“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season. Throughout this year’s Lenten season, we will take a look at the Apostle’s Creed. This creed has three parts, which helps us to say the same thing as the Scriptures about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. For nearly 2,000 years, Christians have made this confession. Consider the word ‘Creed’.

It comes from the Latin word credo, meaning ‘I believe’. When we state the Creed, we are confessing what we believe. On this Ash Wednesday, we will take time to make several confessions along with the Apostle’s Creed. First, we will hear these words as the ashes are placed upon our foreheads, “From dust you came, and to dust you will return.” To this, we may choose to say “Amen”. Meaning, “I believe this to be true.”

We will then confess that we have sinned against God in thought, word, and deed by what we have done and what we have left undone. With this confession, we are stating that we believe God’s Word is true in its judgment of our choices. As Romans 3:23 states, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

Then we will have opportunity to also make a confession. When we hear the pastor announcing the Good News that because of Jesus, we are forgiven. That confession is again given with the word “Amen”. Which is a short way of saying, “Yes, I believe I am forgiven.”

Prayer
Lord Jesus, on this day we are very mindful of Your Word being true. Your judgments are true. And we do know that as we look at our lives, we realize our sin and we confess that sin to You.