Ash Wednesday Service on Wednesday, March 5th at 7:00 PM

Ash Wednesday always falls in the 7th week before Easter and is the official first day of Lent. Using ashes as a sign of repentance is mentioned often in the Bible in verses such as Matthew 11:21. “”Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” Later the use of ashes was chosen by the Jewish people as an external mark of penitence.

The ashes themselves symbolize several things. They suggest cleansing and renewal as they were used in Jesus time in place of soap. They also remind us of Genesis 3:19 when God condemns sin and says to Adam, “Dust you are and to dust you shall return.”

The ashes are put on our forehead in the shape of a cross, to remind us of our baptism, where the same cross was made, only using water. Ashes are a symbol of our need to repent, confess our sins, and return to God. To think ahead to what is coming on Good Friday and then Easter Sunday.