The beauty of the Gospel - This is Lent!

"This is Lent!" (Rew. Voltattorni)

"Return to the Lord your God with all your heart" (Cyberbrethen, P T McCain)

"With Jesus, we set our face toward Jerusalem. We make our pilgrimage with Him by the way of repentance, and thus return to the dying and rising of Holy Baptism" (Lent; McCain)


 Music: Keith Green: "Create in me"/Paul Wilbur "Shalom Jerusalem"

 "that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation." 2 Cor. 5:19 (ESV)

This is Lent! (Rew. Voltattorni)

 "While some will scoff at the celebration of the season of Lent, suggesting that it’s no different than any other time of the year, the truth remains that our purpose for recognizing the season of Lent, our very identity as Lenten Christians, is all wrapped up in the forgiveness of sins.

Look!  God was, in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. 

Come receive this forgiveness.  

With such a call to repentance and faith there is no question of why pray, why fast, why attend extra services, why Lent. 

Instead, there is nothing but the forgiveness of sins.

  

“Everything, therefore, in the Christian Church is ordered toward this goal: we shall daily receive in the Church nothing but the forgiveness of sin through the Word and signs, to comfort and encourage our consciences as long as we live here. 

So even though we have sins, the ‹grace of the› Holy Spirit does not allow them to harm us. For we are in the Christian Church, where there is nothing but ‹continuous, uninterrupted› forgiveness of sin. 

This is because God forgives us and because we forgive, bear with, and help one another [Galatians 6:1–2].⁠” 

- Martin Luther, Large Catechism, II, 55

http://allbeggars.blogspot.com/

Rew. A.R. Voltattorni 





Joel 2:12-19
2 Peter 1:2-11
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 

Return to the Lord your God with all your heart (Cyberbrethen; Paul T McCain) Ash Wednesday:


"With Jesus, we set our face toward Jerusalem. We make our pilgrimage with Him by the way of repentance, and thus return to the dying and rising of Holy Baptism. Each day He summons you to return to Him with all your heart because He is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” (Joel 2:13). Do so in faith and confidence before Him, supplementing your faith with “virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love”(2 Pet. 1:5-7). During this Lenten season: set aside special times to pray to your Father in heaven; give to the needy from a heart of love; and fast for the sake of repentance (Matt. 6:3-4, 6, 17-18)".



Let Us Pray

"Almighty and everlasting God, You despise nothing You have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent. Create in us new and contrite hearts that, lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, we may receive from You full pardon and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen."

Ash Wednesday

http://cyberbrethren.com/2012/02/22/ash-wednesday/

 Paul T. McCain



"Create in me a clean heart" (Keith Green)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD2PJ0xbAdY

Ps. 51:10-12 (ESV)

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit."


"Shalom Jerusalem" (Paul Wilbur):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZwUUwd1aaE&feature=share

Psalm 122:6-7 (ESV)

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! “May they be secure who love you! Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!”



Music added by me.
Photo: Kerstin L. (a rose in our garden)