Zion East Prospect Church
Ash Wednesday 2020
  • O Sacred Head (Passion Chorale)
  • Surely The Presence Of The Lord
  • ME: ORIENTATION: FIND COMMON GROUND WITH THE AUDIENCE
    Ash Wednesday and the journey through Lent to Easter is a time of contemplation and drawing close to Christ.
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    WE: IDENTIFICATION (MAKE IT CLEAR THAT YOU STRUGGLE)
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    GOD: ILLUMINATION (THE GOAL IS TO RESOLVE THE TENSION

    I. The curse of Sin

    A. Adam and Eve

    6 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,
    (ESV)
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    17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (ESV)
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    B. The response of sin is death

    sin
    11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
    14 The Lord God said to the serpent,
    “Because you have done this,
    cursed are you above all livestock
    and above all beasts of the field;
    on your belly you shall go,
    and dust you shall eat
    all the days of your life.
    15  I will put enmity between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and her offspring;
    he shall bruise your head,
    and you shall bruise his heel.”
    Child birth multiply your pain in childbearing
    you desire shall be contrary to your husband
    cursed is the ground
    in pain you shall eat the plants of the field
    by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
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    English Standard Version Chapter 3

    By the sweat of your face

    you shall eat bread,

    till you return to the ground,

    for out of it you were taken;

    for you are dust,

    and to dust you shall return.”

    By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground,
    you shall eat bread,
    till you return to the ground,
    for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (ESV)
    for you are dust,

    II. We all travel this path

    A. We all know we have a sin nature.

    and to dust you shall return.”
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    for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (NIV)
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    23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (NIV)
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    23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23(NIV)
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    B. David faced sin

    Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. (NIV)
    Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. (NIV)
    For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. (NIV)
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    13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. 14 Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing— grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God. (NIV)
    13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. 14 Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing— grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God. (NIV)
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    III. The gift is presented and you have a choice

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    A. The Gift

     For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)
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     Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— (NIV)
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    For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. (NIV)
    20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. (NIV)
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    B. We have a basic understanding of the human condition.

    It’s common among Christians to reduce Ash Wednesday’s meaning to a reminder of our mortality. Yet, “to dust you came and to dust you shall return,” as we’ll say tonight, is not a verse from “Circle of Life.” It’s not an observation about your mortality. It’s a recitation of God’s curse. In response to the Old Adam’s originating sin in the garden, God declares, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. You are but dust, and to dust you shall return.” There was no circle of life in God’s creative plans. Death is not natural. Death is a consequence. Thus, Ash Wednesday is not about what all can know apart from revelation, the fact of our mortality, but what only Christians can know by revelation, that death is the wage owed to the Pharaoh called Sin. SW
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    c. A time to repent, a time to draw close

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    YOU: APPLICATION (TELL PEOPLE WHAT TO DO AND WHAT THEY HAVE HEARD)
    Conclusion:
    How will you handle sin?
    How will you handle death?
    How will you draw close to Christ during this season of Lent?
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      • Romans 6:23ESV

      • Psalm 51:1ESV

      • Psalm 51:2ESV

      • Psalm 51:3ESV

  • Freely Freely
Zion East Prospect Church
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717-252-1800
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