Today we in the Lutheran Church-Mo. Synod, [as well as other denominations] are observing Ash Wednesday as the start of another season of Lent in the church calendar. I thought I would share a few things about both in my blog today, and hopefully this will kickstart me out of my blogging funk to where I am posting regularly again.
from Lutheran Worship: History and Practice.:
Ash Wednesday begins the Lenten season, which lasts for 40 days, excluding Sundays...Lent is a time to reflect on Baptism, a time for re-birth and renewal in preparation for the celebration of Easter." To mark the season is the color purple. It is a time for the discipline of learning and growing in faith, for repentance and for prayer, even for fasting to practice self-control and to heighten one's awareness of Christ.
Other customs may be used, particularly the imposition of ashes on those who wish it. The ancient act is a gesture of repentance and a powerful reminder about the meaning of the day. Ashes can symbolize dust to dustness and remind worshipers of the need for cleansing, scrubbing, and purifying.
from Our Suffering Savior, 2nd ed. :
For the next six weeks, our meditations will be based on the Fourth Servant Song of Isaiah. This remarkable passage was penned about seven hundred years before Christ. It depicts Christ’s life from the cradle to the grave, from His birth to His resurrection.
The passage both starts and ends on the elevated summit of joy at Christ’s success, and it. This part of the church year is also like two lofty mountain peaks—Transfiguration and Easter—with a vale, the penitent season of Lent, in between.
God is good to afford us a vision of Christ’s triumph before we are exposed to the gruesome details of His suffering so that the hope of Easter will sustain us during the intervening weeks. We begin our journey this Lent knowing that suffering will end in death, but death will end in resurrection and life eternal in Christ.
Tonight we begin this journey through Lent with our Ash Wednesday worship, including the imposition of ashes and celebration of the Lord's Supper. This is a somber but holy time in the church calendar in which we will be reminded of our need for repentance, our need for a Savior from sin, and the provision of our salvation through Jesus Christ, God's only Son--OUR SUFFERING SAVIOR.
If you are in the Rapid City area, please join us tonight at 6pm for a fellowship meal, and at 7pm as we worship God for the mercy He has shown us in Jesus Christ. Peace Lutheran Church is located at 219 E. St. Anne in the Robbinsdale area of Rapid City. We would love to share Christ with you tonight!
Thank you for reading and God bless you throughout this Lenten season and always!
