Lectionary 18/02/2026
- Ash Wednesday - Years A, B & C
Lectionary Readings
Related Products
Ash Wednesday Liturgy
Ash Wednesday Liturgy
by John Birch
A liturgy for use on Ash Wednesday or as part of Lent worship, with responsive prayer and scope for several voices to be involved. Into your presence we come, Lord a few moments of quietness in a busy world that demands our attention Breathe on us now that we might know your pres…
HYMN - God we lose our moral compass
HYMN - God we lose our moral compass
by Andrew Pratt
God, we lose our moral compass, stagger blindly, miss the mark, wander deep in self-deception, finding life is cold and stark; in our darkness, in our hunger, in the shadows bring your spark. Verses 2-3 follow Tune: MANNHEIM Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 12/2/2010 Stainer &…
Intercessions for Years A, B and C Book - Ash Wednesday
Intercessions for Years A, B and C Book - Ash Wednesday
by SPCK - Ian Black
Ash Wednesday – Years A, B and C In your loving-kindness, O God Have mercy and hear our prayer. Merciful Lord, cleanse our hearts that we may offer praise worthy of your name. Give to your Church true penitence and mourning for the sins that would drive a wedge between who we are…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 1 Year A
Twelve Months of Sundays Year A - Proper 1 Year A
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 1 - Year A Isaiah 58.1–12 1 Corinthians 2.1–16 Matthew 5.13–20 Isaiah’s stinging rebuke contains the seeds of the Sermon on the Mount. True piety must be part of the outward movement to share your blessing with the world. Fasting is useless if injustice goes unchecked. L…
Fasting - an alternative view of Isaiah 58: 1-9a
Fasting - an alternative view of Isaiah 58: 1-9a
by Marjorie Dobson
Monologue: Fasting – an alternative view to Isaiah 58. 1-9a I always say there’s nothing like a good day’s fasting to clear out the system, especially right after a few feast days. Doesn’t do you any harm. I mean, you’ve already over-eaten and drunk too much wine, so what’s the h…
Lent for Everyone Year A - Ash Wednesday
Lent for Everyone Year A - Ash Wednesday
by SPCK - N T Wright
ASH WEDNESDAY Matthew 1-2; focused on 1.18-25 We know very, very little about Joseph. Some legends make him an old man who died while Jesus was growing up, but we don’t know that for sure. We know he worked in the building trade, including what we call carpentry. We know he could…
HYMN - False is the fasting, and foul is the purpose
HYMN - False is the fasting, and foul is the purpose
by Andrew Pratt
False is the fasting, and foul is the purpose, rich the injustice the Godless pursue; this is the judgment we hear prophets speaking, seeking to challenge, restore and renew. Where are the humble and those who are open, facing in honesty all they have done Where are the righteous…
The Worlds no stage where we are acting
The Worlds no stage where we are acting
by Andrew Pratt
The world’s no stage where we are acting to show how good we think we are; this is no place to call attention, or seek acclaim from near or far. Our prayers are worthless, void and empty when uttered for the crowd’s applause, much more of worth are silent actions, compassion show…
Lent for Everyone Mark Year B - Thursday after Ash Wednesday Year B
Lent for Everyone Mark Year B - Thursday after Ash Wednesday Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Lent for Everyone Mark Year B THURSDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY... ...It was the organist’s night off. His deputy, fresh from college and looking even younger than he actually was, took charge of the choir. The singers – a good-hearted lot, but choirs will be choirs – were, almost ins…
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - The Lord's Prayer
