Dear Redeemer Family,

Next week is a very important, formative time for us in the life of the global and historic church as we celebrate Shrove Tuesday and observe Ash Wednesday.

SHROVE TUESDAY

Also called Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday, this is a traditional feast day for the church. In the past, the goal was to use up all the fat and sugar in the house in preparation for the austere fasting season of Lent. For us here at Redeemer, we will give a fresh spin to this very old practice. On Tuesday evening, at 5:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., we will have two seatings for a Southern Chicken ‘n Biscuits Dinner down in the basement of 2715 Grove Ave. And for those of us who have dietary restrictions, fear not - there will be fruit and veggies on hand.

During the dinner we will distribute the guidebook for Lent and talk about how to practice the season of Lent as a church family.

RSVP here and we’ll see you there!

ASH WEDNESDAY

The following day, at 6:00 a.m, 12:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. there will be worship services in the sanctuary at 2715 Grove Ave.

All of you are invited to come and receive the sign of the cross in ashes on your forehead. Though it may sound strange, you won’t wash off the ashes right away. Rather, you’ll bear the dirty smudge right there on your face the rest of the day.

Now, why do this? Why participate in an Ash Wednesday service?

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent: a time of penitence, fasting, and prayer, in preparation for the great feast of the resurrection. The season of Lent began in the early days of the Church… the forty days refer to our Lord’s time of fasting in the wilderness; and since Sundays are never fast days, Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the Lenten Fast.

Throughout the Old Testament, ashes are used as a sign of sorrow and repentance, and Christians have traditionally used ashes to indicate sorrow for our own sin, and as a reminder that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Like Adam and Eve, we have disobeyed and rebelled against God, and are under the same judgment, ‘you are dust, and to dust you shall return’ (Genesis 3:19).

But as we are marked with ashes in the same manner that we were signed with the Cross at Baptism, we are also reminded of the life we share in Jesus Christ, the second Adam (Romans 5:17, 6:4). It is in this sure hope that we begin the journey of these forty days of Lent, that by hearing and answering our Savior’s call to repent, we may enter fully into the joyful celebration of his resurrection.

Church family, I heartily encourage all of you to lean into this coming week. Small Groups, Youth Fellowship, and other church programs are on pause next week so that we can all prioritize feasting together on Shrove Tuesday and repenting together on Ash Wednesday.

YOUR ACTION ITEMS

If you do one thing next week, come to an Ash Wednesday service.
If you do two things next week, come to a Shrove Tuesday Feast and an Ash Wednesday service.

I’ll see you there. Let’s allow this coming week to form our hearts, minds, and bodies more fully into the image of our crucified and risen Lord.

In the Father’s love,