| Greeting and Welcome
Prelude – What Wondrous Love is This?
Lighting of the Candles
Hymn of Invocation – O Lord, throughout These Forty Days (LSB 418)
O Lord, throughout these forty days You prayed and kept the fast; Inspire repentance for our sin, And free us from our past.
You strove with Satan, and You won; Your faithfulness endured; Lend us Your nerve, Your skill and trust In God’s eternal Word.
Though parched and hungry, yet You prayed And fixed Your mind above; So teach us to deny ourselves, Since we have known God’s love.
Be with us through this season, Lord, And all our earthly days, That when the final Easter dawns, We join in heaven’s praise.
+ Preparation +
Invocation P: In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. C: Amen.
Psalm – Psalm 51:1–3, 10–12; antiphon: v. 17 P: The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; C: a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. P: Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; C: according to Your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. P: Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, C: and cleanse me from my sin! P: For I know my transgressions, C: and my sin is ever before me. P: Create in me a clean heart, O God, C: and renew a right spirit within me. P: Cast me not away from Your presence, C: and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. P: Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, C: and uphold me with a willing spirit.
All: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
P: The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; C: a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
Confession P: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. C: But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Silence for reflection on God’s Word and for self-examination.
P: Let us then confess our sins to God our Father. C: Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against You 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; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. P: The ashes of our sin remind us of the curse of death and our need for Your redemption. C: For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us and renew us. Mark us with Your cross and take our sins from us. Help us to delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the glory of Your holy name. Amen.
Imposition of Ashes You are invited to come forward for the imposition of ashes. The ashes are a sign of repentance, and we are marked with the sign of the cross as a sign of the hope that is ours in Christ Jesus. The pastor places the ashes on the forehead of each person in the sign of the cross, saying:
P: Remember that from dust you came and to dust you shall return.
After receiving the ashes, each person returns to his place in silence.
Solo – Consecration
Absolution P: Almighty God in His mercy delivered His Son over to the death of the cross to bear the burden of our brokenness, becoming sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. The ashes of your sin have been taken away and you have been marked and redeemed by Christ, the Crucified. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. C: Amen.
+ Word +
Prayer of the Day P: Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, You despise nothing You have made and forgive the sins of all who come to You in repentance and faith. C: Cleanse us from the ashes of our sin that we may hold fast to the promise that we have been marked and redeemed by the Christ, the Crucified, P: who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. C: Amen.
Old Testament Reading – Joel 2:12–19 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep and say, “Spare your people, O LORD, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’” Then the LORD became jealous for his land and had pity on his people. The LORD answered and said to his people, “Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.
Epistle – 2 Corinthians 5:20—6:10 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
Holy Gospel – Luke 10:38–42 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
Hymn – One Thing’s Needful (LSB 536)
One thing’s needful; Lord, this treasure Teach me highly to regard. All else, though it first give pleasure, Is a yoke that presses hard! Beneath it the heart is still fretting and striving, No true, lasting happiness ever deriving. This one thing is needful; all others are vain— I count all but loss that I Christ may obtain!
How were Mary’s thoughts devoted Her eternal joy to find As intent each word she noted, At her Savior’s feet reclined! How kindled her heart, how devout was its feeling, While hearing the lessons that Christ was revealing! All earthly concerns she forgot for her Lord And found her contentment in hearing His Word.
Wisdom’s highest, noblest treasure, Jesus, is revealed in You. Let me find in You my pleasure, And my wayward will subdue, Humility there and simplicity reigning, In paths of true wisdom my steps ever training. If I learn from Jesus this knowledge divine, The blessing of heavenly wisdom is mine.
Nothing have I, Christ, to offer, You alone, my highest good. Nothing have I, Lord, to proffer But Your crimson-colored blood. Your death on the cross has death wholly defeated And thereby my righteousness fully completed; Salvation’s white raiments I there did obtain, And in them in glory with You I shall reign.