Matthew for Everyone Part 1 - The Lord's Prayer
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Lord’s Prayer Matthew 6.7-15 I was talking to a friend who had the reputation of being one of the finest preachers in the area. How did he go about it, I asked. He had no particular technique, he said; he just puzzled over the biblical readings that were set for that day unti…
The Proper Fast
The Proper Fast
by Norman J Goreham (1931-2021)
The Proper Fast (A Hymn for Ash Wednesday) “When you come to me with fasting‚ show repentance true and lasting‚ all your sins upon me casting‚” I‚ your righteous God‚ have said. “Bring your sorrow to fruition in a godly full contrition‚ not in hollow exhibition‚” I‚ your ri…
Poem: Ash Wednesday
Poem: Ash Wednesday
by Marjorie Dobson
Poem: Ash Wednesday Ashes come from crosses, symbolically palm-leafed for joyful jubilation, yet shaped for betrayal and condemnation. Crosses carried last Lent as emblems of enlightenment and hand-held holiness, now tired and tainted by a year of faults and failing to follow the…
Now is the time to reassess
Now is the time to reassess
by Andrew Pratt
Now is the time to reassess our place within God's grace, a time for calm, reflective prayer, to meet God face to face. Now is the time for honesty for God is by our side; each action seen and understood, no way that we can hide. Verses 3-4 follow Metre: CM Tune: FINGAL Andrew …
Journeying with Luke - Passion - Holy Week
Journeying with Luke - Passion - Holy Week
by SPCK - Woodward, Gooder and Pryce
5 Passion – Holy Week Exploring the text In the previous chapter we noted the way in which the theme of temptation weaves its way through the whole of the Gospel of Luke, reaching its climax at Jesus’ crucifixion where he is tempted three times – first by the leaders, then by the…
Open with God Book - February/March - Ash Wednesday
Open with God Book - February/March - Ash Wednesday
by Christine Odell
February/ March – Ash Wednesday Calendar of Prayers Reading Matthew 6.1-6 Ask those present to write down on pieces of paper what they are giving or taking up for Lent. These will be placed in a bowl during the prayer. All-seeing God, you know us through and through...
friends, FOES and families - Ash Wednesday: in order to know what is in your heart
friends, FOES and families - Ash Wednesday: in order to know what is in your heart
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
ASH WEDNESDAY: in order to know what is in your heart Mark 1.12, 13 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart. (Deuteronomy 8.2)...
friends, FOES and families - But we have the mind of Christ
friends, FOES and families - But we have the mind of Christ
by SPCK - Judith Dimond
But we have the mind of Christ 1 Corinthians 1—2; Luke 6, 12 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (1 Corinthians 1.20)...
Isaiah 58:12
Isaiah 58:12
by BigBible
Created by Jo Brown. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. NIV Translation Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2…
There is a season - Ash Wednesday Introduction
There is a season - Ash Wednesday Introduction
by SPCK - Margaret Pritchard Houston
ASH WEDNESDAY Behold, I make all things new INTRODUCTION There is an understandable reluctance among many Sunday School and RE leaders to discuss sin with children. We want our children to feel a strong sense of self, to feel positive about themselves, and to believe in a God who…
There is a season - Ash Wednesday Liturgy
There is a season - Ash Wednesday Liturgy
by SPCK - Margaret Pritchard Houston
ASH WEDNESDAY Behold, I make all things new We enter the church in silence. We sit in chairs in a semi-circle around the altar. Leader….. O God, make speed to save us. All….. O Lord, make haste to help us. reading Isaiah 53.3 – 6...
