Today is Ash Wednesday which marks the beginning of Lent, a season of reflection, repentance, and renewal. Lent includes the 40 days before Easter, excluding Sundays, and is a time to slow down, turn our hearts toward God, and prepare for the hope of Easter. As we journey together, visit https://hrbcrichmond.org/lent/ for some great devotional resources and opportunities for worship and learning this Lenten season. 

We invite you to enter this contemplative season by joining us for a special evening of worship tonight at 6:00 p.m. in the sanctuary. Through sacred music, choral anthems, solo voices, and instrumental beauty, we will reflect on our need for God’s mercy and the deep love that calls us to renewal.  

Together in worship, we shall remember that we are dust—yet infinitely cherished by God. The ashes imposed on our foreheads remind us of our mortality—“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”—yet they also proclaim the boundless grace of our Savior. 

I am looking forward to our times of worship on Sundays and have planned a new series entitled, “Steadfast Trust: Walking with God through the Psalms.” We will journey through selected psalms, discovering how trust in God sustains us in every season of life. I invite you to walk this road with us, as we learn to rely on God’s protection, guidance, presence, forgiveness, and faithfulness.  

Lent Sermon Schedule: 

• March 9: First Sunday in Lent “Trusting God’s Protection”                 Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 

• March 16: Second Sunday in Lent “Trusting God’s Guidance”          Psalm 27:1-14 

• March 23: Third Sunday in Lent “Trusting God’s Presence”               Psalm 63:1-8. 

• March 30: Fourth Sunday in Lent “Trusting in God’s Forgiveness” Psalm 32 (Rev. Dr. Steve Allsbrook preaching) 

• April 6: Fifth Sunday in Lent “Trusting in God’s Faithfulness”             Psalm 126:1-6  

As we begin this season, let us open our hearts to God in prayer: 

The season rolls around again. 

Deep calls to deep. 

Settle down. Look within. 

Be quiet. Listen. 

Are you on the right path? Are you drawing closer to God? Are you more loving? 

Now is the time to reflect and pray. 

Now is the season for silence and giving. 

Thank God for Lent. 

Thank God we journey not alone. 

(Source: A Prayer for Lent, homileticsonline, March 9, 2025, worship resources.) 

May this Lenten season draw us deeper into trust—trust in God’s presence, trust in His mercy, and trust in His promise to bring new life. 

Grace and peace,