We are “A Welcoming Community of Faith, Hope, Mission & Outreach sharing Christ’s love”

We are here to “Make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

 

Ash Wednesday emphasizes a dual encounter. We encounter our own mortality,                     and we encounter God through confessing our sins within the community of faith.

 

Online Worship

Website: www.littlefallsumc.org

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@lfumc

 

 

GATHERING & PRAISE

​

PRELUDE  

 

WELCOME

 

†CALL TO WORSHIP

Leader: Come, all who seek God’s presence. Come, all who long for renewal.

All: We come, marked by ashes, reminded of our frailty, yet embraced by God’s grace.

Leader: Is this not the fast that God chooses? To loose the bonds of injustice, to set the oppressed free?

All: We come not only to repent but to be transformed—to fast from indifference and feast on God’s love.

Leader: Remember, you are dust, but in Christ, you are made new.

All: We turn our hearts to the Lord, ready to walk the path of repentance, grace, and renewal.

Leader: Come, let us worship the God who calls us from dust to life, from fasting to feasting in God’s presence!

All: Amen! Let us worship the Lord!

 

†OPENING PRAYER              Ash Wednesday                                 UMH 353

 All: O God, maker of everything and judge of all that you have made, from the dust of the earth you have formed us and from the dust of death you would raise us up. By the redemptive power of the cross, create in us clean hearts and put within us a new spirit, that we may repent of our sins and lead lives worthy of your calling, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

†OPENING HYMN     Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days      UMH 269

 

Lord who throughout these forty days

For us did fast and pray

Teach us with You to mourn our sins

And close by You to stay

 

As You with Satan did contend

And did the victory win

O give us strength in You to fight

In You to conquer sin

 

As You did hunger and did thirst

So teach us gracious Lord

To die to self and so to live

By Your most holy word

 

And thro' these days of penitence

And thro' Your passion tide

Forevermore in life and death

O Lord with us abide

 

Abide with us that through this life

Of doubts and hope and pain

As Easter of unending joy

We may at last attain

 

LISTENING FOR GOD’S WORD

 

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION    

 

Pastor: Merciful Savior, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, and wherever we need You most this holy night, enter in and change us, we pray.  Amen.

 

OLD TESTAMENT LESSON          Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

 

 Blow the trumpet in Zion;
   sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
   for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near—
2 a day of darkness and gloom,
   a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness spread upon the mountains,
   a great and powerful army comes;
their like has never been from of old,
   nor will be again after them
   in ages to come.

Yet even now, says the Lord,
   return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13     rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord your God,
   for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love,
   and relenting from punishment.
14 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?

15 Blow the trumpet in Zion;
   consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
16     gather the people.
Consecrate the congregation;
   assemble the aged;
gather the children,
   even infants at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room
   and the bride her canopy.

17 Between the vestibule and the altar,
   let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep.
Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
   and do not make your heritage a mockery,
   a byword among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
   ‘Where is their God?’ ”

 

RESPONSIVE READING               Psalm 51:1-17          UMH 785

 

Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon

 

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
   according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
   blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
   and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
   and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
   and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
   and blameless when you pass judgment.
5 Behold, I was born iniquity, and I have

    been sinful since my mother conceived me.

6 You desire truth in the inward being;
   therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
   wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
   let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
   and blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
   and put a new and right spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
   and do not take your holy spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
   and sustain in me a willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
   and sinners will return to you.

14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
   O God of my salvation,
   and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.

15 O Lord, open my lips,
   and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you have no delight in sacrifice;
   if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
   a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

 

†GOSPEL LESSON                  Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

 

Concerning Almsgiving

 

6 “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

 

Concerning Prayer

 

5 “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 6 But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

 

Concerning Fasting

 

16 “And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

 

Concerning Treasures

 

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 

MESSAGE                         From Dust To Grace              Rev. Jin Kook Kim

 

Good evening, Church Family! We have gathered here to observe Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent. We start our Lenten journey today, and as a church, we take the journey together through this service. I pray God leads us to spiritual growth and experience God’s blessings on our Lenten journey.

 

What image of Ash Wednesday do you have? What do you expect for Ash Wednesday? Many of us think of the imposition of ashes on our foreheads because we impose ashes on our foreheads every Ash Wednesday. Why do we impose ashes on our forehead? Because we want to remember and confront our own mortality.

 

Who were we? Where are we from? We are from dust. God created us with dust. As we know well, when God created the first human being, Adam, God made him with dust and breathed God’s breath, which was life, into Adam, and he became alive. In Genesis 3:19, God tells Adam, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Church family, we are from dust, and we shall return to dust. This is our mortality, humility, and the transient nature of human life. We often think that we are great beings. We often think that we are powerful and that our ability comes from ourselves. However, we can do everything because of God’s breath, because of God’s power, and because of God’s grace. We are nothing without God’s love and grace. Ashes are a kind of dust. Ashes serve as a visible sign of our mortality. By imposing ashes on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday as the first day of Lent, we want to remember and remind ourselves of our mortality during the Lenten season because Lent is the time to remember and remind ourselves of our mortality.

 

Church family, let us remember our mortality not only today, and tonight, but also during the Lenten season. We are from dust, and to dust, we shall return. We are dust, but God made us great beings through God’s breath, God’s power, and God’s love and grace. We become who we are because of God’s grace.

 

Lent is the time to remember we were sinners before God and the time to repent our sins before God. The main meaning of Jesus’ sacrificial love on the cross is forgiveness of our sins which we committed before God. We were short of God’s glory by committing sins before God. No one is free from sin in the world. As Adam sinned against God, as all people in the Bible committed sins before God, we sinned before God and we have to pay the cost of our sins. However, with God’s grace, God sent Jesus into the world to pay the cost of our sins through his death on the cross instead of us and gave us forgiveness.

