Today is Ash Wednesday. Today is the beginning of Lent. We don’t come together for the imposition of Ashes in order to show off our piety (that we go to church, pray, etc… all good things, but a problem when we put our hope in how well we do those things or how much we can get people to realize we do them). Instead, we come together, today, in order to hear that death looms over us on account of sin, but that Christ has conquered sin and death upon the cross.

Ash Wednesday ushers in the season of Lent where we prepare our hearts and minds to reflect upon the gravity of Christ’s death upon the cross and then to celebrate His resurrection from the dead. Often times people give something up for Lent. That’s well and good, but the point is not simply self-discipline as we fast from something. The point of the fasting is to create more opportunity to be generous to others and to make time for prayer and Scripture study as we dig into our Christian faith to better grasp the gravity of Christ’s love for each and every one of us.

Take a moment to look through the service folder for today’s Ash Wednesday service so that you can see the hymns, psalms, and so on to prepare your heart and mind for today’s service.

Here a great segment from Issues, Etc. about Ash Wednesday and the Lenten season as a whole.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

In Christ,
Pastor Merritt

Published by pastordemski