Lent is a season of forty days (excluding Sundays), which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. On Ash Wednesday, we paint our foreheads with a symbol of death – ash, mourning, mortality. We remember that from “dust you are and to dust you will return” (Gen 3:19). Yet, the ashes are painted onto the forehead of each person in the shape of a cross. A sign of suffering, but paradoxically a great sign of hope.

Lent is an extend period that gives us space to mourn, A time of repentance, fasting, self-examination, and reflection. It is also a time to prepare candidates for baptism and the celebration of Easter. Each Sunday in Lent is actually a “mini-Easter.” So, the mournful and penitent tone of Lent is disrupted with the joyful anticipation of the Resurrection of Jesus.

This year, our Lenten Sermon Series is titled “Painting with Ashes,” a journey of learning to lament. This first Sunday of Lent is Sunday, February 26.

What if there is a wounded healer who longs to hold us in our tears? What if there is a way we can observe our grief together in an environment of grace? What if there is a healing community, where a weeping world can come to find wholeness? What if our weakness is our superpower?

Let’s Paint with Ashes!

Watch Series Sermons