RoboPreacher

give out to give in An Ash Wednesday sermon on Jesus' Good Shepherd Sermon : Shortly we will be marked with ashes . Ashes made from the branches we triumphantly waived on Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday, that day we let ourselves dream , if only for a day, that the path to Easter would be an easy one. Tonight, though , we are marked with the ashes of that dream .   But that isn’t the only dream of ours to have gone down in ashes . Is it? There are ashes of other dreams that we are marked by this evening. None of us walk such a cleared path that we don’t come through these doors unmarked by the ashes of dreams that have come to nothing . There are the garden-variety fantasies . Idle dreams of a bigger bank account, a larger home, and a sports car, too. All to go with that winning smile, trim waistline, and, while we’re at it, full head of hair. But then there are the ashes of other dreams. Aren’t there? Dreams that are closer to the heart . Dreams that reveal our deepest ...

so scared of what he would find, he started crying The Holy Gospel according to St. John the 10th chapter! “Remember that you are dust; and to dust you shall return.” With those 11 mere words Lent begins .   Just 11 simple words. Words that say something about you and me that isn’t so simple to hear: That we're dust, and heading inescapably back to dust… So, let me ask; how do those words sound to you? Do these words trouble you? Do they scare you? Do they relieve you?   Do these words surprise you? Or, are you perfectly aware that you’re dust already ? You might even try thinking of how these words have struck you over the years ?   How did they sound the first time you really heard them? And what was that night like? How do they sound to you now, tonight ? Do these words sound more true, or less? More welcome, or less? Really think about this. Take note of what’s going on tonight. Attend to what it’s like to hear these ...