March 1, 2017
Stetson Memorial UMC
Ash Wednesday
Sermon Series:
“God Shaped
Hole…”
“Where Is the Love”
Inspired by Marcia McPhee’s
Looking For Love…
Joel
2:12-17
Matthew 6:1-6;
16-21
“Where is the Love”
Prayer of illumination….
How fitting it is that we begin our Lenten
journey in ashes…the thought brings us back to the reality it’s not about
us…Titus tells us that it is not by what we do that we are saved but by God’s
grace we are redeemed. As we enter this time of Lent, we remember that it is a
time of self-reflection, a time when our hearts turn towards the journey to the
cross, a time when we ponder on the gift that God so freely gives to you and to
me…the gift of redemption and forgiveness wrapped in a cross on top of a hill
from so long ago. As I reflect on my life and walk with God I am reminded by
the reading from Joel that it is not the outside that God is concerned with, it
is not my outward appearance but the appearance of my heart…how is it really with my soul. God is waiting for
the day when all of His creation turns back to Him as He had planned for it to
be from the very beginning.
It is hard at times toknow exactly what to
do and what not to do during the Lenten season. Do I fast? Do I decide to give
up something or do I not…? Should I tell all my friends or do I not tell them?
Even though how hard it may be…I think that Matthew has something to tell us
about this whole fasting thing. It is found in Matthew 6 verses 1-6 and 16
through 21 that I read tonight. During Lent we are not sure if we should add
something to our “daily walk” with God…it
is always a daily walk but during this season we seem to concentrate more on
it… There is a danger of adding too much and we want to show how religious
we are to those who are around us…all this addition and subtraction can make
our heads explode…but then you have to add in the multiplying that we may feel
we need to do…take on more projects, do more than our share of different new
and improved things that will make us super Lenten warriors , and the like,
only to wind up frustrated and overtired and not even sure what this whole Lent
thing is about…It becomes all about us and what we do and less about what God
did, has done and continues to do…
This journey of Lent is a journey of
repentance…we are turning around so that we might bin in a right relationship
with God. We are turning back to a love that we once had…returning to our first
love. As we turn back to our first love…that God shaped hole is filled once
again.
But at times it is hard. We get so lost
that we just keep grabbing onto what feels like a good fit only to realize that
we are trying to fit a square shape into a God shaped…heart shaped hole. What
is it that we are really looking for? Are we looking for love in all the wrong
places and failing miserably?
As we share this Lenten journey with one
another, I would like to invite all of you on a journey to the heart of the
matter…finding that perfectly, God shaped thing we are missing. I would like to
invite you to a time of looking at what will fill that hole so that we can help
others find their way to the place of turning around so that they too will be
on the road to God’s own heart.
The
Lenten journey is our journey of reflection and hope…it’s the road…our means of
access…we travel to the destination at the end of our 40 day journey. The place
where God showed His greatest compassion and mercy…the place where He gave His
Son to die in our stead so that we may have life renewed and redeemed…the foot
of the Cross of Calvary. It is good that we begin in ashes for it is by ashes
we were made and to ashes we will return. Wednesday’s ashes…God transformed
into the beauty of the cross for me and for you.
Amen.
=============
edited March
2, 2017
searching,
seeking
March 2, 2017
searching
March 1, 2017
Ash Wednesday service
Sermon Series:
“God Shaped
Hole…”
“Where Is the
Love”
Inspired by
Marcia McPhee’s
Looking For
Love…
Joel 2:12-17
Matthew 6:1-6;
16-21
Opening Words
Greeting
Lenten Prayer
Hymn, “In the Garden”
Prayer of Confession
Words of Assurance
Lenten Poem
sermon, “Where
Is The Love?”
