Ash Wednesday

Genesis 3:19 . 19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

• This Wednesday, we begin the church season of Lent, a time of reflection as we wait for the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus

• Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten Season. Ash Wednesday is the day that we are marked with just a little ashes;

1. Why the ashes?

• And what are ashes? They are the product of burning something away.

• Ashes are what is left over after fire passes over or through something.

• They are the waste after the heat and light are gone.

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2. Why do we put dirt on our fore heads??

• Ashes are a symbol – like so much in our services. The Bible tells us that"from the dust we came and to the dust we shall return" (Genesis 3:19).

• The Bibles tells us that God formed us from dust of the earth and breathed life into that dust. Without This breath or Spirit of God we would be just like these ashes: lifeless.

• In Bible days people who were mourning dressed in rough clothing and put ashes on their heads. Hence we have "Sack cloth and ashes." However, instead of all over our heads, we put a cross of ashes on our foreheads.

• Ashes on our fore head mean we are repenting

• Ashes mean we are reflecting on our short comings, our limitations, and our failings

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3. Theses Ashes have another meaning we are sealed with a mark

• The mark of ashes are also a symbol that we are sealed in Christ.

• Some folks When baptized, the priest seals with the sign of the cross.

• This cross of ashes is also a reminder of that same baptismal mark of Christ.

• The Book of Revelation tells of an angel marking the faithful so that when the end of time comes they would be protected. The mark was a mark of ownership – of belonging to God.

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4. These Ashes mean a lot of things

• These may be just a few ashes but they mean a lot. They mean we need for God.

• That without the teaching and examples of Jesus, without his resurrection, we would be nothing but dust and ashes.

• The Mark means I am acknowledging I am sinner in need of forgiveness .

• These ashes mean the burning away of our sin by the fire of God's love makes us God's own.

• It is about dying to an old identity defined by our culture, our traditions, our habits and even our families, and being born into a new identity centered in the spirit of God. It means dying to an old way and being born into a new way of being. . . being centered in God.

• I think the ashes is about dying to deadness, that daily routine of our lives that we trudge through, oblivious to the needs of other and the call of our Lord.

• It is a time of reminding ourselves of God’s love and God’s reality. It is a time to be lifted out of our confinement, removing those feelings burden and mortality, of fear and doubt.

• These ashes that will be placed on our foreheads remind us that we are mortal. These ashes remind us we have only one earthly life.

• These ashes remind us from ashes we came and ashes we will return?