GREETING
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Let us pray.
Almighty and ever-living God, you
hate nothing you have made, and
you forgive the sins of all who are
penitent.
C: Create in us new and honest
hearts, so that, truly repenting of
our sins, we may receive from
you, the God of all mercy, full
pardon and forgiveness through
your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior
and Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, now and forever.
Amen.
FIRST READING: Genesis
27:1-4, 15-23; 28:10-17
Chapter 27
1When Isaac was old and his
eyes were dim so that he
could not see, he called his
elder son Esau and said to
him, "My son"; and he
answered, "Here I am." 2He
said, "See, I am old; I do not
know the day of my death.
• 3Now then, take your weapons,
your quiver and your bow, and go
out to the field, and hunt game
for me. 4Then prepare for me
savory food, such as I like, and
bring it to me to eat, so that I
may bless you before I die."
15Then Rebekah took the best
garments of her elder son Esau,
which were with her in the
house, and put them on her
younger son Jacob;
16and
she put the skins of the kids
on his hands and on the smooth
part of his neck. 17Then she
handed the savory food, and the
bread that she had prepared, to
her son Jacob.
18So he went in to his father, and
said, "My father"; and he said,
"Here I am; who are you, my
son?" 19Jacob said to his father,
"I am Esau your firstborn.
•
I have done as you told me;
now sit up and eat of my game,
so that you may bless me." 20But
Isaac said to his son, "How is it
that you have found it so quickly,
my son?" He answered,
"Because the LORD your God
granted me success." 21Then
Isaac said to Jacob, "Come near,
that I may feel you, my son, to
know whether you are really my
son Esau or not."
22So
Jacob went up to his father
Isaac, who felt him and said, "The
voice is Jacob's voice, but the
hands are the hands of Esau."
23He did not recognize him,
because his hands were hairy like
his brother Esau's hands; so he
blessed him.
Chapter 28
10Jacob left Beer-sheba and
went toward Haran.
•
11He
came to a certain place and
stayed there for the night,
because the sun had set. Taking
one of the stones of the place, he
put it under his head and lay
down in that place. 12And he
dreamed that there was a ladder
set up on the earth, the top of it
reaching to heaven; and the
angels of God were ascending and
descending on it.
•
13And
the LORD stood beside him
and said, "I am the LORD, the God
of Abraham your father and the
God of Isaac; the land on which
you lie I will give to you and to
your offspring; 14and your
offspring shall be like the dust of
the earth, and you shall spread
abroad to the west and to the east
and to the north and to the south;
and all the families of the earth
shall be blessed in you and in your
offspring.
•
15Know
that I am with you and will
keep you wherever you go, and will
bring you back to this land; for I will
not leave you until I have done what
I have promised you." 16Then Jacob
woke from his sleep and said,
"Surely the LORD is in this place —
and I did not know it!" 17And he was
afraid, and said, "How awesome is
this place! This is none other than
the house of God, and this is the
gate of heaven."
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
PSALM: Psalm 32:1-5
1Happy are they whose transgressions are
forgiven, and whose sin is put away!
c: Happy are they to whom
the Lord imputes no guilt,
and in whose spirit there is no guile!
3While
I held my tongue, my bones withered away,
because of my groaning all day long.
C: For your hand was heavy upon me day and
night;
my moisture was dried up as in the heat of
summer.
5Then
I acknowledged my sin to you, and did not
conceal my guilt.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to
the Lord.” Then you forgave me the guilt of my sin.
C: Therefore all the faithful will make their
prayers to you in time of trouble;
when the great waters overflow,
they shall not reach them.
7You are my hiding-place; you preserve me
from trouble;
you surround me with shouts of
deliverance.
C: “I will instruct you and teach you in the
way that you should go;
I will guide you with my eye.
Do not be like horse or mule, which have
no understanding;
who must be fitted with bit and bridle, or
else they will not stay near you.”
1C: Great are the tribulations of the
wicked; but mercy embraces those who
trust in the Lord.
11Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in
the Lord;
shout for joy, all who are true of heart.
•
SECOND READING: 2 Corinthians 5:20b--6:10
A reading from 2 Corinthians.
20bWe entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled
to God. 21For our sake he made him to be sin who
knew no sin, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God.