text:
video:
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Communion
Distribution
of Ashes
and closing
hymn,
“It Is Well with
My Soul”
Closing Prayer
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
sermon blog
meditation
blog
“God’s
Whisper” blog
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
Ash Wednesday
March 1, 2017
&
February 25,
2017
burning up our
praise
February 25,
2017
igniting our
prayers, our worship
February 28,
2017
Burning of the
Palm service
Isaiah 58:5-10
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
February 28,
2017
&
edited
February 27, 2016
The Smell of
the Burning Palms – v6
(merging edits
to version 3 and version 5)
edited February
19, 2015
The Smell of
the Burning Palms – v5
(merging edits
to original and version 3)
edited February 12, 2016
we will get up – v2
February 12, 2016
we will get up
February 12, 2016
We will stand up
February 12, 2016
And we will rise up
February 12, 2016
Deliver us
February 12, 2016
Restore us - 2
February 12, 2016
Create in us
February 12, 2016
Purge us
February 12, 2016
Teach us
February 12, 2016
Wash us
February 12, 2016
our sick souls
February 12, 2016
we lay down prostrate before you
February 12, 2016
we kneel before you - 2
February 12, 2016
we bow before you - 2
February 12, 2016
we need your grace
February 12, 2016
our hidden transgression
February 12, 2016
on this Ash Wednesday
February 12, 2016
meditation on God’s Holy Word
February 12, 2016
self-denial
February 12, 2016
prayer and fasting
February 12, 2016
a holy Lent - 3
February 12, 2016
prepared for Holy Baptism
February 12, 2016
During this season - 2
February 12, 2016
We’re guilty
edited February 11, 2016
Rip your heart wide open – v2
February 11, 2016
running back to God – 3
February 11, 2016
running back to God – 2
February 11, 2016
a season of change
February 11, 2016
spiritual preparation
February 11, 2016
Journeying with Him
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2016/02/journeying-with-him.html
February 11, 2016
Beginning in ashes
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2016/02/beginning-in-ashes.html
Journeying with Him
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2016/02/journeying-with-him.html
February 11, 2016
Beginning in ashes
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2016/02/beginning-in-ashes.html
February 11, 2016
Repent, change direction
February 11, 2016
here on Ash Wednesday
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2016/02/here-on-ash-wednesday.html
here on Ash Wednesday
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2016/02/here-on-ash-wednesday.html
February 11, 2016
this whole Lent thing
February 11, 2016
don't add too much
February 11, 2016
pray in secret
February 11, 2016
adding and subtracting
February 11, 2016
a time of self-reflection
February 11, 2016
Is there a mark on the inside
February 11, 2016
do not tear your clothes
February 11, 2016
Rip your heart wide open
February 11, 2016
even now
Ash Wednesday service
Joel 2:12-17a
Matthew 6:1-6,
16-21
centering song, “Surely the Presence”
Opening Words
Greeting
Lenten Prayer
Hymn, “In the Garden”
Prayer of Confession
Words of Assurance
Invitation to Communion
Prayer after Communion
Invitation to receive ashes
Distribution of Ashes
Lenten poem: ”Journeying to Jerusalem”
sermon, “The
Math of Lent 2.0”
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
and closing
hymn,
“It Is Well
with My Soul”
Closing Prayer
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
Ash Wednesday
February 10,
2016
&
February 10, 2016
the palms ablaze
Ash Wednesday
February 10, 2016
into ashes
Ash Wednesday
edited February 10, 2016
Palms for the Ashes – v5
(merging edits to version 3 and version 4)
Ash Wednesday
edited February 10, 2016
I hear the crackle – v2
Ash Wednesday
February 10, 2016
I hear the crackle
Ash Wednesday
February 10, 2016
fuel for the fire
Ash Wednesday
edited February 10, 2016
how quickly they burn – 2 – v3
(editing version 2)
Ash Wednesday
edited
February 10, 2016
How quickly
they burn – v3
(editing
version 2)
Ash Wednesday
February 10,
2016
licking the
flesh
Ash Wednesday
edited February
9, 2016
Our joy burned
in anger – v2
February 9,
2016
Our joy burned
in anger
Isaiah 58:5-10
Burning of the
Palm service
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
February 9,
2016 and February 10, 2016
&
edited
February 5, 2016
Palms for the
Ashes – v4
(editing
version 3)
February 5, 2016
Palms for the Fire
edited April
2, 2015
Palms for the
Ashes – v3
(merging edits
to version 2 and version 1)
edited
February 19, 2015
Palms for the
Ashes – v2
Ash Wednesday
service
Joel 2:12-17a
Matthew 6:1-6,
16-21
Prayer of Confession
Imposition of Ashes
Communion
Lenten poem:”Changer: A Lenten Poem”
by Adrienne Sparrow Trevathan
