Ash Wednesday
Notes
Transcript
02-17-21
Welcome to Wednesdays with Warren. Today, is another Christian holiday that gets quite a bit of press in the churches of our Catholic and more liturgical friends. Today is Ash Wednesday. It is the day that begins the season called Lent, a 40 day season of repentance leading up to Easter. In many churches, people receive ashes as a mark of repentance and sadness for sin. Ash Wednesday dates back to 325 A.D. at the Council of Nicea.
The ashes are used from the the Palm branches from the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebration and some olive oil. The ashes are a sign or sadness. For example, in the book of Esther, Mordecai put on ashes as a visible sign of sadness for the announced destruction of his people.
When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry.
Psalm 130 also reminds us of both the sadness of our souls and the hope we have in God.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.
And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
As we enter this season of repentance, I invite you to use these 40 days to express your sadness for our sins and long for the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. During this season, think about something to empty and something to fill. Something to empty? What is something you want to stop or give up? Maybe you limit something in your diet or something electronic to create space for God. What is something you wan to stop? What is something you want to start or fill your soul? Maybe it is your core 52 memory verse? Maybe you want to set a reading goal of a gospel during these forty days.
Thanks for joining us today. As we pray today, I want to pray for our missionary partners in Asia. We have friends in the Philippines and Indonesia.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thank you for creating holy seasons to focus on you and your heart. Lord, as we enter this season of preparation for Easter, help us to understand the gravity of our sins and depth of your grace. Help us to stop what distracts and starts what fills us with your Spirit. Father, we pray for your friends in the Philippines and Indonesia. Provide for their needs. Help them to recover from the challenges of the pandemic. Empower their ministries through your Holy Spirit. Help us to partner with one another to make more and better followers of Jesus. Amen.