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - The Central Argument
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - The Central Argument
by SPCK - N T Wright
Part 1: PAUL AND HIS WORLD Chapter One RETURN OF THE RUNAWAY? 1. A World of Difference (iv) The Central Argument These discussions about the actual situation and the request Paul made have tended, as I said, to make exegetes overlook the point which is just as important in its wa…
Paul and the Faithfulness of God - Sources
Paul and the Faithfulness of God - Sources
by SPCK - N T Wright
Part 1: PAUL AND HIS WORLD Chapter One RETURN OF THE RUNAWAY? 2 Philemon and the Study of Paul (v) Sources The first question most historians ask has to do with sources. Here we face a problem as much of scholarly fashion as of historical substance. Since the present volume is de…
Barefoot Prayers - Week 1 - Gatherings
Barefoot Prayers - Week 1 - Gatherings
by SPCK - Stephen Cherry
Week 1 GATHERINGS This collection begins on the Sunday before Lent. Lent is itself a season of preparation, but even preparation can benefit from preparation. Shrove Tuesday is the focus of this, and can helpfully take the form of a day of clearing out and carnival. It begins on …
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - Cynics and Sceptics
PAUL AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD - Cynics and Sceptics
by SPCK - N T Wright
3. Athene and Her Owl: the Wisdom of the Greeks (v) Cynics and Sceptics From Stoicism proper it is a short step to that disparate phenomenon – more of a mood than a movement – that was called Cynicism. The Cynics (again, our English meanings let us down here, though there is some…
LWPT Meditations - Ash Wednesday - Year A
LWPT Meditations - Ash Wednesday - Year A
by Susan Thorne
Meditation – Ash Wednesday Year A Isaiah 58:1-12 Psalm 51:1-17 2nd Corinthians 5 ;20b-6:10 Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 It is a common practice among Christians to “give up something for Lent” – quite often it is chocolate; not exactly a necessity. It is also becoming popular to have a “…
New Testament Prayer for Everyone - Prayer in Secret
New Testament Prayer for Everyone - Prayer in Secret
by SPCK - N T Wright
PART 1 NEW TESTAMENT TEACHING ON PRAYER THE TEACHING OF JESUS PRAYER IN SECRET Matthew 6: 5-6 Once, when living in the Middle East, I went out for a walk in the afternoon. On my way home, feeling slightly hungry, I bought a bar of chocolate at a wayside stall. I got back home, we…
New Testament Prayer for Everyone - The Lord's Prayer
New Testament Prayer for Everyone - The Lord's Prayer
by SPCK - N T Wright
PART 1 NEW TESTAMENT TEACHING ON PRAYER THE TEACHING OF JESUS THE LORD’S PRAYER Matthew 6: 7-15 I was talking to a friend who had the reputation of being one of the finest preachers in the area. How did he go about it, I asked. He had no particular technique, he said; he just puz…
Fire
Fire
by Rose humphrey
TIP- PowerPoint Slide Size- The ideal way to insert into PowerPoint is:- • Reduce the image size to 1024x768 pixels using your image editing software. (Will reduce image proportionally) • Insert as Picture in the normal way. • If needed fill the slide area by placing the image in…
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday
by Rose humphrey
TIP- PowerPoint Slide Size- The ideal way to insert into PowerPoint is:- • Reduce the image size to 1024x768 pixels using your image editing software. (Will reduce image proportionally) • Insert as Picture in the normal way. • If needed fill the slide area by placing the image in…
Burning Palm Cross
Burning Palm Cross
by Rose humphrey
TIP- PowerPoint Slide Size- The ideal way to insert into PowerPoint is:- • Reduce the image size to 1024x768 pixels using your image editing software. (Will reduce image proportionally) • Insert as Picture in the normal way. • If needed fill the slide area by placing the image in…
Ashes
Ashes
by Rose humphrey
TIP- PowerPoint Slide Size- The ideal way to insert into PowerPoint is:- • Reduce the image size to 1024x768 pixels using your image editing software. (Will reduce image proportionally) • Insert as Picture in the normal way. • If needed fill the slide area by placing the image in…
Ash Wednesday Title
Ash Wednesday Title
by Twelvebaskets and Rose Humphrey
Original image 'Ash Wednesday 2' by Rosemary Humphrey Image modified and text added by Twelvebaskets Ltd TIP- PowerPoint Slide Size- The ideal way to insert into PowerPoint is:- • Reduce the image size to 1024x768 pixels using your image editing software. (Will reduce image propo…
Times and Seasons - Full Service - Ash Wednesday - Year A
Times and Seasons - Full Service - Ash Wednesday - Year A
by Andrew Pratt and Marjorie Dobson
