Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the Lenten season. Lent is the 40 days between now and Easter that we set aside each year in the Christian faith. It’s a time to remember our need to be rescued and God’s saving response in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

In the ashes we are reminded that we are made from dust and return to dust. (Ecclesiastes 3:20)

It is the breath of our Creator that gave life to humanity and to each one of us. 

Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person. Genesis 2:7

We find not only our beginning in Him, but also the hope of an eternal ending. 

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Rev. 22:13

Tonight, as you breathe air in and out of your lungs, let it remind you of the loving God who gives you life.

The loving God who receives you tonight. 

The ashes remind us of our humanness, and our frailty and weakness. In Lent, we come to the end of ourselves; our best and worst. Our hurts, hang ups, and trip ups. Our sin and pride. We recognize our need for a rescue. 

We will be exploring the story of Jonah this Lent. At one point, Jonah comes to the end of himself after three days in the belly of a fish… His desperate prayer - For my salvation comes from the Lord alone. Jonah 2:9

There is a Savior, who came and spent three days in the belly of the earth for all of us. This is what Lent leads us to, and the climax of our faith - the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

So, in combination with our Alpha Course, we’re going to watch the video: Why did Jesus have to die? 

After watching the video, questions you can reflect on: 

What stood out to you in the teaching? 

Where do you see sin in the world around you? 

What does forgiveness mean to you? 

How does it feel to be loved by God in an unconditional, wholehearted, continual way? 

Where do you desire to experience the depths of grace and new life this Lenten season?