Ash Wednesday Service


Ashes Station

"For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh." --2 Corinthians 4:11

Ash Wednesday is a time for repentance and the beginning of Lent. Ashes were used in ancient times, according to the Bible, to express penitence. Receiving ashes on our foreheads is a sign of repentance and of humility.

Ashes are also a visible sign of Jesus that we carry with us on our bodies, even for just one day.

Take a seat on the bench and pray to God. What do you need forgiveness for from God? Ask God to help you to bear witness with your life for all that God has done for you.

Pray to God for a humble heart during this season of Lent.


Broken Jars Station

"But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us." - 2 Corinthians 4:7

Look at this table full of cracked and broken pots. Pick one up and hold it in your hand. Feel the edges. Try to break it, if you can.

These are shards of pots that were easily smashed and broken. Paul uses cracked pots like these as a metaphor for our human bodies. We are frail, we are easily broken, we are weak.

And yet, God has chosen to put a precious treasure into each one of us. God's own Spirit and the Gospel message is entrusted to folks like us…

What does it mean to you that God can work through your weakness and fragility?

Take a piece of pottery home with you. Keep it with you this Lent as you reflect on God's work in your life.


Potter Station

"Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand." -Isaiah 64:8

Take some time to watch the potter at work on his wheel. What do you notice about what he is doing? How does he interact with the clay? Feel free to ask the Potter anything you want—his name is Art…

This memorable verse from Isaiah says that God is like a potter and that we are like the clay. How is that true for you? How has God formed and re-formed your life?

Have you been malleable and flexible to what God seeks to do with you? Pray and thank God for working on you in this way… ask God to help you be more open to God's work in your life…

"Gak" Station

"We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed" - 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

What are you being afflicted by? What is perplexing you?

Can you see God through the affliction? Are you having trouble seeing God?

What is keeping you from being crushed?

This "gak" looks, and seems at first sight, to be easily crushed. But when it is hit with great force, it stands firm. This is because of what is inside it. Likewise, we seem to be easily crushed or driven to despair. But because of the treasure inside us, the Holy Spirit, we are not crushed, driven to despair, or destroyed because the God who loves us will never forsake us. - Beatrice Conover and Edward Lee 2012


Prayer Questions

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;" -2 Corinthians 4: 7-9

In this verse, we see that there exists within us "treasures" or gifts from God. What are some aspects of your life that you consider to be the treasure within your jar of clay?

What was a time when this treasure prevented you from being crushed, forsaken or driven to despair?