WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2026 ASH WEDNESDAY
CHRIST THE KING LUTHERAN CHURCH
CHURCH: 410-356-3400 CELL: 410-707-7663
Church email: ctklclcms@yahoo.com
Church Web Site: ctklchurch.org
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WORD OF WELCOME
Fasting and putting on sackcloth and ashes have been symbols of repentance for centuries. When we are distressed by guilt or sickness or calamity, these outward signs are like prayers seen by God, accompanying our prayers that are heard by God. They are saying, "God, look at me! Hear my cry! Help!" To which prayers, offered in Jesus' name, he replies, "I have heard your prayer and the plea you have made before me."
Opening Hymn: 440 “Jesus, I Will Ponder Now” (1-2)
The Invocation
P. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
C. Amen.
APPROACHING THE WORD
P. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
C. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
P. The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.
C. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
P. The word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.
C. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
P If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples: and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.
C. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
P. “The word that goes forth from my mouth, shall not return to me empty,” says the Lord. “It shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
C. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
PRAYER FOR 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 obtain from you, the God of all mercy, full pardon and forgiveness; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
FIRST LESSON: Genesis 22:1-14
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
SECOND LESSON: 1 John 1:4-9
We write this to make our joy complete.
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
RESPONSIVE PSALMODY: Psalm 51
P. Be merciful to me, O God, because of your constant love. Because of your great mercy wipe away my sins!
C. Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin.
P. I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins.
C. I have sinned against you-only you- and done what you consider evil.
P. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me.
C. I have been evil from the day I was born; from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful.
P. Sincerity and truth are what you require; fill my mind with your wisdom.
C. Remove my sin, and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow.
P. Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; and though you have crushed me and broken me, I will be happy once again.
C. Close your eyes to my sins and wipe out all my evil.
P. Create a pure heart in me, O God, and put a new and loyal spirit in me.
C. Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your Holy Spirit away from me.
ALL: Give me the joy that comes from your salvation and make me willing to obey you.
THE IMPOSITION OF ASHES
THE IMPOSITION OF ASHES
Those wishing to receive ashes form a single file line in the center aisle.
After the ashes have been received, the pastor continues.
P. May these ashes be an outward symbol of true repentance, calling you to faith in Jesus Christ, whose death and resurrection takes away all sin and grants eternal life.
C. Amen.
HOLY GOSPEL: John 3:14-21
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
HYMN: 437 “Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed” (1,3,5)
HOMILY: “Having Purpose”
THE OFFERING
THE PRAYERS
P. Since we have a High Priest who has gone before us, by whom we have access to the throne of grace, drawing near with full confidence let us join in fervent prayer.
C. Forgive us, Father, and show us what to do.
P. That the Church of Jesus Christ may be a place where the Gospel is both spoken and enacted, proclaimed in word and deed, let us join in fervent prayer:
C. Forgive us, Father, and show us what to do.
P. That the citizens of our nation, and our leaders, may acknowledge wrong where it exists and may work diligently to remove its causes and correct the problems it has wrought, let us join in fervent prayer.
C. Forgive us, Father, and show us what to do.
P. That God’s redeeming health may be made manifest especially among those who have been abused or neglected, harmed or hindered, stricken or saddened, forbidden or forsaken, let us join in fervent prayer.
C. Forgive us, Father, and show us what to do.
P. And that we who must return to dust may not despair in our mortality, but may be given grace in Jesus Christ to rise again to everlasting life, let us join in fervent prayer.
C. Forgive us, Father, and show us what to do. AMEN.
LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. AMEN.
THE BLESSING
P. May the blessings of our almighty God, who gave us the gift of his beloved Son, be and abide with you now and always.
C. Amen.
HYMN: 439 “ O, Dearest Jesus, What Law Hast Thou Broken” (1-3)
2026 LENTEN/EASTER SCHEDULE
Ash Wednesday, February 18
Worship at 7:30 PM
Wednesday, February 25
Soup & Sandwich at 6:30 PM
2nd Mid-Week Lenten Service at 7:30 PM
Wednesday, March 4
Soup & Sandwich at 6:30 PM
3rd Mid-Week Lenten Service at 7:30 PM
Wednesday, March 11
Soup & Sandwich at 6:30 PM
4th Mid-Week Lenten Lenten Service at 7:30 PM
Wednesday, March 18
Soup & Sandwich at 6:30 PM
5th Mid-Week Lenten Lenten Service at 7:30 PM
Wednesday, March 25
Soup & Sandwich at 6:30 PM
6th Mid-Week Lenten Service at 7:30 PM
Palm Sunday, March 29
Palm Sunday Worship Services at 10:30 AM
Maundy Thursday, April 2
Maundy Thursday Worship Service at 7:30 PM
Good Friday, April 3
Good Friday Worship Service at 7:30 PM
Easter Sunday, April 5
Easter Sunrise Service at 6:00 AM
Easter Egg Hunt at 9:00 AM
Easter Worship Celebration at 10:30 AM
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