Psalm 51:1-17

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; in your great compassion blot out my offenses.
Wash me through and through from my wickedness, and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my offenses, and my sin is ever before me.
Against you only have I sinned and done what is evil | in your sight; so you are justified when you speak and right in your judgment. 
Indeed, I was born steeped in wickedness, a sinner from my mother’s womb.
Indeed, you delight in truth deep within me, and would have me know wisdom deep within.
Remove my sins with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be purer than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness; that the body you have broken may rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my wickedness.
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 to me the joy of your salvation and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.
Let me teach your ways to offenders, and sinners shall be restored to you.
Rescue me from bloodshed, O God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
For you take no delight in sacrifice, or I would give it. You are not pleased with burnt offering.
The sacrifice of God is a | troubled spirit; a troubled and broken heart, O God, you will not despise.          

 
Prayer of the Day
Almighty and ever-living God, you hate nothing you have made, and you forgive the sins of all who are penitent. 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.

Old Testament Reading          Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Word of God, Word of Life. Thanks be to God.

The Epistle Lesson          2 Corinthians 5:20b--6:10
Word of God, Word of Life. Thanks be to God.

Gospel      Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21        

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. 

I invite you, therefore, to the discipline of Lent…

Confession of Sin
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.

Most holy and merciful God,
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.
Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.
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.
Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.
Our past unfaithfulness, the pride, envy, hypocrisy, and apathy that have infected our lives, we confess to you.
Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.
Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people, we confess to you.
Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.
Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to share the faith that is in us, we confess to you.
Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.
Our neglect of human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty, we confess to you.
Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.
Our false judgments, our uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us, we confess to you.
Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.
Our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us, we confess to you.
Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.
Restore us, O God, and let your anger depart from us.
Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy on us.

Please come forward now to receive ashes as your mark of repentance.

Imposition of Ashes
“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”
Genesis 3: 19
If at home: “I remember that I am dust, and to dust I shall return”
“The grass withers, and the flowers fade; but the word of God stands forever”
Isaiah 40: 8

Accomplish in us, O Lord, the work of your salvation,
that we may show forth your glory in the world.
By the cross and passion of your Son, our Lord,
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.
Amen.

*The Lord’s Prayer
Lord, remember us in your Kingdom as you have taught us to pray: 
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.

*Benediction
Go forth into the world to serve God with gladness; be of good courage; hold fast to that which is good; render to no one evil for evil; strengthen the fainthearted; support the weak; help the afflicted; honor all people; love and serve God, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit, and remembering the hungry and the poor.

And may Almighty God, Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit, bless you now and forever. 
Amen.