Therefore You alone, my Savior, Shall be all in all to me; Search my heart and my behavior, Root out all hypocrisy. Through all my life’s pilgrimage, guard and uphold me, In loving forgiveness, O Jesus, enfold me. This one thing is needful; all others are vain— I count all but loss that I Christ may obtain!
Sermon
Apostles' Creed I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life + everlasting. Amen.
Offering
Offertory – Such Love
Lyrics provided for reflection
Such love, pure as the whitest snow, such love, weeps for the shame I know, such love, paying the debt I owe O Jesus, such love! Such love, stilling my restlessness, Such love, filling my emptiness, Such love, showing me holiness O Jesus, such love. Such love, spring from eternity, Such love, streaming through history, Such love, fountain of life to me O Jesus, such love; O Jesus, such love.
+ Sacrament +
The Words of Our Lord P: Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said: “Take, eat; this is My + body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me.” In the same way also He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying: “Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My + blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
Proclamation of Christ P: As often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. C: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. P: O Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, in giving us Your body and blood to eat and to drink, You lead us to remember and confess Your holy cross and passion, Your blessed death, Your rest in the tomb, Your resurrection from the dead, Your ascension into heaven, and Your coming for the final judgment. So remember us in Your kingdom and teach us to pray:
Lord’s Prayer 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.
Pax Domini P: The peace of the Lord be with you always. C: Amen.
Distribution
Distribution Hymn – Savior, When in Dust to Thee (LSB 419)
Savior, when in dust to Thee Low we bow the_adoring knee; When, repentant, to the skies Scarce we lift our weeping eyes; O, by all Thy pains and woe Suffered once for us below, Bending from Thy throne on high, Hear our penitential cry!
By Thy helpless infant years, By Thy life of want and tears, By Thy days of deep distress In the savage wilderness, By the dread, mysterious hour Of the_insulting tempter’s pow’r, Turn, O turn a fav’ring eye; Hear our penitential cry!
By Thine hour of dire despair, By Thine agony of prayer, By the cross, the nail, the thorn, Piercing spear, and torturing scorn, By the gloom that veiled the skies O’er the dreadful sacrifice, Listen to our humble sigh; Hear our penitential cry!
By Thy deep expiring groan, By the sad sepulchral stone, By the vault whose dark abode Held in vain the rising God, O, from earth to heav’n restored, Mighty, reascended Lord, Bending from Thy throne on high, Hear our penitential cry!
Blessing
Benediction P: The grace of our Lord + Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. C: Amen.
Hymn – Jesus, I Will Ponder Now (LSB 440)
Jesus, I will ponder now On Your holy passion; With Your Spirit me endow For such meditation. Grant that I in love and faith May the image cherish Of Your suff’ring, pain, and death That I may not perish.
Make me see Your great distress, Anguish, and affliction, Bonds and stripes and wretchedness And Your crucifixion; Make me see how scourge and rod, Spear and nails did wound You, How for them You died, O God, Who with thorns had crowned You.
Yet, O Lord, not thus alone Make me see Your passion, But its cause to me make known And its termination. Ah! I also and my sin Wrought Your deep affliction; This indeed the cause has been Of Your crucifixion.
Grant that I Your passion view With repentant grieving. Let me not bring shame to You By unholy living. How could I refuse to shun Ev’ry sinful pleasure Since for me God’s only Son Suffered without measure?
If my sins give me alarm And my conscience grieve me, Let Your cross my fear disarm; Peace of conscience give me. Help me see forgiveness won By Your holy passion. If for me He slays His Son, God must have compassion!
Graciously my faith renew; Help me bear my crosses, Learning humbleness from You, Peace mid pain and losses. May I give You love for love! Hear me, O my Savior, That I may in heav’n above Sing Your praise forever.
Postlude + + +
+ WORSHIP LEADERS + Preacher/Celebrant/Liturgist – Pastor Scott Jonas Communion – Tony Petzoldt Sound/Video – Ken Clark Organist/Pianist/Soloist – Seth Carruthers | 
