Worship Bulletin
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
Ash Wednesday
Introduction
On Ash Wednesday we begin our forty-day journey toward Easter with a day of fasting and repentance. Marking our foreheads with dust, we acknowledge that we die and return to the earth. At the same time, the dust traces the life-giving cross indelibly marked on our foreheads at baptism. While we journey through Lent to return to God, we have already been reconciled to God through Christ. We humbly pray for God to make our hearts clean while we rejoice that “now is the day of salvation.” Returning to our baptismal call, we more intentionally bear the fruits of mercy and justice in the world.
Psalm: Psalm 51:1-17
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love. (Ps. 51:1)
God, be merciful to me
because of your faithful love.
Because of your great compassion,
erase all the wrongs I have done.
Scrub away my guilt.
Wash me clean from my sin.
I know I have done wrong.
I remember that sin all the time.
I did what you said is wrong.
You are the one I have sinned against.
I say this so that people will know
that I am wrong and you are right.
What you decided is fair.
I was born to do wrong,
a sinner before I left my mother’s womb.
You want me to be completely loyal,
so put true wisdom deep inside of me.
Remove my sin and make me pure.
Wash me until I am whiter than snow!
Let me hear sounds of joy and happiness again.
Let the bones you crushed be happy again.
Don’t look at my sins.
Erase them all.
God, create a pure heart in me,
and make my spirit strong again.
Don’t push me away
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Your help made me so happy.
Give me that joy again.
Make my spirit strong and ready to obey you.
I will teach the guilty how you want them to live,
and the sinners will come back to you.
God, spare me from the punishment of death.
My God, you are the one who saves me!
Let me sing about all the good things you do for me!
My Lord, I will open my mouth and sing your praises!
You don’t really want sacrifices,
or I would give them to you.
The sacrifice that God wants is a humble spirit.
God, you will not turn away someone who comes with a humble heart and is willing to obey you.
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.
Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling
1 Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
calling for you and for me.
See, on the portals he's waiting and watching,
watching for you and for me.
Refrain
"Come home, (Come home,)
come home! (come home!)
You who are weary, come home."
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
calling, "O sinner, come home!"
2 Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,
pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not his mercies,
mercies for you and for me? Refrain
3 Oh, for the wonderful love he has promised,
promised for you and for me!
Though we have sinned, he has mercy and pardon,
pardon for you and for me. Refrain
Text: Will L. Thompson, 1847-1909
First Reading: Isaiah 58:1-12
Shortly after the return of Israel from exile in Babylon, the people were troubled by the ineffectiveness of their fasts. God reminds them that outward observance is no substitute for genuine fasting that results in acts of justice, such as feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, and clothing the naked. Sincere repentance will lead to a dramatic improvement of their condition.
1 Shout out, do not hold back!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet day after day they seek me
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness
and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments,
they delight to draw near to God.
3 “Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day,
and oppress all your workers.
4 Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
will not make your voice heard on high.
5 Is such the fast that I choose,
a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.
If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
10 if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you continually,
and satisfy your needs in parched places,
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters never fail.
12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to live in.
Word of God, Word of Life!
Thanks Be to God!
Psalm 103
LORD, you are full of compassion and mercy,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love;
you will not always accuse us,
nor will you keep your anger forever.
You have not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor repaid us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is your steadfast love for those who fear you.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far have you removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion for his children,
so you have compassion for those who fear you, O LORD.
For you know well how we are formed;
you remember that we are but dust.
Second Reading:
1 Corinthians 15:20-28, 45-49
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died
For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come
through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But
each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has
destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all
his enemies under his feet.” The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all
things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all.
Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being&”; the last Adam became a
life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so
are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.
Word of God, Word of Life!
Thanks Be to God!
Together in One Spirit
One church, One body
One faith, One Lord
Together in one Spirit
Rejoicing in His word.
One church, One body
One faith, One Lord
Together in one Spirit
Rejoicing in His word.
All created equal,
Together we belong.
United in one body,
Rejoicing in one song.
One church, One body
One faith, One Lord
Together in one Spirit
Rejoicing in His word.
All created equal,
Together we belong.
United in one body,
Rejoicing in one song.
United in one body,
Rejoicing in one song.
