Ash Wednesday
Tony Thomas
Psalms 51
A. Winston Churchill once admitted to three impossibilities:
1. To walk up a ladder leaning toward you ...
2. To kiss a girl leaning away from you ...
3. And speaking on a subject you know nothing about.
B. Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent (3 confessions):
1. First, I've never observed Lent.
2. Second, I've never worn/sprinkled ashes ...
3. And although I've been preaching for 48 years, I've never preached on Ash Wednesday!
C. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent:
1. I looked it up in the Bible (it's not there!).
2. There's no verse that says, ''Thou shalt celebrate Lent.''
3. So far this year I've read through Gen, Ex and Lev - and I have found no commands for Israel to observe Lent.
D. Even though Ash Wednesday isn't in the Bible, the idea and concepts of Lent are:
1. Around 230 AD, Xians began fasting for the 40 hours leading up to Easter.
2. Then they bumped it up to 7 days of fasting (Holy Week).
3. In 325 the church made it 40 days of prayer.
E. That's the Reader's Digest Version of Lent:
1. Does any of that sound familiar?
2. I've only been here 8 Sundays - and I don't want this to be the briefest pastorate of my career!
F. I'd like to read from Psalms 51:
1. I asked Suzy to print this in our bulletin from the NIV.
2. I'm including the heading - and I'll explain why in a few.
G. For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba:
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother ...
Tony Thomas
Psalms 51
A. Winston Churchill once admitted to three impossibilities:
1. To walk up a ladder leaning toward you ...
2. To kiss a girl leaning away from you ...
3. And speaking on a subject you know nothing about.
B. Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent (3 confessions):
1. First, I've never observed Lent.
2. Second, I've never worn/sprinkled ashes ...
3. And although I've been preaching for 48 years, I've never preached on Ash Wednesday!
C. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent:
1. I looked it up in the Bible (it's not there!).
2. There's no verse that says, ''Thou shalt celebrate Lent.''
3. So far this year I've read through Gen, Ex and Lev - and I have found no commands for Israel to observe Lent.
D. Even though Ash Wednesday isn't in the Bible, the idea and concepts of Lent are:
1. Around 230 AD, Xians began fasting for the 40 hours leading up to Easter.
2. Then they bumped it up to 7 days of fasting (Holy Week).
3. In 325 the church made it 40 days of prayer.
E. That's the Reader's Digest Version of Lent:
1. Does any of that sound familiar?
2. I've only been here 8 Sundays - and I don't want this to be the briefest pastorate of my career!
F. I'd like to read from Psalms 51:
1. I asked Suzy to print this in our bulletin from the NIV.
2. I'm including the heading - and I'll explain why in a few.
G. For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba:
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother ...
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