Ash Wednesday - Year A Service contains: Opening Hymn: Can we by searching find out God or God, we lose our moral compass, Prayer: Patient God Hymn: The King of love my shepherd is or Confession is communion with God Reading: Joel 2:1-2, 12–17 or Isaiah 58:1–12 Hymn: Father of he…
Times and Seasons - Where can a sense of grace be found
Times and Seasons - Where can a sense of grace be found
by Andrew Pratt
Where can a sense of grace be found? Where is God's song of love to sound? We need to hear that we are safe when words of criticism chafe. Verse 2 follows Tune: RIVAULX Andrew Pratt (born 1948) Words © 19/2/2014 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, www.stainer.co.uk. Please in…
Now is the acceptable time
Now is the acceptable time
by Twelvebaskets and Alan Jones
Original Image 'Engine' by Alan Jones Image modified and text added by Twelvebaskets Ltd TIP- PowerPoint Slide Size- The ideal way to insert into PowerPoint is:- • Reduce the image size to 1024x768 pixels using your image editing software. (Will reduce image proportionally) • Ins…
Rhythms of remembering - Lent - Wednesday Morning Prayer
Rhythms of remembering - Lent - Wednesday Morning Prayer
by SPCK - Hannah Ward & Jennifer Wild
LENT - Wednesday Morning Prayer Blessed are you, O God: you made us to care for the earth. The earth is God’s and all that is in it, the world and all who dwell therein. For it is God who founded it upon the sea and made it firm upon the rivers of the deep...
Rhythms of remembering - Lent - Tuesday Evening Prayer
Rhythms of remembering - Lent - Tuesday Evening Prayer
by SPCK - Hannah Ward & Jennifer Wild
LENT - Tuesday Evening Prayer Blessed are you, O God: you keep renewing the earth. Blessed Creator, Father and Mother of all that is made, Fashioner of planet Earth, where Lent is springtime, seed-time, new life emerging,...
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How to Persuade Your Heart
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How to Persuade Your Heart
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Persuade Your Heart Psalm 103 Some years ago I went through one of those periods when God didn’t seem to be real. I don’t mean I was going through some intellectual questioning, though I have done that at other times, but rather that I didn’t feel that God was there. I wou…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Another Moses?
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Another Moses?
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Another Moses? Beginning ministry, Matthew 3—8.1 In the picture of Matthew in the Lindisfarne Gospels, there is another bearded figure peering out from behind the curtain, holding a book. Some scholars and art historians suggest this might be Moses, with the Law. Certainly, Old T…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The new teaching
Four Gospels, One Jesus - The new teaching
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
The new teaching The Discourses, Matthew 5—7, 10, 13, 18, 23—25 While Mark has very little actual teaching, Matthew builds the character of Jesus as the Teacher of Israel, and structures the gospel around his five great blocks of teaching – the discourses punctuating the narrativ…
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Righteousness, morality and judgement
Four Gospels, One Jesus - Righteousness, morality and judgement
by SPCK - Richard A Burridge
Righteousness, morality and judgement Matthew’s Teacher is concerned about moral teaching; one of his key words (occurring seven times in Matthew, once in Luke, and never in Mark) is dikaiosune, justice or righteousness, with its adjective dikaios (fifteen times in Matthew; once …
the greatest prayer - Prologue The Strangest Prayer
the greatest prayer - Prologue The Strangest Prayer
by SPCK - John Dominic Crossan
PROLOGUE The Strangest Prayer The Lord’s Prayer is Christianity’s greatest prayer. It is also Christianity’s strangest prayer. It is prayed by all Christians, but it never mentions Christ. It is prayed in all churches, but it never mentions church. It is prayed on all Sundays, bu…
the greatest prayer - Our Father in Heaven
the greatest prayer - Our Father in Heaven
by SPCK - John Dominic Crossan
2 Our Father in Heaven Our Father which art in heaven . . . Our Father in heaven . . . Matthew 6:9, NRSV Her name was Babatha and she lived in Maoza, on the southern tip of Israel’s Dead Sea coast. She was illiterate, wealthy, and financially very competent, moving easily within …
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - The Sermon on the Mount
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - The Sermon on the Mount
