Order of Service / Ash Wednesday Service / February 18, 2026

Invitation

Lighting the Christ Candle

Call to Worship

One: We gather carrying dust and breath, aware of our limits and our longing.

 All: We pause before the One who meets us with mercy.

One: We come with stories unfinished, with regrets, hopes, and open hands.

 All: We turn toward the promise of forgiveness and renewal.

One: This is a time to listen, to release, and to begin again.

 All: We enter this season together, seeking grace that reshapes our lives and love that leads us forward.

Opening Prayer

*Hymn Dust and Ashes Touch Our Face (#VU 105)

Scripture Reading 1 2 Corinthians 5:20b – 6:10

We entreat 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. As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.” See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything. 

First Prayer of Confession

One: Merciful God, we come to you as we are. We confess that when life becomes heavy, we do not always turn toward you. When anxiety rises, when grief returns, when relationships strain, when money feels tight, or when our bodies feel tired, we often try to manage everything on our own. We rely on our habits, our strength, our control, and our plans. We scroll, we distract ourselves, we shut down, we keep busy, we pretend we are fine. We may even pray, yet keep our hearts guarded.

  All: Lord, have mercy on us

One: Compassionate God, we confess that we forget how near you are. We delay returning to you until we feel ready, as if your mercy depends on our performance. We treat faith as something for calm days, instead of the shelter we need most in the storm. Forgive us for the times we have neglected you, not because you were absent, but because we were afraid to be seen.

  All: Lord, have mercy on us

One: God of tenderness, soften what has become hard in us. Teach us again to turn toward you, especially when we are overwhelmed. Restore in us a trust that your love holds us even when we cannot hold ourselves. Make our prayers honest, make our hearts open, and make our lives rooted in you.

All: Lord, have mercy on us.

Psalm 51 (#776 VU)

Second Prayer of Confession

One: God of justice, we confess the brokenness of our common life. We live in a world where violence, hatred, and fear still shape decisions and policies. Many are pushed aside because of race, poverty, disability, gender, or age. War and conflict leave people displaced and grieving. The powerful are often protected, while the vulnerable pay the cost. We confess that we have grown used to these realities. We learn to look away. We accept “the way things are” too quickly.

All: Holy One, forgive us.

One: We confess our complicity. We benefit from systems that exploit workers, widen inequality, and treat people as disposable. We consume without counting the hidden costs. We speak about peace while tolerating injustice. We desire comfort while refusing change. We confess the damage done to creation: land stripped, waters polluted, forests diminished, and a climate thrown into crisis. We know that what we call “normal” is often built on harm.

  All: Holy One, forgive us.

One: Give us courage to repent not only with words, but with action. Turn us from apathy to compassion, from cynicism to hope, from silence to faithful witness. Teach your church to be a community that tells the truth, protects the vulnerable, and seeks peace. Make us part of your healing in the world you love.

  All: Holy One, forgive us.

Scripture Reading 2 Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

“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. “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. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “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. 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. “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. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 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. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

Third Prayer of Confession

All are invited to write a personal prayer of confession on the paper in the bulletin. When coming forward for the Mark of Ashes, bring that prayer and place it on the plate on the table. The prayers will be burned after the service.

The Mark of Ashes

Reflection

Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s Prayer

*Hymn As the Sun with Longer Journey (#VU 111)

*Commissioning

One: We are marked by the cross of Christ.

  All: We bear that cross to remember whose we are.

One: We have committed to discipleship in love.

  All: We live that love by the power of the Spirit.

One: We carry God’s blessings as forgiveness and as faith.

  All: Let us go and proclaim, in word and in deed, the gospel of courageous love.

*Gord Dunbar. Gathering L/E 2021.

*Commissioning Song May God’s Sheltering Wings (#214 MV)

May God’s sheltering wings, her gathering wings protect you,

May God’s nurturing arms, her cradling arms sustain you,

And hold you in her love, and hold you in her love. (x2)