 

Do you remember what John, the Baptist, proclaimed to the people in his ministry? He said, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.”  John helped people to prepare themselves for God’s forgiveness by repenting their sins. Lent is the time for us to remember that we were sinners and to repent our sin that we commit in our lives.

 

Ashes are a visible sign of our repentance. As we see in the Old Testament, people wore sackcloths and poured ashes over their whole bodies when they repent their sins. Why? Ashes represented human mortality and the consequences of sin. By covering themselves in ashes, people acknowledged their sins, unworthiness, and dependence on God’s mercy for forgiveness. By imposing ashes on the forehead, we express our acknowledgment of our sin and intention to repent our sin, and we request God for God’s mercy of forgiveness.

 

Church Family, I pray we have Lent as the time for us to remember we were sinners before God and the time to repent our sins before God. When we get ashes on our forehead, let us impose ashes in our hearts to remember our mortality and sinful nature to observe the Lenten season.

 

The key words of Lent, such as mortality, sin, and repentance, would make you feel hopeless, quiet, and downcast. Does Lent look like that? No, not at all. This is because we will see how gracious God is and how wonderful Jesus’ sacrificial love for us is. By remembering, reminding, and acknowledging our mortality and sinful nature, we will see how desperately we needed God’s love and grace, and how faithfully God provided God’s grace through Jesus’ sacrificial love already, and how faithfully God keeps providing God’s grace to us in our lives.

 

During Lent, our meditation on our mortality and sinful nature will lead us to meditate on our need for God’s grace. Our meditation on our need for God’s grace will lead us to meditation on God’s grace that God has already given to us through Jesus’ sacrificial love. The meditation will help us to see how faithfully God has continued to offer God’s grace in our lives every day in our lives. We will be filled with gratitude and joy for God’s grace and Jesus’ sacrificial love during the Lenten season.

 

For me, a parent of three kids, raising kids is a great joy but not easy. Raising kids often makes me recall my childhood, my parents, their love, and sacrifice for me. All memories lead me to be thankful for my parents’ love and sacrifice, although I am sorry for their sacrifice, commitment, and care with their love for me. When I recall their love, my heart is filled with gratitude, although I acknowledge my mistakes and faults that I made. My gratitude and joy are much bigger than any other thing. Whenever I recall my parents’ love, I am grateful and happy.

 

Likewise, Lent is the time for us to remind ourselves of God’s love and grace through Jesus’ sacrificial love on the cross through the meditation on our mortality, sin, and repentance. Our Lenten journey is our spiritual journey from dust to grace, from mortality to salvation, and from our sin and repentance to God’s forgiveness and embrace.

 

Church Family, God invites us to this Lenten journey from dust to grace. Let us take the spiritual journey together for God’s blessings of spiritual growth and ultimate joy! Amen.

 

REFLECTION HYMN             Just as I Am, Without One Plea         UMH 357

 

Just as I am without one plea,

but that thy blood was shed for me,

and that thou bidst me come to thee,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

 

Just as I am and waiting not

to rid my soul of one dark blot,

to thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

 

Just as I am though tossed about

with many a conflict, many a doubt,

fightings and fears within, without,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

 

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;

sight, riches, healing of the mind,

yea, all I need in Thee to find,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

 

Just as I am, thou wilt receive,

wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;

because thy promise I believe,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

 

Just as I am, thy love unknown

hath broken every barrier down;

now, to be thine, yea Thine alone,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

 

RESPONDING TO GOD’S WORD

 

 PRAYER OF CONFESSION   (from the UM Book of Worship) 

 

Pastor: Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world. Most Merciful God, we are children of dust and unworthy of the favors and goodness you shower upon us.  We have not loved you as you have loved us, nor have we lived as we ought, and our years are soon gone.  

 

All: O God, have mercy upon us.  

 

 Pastor: Lift us above every past regret and present failure; reveal to us our true selves. Give us grace to accept your mercy, and the courage to live by your promises.

 

All: Grant us your forgiveness and peace. We have no other hope, except in You.  Amen.

 

WORDS OF ASSURANCE

 

 Pastor: God’s love is never ending. God is always present with and for us. As we journey through the days of Lent, may we come to know even more completely the depth and wideness of God’s love.  In the love of Christ, you are forgiven.

 

All: In the love of Christ, you are also forgiven.  Amen.

 

THE LENTEN ASHES

 

Silent Prayer of Preparation and the Lord’s Prayer

 

 All: 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.  Lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.  For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.

 

† IMPOSITION OF ASHES

 

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

 

† CLOSING HYMN                  Amazing Grace               UMH 378

 

Verse 1

Amazing grace how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost but now am found

Was blind but now I see

 

Verse 2

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear

And grace my fears relieved

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed

 

Verse 3

The Lord has promised good to me

His Word my hope secures

He will my shield and portion be

As long as life endures

 

Verse 4

Through many dangers toils and snares

I have already come

'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far

And grace will lead me home

 

Verse 5

Yea when this flesh and heart shall fail

And mortal life shall cease

I shall possess within the veil

A life of joy and peace

 

Verse 6

When we've been there ten thousand years

Bright shining as the sun

We've no less days to sing God's praise

Than when we first begun

 

†SENDING FORTH 

 

Pastor: O God of our salvation, as we go forth into this season of repentance and reflection, of turning and returning, may we trust in your mercy, seek Christ’s reign in our lives, and rely upon the Spirit's power. 

 

All: Through Jesus Christ, who is the path to forgiveness and new life, we pray. Amen.

 

†POSTLUDE

† All who are able, please stand.