Ash Wednesday

This Wednesday, February 10, 2016, is Ash Wednesday. It is the first day of Lent. Lent comes from the Anglo Saxon word lencten, which means "spring.” Lent is forty days leading up to Easter, not including Sundays. Historically, churches determined that the Lenten period of fasting and renewal should correspond to Christ’s forty-day fast recorded in the gospels (Matthew 4:2). The objectives of Ash Wednesday Service are the following:

1. Meditate on our mortality, sinfulness, and need of a savior
2. Renew our commitment to daily repentance in the Lenten season and in all of life
3. Remember with confidence and gratitude that Christ has conquered death and sin

Ash Wednesday Service is filled with gospel truth. The imposition of ashes will be a central part of the worship service. It symbolizes frailty, death, sadness, mourning, judgment, and repentance. Ashes are also considered to be a purifying agent. During the imposition, we will hear the words, “Consider yourself dead to sin and alive in Jesus Christ.” As we enter the Lenten season, let us worship together this Ash Wednesday as a community and prepare for the coming of Easter.