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5: 1- 7: 29) Beatitudes and Antitheses. Matthew’s Gospel offers five teaching discourses: the Sermon on the Mount (5:1–7:29); missionary instructions (10:1–42); parables concerning the kingdom (Gk. basileia) of heaven (13:1–53); church guidelines …
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Book II
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Book II
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Book II (Psalms 42-72) Book II of the Psalter, like Book I, contains many lament psalms. But unlike Book I, not all of the psalms are attributed to David. The Korahites, who were, according to the book of Chronicles, temple singers during the reigns of David and Solomon, mix thei…
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Status Negotiations
THE WOMEN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY - Status Negotiations
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Status Negotiations (2 Corinthian 1-7) These chapters are exceedingly difficult, with abrupt changes in tone and interrupted trains of thought. Even in sections where the subject matter remains fairly constant, sentences are repetitive, convoluted, at times almost incoherent. Whe…
52 Reflections on Faith - Ash Wednesday: depending on God
52 Reflections on Faith - Ash Wednesday: depending on God
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
4 Ash Wednesday: Depending on God Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, the period of 40 days before Easter. Lent is a season of fasting and repentance in preparation for the joyous celebration of the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Day. The 40-day period comes from Jesus’ 40 d…
Traces of Glory Year B - Proper 13 - Year B
Traces of Glory Year B - Proper 13 - Year B
by SPCK - David Adam
Proper 13 Traces of Glory Year B O Lord our God, you give us the true bread that comes down from heaven, even your son Jesus Christ our Lord; grant that as they receive him into your life we may be filled with the fullness of his love and abide in him as he abides in us; through …
Isaiah for everyone - (Un)spiritual Practices
Isaiah for everyone - (Un)spiritual Practices
by SPCK - John Goldingay
(Un)spiritual Practices I was talking with a friend about the way Christians in our culture have got interested in “spiritual practices” such as meditation, silence, and fasting. This development is taking place in a context where Christians don’t have as much sense of God as the…
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Third Isaiah
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Third Isaiah
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Third Isaiah The last eleven chapters, set in Jerusalem after the return from exile, further Zion’s story while developing a variety of themes from previous chapters. Not only does personified Zion continue, but other themes of interest, such as inclusion and justice, both human …
52 Reflections on Faith - The ten commandments: Doing what you like
52 Reflections on Faith - The ten commandments: Doing what you like
by BRF - Stephen W. Need
The ten commandments: Doing what you like The fourth-century North African bishop St Augustine once wrote, ‘Love and do what you will’, which is often rendered ‘Love God and do what you like.’ It sounds ideal— as if there were no moral requirements made of us as Christians…
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - Remember You Are Going to Die, and it May Be Sooner than You Think
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs for Everyone - Remember You Are Going to Die, and it May Be Sooner than You Think
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Remember You Are Going to Die, and it May Be Sooner than You Think I’d like to finish writing The Old Testament for Everyone, but I’m not taking for granted that I will. I need another year, and who knows whether I’ll get one?…
The Women's Bible Commentary - The Lord’s Prayer
The Women's Bible Commentary - The Lord’s Prayer
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Lord’s Prayer The address “father in heaven” (6:9; see also 5:16, 45, 48; 6:1, 15, 18, 26, 32, and so on) can prove difficult for readers who suffered abuse at the hands of their fathers or who chafe at patriarchal language…
CHRISTIANITY AND THE RENEWAL OF NATURE - 1d Creative engagement with nature
CHRISTIANITY AND THE RENEWAL OF NATURE - 1d Creative engagement with nature
by SPCK - Sebastian C.H. Kim and Jonathan Draper
Creative engagement with nature Renewing the face of the earth, then, is an enterprise not of imposing some private human vision on a passive nature but of living in such a way as to bring more clearly to light the interconnectedness of all things and their dependence on what we …
The Fatherhood of God