WELCOME TO THE SEASON OF LENT

                                                                                   WELCOMEM TO THE SEASON OF LENT

            Ash Wednesday begins what the Christian Church calls the season of Lent.  Perhaps last Wednesday you saw some people who had what looked like dirt on their forehead.  It was actually ashes.   They went to their church, and the Priest put ashes on their forehead, to mark the beginning of Lent.  Lent is a time of repentance, a time of sorrow over our sins, a time when we recognize that Jesus needed to go to the cross to suffer for our sins.  

            Lent lasts for 40 days, from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday.   During those 40 days, our congregation will follow the tradition of Lutheran Churches all over the world, in having an extra service during the week, to go through the Passion History of our Lord, and watch Him go to the cross for our sins.  Our altar will have purple colored paraments, which emphasize repentance and confession of sins.  

            During Lent, we will not only recognize that Jesus went to the cross for us, but we will also recognize why Jesus went to the cross for us.   We sinned against God, and are constantly sinning against our God, and are creating an insurmountable wall that separates us from God.   Jesus came to break down that wall.  He did so by taking on his shoulders the sins of every person who ever lived, or ever will live on this world, and carrying them to the cross, where God punished them all, by making Jesus endure the punishment for all.   When we think of the sacrifice that Jesus made in order to take away our sins, we can only bow our heads in humility and sadness, as we recognize what our sins, cost Jesus.

            But, during Lent, we also realize the love that Jesus had for us, and the love that our God had for us, that God would stand by and just watch as wicked men crucified His only Son, and how much our God would love us, by punishing His only Son, so we could have eternal life with Him.   What an awesome God we have!

            Please join us during this Lenten Season, either on Sundays at our regular time of 10:30 a.m.   Or on Wednesday's at 7:00 p.m.   See you there.