A Love That Doesn’t Exclude
February 22, 2023
Church of the Servant
Ash Wednesday Matthew 6:--6, 16-21 Click the Audio Link below to hear the Sermon (The second link below includes both the scripture reading and the Sermon.)
Sources:
1) Anders, and Isabel. 40-Day Journey with Madeleine L’Engle (40-Day Journey). , 1969. Kindle edition.
Fasting from Ashes, Not from Invitation
February 17, 2021
Church of the Servant, Wilmington, NC
Ash Wednesday
Matthew 6:1-6,16-21
Powered by Kindness
February 26, 2020
Church of the Servant, Wilmington, NC
Ash Wednesday
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Listen here (transcript below):
Sermon Transcript:
We heard words from the Prophet Joel this evening. He was speaking to a people in the midst of the ruin of their country. “Blow the trumpet in Zion! Sound the alarm on my holy mountain!” I heard an echo of this proclamation in a video that was shared by our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry this week, sounding an alarm. Read the rest of this entry »
Celebrate Lent, Celebrate Life
March 1, 2017
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
Ash Wednesday
Joel 2:1-2,12-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6,16-21
(Gospel Text provided below)
In a few minutes, as part of this Ash Wednesday liturgy, I will extend an Invitation to the observance of a Holy Lent. This invitation says in part:
I invite you… to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.
We’ll then say a prayer of preparation, remembering that we have been created out of the dust of the earth. We’ll ask that the ashes placed on our foreheads be a sign of our mortality and penitence. This is often the focal point on this solemn day. A day we are called to begin a season of introspection, repentance, and self-denial.
Yet, I want to point out that in that prayer there is one additional component…
… that we may remember that it is only by [God’s] gracious gift that we are given everlasting life…
I believe that the remembrance of this gracious gift is also an integral part of the day. Today’s gospel passage from Matthew calls us to lean into this gracious gift. It invites us to embrace the special connection we each have with God, and amplifies the realization that everything we have and who we are is GIFT. Read the rest of this entry »
jodygreenwood 