LEADER S GUIDE
RETURN TO ME A Service For Ash Wednesday Complete Script For Worship Leaders The Opening Verse is read silently by the congregation or aloud by the pastor or a reader: Yet even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. Joel 2:12 The Confession and Absolution is read responsively by the pastor and the congregation, interspersed with verses of the hymn, sung by the congregation to the tune Der Am Kreuz 87 87 88 77: Jesus, grant that balm and healing in your holy wounds I find, Ev ry hour that I am feeling pains of body and of mind. Should some evil thought within tempt my treach rous heart to sin. Show the peril, and from sinning keep me from its first beginning. Should some lust or sharp temptation fascinate my sinful mind, Draw me to your cross and passion, and new courage I shall find. Or should Satan press me hard, let me then be on my guard, Saying, Christ for me was wounded, that the tempter flee confounded. P Hear our Lord s invitation and promise in the words of the prophet Joel: 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. Let us return to the Lord in repentance and confess our sins together, asking his forgiveness, confident in his steadfast love. 12
C Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. P Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! C Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. If the world my heart entices with the broad and easy road, With seductive, sinful vices, let me weigh the awful load You were willing to endure. Help me flee all thoughts impure And to master each temptation, calm in prayer and meditation. P Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. C Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. P God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He sent his only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, to carry our sins in his own body to the cross. For the sake of Jesus and by his command, I announce to you that your sins are forgiven, in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. C The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Ev ry wound that pains or grieves me by your wounds, Lord, is made whole; When I m faint, your cross revives me, granting new life to my soul. Yes, your comfort renders sweet ev ry bitter cup I meet; For your all-atoning passion has procured my soul s salvation. The Children s Message is delivered by the pastor or other worship leader: (Needed: a small dish of ashes) P We re going to play the game Simon Says. According to the rules of the game, you have to copy my actions and do what I tell you to do, but only if I first say the words, Simon says. Let s practice. Simon says, Raise both hands in the air. Good! Everyone did that correctly. Here s another one: Pat the top of your head. Did I catch anyone with that? You should not have patted the top of your head. Why not? (Let children answer.) I didn t say, Simon says, so you should not have copied me. Now, everyone stand up, and let s play again. Simon says, Stand on one foot. Sit down. Did I catch anyone on that? You should still be standing because Simon didn t tell you to sit. Let s play again. Simon says, Turn around. Simon says, Sit down! In our game, Simon told you to turn around, and you did. Today is Ash Wednesday, a day to remember that God tells us to turn around. When we sin we turn away from 13
God. We want to do what we want, and not what God wants. God wants us to repent, to be sorry, for our sins. He wants us to turn around to him and ask his forgiveness. God says, Return to me. He loves us and he wants to forgive us. He sent Jesus to die on the cross for us. Jesus was punished for our sins. Because Jesus died and rose from the dead, God forgives our sins. We call today Ash Wednesday because in Bible times people showed that they were sorry for their sins by putting ashes on their heads. Soon I m going to invite everyone in church to come forward and receive a mark of ashes. I will dip my finger in the ashes and draw a little cross on the forehead of each person. Will someone volunteer right now to receive a cross of ashes? The ashes help us remember our sins but they don t hurt or burn us! (Make a cross of ashes on the hand or forehead of a volunteer) Why do I draw the shape of a cross? (Let children respond) The cross reminds us that Jesus died on the cross for us. Because he died for us and came alive again, we know God loves us. We can turn around and return to God. He will forgive our sins. Let s pray: Jesus, we are sorry for our sins. We want to turn away from them and turn to you. Thank you for dying on the cross so our sins are forgiven. Amen. Simon says, You may go back to your seats now. I invite you and everyone here to come forward and receive the mark of ashes. The Hymn is sung by the congregation to the tune Munich 76 76 D: I lay my sins on Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God; He bears them all and frees us from the accursed load. I bring my guilt to Jesus to wash my crimson stains Clean in his blood most precious till not a spot remains. The Imposition of Ashes takes place at this time, according to local custom. The Hymn is sung by the congregation to the tune Aberystwyth 77 77 D: 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! 14
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! The Scripture Reading, Genesis 3:14-19, is read by the pastor: P The Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. To the woman he said, I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. And to Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, You shall not eat of it, cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. The Meditation: To Dust You Shall Return is delivered by the pastor: P God planted the garden of Eden. In the garden God placed the man he created from the dust of the earth, and with the man, the woman God created for him. God caused trees to spring up from the earth and Adam and Eve were free to enjoy the fruit of those trees all but one. They must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Disobedience would bring death. Eve turned from God to the tempting voice of the serpent and, with Adam, ate the fruit forbidden to them. With disobedience came death, disobedience and death passed down to all of their descendants, including you and me. Dust figured in the creation of the garden and its keeper, Adam, and dust figured in God s judgment. The tempting serpent would eat dust as it crawled along the ground. The dust of the earth would no longer cooperate with Adam, producing thorns and weeds along with its crops. Finally, the dust from which he had been created would claim Adam in death Adam and Eve and all of their descendants, including you and me. But the dust to which we return is not the end of the story. God promised that a child of the woman would come to defeat the serpent. He would walk this dusty earth and, bruised in death, the coming one would crush the tempter. Dying, the coming one would destroy death. 15
The Scripture Reading, Joel 2:12-13, is read by the pastor: P 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. The Meditation: Return To Me is delivered by the pastor: P The coming one, the child of the woman who would destroy the serpent who would he be? What would he be like? Down through the centuries God revealed his unfolding plan and promise in the words of the prophets. The coming one would be the child of a virgin. He would be born among the people of Israel, into the tribe of Judah, of the royal line of King David. The coming one would be a mighty king and a suffering servant. He would rule forever yet death would claim him. God s people waited for the coming one. They listened in hope to the words of the prophets. They turned from God in rebellion and God graciously called them back: Yet even now return to me with all your heart. We bear the inherited, corrupting stain of sin. We turn from God in rebellion. We know the Word and will of God and just as readily as our first parents in our thoughts, words and actions we do what is forbidden to us. On this Ash Wednesday, through all of Lent and every day of our lives, our gracious God calls to us: Yet even now return to me with all your heart. Marked with ashes, we remember that we too will return to dust in death. But the ashes are a mark of repentance. In his steadfast love, God sent his Son, the promised child of the woman, to suffer death, taking on himself the penalty for our sins. With faith in Jesus, the promised one, we return to God in repentance, mourning our sins and seeking his mercy and forgiveness. The Scripture Reading, 1 Peter 2:21-25, is read by the pastor: P For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. 16
Tune... O Du Liebe Meiner Liebe 87 87 D 1 & # c 1? # c 6 & # 6? # 11 & # 11? # # # 36
The Closing Hymn is sung by the congregation to the tune O Du Liebe Meiner Liebe 87 87 D: Jesus, refuge of the weary, blest Redeemer, whom we love, Fountain in life s desert dreary, Savior from the world above: Often have your eyes, offended, gazed upon the sinner s fall; Yet upon the cross extended, you have borne the pain of all. Do we pass that cross unheeding, breathing no repentant vow, Though we see you wounded, bleeding, see your thorn-encircled brow? Yet your sinless death has brought us life eternal, peace and rest; Only what your grace has taught us calms the sinner s deep distress. Jesus, may our hearts be burning with more fervent love for you; May our eyes be ever turning to behold your cross anew Till in glory, parted never from the blessed Savior s side, Graven in our hearts forever, dwell the cross, the Crucified. 37