Ash Wednesday

Today, Ash Wednesday, marks the beginning of Lent, the 40 days before Easter that has traditionally been a time for fasting, reflection, and repentance. Some churches observe Lent; others do not. We consider it a matter of Christian freedom. For those of you who would like to participate, we’re putting together a Lent devotional series that will be offered four days a week. If you’d like to receive these devotionals in your email, you can sign up here.

What will the devotional series focus on? This past weekend HTC North Side took its first-ever congregational retreat. It was a huge hit, and we plan to make it an annual tradition. During the retreat, we talked about how the grace of the gospel matters right now; you don’t have to die before grace comes into effect! In particular, the gospel matters for our justification (grace that forgives you), adoption (grace that re-identifies you), and sanctification (grace that transforms you). We’ll dive into these themes throughout the devotional series. For now, listen to what Fred Sanders says about the proper size of the gospel. 

“A gospel that is only about a moment of conversion but does not extend to every moment of life in Christ is too small. A gospel that gets your sins forgiven but offers no power for transformation is too small. A gospel that isolates one of the benefits of union with Christ and ignores all the others is too small. A gospel that must be measured by your own moral conduct, social conscience, or religious experience is too small. A gospel that rearranges the components of your life but does not put you personally in the presence of God is too small.”

Let’s prepare ourselves for Good Friday and Easter by embracing a really big gospel.