sermon, “The
Math of Lent”
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
and closing
hymn,
“It Is Well
with My Soul”
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
Ash Wednesday
February 18,
2015
&
edited January
8, 2016
bittersweet –
v3
(merging edits
to version 2 and original)
edited
February 18, 2015
bittersweet –
v2
edited March 5, 2015
how quickly they burn – 2 – v2
February 17,
2015
how quickly
they burn - 2
Isaiah 58:5-10
Burning of the
Palm service
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
February 17,
2015 and February 18, 2015
&
edited March
21, 2015
the sweetness
of Sorrow – v3
(editing
version 2)
edited March
9, 2015
the sweetness
of Sorrow – v2
March 6, 2015
the sweetness
of Sorrow
edited May 6,
2015
breathing in
Sorrow – v5
(editing
version 3)
edited March
6, 2015
breathing in
Sorrow – v4
(merging edits
to version 3 and version 2)
edited
February 18, 2015
breathing in
Sorrow – v3
(editing
version 1)
edited March
24, 2014
breathing in
Sorrow – v2
edited, new
poem March 7, 2014
breathing in
Sorrow
edited
February 18, 2015
the ashes
drawn within – v3
(editing
version 2)
edited March
6, 2014
the ashes
drawn within – v2
March 6, 2014
the ashes
drawn within
Ash Wednesday
worship service at
Mountain
Heights Healthcare Facility
Patten, ME
March 6, 2014
&
edited August
5, 2015
The flesh of
that bread – v4
(editing
version 2)
edited April
19, 2014
The flesh of
that bread – v3
(editing
original version again)
edited March 12,
2014
The flesh of
that bread – v2
March 5, 2014
The flesh of
that bread
edited
February 18, 2015
the dust of
the ashes – v3
(editing
version 1 again)
edited March
10, 2014
the dust the
ashes – v2
March 5, 2014
the dust the
ashes
edited
February 18, 2015
the palms
consumed – v2
March 6, 2014
the palms
consumed
edited
February 18, 2015
the sorrow of
the ashes – v3
(editing
version 1)
edited March
15, 2014
the sorrow of
the ashes – v2
March 6, 2014
the sorrow of
the ashes
edited
February 18, 2015
my lungs
filled with the smoke – v2
March 6, 2014
my lungs
filled with the smoke
edited
February 18, 2015
burning our
celebration – v3
(editing
original)
edited March
10, 2014
burning our
celebration – v2
March 6, 2014
burning our
celebration
edited February
18, 2015
burning our
hope – v3
(editing
version 1)
edited April
12, 2014
burning our
hope – v2
March 5, 2014
burning our hope
edited
February 18, 2015
cloaked in the
smoke – v2
March 5, 2014
cloaked in the
smoke
edited
February 18, 2015
ashes of that
fire – v2
March 5, 2014
ashes of that fire
edited
February 18, 2015
How quickly
they burn – v2
March 5, 2014
How quickly
they burn
edited/new
name February 18, 2015
the mirror of
the ashes
edited
February 18, 2015
the truth of
the ashes – v2
March 5, 2014
the truth of
the ashes
edited
February 18, 2015
the anger of
the fire – v5
(editing
original again)
edited March
30, 2014
the anger of
the fire – v4
edited March
24, 2014
the anger of
the fire – v3
edited March
15, 2014
the anger of
the fire – v2
March 5, 2014
the anger of
the fire
March 5, 2014
bittersweet
edited July
15, 2015
within the
sweetness of the smoke – v9
(editing
version 5)
edited July 1,
2015
within the
sweetness of the smoke – v8
(editing
version 5)
edited March
20, 2014
“within the
sweetness of the smoke – v7”
edited March
4, 2014
“within the
sweetness of the smoke – v6”
Ash Wednesday
and Lent
beginning this
week
burning of the
palms from last year
hymn -
“Sunday’s palms are Wednesday’s Ashes”, TFWS #2138
&
Worship Theme
– “Ash Wednesday”
Prelude
Unison Prayer
Matthew 6:1-6,
16-21 (CEB)
Joel 2:12-17a
(CEB)
Prayer of Confession
Words of Assurance
Imposition of Ashes
Communion
Lenten poem:”Changer: A Lenten Poem”
by Adrienne Sparrow Trevathan
my earlier
poem, “within the sweetness of the smoke”
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
March 5, 2014
Ash Wednesday
Lent
&
edited March
23, 2015
cover me with
dust – v3
Edited March
22, 2013
“cover me with
dust – v2”
February 15,
2013
“cover me with
dust”
Worship Theme
– “Ash Wednesday”
Prelude
Unison Prayer
Matthew 6:1-6,
16-21 (CEB)
Joel 2:12-17a
(CEB)
hymn,
“Sunday’s Palms Are Wednesday’s Ashes” TFWS #2138
Prayer of Confession
Words of Assurance
Imposition of Ashes
Communion liturgy – “The Great
Thanksgiving for Early Lent”
Lenten poem: “Changer: A Lenten Poem”
by Adrienne Sparrow Trevathan
my earlier
poem, “within the sweetness of the smoke”
on the
bulletin back cover
This Lenten
Season, we are doing something a little different. We are doing Lenten Dramas
from: http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/home.htm
It is called "The Voice of God". We are hearing conversations between
God and some of the characters that took part in Passion Week. It has been a
"moving experience" for all. . .
