LENT 2024

We welcome you below to participate in our virtual LENT with us. It begin with ASH WEDNESDAY and then proceeds towards the 40 Days of Lent ending with HOLY WEEK.

Each week our church will be studying a Lent Study on ZOOM and on some days in person . Please join us on our weekly Lenten studies.

For Ash Wednesday we invite you to bring a small dish of potting soil moistened with a drop of oil, a small bowl of water, paper and pen. This will be the ash which you will place upon your forehead.

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Friends and neighbors,

we pause to observe Ash Wednesday together as a faith community.

We remember that God made us from fragile, blessed dust

And breathes through us the breath of life and love.

From dust we are created in God’s image

and to God’s good dust we shall return.

With dust and oil we claim the mark of God’s beloved creature.

Today we begin our 40-day Lenten journey

to discover who we are created to be as God’s beloved.

In daily practices of prayer and service

we will embark upon this Lenten journey.

We follow Jesus, God’s Beloved Child,

bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh

in whom we see God’s image most clearly.

Settle into your seat, close your eyes and imagine a place that brings you comfort and peace. Breathe in the goodness of that space. Breathe forth the goodness that is within you.

Be still and know that I am God

Be still and know that I am

Be still and know that I

Be still and know that

Be still and know

Be still and

Be still

Be

Tonight begins our journey through Lent, Holy Week, and Easter.

And like any well-prepared traveler,

we confess that we want to pack our bags to make sure we are comfortable

for our 6-week journey.

But Ash Wednesday is about leaving baggage behind

and braving the unknown carrying nothing but the mark of God’s beloved.

In this vulnerable place,

we confess that we want to be surrounded by all of the things

that make us feel better about ourselves,

including things we think that God needs in order to love us.

And yet God whispers to us that we are made in the divine image

and that faithfulness to that knowledge is all we need for the journey of life.

So let us ponder what it is that we may let go of this Lent,

in order to help us hear more clearly the stories

of Jesus’ extravagant love for all, and to follow him more bravely and confidently.

Traditionally Ash Wednesday is a time to consider the reality of sin in our lives, our failures to live up to the promise of the image of God. Psalm 51 is known as the classic “Penitential Psalm” used to give voice to our sorrow for sin and to our hope for forgiveness.

Psalm 51

Have mercy, tender God, forget that I defied you.

Wash away my sin, cleanse me from my guilt.

I know my evil well, it stares me in the face,

Evil done to you alone before your very eyes.

How right your condemnation! Your verdict is clearly just.

You see me for what I am: frail, a sinner.

You love those centered in truth; teach me your hidden wisdom.

Wash me with fresh water, wash me bright and clean.

Fill me with happy songs! Let the bones you bruised now dance,

Shut your eyes to my sin, make my guilt disappear.

Creator, reshape my heart, God, steady my spirit.

Do not cast me aside stripped of your holy spirit.

Save me, bring back my joy, support me, strengthen my will,

Then I will teach your way and sinners will turn to you.

Help me, stop my tears, and I will sing your goodness.

Lord, give me words and I will shout your praise.

Adapted from The Psalter, translated by the International Committee on English in the Liturgy©1995 Archdiocese of Chicago

Marking with Ashes

You are invited now to mark your foreheads or hands:

Remember that you are God’s beloved dust,

and to God’s beloved dust you shall return.

"May the God of all mercy and grace, who calls us to return and repent, bless you and keep you in this holy season of Lent. As you have received the ashes as a sign of humility and a reminder of your mortality, may you also embrace the promise of God's unfailing love and forgiveness.

May the Lord guide your steps on this path of renewal, leading you to deeper faith, greater love, and enduring hope. May the discipline of Lent — prayer, fasting, and acts of kindness — draw you closer to the heart of God and to the joys that await us in the resurrection.

As we depart from this sacred gathering, though dispersed in body, let us remain united in spirit, committed to supporting and uplifting one another in our journey of faith.

And now, may the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you always, guiding you through the wilderness of Lent, and leading you into the joy of Easter.

Go in peace, to love and serve the Lord.

Amen.

Kahu Rennie Mau, Kahu Mua (Senior Pastor)

10AM Worship on Sundays. In person. Safe distancing and face masks optional.

Email: kahumau@gmail.com

Website: www.ewacommunitychurch.org

Location: 91-1258 Renton Road, Ewa Beach, HI, USA

Phone: 8082809591

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or mail a check to:

Ewa Community Church

PO Box 60339

Ewa Beach, HI 96706

Beloved Dust to Dust: Service Prayers for Ash Wednesday was written by the Rev. Dr. Ginny Brown Daniel, Conference Minister for Missouri Mid-South Conference, UCC.

Copyright 2021. Justice and Local Church Ministries, Faith Formation Ministry Team, United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115-1100. Permission granted to reproduce or adapt this material for use in services of worship or church education. All publishing rights reserved.

This ECC Smore Copyright 2024. Ewa Community Church, Ewa, Hawaii