Wednesday, March 6, 2019

JOHN Good Morning! I’m John Branning the Lead Pastor of Central United Methodist Church. Today, we officially begin the season of Lent. Many churches will have services that focus on the imposition of ashes placed on the forehead as a reminder of our mortality. It is good that we remember that we came from the dust of the earth and one day we shall return. We live in a day and age that everywhere we turn, there's a "self-help" theory. Books, videos and DVDs, websites, world-renown speakers, you name it – all dedicated to helping us "feel good about ourselves". Yet, somehow, still many of us struggle with self- consciousness, even as Christians! But here's something to consider. Did Jesus ever say, "Feel good about yourself"?? No. On the contrary, He said crucify yourself! If we go around hating ourselves and even feeling condemnation over our faults and sins, what we are really doing is focusing on our self! Jesus has come to free us on the condemnation that weighs on each of us. By following him, we realize that we were formed from the dust of the earth; but because of Jesus, we are living dust and there is a place waiting for us because of Jesus.