willtheorangeguy/All-LICRC-Transcripts · Datasets at Hugging Face

text stringlengths 6 569
[1751.32 --> 1758.34] officially begins on Ash Wednesday. And this year for Ash Wednesday, we did things a little bit differently,
[1758.60 --> 1764.74] but we still did the imposition of the ashes. And so when Pastor Kevin and I came to the church on
[1764.74 --> 1771.72] Wednesday morning, we did the imposition of ashes for each other, so that when people came in to receive
[1771.72 --> 1778.36] those ashes, we weren't marked in the same way. And so as Pastor Kevin marked my forehead, he said,
[1778.46 --> 1783.36] for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. And then
[1783.36 --> 1789.38] I had this black cross on my forehead for the rest of the day. There was a moment where I was in my study,
[1789.38 --> 1798.12] I was working, thinking, writing, away, and without thinking, I just sort of put my hands on my face like
[1798.12 --> 1809.84] this because I was processing. And then I looked at my hands, and they were black. And I thought,
[1809.84 --> 1821.72] isn't that exactly how sin works? It stains me in an unconscious way. And the Ash Wednesday moment made
[1821.72 --> 1828.22] that real for me in a way that had not yet been happening in my life. And so then I went and I
[1828.22 --> 1834.64] washed my hands, and the sin went away. And I thought, isn't that exactly how grace works?
[1834.64 --> 1844.10] An hour later, I walked by the mirror, and I saw that my cross was smudged.
[1845.28 --> 1849.56] And I thought, oh, I can't do that. I'm going to have people showing up here in a few minutes,
[1849.74 --> 1853.88] where I'm going to have to do the imposition of the ashes. And so I very carefully took one of the
[1853.88 --> 1858.22] Lysol wipes, which we have plentiful around here because of our COVID policies, and I very carefully
[1858.22 --> 1867.44] cleaned my smudge to look like a nice, good cross. And isn't that exactly what we do with our sins?
[1867.54 --> 1871.72] We manicure them, and we present them to the world in a way that is socially acceptable.
[1872.78 --> 1873.84] We hide the rest.
[1873.84 --> 1889.96] And then, on that night between four and six, when some 25, 30 people came, we had a moment to be in
[1889.96 --> 1897.44] community together and to recognize the reality of our sin, to stand together knowing that the wages
[1897.44 --> 1902.94] of sin of death, but the gift of God is eternal life. And all of those reflections and struggles from
[1902.94 --> 1916.56] the day before filled up that experience with you for me. When we face temptation and trials of sin,
[1916.78 --> 1929.40] we do not face them alone. We are together as a body. We are together as a family, brothers and sisters.
[1929.40 --> 1936.24] And so whatever it is that you are struggling with, however it is that you are manicuring your sin and
[1936.24 --> 1948.54] temptation, you are not alone. Be with us. Join us on this journey of life and faith and of making it real.
[1948.54 --> 1958.20] To be hearers and doers of the word is to face temptation. When we make our faith real, it will be hard.
[1959.06 --> 1967.98] But God has equipped us through new birth and new identity as holy. So reframe the discussion of sin
[1967.98 --> 1977.50] and temptation in the categories of what it means to be holy. God has given us his word to grant life and
[1977.50 --> 1987.50] to power and has given us the power to defeat sin and temptation in life. And we are not alone.
[1987.50 --> 1999.52] You are not alone. We live this real life faith together in community and that changes everything.
[2001.12 --> 2009.82] It's my prayer that today you experience the grace of God in a way that is more real than you have in
[2009.82 --> 2017.28] the last days or weeks or months or years. And maybe this is the first time, maybe this is the time
[2017.28 --> 2023.08] innumerable of your experience of that grace, but if it is, would you bless God for it?
[2024.96 --> 2032.46] Would you bless God for what he has done for you in Jesus? Amen. Let's pray together.
[2032.46 --> 2047.74] