we truly confess our sins to God, it should be a gutwrenching, wholehearted acknowledgment of our sin and plea for forgiveness. Whatever our words, the result of our confession should be life change. There is an important thing to remember, however, regarding our personal confessions. Just as David learned, confessing our sins to God does not always equal a free pass on consequences. There may be times when God offers unexplainable mercy, but more often than not, we will still have to face the earthly consequences of our sins. David lost his child and peace in his family. Our own consequences vary, but it is important to realize that God’s forgiveness is worth far more than earthly consequences.
We are challenged to exercise and promote confession as a regular spiritual practice. Although David’s situation was steeped in sin, God wants confession to be part of our everyday lives as well. We are not to wait until we are in some type of huge, sin-filled situation like David’s before we confess. Confession should be part of our regular prayer lives as we acknowledge our imperfections and tendencies toward sin as human beings. It is also important not to exercise confession like my son, confessing our sin only after getting caught. God already knows the whole story. We cannot hide our sins any more than David did. God wants us to realize our sins and seek clean hearts.
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3 Perfect Songs for Ash Wednesday
3 Perfect Songs for Ash Wednesday by Jessica Miller Kelley
Crazy as it sounds, I love Ash Wednesday. Partially, I think, because it seems like such a mystical, old-world observance. Bowing my head to receive a cross of ashes while the pastor or priest intones, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” I could feel almost like I’m a robed penitent in some ancient cathedral.
But when it comes to music for this somber service, older hymns can’t stir my soul the way these three contemporary songs can.
1. “Beautiful Things” by Gungor
This gem made quite a splash at Catalyst in 2010, with its irregular cadence and haunting melody. Before I learned the verses, I could sing the chorus over and over like a Taize-style chant—and why not? The chorus is beautiful, and a simple, eloquent reminder of God’s grace and our own impermanence. “You make beautiful things / you make beautiful things out of dust. / You make beautiful things / you make beautiful things out of us.”
I first heard the song played with a full worship band during a series on Job, and the opening lyrics about pain and despair certainly make it a great choice for such a theme as well.
2. “Worlds Apart” by Jars of Clay
This one might be considered an “oldie” in the scheme of Christian music, from Jars of Clay’s 1995 debut album. My favorite song on that album is one that I probably didn't appreciate when I got that cassette tape in my Christmas stocking that year, but over time I’ve come to find it spiritually gut-wrenching—in a good way. The song, "Worlds Apart," uses the title phrase first in the sense of what a great chasm there is between what we are and the way we should be. "All I am for all You are / what I need and what I believe are worlds apart."
Toward the end of the song, the words "worlds apart" shift, becoming part of a prayer for God's help in bringing us closer to that ideal self: “Steal my heart and take the pain, wash my feet and cleanse my pride, take the selfish, take the weak, and all the things I cannot hide / . . . Take my world all apart. . . / watch the world I used to love fall to dust and blow away . . .”
The song is a radical (and terrifying) invitation to God to come into your life and do whatever it takes for you to serve God and the world in the most Christlike way possible. Perfect for leading people into the self-examination and self-improvement that often come with the season of Lent.
3. “Who Am I” by Casting Crowns
Lastly, this song by Casting Crowns evokes the change in perspective that should come with the start of Lent. Ash Wednesday’s “remember that you are dust” message speaks to the brevity and impermanence of life, and the weight one's relationship with God carries in comparison. “Who Am I” balances those concepts so perfectly:
"I am a flower quickly fading / here today and gone tomorrow / a wave tossed in the ocean / a vapor in the wind. / Still, You hear me when I'm calling / You catch me when I'm falling / and You told me who I am. / I am Yours."
That "still" is so poignant, offering the listener the dual comfort of knowing the difficulties of one's life are fleeting, and that despite our smallness—our dustiness, if you will—God still cares.
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Dust
Dust by Jessica Miller Kelley
I often say Ash Wednesday is my favorite liturgical holiday.
I discovered the wonder and beauty of high-church worship in college. Admittedly, this took several months of steady attendance at an Episcopal church, given that I grew up Disciples of Christ, a notoriously anti-creedal denomination.
Once involved in that Episcopal congregation, I observed Lent for the first time, beginning with that most unusual of high holy days, Ash Wednesday. I decided then and there that it was my favorite religious holiday." Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return," the priest intoned, marking an ashen cross on my forehead. While most ash impositions I've seen through the years end up looking like a smudgy thumbprint on the forehead, mine was a well-defined Greek cross an inch-and-a-half tall and wide. I wore it proudly, feeling a profound and silent connection with others I saw who had received ashes that day, knowing that they too embraced this ritual too often forgotten in most Protestant traditions.
I find the Ash Wednesday liturgy so meaningful because of those words spoken as the ashes are imposed: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." Combine that with the overall message of solemnity and repentance preached that day, and one will be reminded of the brevity of life, and the weight one's relationship with God carries, given the fleeting and relatively (to the "great scheme of things") insignificant nature of our earthly existence.
While many may take issue with my assertion that our lives are insignificant, let me explain that I cling to that thought out of horror that the burdens of stress, depression, and feelings of inadequacy may really matter in the long run. Rather, I cling to the hope that those things don't really matter, and that my petty human worries will, at the end of my days, seem like specks of dust in the vast expanse of infinite time and space. The writer of Ecclesiastes seems to understand this line of thinking, asserting "Everything is hevel." "Everything is meaningless," some English translations say it, but a more accurate translation is vapor, vanity, or dust. Everything is vapor. All we are is dust in the wind, as the song says.
I remember a night in college, during the semester I took Astronomy. Having learned just how vast the universe is, and how small even our whole galaxy is in comparison to all of space, I looked up at the sky with a new perspective. Distressed over whatever guy was causing me trouble at the time, I cried out to God, and yet at the same time thought, "Why should my problems matter? If the Milky Way is but a speck, how small is Earth, and how much smaller is my own aching heart?" Yet, in the midst of that existential realization, I believed that God still cared, no matter how small I am. It was I who needed to see my problems as but a speck.
I, for one, feel lucky to be dust.
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5 Themes for Ash Wednesday
5 Themes for Ash Wednesday by Lucy Lind Hogan
Every year on the Wednesday six and-a-half weeks before Easter Day, the church, the body of Christ, once again sets off on its Lenten journey. While we know that the cross, and ultimately resurrection, are our destination, we do not know what experiences and insights will meet us on our journey.
Preaching and worship for Ash Wednesday should generally be centered on five themes:
Ash Wednesday is the invitation into a lengthy preparation for our Lenten journey. You might reflect on all of the ways that we prepare for a journey or prepare for an important change in our life such as a wedding or the birth of a baby.
Unlike those joyful celebrations, we are preparing ourselves for repentance. This is a time to identify the ways that we have turned away from God, repent of those, and return. It is also a time to remind the congregation that our confession and repentance is grounded in God’s love and mercy. We do not repent so that God will love us but rather because God loves us.
Reconciliation between God and the people of God is, therefore, an important theme of the Ash Wednesday service. How do we come together with God? How do we come together with friend and family and stranger alike?
Fasting is another important theme of Ash Wednesday. Fasting reminds us that we are not passive, helpless individuals at the mercy of the world around us. We are able to, with God’s help, take control of our lives and reject those things that hurt and harm.
Ultimately, Ash Wednesday reminds us of our mortality. We are all on a journey that will end with our death—we are indeed ashes, and, one day, we will return to the earth from which we were formed. But we also declare that this is not the end but only the beginning of a journey that will last through eternity.
What are some creative ways pastors and church leaders can share these themes as the Christian community begins its observation of Lent?
adapted from: Just in Time! Lenten Services, by Lucy Lind Hogan Copyright©2009 by Abingdon Press. Used with permission.
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The Invisible Cross
The Invisible Cross by Adam Thomas
For many years, I became queasy at the thought of having ashes scraped across my forehead — not because they are a reminder of my own mortality, not because I dislike being called to repent, but because I couldn’t square the action with Jesus’ command in the Gospel for the day. In the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus takes to task those who do things merely for show rather than for dedicated spiritual discipline. “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them,” he says. Don’t sound a trumpet when you give alms. Don’t pray ostentatiously on street corners so others will see you. Don’t disfigure your face when you fast. Give alms, pray, and fast in secret, “and your father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Don’t disfigure your face. These words stuck in my mind while walking to the altar rail, while watching the priest’s trembling thumb touch the powder, while feeling the gritty scrape first vertical then horizontal on my forehead, like sooty sandpaper. Why are we disfiguring our faces when Jesus just told us not to?!
I was preparing a children’s sermon when I realized I had it all wrong. As far back as I can remember, I had not seen the ashes as anything other than a disfigurement, a liturgically pretentious sign that I was a pious person. Everything changed when I tried to explain Lent to a group of five-year-olds.
“Did you know that you have a cross on your forehead,” I asked, arching my eyebrows as high as they could go. They all looked back at me with those funny, squinched up faces that kids make when they are quizzical. Several shook their heads emphatically. “It’s true,” I said, “but the cross on your forehead is invisible.”
That got their attention. They began looking at each other’s foreheads. I continued, “When you were baptized, a priest took some oil and made a cross right here” — I demonstrated on myself — “and said, ‘You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.’
“That cross is still there, but you can’t really see it. It’s a reminder that you belong to God and that God loves you very much.” They nodded, open-mouthed. “Today is a special day because today we are going to use some special dust to make that cross appear on your foreheads again.”
On Ash Wednesday, we don’t disfigure our faces so others can see how pious we are. In fact, it’s just the opposite. By making visible again the cross that we received at Baptism, we acknowledge our impiety, our lack of repentance, our apathy to the suffering in the world. The renewed visiblity of our baptismal crosses indicts us for our indifference to our baptismal promises.
We look in the mirror and see a pair of lines, crude charcoal calligraphy. And we remember what it means to be a follower of Christ, to be sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever. We remember that we have only a limited time on this earth to make a difference in the lives of those we meet, to show forth the love and light of God to a world too familiar with darkness. Disfigurement happens when we rub the ashes away and forget that there is still a cross written on our foreheads.
On Ash Wednesday we make that cross visible, if but for a brief time. This small, crudely drawn cross reminds us of another cross, the one that Jesus calls his followers to pick up when they decide to follow him. All too often, this cross also fades into invisibility, a wooden victim of our lethargy and misplaced priorities. During the season of Lent, we are given the opportunity to discern how to make that cross visible again.
Read more posts from Adam Thomas at his blog, Where the Wind.
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Sermon Starter for Ash Wednesday: Blood and Dust
Sermon Starter for Ash Wednesday: Blood and Dust by Jessica Miller
Last Ash Wednesday, I gave blood for the first time since before becoming pregnant with my daughter almost two years earlier. My father and his mother are/were big blood donors, and after 9/11, I overcame my fear and became a donor myself. My iron is sometimes too low and I get deferred, and I almost always get warm and lightheaded and have to lay back and put my feet up. And I hate squeezing the stress ball every ten seconds, because it makes the skin on my arm tug uncomfortably around the needle. But still, it's an important thing to do, if you can, so I do.
Giving blood is a sacramental act, in a way--the shedding of one's blood for the benefit of others, to save others' lives. Since it happened to be Ash Wednesday, it wasn’t hard to see the theological significance linking this act and the act of receiving a cross of ashes on my head this evening. The imparting of blood... the imposition of ashes... "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return..."
I always love Ash Wednesday, and find such meaning in that reminder of our own impermanence. Coupled with the themes of penitence and self-sacrifice, the imposition of ashes reminds me of our seeming insignificance before God. And yet, as the psalmist says, "what is man that you are mindful of him?" In a great, big universe, we seem very small, and yet God loves and cares for us. I am dust, and yet I gave part of my body away today. I am theoretically nothing, and yet I am something to whomever receives that life-saving fluid. I am broken and flawed, and yet God says I have something to give. This paradox embodies the lesson I take from today: that my body--my life--is worth nothing unless I give it away.
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Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday
From Forbid Them Not
Publisher Abingdon Press
Publication Date 2/2002
Binding Miscellaneous
ISBN 132568IP
This item is available through subscription only
Any worship leader serious about planning worship that includes children must read this series!
There seem to be two opposing camps when it comes to children's participation in congregational worship.
On one side are those who say that worship is really for adults—that children should be taught to behave until they appreciate what is going on, or that they (and their parents) should be relieved by the provision of a children's church or other activity during the worship hour.
On the other side are those who say that worship should be reworked entirely, to make it appealing to children. Proponents of this side claim that once adults loosen up and begin to worship as children worship, they will not miss the staid old adult-oriented forms.
In this series, Carolyn C. Brown carves out a middle ground. Any worship leader serious about planning worship that includes children must read this series!
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Ash Wednesday and Lent
Ash Wednesday and Lent
From Just in Time
Author Cynthia Danals
Publisher Abingdon Press
Publication Date 9/2011
Binding E-Book
ISBN 9781426751004
Retail Price $204.00
This item is available for a one-time purchase individually, or as part of a Ministry Matters Premium Subscription.
The Just in Time! series will help you plan worship services and other elements of worship. Busy pastors or worship leaders, as well as creative worship planners will find lots of ideas that can be used as is or used to tailor to their worship setting from entire services to individual prayers and more. Just in Time! series includes individual volumes of the series for Ministry Matters.
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B. Ash Wednesday
B. Ash Wednesday
From New Handbook of the Christian Year
Author Hoyt L. Hickman
Publisher Abingdon Press
Publication Date 10/2010
Binding E-Book
ISBN 9781426730740
This item is available through subscription only
The New Handbook of the Christian Year: Second Edition, by Hoyt L. Hickman, Don E. Saliers, Laurence Hull Stookey, and James F. White. Lectionary, prayers, responses, and Communion services updated for consistency with books of worship from several denominations. Includes: glossary of Christian symbols, glossary of liturgical terms, annotated bibliography, index of Scripture readings, index of Psalms, and an ecumenical service for the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
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SIGN OF THE CROSS.
SIGN OF THE CROSS.
From Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling
Author Rodney Hunter
Publisher Abingdon Press
Publication Date 9/2011
Binding E-Book
ISBN 9781426749896
This item is available through subscription only
"Stands without parallel in the era of modern pastoral care and counseling."--Howard Clinebell.
More than 1,200 articles from 600 ecumenical contributors. ePub Edition.
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Three Ways to Get Ready to Celebrate Easter
Click on the images below to review small group studies and worship helps, fun activities that reach children, and Palm/Passion Sunday ideas. Share links with your leaders.
Study & Worship Resources
#LivingStone: A Free Multimedia Worship Series for Lent from Ministry Matters by Myca Alford Posted on February 4th, 2013 8
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Lent Displays for Teaching and Worship
Lent Displays for Teaching and Worship by Kasey Hitt, Betsy Hall, Peggy Jennings
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What's Your Lent Study Style?
What's Your Lent Study Style? by Jessica Miller Kelley, Betsy Hall
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The Sanctuary for Lent 2014
The Sanctuary for Lent 2014 by Sue Mink
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God's Gift of Life
God's Gift of Life by multiple authors Posted on December 1st, 2013
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He Set His Face to Jerusalem
He Set His Face to Jerusalem by Richard B. Wilke
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A World Worth Saving
A World Worth Saving by George Hovaness Donigian
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Essential Lent
Essential Lent by The Pilgrim Press
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Lent Is Not Rocket Science
Lent Is Not Rocket Science by The Rt. Rev. W. Nicholas Knisely
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Finding Life: From Eden to Gethsemane--The Garden Restored
Finding Life: From Eden to Gethsemane--The Garden Restored by Jane Rubietta
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Journey to the Cross
Journey to the Cross
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Being Hope: United Methodists in Global Mission
Being Hope: United Methodists in Global Mission by Jack Amick
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Listen
Listen by Rueben P. Job
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Voices for Good Friday
Voices for Good Friday by Amanda Burr
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The Way of the Cross
The Way of the Cross by multiple authors
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A Violent Grace
A Violent Grace by Michael Card
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The God Story Flash Drive
The God Story Flash Drive by Jacob Armstrong
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The God Story Daily Readings
The God Story Daily Readings
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Resurrecting Easter
Resurrecting Easter by Kate Moorehead
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Lent for Everyone: Matthew, Year A
Lent for Everyone: Matthew, Year A by N. T. Wright
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Worship in a Flash for Lent & Easter
Worship in a Flash for Lent & Easter
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The Way
The Way by Adam Hamilton
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Lent with St. Francis
Lent with St. Francis by Diane M. Houdek
Give Up Something Bad for Lent
Give Up Something Bad for Lent by James W. Moore
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Hope Beyond Your Tears
Hope Beyond Your Tears by Trevor Hudson
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The Miracles of Jesus
The Miracles of Jesus by Wessel Bentley
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Parables and Passion
Parables and Passion by John Indermark
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What Wondrous Love
What Wondrous Love
Holy Week and Easter come alive in these challenging video commentaries by academic luminaries, coupled with masterpiece illustrations by John August Swanson.
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Love Set Free
Love Set Free by Martin L. Smith
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A Place at the Table
A Place at the Table by Chris Seay
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A Practical Christianity
A Practical Christianity by Jane Shaw
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Making Sense of the Cross
Making Sense of the Cross by David J. Lose
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Final Words
Final Words by Adam Hamilton
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Cross-Shattered Christ
Cross-Shattered Christ by Stanley Hauerwas
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Forty Days of Fruitful Living
Forty Days of Fruitful Living by Robert Schnase
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Shadows, Darkness, and Dawn
Shadows, Darkness, and Dawn by Thomas R. Steagald
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24 Hours That Changed the World - Kit
24 Hours That Changed the World - Kit by Adam Hamilton
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Easter from the Back Side
Easter from the Back Side by J. Ellsworth Kalas
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Gospeled Lives
Gospeled Lives by John Indermark
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A Season for the Spirit
A Season for the Spirit by Martin L. Smith
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Listening at Golgotha
Listening at Golgotha by Peter Storey
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Jesus' Final Week
Jesus' Final Week by Cindy Bunch
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Lent for Children
Pretzel Sunday by Robert W. Sapp
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Quick Links for Lent with Children
Quick Links for Lent with Children
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Children and Holy Week
Children and Holy Week by Margaret Ann Crain
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An Intergenerational Lenten Fair
An Intergenerational Lenten Fair by Nancy Gammill
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How Do I Explain Easter to My Child?
How Do I Explain Easter to My Child? by Carolyn C. Brown
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Lent for Kids: Focusing on God's Time
Lent for Kids: Focusing on God's Time by Jenni Duncan
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Quick Links for Lent
Quick Links for Lent
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5" Christ's Story Hand Cross with Story Box Display
t5" Christ's Story Hand Cross with Story Box Display
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Sharing the Easter Faith with Children
Sharing the Easter Faith with Children by Carolyn C. Brown
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The Easter Garden
The Easter Garden by multiple authors
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24 Hours That Changed the World for Older Children
24 Hours That Changed the World for Older Children by Adam Hamilton
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Palm Passion Sunday
Two Sundays in One by Shane Raynor
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Palm/Passion Sunday
Palm/Passion Sunday by Kasey Hitt
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Stations of the Cross: Projectable Art
Stations of the Cross: Projectable Art by Jessica Miller Kelley
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Lessons and Carols for Palm/Passion Sunday
Lessons and Carols for Palm/Passion Sunday by Bromleigh McCleneghan
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Can Faith Guarantee Success?
Can Faith Guarantee Success? by Philip Wise
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Walking with Joseph
Walking with Joseph by John D.I. Essick
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Free Lent PowerPoint (Palm Sunday)
Free Lent PowerPoint (Palm Sunday) by Common English Bible
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Sermon Starter: Palm/Passion Sunday
Sermon Starter: Palm/Passion Sunday by Circuit Rider
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A Moment of Triumph
A Moment of Triumph by John P. Gilbert
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This Sunday
This Sunday
Weekly help planning worship including semon starters, Calls to Worship, prayers, and other worship elements.
This Sunday, 2 March 2014
Transfiguration Sunday - Exodus 24:12-18; Psalm 99; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9
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This Sunday, 9 March 2014
First Sunday of Lent - Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7; Psalm 32; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11
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