A note from Pastor regarding his sermon:

Our readings for Ash Wednesday – like the liturgy of the Divine Service we follow each week together on Sundays – remind us of the pattern of daily Christian living in this world. We approach God with the acknowledgment that we have failed to live according to His Law. We repent of our sins, and beg God for mercy. We hear the good news that God has, indeed, forgiven us. We hear the encouraging Word of God that our salvation has been won by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and we receive His very body and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar to demonstrate that Christ’s sacrifice has been accepted on our behalf, and that we may have confidence in our own eventual resurrection and everlasting life as we become one body of Christ, bound to Him and to one another. We leave the Divine Service each week with the comfort of knowing we are forgiven, and we respond with a joyful resolution to share God’s blessings and love with our neighbors as we live out our vocations throughout the rest of the week.

As we prepare for Lent, which in turn prepares us to receive the glorious news of Easter Sunday, we remember that this is the rhythm of Christian life in this world, and we remember that we follow this pattern each day – each week, and each year – that we live here, in anticipation of new life and new creation on the final day.