Ash Wednesday Worship—March 5, 6:00pm in Sanctuary
Join us in the Sanctuary for an interactive worship service that invites all ages into the sacred journey of Lent. Children and youth are encouraged to participate as we enter this season of reflection, repentance and renewal. (During the service, Worship Care is available for those 3 and under, if needed.)
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a time set apart to draw near to God, to walk with Jesus step by step to the cross. As part of worship, we will receive ashes on our foreheads—a symbol of our mortality and our deep dependence on God’s grace. This year, our Ash Wednesday service will also introduce our Lenten Worship Series, Living Lent: Drawing Near to Jesus through Fasting, Confession, Giving and Lament.
We live in a world that prefers celebration over contemplation, Easter joy over the road to the cross. Yet Jesus himself calls us to follow him to Jerusalem—not just to the triumph of resurrection but through the arduous journey that leads there. In Matthew 20, when Jesus tells his disciples that he will be handed over, mocked and crucified, they barely hear him. They are too busy asking for places of honor in his kingdom. Instead of rushing ahead to Easter morning, Lent shapes us, forming us into people who are ready not just to celebrate resurrection but to be transformed by it.
As James K.A. Smith reminds us in How to Inhabit Time, we are not isolated individuals but part of a vibrant, living tradition, sustained by time-honored practices. Lent provides an opportunity to engage in these sacred rhythms, the ways the Church has long sought to encounter God in both times of struggle and renewal. By embracing practices like fasting, confession, giving and lament, we find ourselves drawn deeper into the story of God’s love unfolding in the world—rooted in the wisdom of the past yet always moving towards the hope of resurrection.
Sunday Worship—March 9, 10:30am in Fellowship Hall
On Sunday, March 9, many in our First Baptist family, including several members of our Sound and Broadcast Team, will be away on retreat. As a result, we will gather for a simplified worship service at 10:30am in the Fellowship Hall.
Matt Rollins will bring the message, and Fred Defoor will lead us in music. There will be no Sunday School that morning, but Worship Care for those 3 and under will be available during worship. We look forward to this time of worship together and invite you to join us in this more intimate setting as we continue our Lenten journey.
—Carol