6:1As we work together with him, we urge you
also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2For
he says,
“At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now
is the day of salvation! 3We are putting
no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no
fault may be found with our ministry,
4but as servants of God we have
commended ourselves in every way:
through great endurance, in afflictions,
hardships, calamities, 5beatings,
imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless
nights, hunger;
6by
purity, knowledge, patience, kindness,
holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7truthful
speech, and the power of God; with the
weapons of righteousness for the right
hand and for the left; 8in honor and
dishonor, in ill repute and good repute.
We are treated as impostors, and yet are
true;
9as
unknown, and yet are well known; as
dying, and see—we are alive; as
punished, and yet not killed; 10as
sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor,
yet making many rich; as having nothing,
and yet possessing everything.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
(Red Hymnal p. 252)
Return to the Lord, your
God,
for he is gracious and
merciful,
slow to anger, and
abounding in steadfast
love.
GOSPEL: Mark 9:30-37
The holy gospel according to Mark.
Glory to you, O Lord.
30They
went on from there and passed through
Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it;
31for he was teaching his disciples, saying to
them, "
The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human
hands, and they will kill him, and three days
after being killed, he will rise again." 32But
they did not understand what he was saying
and were afraid to ask him.
33Then they came to Capernaum; and when
he was in the house he asked them, "What
were you arguing about on the way?" 34But
they were silent, for on the way they had
argued with one another who was the
greatest. 35He sat down, called the twelve, and
said to them,
"Whoever wants to be first must be last of all
and servant of all." 36Then he took a little child
and put it among them; and taking it in his
arms, he said to them, 37Whoever welcomes
one such child in my name welcomes me, and
whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but
the one who sent me.
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
SERMON
HYMN OF THE DAY: Chief of Sinners Though I
Be (Red Hymnal # 609)
1 Chief of sinners though I be,
Jesus shed his blood for me,
died that I might live on high,
lives that I might never die.
As the branch is to the vine,
I am his, and he is mine.
2 Oh, the height of Jesus' love!
Higher than the heav'ns above,
deeper than the depths of sea,
lasting as eternity.
Love that found me--wondrous thoughtfound me when I sought him not.
3 Only Jesus can impart
balm to heal the wounded heart,
peace that flows from sin forgiv'n,
joy that lifts the soul to heav'n,
faith and hope to walk with God
in the way that Enoch trod.
4 Chief of sinners though I be,
Christ is all in all to me;
all my wants to him are known,
all my sorrows are his own.
He sustains the hidden life
safe with him from earthly strife.
5 O my Savior, help afford
by your Spirit and your word!
When my wayward heart would stray,
keep me in the narrow way;
grace in time of need supply
while I live and when I die.
INVITATION TO LENT
Friends in Christ, today with the whole
church we enter the time of
remembering Jesus’ passover from death
to life, and our life in Christ is renewed.
•
We begin this holy season by
acknowledging our need for repentance
and for God’s mercy. We are created to
experience joy in communion with God,
to love one another, and to live in
harmony with creation. But our sinful
rebellion separates us from God,
our neighbors, and creation, so that we do not
enjoy the life our creator intended.
As disciples of Jesus, we are called to a discipline
that contends against evil and resists whatever
leads us away from love of God and neighbor. I
invite you, therefore, to the discipline of Lent—
self-examination and repentance, prayer and
fasting, sacrificial giving and works of love—
strengthened by the gifts of word and sacrament.
Let us continue our journey through these forty
days to the great Three Days of Jesus’ death and
resurrection.
CONFESSION OF SIN
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God
and of one another.
Most holy and merciful God,
C: we confess to you and to one another, and
before the whole company of heaven, that
we have sinned by our fault, by our own
fault, by our own most grievous fault, in
thought, word, and deed, by what we have
done and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart, and
mind, and strength. We have not loved our
neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven
others as we have been forgiven.
Have mercy on us, O God.
We have shut our ears to your call to serve as Christ
served us. We have not been true to the mind of
Christ. We have grieved your Holy Spirit.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Our past unfaithfulness, the pride, envy, hypocrisy,
and apathy that have infected our lives, we
confess to you.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our
exploitation of other people, we confess to you.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our
failure to share the faith that is in us, we confess
to you.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Our neglect of human need and suffering, and our
indifference to injustice and cruelty, we confess to you.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Our false judgments, our uncharitable thoughts toward
our neighbors, and our prejudice and contempt toward
those who differ from us, we confess to you.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of
concern for those who come after us, we confess to
you.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Restore us, O God, and let your anger depart from
us.