Gospel: John 5:24-29
“I assure you, anyone who hears what I say and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life. They will not be judged guilty. They have already left death and have entered into life. Believe me, an important time is coming. That time is already here. People who are dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. Life comes from the Father himself. So the Father has also allowed the Son to give life. And the Father has given him the power to judge all people because he is the Son of Man.
“Don’t be surprised at this. A time is coming when all people who are dead and in their graves will hear his voice. Then they will come out of their graves. Those who did good in this life will rise and have eternal life. But those who did evil will rise to be judged guilty.
The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to You, O Christ
Just As I Am, without One Plea
1 Just as I am, without one plea,
but that thy blood was shed for me,
and that thou bidd'st me come to thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
2 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.
3 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,
4 Just as I am; thy love unknown
has broken ev'ry barrier down;
now to be thine, yea, thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Text: Charlotte Elliott, 1789-1871
INVITATION TO LENT
P: 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.
P: 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
P: 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.
C: Have mercy on us, O God.
P: 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.
C: Have mercy on us, O God.
P: Our past unfaithfulness, the pride, envy, hypocrisy, and apathy that have infected our lives, we confess to you.
C: Have mercy on us, O God.
P: Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people, we confess to you.
C: Have mercy on us, O God.
P: Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to share the faith that is in us, we confess to you.
C: Have mercy on us, O God.
Our neglect of human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty, we confess to you.
C: 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.
C: Have mercy on us, O God.
P: Our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us, we confess to you.
C: Have mercy on us, O God.
P: Restore us, O God, and let your anger depart from us.
C: Hear us, O God, for your mercy is great.
IMPOSITION OF ASHES
P: 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.
Remember that you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.
P: Accomplish in us, O God, the work of your salvation,
C: that we may show forth your glory in the world.
P: By the cross and passion of your Son,
our Savior,
C: bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection.
P: 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.
Prayers of the People
Reconciled by God’s mercy and sustained by God’s presence, let us pray for the world and its needs.
A brief silence.
Guide your church, O God. Accompany all Christians in this season of repentance, and renew our faith in the riches of grace you give to us in baptism. God of Grace,
Hear our prayer.
Heal this earth, O God. Satisfy the needs of every parched place, every diverse ecosystem, every suffering creature. Though all return to dust, grant beauty and purpose to each living thing. God of Grace,
Hear our prayer.
Restore the nations, O God. Let your healing spring up quickly across the world. Give all in authority the will to loose the bonds of injustice and let any who are oppressed go free. Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
Deliver your people, O God. Comfort any whose hearts are rent by grief, uphold any who are sick, bring food to those who hunger, and give housing to all without shelter. God of Grace,
Hear our prayer.
Bless this assembly, O God. Reconcile us to one another and to you. Strengthen our resolve to fast from evil, open our hands in sharing, and quicken our prayer. Come alongside all who are ill or struggling. By your grace, make your presence known among all who call to you for healing. We remember any who are sick or suffering those named in our prayer bowl, those on our prayer list, and those we name aloud or in the silence of our hearts. (PAUSE) God of Grace,
Hear our prayer.
Please feel free to offer petitions at this time.
Hold us forever, O God. We thank you for all who now know their treasure in heaven, and for Martin Luther and all who on earth proclaimed your abounding, steadfast love. Hear us, O God.
Your mercy is great.
Receive our prayers, O God, through Jesus Christ, our strength and salvation.
Amen.
Lenten Litany
P: During Lent we wander, as though through a wilderness
C: with our ancestors in the faith, with Christ to the cross.
P: We come face to face with our sin.
C: We see starkly our needs and those of our neighbors.
P: Yet we are never alone.
C: We journey with God’s sure and certain promises.
P: I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
C: I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
P: Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.
C: So shall your descendants be.
P: The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand
C: and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
P: So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground
C: that you, O Lord, have given me.
P: O God, you are my God. I seek you; my soul thirsts for you;
C: my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
P: Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters,
C: and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!
P: The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land,
and the Israelites no longer had manna;
C: they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.
P: The 40 days of Lent are a journey with promise:
C: God’s promises of the full table, the salvific cross and the empty tomb.
Thanks be to God!
P: Almighty God, Father, ☩ Son, and Holy Spirit, bless you now and forever.
C: Amen
P: 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.
C: Thanks be to God.