Ash Wednesday

I am unsure if they have tornados here?

Well when Arika and I lived in Illinois they had tornados pretty frequently

and what would happen is the first Tuesday of every month they would have a tornado drill that would last probably around 5 minutes.

have any of you ever heard the sirens they use?

because the sirens that they use are outside and just blast so loud where even when your inside its really loud.

Its really annoying when your on the phone

But the reason they do this is 1st off to test the emergency system and to make sure it works if there ever is a real tornado.

but then it also gets you thinking where would I go if there was a tornado?

What would I do.

and it ultimately prepares the surrounding area for when a tornado occurs.

And you know as I was thinking about lent and ash Wednesday it gets a little confusing on why we even celebrate these seasons in the church year.

But what I want you to get is that we celebrate it because Ash Wednesday and Lent prepares us.

It prepares us to do Christ ministry.

but there is even a little more then just preparation because part of the preparation is having discipline and devotion to prepare for Christ ministry.

And just to give you some examples of this Moses was on Mount Sianni for 40 days and 40 nights where he was with God surrounded by His presence.

and really this time where he was just with God in His presence was preparing him to minister to his people.

Because during this time you can picture him growing closer to God almost doing 24/7 devotions

and then at the end of the 40 day period he goes down and is sent out.

Then there is Christ and we will actually be talking about this passage this Sunday but one of the first things we see Jesus doing as He begins his public ministry is He goes into the desert to fast for 40 days and 40 nights in preparation for His ministry.

And what happens during the period of lent is we as the church are invited to prepare ourselves for a journey with Christ all the way into the shadow of the cross.

That is powerful .

and one way we prepare for this journey with Christ is we confess and repent.

You know with anything in life if we want to prepare for it we have to change something.

You know if I wanted to prepare for a tornado in Illinois I probably need to get a bag together of things I would need for a tornado, flashlights, food, water, and put it in a safe area in the house.

But in order for me to be able to do that I have to first recognize okay I am not prepared to for a tornado and need to do something about it

and then second of all I need to actually change something and get a bag together.

and really thats what we do when we confess and repent, because we first need to recognize the problem (and confess it)

You know I have fallen short of what God is calling me to do.

but then we also need to repent

and repenting isn’t just saying your sorry but it is changing.

and what we do during lent is we actually remember our need to repent through placing Ash’s on our forehead.

And the reason we do this is that throughout the Old Testament it uses Ash’s as a way to mourn and often times you will see it as a need to repent

Prophets for God would sometimes cover themselves in ashes after the people they were speaking to were disobedient as a way of mourning

Job when everything in his life went wrong it says that he sat in his ashes to mourn

In the book of Esther they do this also when Haman (who was a high up official) plans to destroy the Jewish people.

But the Ashes remind that we have a need to confess and repent so we can declare our dependance on God.

and really the ashes are just the beginning of Lent

because Lent is a time where we reflect after we repent and ask ourselves how can I grow closer to God during these 40 days until easter.

And what the church does is we add spiritual disciplines where we either take something away in our life or we add it for the 40 days of Lent.

because what happens is every-time you are practicing that spiritual discipline wether it is thru taking something away or adding something it is pointing you towrds Christ.

So if you give up having lunch for the 40 days it points you to Christ because every time you skip lunch you are reminded of your need for Christ but then also Christ willingness to suffer on the cross for us.

and you don’t have to give up a meal but I want to encourage us to give up or add something this season.

because it does make us grow deeper and prepare us for what Christ is calling us to do.

and when you are deciding on what you want to give up I want you to think about this question which I took from an author Brent Peterson where He says

“What practice is God asking of you that will help make you more aware of your sin, God’s love and the preparation you need to walk with Jesus during Holy week?”

and you know these things we give up usually are not bad but they are things that we often say “I can’t live without this”

I can’t live without facebook

I cant live without television

So I just want us to reflect for a second is there somthing that God is calling us to give up or add.

This year I am adding something where I will just add a time of prayer in the morning

But you see some other people volunteer time with different organizations or give a certain amount to a charity as a way to add something.

You know I wanted to see has anyone thought about doing something for let? Whether it is giving up or adding?

Wait for responses

that is great and if you haven’t thought about it I want you to encourage you to pray about it.

because tonight if you would like to you can receive ashes on your forehead to say that you have a need for God.

This is not a badge on your head to say look how good I am. But it is a humbling way to say to say look at the need for God in my life.

But Lent does not leave us mourning in the ashes but it leads us to Easter where the resurrection of Christ occurs.

So during this song I want to invite you to come forward (if you are willing) and I will be placing the Ashes on your forehead. So just come when you are ready and maybe you need to sit and pray for a second to decide what you are doing to get ready for this Lenten season.

but pray with me as we begin the season of lent.

Pray