Hear us, O God, for your mercy is great.
IMPOSITION OF ASHES
Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust
of the earth. May these ashes be a sign of our
mortality and penitence, reminding us that only
by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ are we given
eternal life; through the same Jesus Christ, our
Savior and Lord. C: Amen.
Accomplish in us, O God, the work of your salvation,
C: that we may show forth your glory in the world.
By the cross and passion of your Son, our Savior,
C: bring us with all your saints to the joy of his
resurrection.
Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins
through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all
goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us
in eternal life.
C: Amen.
INTERCESSORY RESPONSE O Lord, Hear My
Prayer (Red Hymnal # 751)
O Lord, hear my prayer,
O Lord, hear my prayer:
when I call, answer me.
O Lord, hear my prayer,
O Lord, hear my prayer:
come and listen to me.
OFFERING
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your
presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of your
salvation,
and uphold me with your free Spirit.
OFFERING PRAYER
God our provider,
C: you have not fed us with bread alone, but
with words of grace and life.
Bless us and these your gifts, which we receive
from your bounty, through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
DIALOGUE
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
PREFACE
It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should
at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to
you, almighty and merciful God, through our Savior
Jesus Christ.
You call your people to cleanse their hearts and
prepare with joy for the paschal feast, that, renewed
in the gift of baptism, we may come to the fullness of
your grace.
And so, with all the choirs of angels, with the church
on earth and the hosts of heaven, we praise your
name and join their unending hymn:
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY
Holy, holy, holy Lord,
Lord God of pow’r and might:
Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
THANKSGIVING AT THE TABLE
You are indeed holy, almighty and merciful God.
You are most holy, and great is the majesty of
your glory. You so loved the world that you
gave your only Son, so that everyone who
believes in him may not perish but have
eternal life.
We give you thanks for his coming into the
world to fulfill for us your holy will
and to accomplish all things for our salvation.
In the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took
bread, and gave thanks;
broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this for
the remembrance of me.
Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and
gave it for all to drink, saying:
This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you
and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.
Do this for the remembrance of me.
For as often as we eat of this bread and drink
from this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death
until he comes. Remembering, therefore, his
salutary command, his life-giving passion and
death, his glorious resurrection and ascension,
and the promise of his coming again, we give
thanks to you, O Lord God Almighty, not as we
ought but as we are able; we ask you
mercifully to accept our praise and
thanksgiving and with your Word and Holy
Spirit to bless us, your servants,
and these your own gifts of bread and wine, so
that we and all who share in the body and
blood of Christ may be filled with heavenly
blessing and grace, and, receiving the
forgiveness of sin,
may be formed to live as your holy people and
be given our inheritance with all your saints.
To you, O God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be
all honor and glory in your holy church, now
and forever.
LORD’S PRAYER (Red Hymnal p. 112)
Lord, remember us in your kingdom and teach us to
pray.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy
name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us; and
lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
INVITATION TO COMMUNION
All who thirst, all who hunger, come and be
filled with the goodness of God.
COMMUNION
The body of Christ, given for you.
The blood of Christ, shed for you.
Amen.
LENTEN PRAYER
Let us pray.
Merciful God, accompany our journey through
these forty days. Renew us in the gift of
baptism, that we may provide for those who are
poor, pray for those in need, fast from selfindulgence, and above all that we may find our
treasure in the life of your Son, Jesus Christ, our
Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
BLESSING
The blessing of God Almighty, the
wisdom and power of ☩ Christ Jesus, and
the light of the Holy Spirit be among you
and remain with you always.
Amen.
SENDING SONG The Church of Christ, in
Every Age (Red Hymnal # 729)
1 The church of Christ, in ev'ry age
beset by change, but Spirit-led,
must claim and test its heritage
and keep on rising from the dead.
2 Across the world, across the street,
the victims of injustice cry
for shelter and for bread to eat,
and never live before they die.
3 Then let the servant church arise,
a caring church that longs to be
a partner in Christ's sacrifice,
and clothed in Christ's humanity.
4 For he alone, whose blood was shed,
can cure the fever in our blood,
and teach us how to share our bread
and feed the starving multitude.
5 We have no mission but to serve
in full obedience to our Lord;
to care for all, without reserve,
and spread his liberating word.
DISMISSAL
Go in peace. Remember the poor.
Thanks be to God.
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New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National
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