February 13
2013 Ash Wednesday – James (portrayed by
Diane Mitchell)
February 17,
2013 – Judas (portrayal by Ray Foss)
February 24,
2013 – Peter (portrayal by Marshall
Burns)
March 3, 2013
– Pilate (portrayed by Richard Fleury)
March 10, 2013
– Barabbas (portrayed by Mark Cioffi)
March 17, 2013
- Dysmas (Thief on the cross) (portrayed
by Ray Foss)
March 24, 2013
Palm Sunday
March 28, 2013
Maunday Thursday – The Centurion
March 29, 2013
Good Friday - Mary Mother of Jesus
March 31, 2013
Easter Sunday! - The Gardner
and Ash
Wednesday Drama:
(a
conversation with James and God
after the
Garden of Gethsemane)
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Suncook United
Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
February 13,
2013
Ash Wednesday
Lent
&
Edited November 28, 2013
The brittleness of our hope – v2
(Thanksgiving Day)
February 6, 2013
new poem – “The brittleness of our hope”
The brittleness of our hope
Edited February 6, 2013
“The smell of the smoke – v3”
February 27, 2012
“The smell of the smoke – v2”
Worship Theme – “Ash
Wednesday”
Prelude
Unison Prayer
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 (CEB)
Joel 2:12-17a (CEB)
Prayer of Confession (Psalm 51:3)
Pastoral Prayer
Word of Assurance (GBOD 2012)
Thanksgiving over the ashes
Distribution of the Ashes
hymn, “Sunday’s Palms Are Wednesday’s Ashes” TFWS #2138
and Ash Wednesday Meditation,
“The Math of Lent”
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
Ash Wednesday
February 22, 2012
&
thinking on the earlier poem, “within the sweetness of
the smoke”
February 19, 2012
Ash Wednesday and Lent
beginning this week
burning of the palms from last year
hymn - “Sunday’s palms are Wednesday’s Ashes”, TFWS #2138
&
Edited January
1, 2014
“within the
sweetness of the smoke – v5”
(editing
version 2)
Edited
February 14, 2013
“within the
sweetness of the smoke – v4”
Edited
February 14, 2013
“within the
sweetness of the smoke – v3”
Edited
February 6, 2013
“within the
sweetness of the smoke – v2”
February 19,
2012
“within the
sweetness of the smoke”
&
Worship Theme
– “God’s Healing Mercy”
Mark 2:1-12
(NRSV)
Isaiah
43:18-25 (NRSV)
2 Corinthians
1:18-22 (NRSV)
Call to Worship (Psalm 41:1-4, 13 (NRSV Bible))
Unison Prayer
Prayer of
Dedication ((GBOD Mark 9:2-9)
and sermon,
“How Good of God”
by Pastor Ruth
Foss
Suncook United
Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
Seventh Sunday
of Epiphany
Transfiguration
Sunday
February 12,
2012
&
February 21,
2009
Palms for the
Ashes
preparing the
Ash Wednesday ashes
from Palm
Sunday’s palms
Suncook United
Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
2/21/2009
All of my
poems, photographs, and videos are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001,
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014,
2015, 2016, and 2017. All rights are reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for usage. See
all 43,300 of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com
Poetry Where You Live.
Ash Wednesday,
Christ, Faith, love, grace, God, Holy Week, hope, journey, Lent, Messiah, Palm
Sunday, prayer, sacrifice, servant, smoke, ashes, palms, Joel 2, Matthew 6,
sermon,
#sermon Where
Is the #Love
#AshWednesday
#Christ #Faith #God #hope #journey #Lent #prayer #sacrifice #ashes #Joel2
#Matthew6 #grace
======================
Christ, Faith,
God, grace, love, Spirit, Pastor Ruth Foss, Savior, Stetson Memorial United
Methodist Church, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Palm Sunday, Messiah, sacrifice, palms, Isaiah 58,
#Christ #God
#grace #love #UMC #Savior #AshWednesday #PalmSunday #palms #ashes #Messiah #sacrifice #Isaiah58
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