Reaching the Lost. Discipling the Saved. Sharing the Love of Jesus with Everyone.

Tag: Let My People Go

The Book of EXODUS — Let My People Go

This Lenten season we will be going through “The Book of EXODUS: Let My People Go!”

Throughout the book of Exodus God reveals who he is through his absence and his presence, through his silence and his speech, through his wrath and his mercy, and through his judgement and his amazing grace. In doing so, the book paints a beautiful portrait of Jesus.

R. Reed Lessing (series author)

Exodus gives us a wonderful image of God saving His people with “a strong hand and an outstretched arm” (Deuteronomy 26:8). In fact, the first commandment in the Jewish numbering system is “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Exodus 20:2).

That’s something for us to hold on to and a reality we can live in when we look at the chaos of our world, our culture, and our lives.

We can feel so trapped and helpless, and looking to our culture only exacerbates those feelings!

But God is faithful, and as He saved His people by bringing them out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, so He has saved us through Jesus and blessed us with His Holy Spirit.

Join us this Lent as we go through God’s command to our enemies, to let us go!

“Big Things with Small Stuff — ASH WEDNESDAY, 2026

Join us on WEDNESDAY, February 18, 2026, at 7:00 PM for Ash Wednesday worship and the Imposition of Ashes.

“Big Things with Small Stuff”

May we see God’s rescue of our evil ways in our personal prison conquered forever through Jesus.

  • Genesis 3:19
  • Exodus 2:1-10

The purpose of repentance is not to be swallowed up by guilt. It is to be freed from a dark and destructive direction by God’s wakening Word, and to be sent on a new path by the sin-conquering Savior. It’s what we all need.

THE REV. MIKE NEWMAN
PRESIDENT OF THE TEXAS DISTRICT OF THE LC-MS

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of our Lenten journey, which culminates on Easter Sunday with the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus.

On that night at worship we mark our foreheads with an ash cross and, as that cross is marked, we are reminded of our sins. As we are marked by Jesus’ sacrifice; we are drawn to the realization that “[we] are dust, and to dust [we] shall return” (Genesis 3:19).

On Ash Wednesday and throughout the season of Lent, we also focus on our sins, on repentance, and on our broken world; seeing how we and all of creation has fallen far short of God’s intention and glory.

But we do not despair because we look to the certain hope that is ours through the forgiveness of our sins given to us freely by God’s grace through faith in Jesus.

THE IMPOSITION OF ASHES

Everything we experience in life is finite and temporal, including our own lives. As the Scripture reports, we came from the dust of the ground and we will return to the dust of the ground. (Genesis 3:19 & Ecclesiastes 3:20)

For many centuries the use of ashes has symbolized repentance. Imposing ashes in the form of a cross on the forehead of the worshipper on Ash Wednesday is a vivid reminder that such a person has been redeemed by Christ the Crucified. It is a symbol, not primarily of our sins, but upon the forgiveness of them through faith in Jesus.

As Ash Wednesday is a somber time as we remember that Jesus willingly suffering and death come as a result of our sins and His love. As such, at the conclusion of worship that day, we exit the church in silence.


“Repentance slays selfish pride, turns us from sin’s siren call, quiets arrogant arguments, tames out-of-control egos, pulls us back from distraction, leads us to restoration of relationships, places us on the pathway of walking with God, and restores our hearts with compassion and grace.

We need this personally. We need this as schools and congregations. We need this as a District. We need this as a Synod. We need this as Christ’s Church.”

The Rev. Mike Newman
President of the Texas District of the LC-MS

Posts About Ash Wednesday Worship

ASH WEDNESDAY, 2025

Ash Wednesday worship and the Imposition of Ashes on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, at 6:00 PM.
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ASH WEDNESDAY, 2021

Ash Wednesday worship and the Imposition of Ashes on Wednesday, February 17, 2021, at 7:00 PM.
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