Greetings Cascade Family and Friends,
Today, we will celebrate Ash Wednesday by offering two opportunities for worshippers to receive the imposition of ashes: 12 noon and 7 p.m. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and is followed by 40 days of fasting or abstinence. For many Christians, we are intentional during our time of fasting to seek to draw closer to God. We remember what will ultimately be the "Good Friday" experience, and then Resurrection Sunday. It heightens our awareness and sensitivity to how far God is willing to go to offer us salvation and eternal life.
While I am not usually one who pays a lot of attention to the "seasons" of the Christian year, Lent is certainly one that gets my attention every year. I tend to experience a myriad of emotions and thoughts during the 40-day period leading up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday. On the one hand, I remember the pitiful state of guilt and death--due to my sins--that I should be experiencing. But, thanks to Jesus, God has forgiven me and extended an invitation to start over. The shame and guilt are replaced with gratitude and deep love for a God who looks beyond my faults and meets my greatest needs. My unfaithfulness is overshadowed by God's consistent faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness, morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have needed, Thy hand has provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.
My prayer is that whoever you are, and wherever you are in your relationship with God, you, like I, will receive the gift of God, Christ Jesus, His only Son, and commit to live a life of thanksgiving and holiness as an expression of appreciation. Hopefully, this Lenten season will renew your assurance that you are loved by God, and that will be motivation to live like it!
Blessings,
Pastor Lawrence L. Young
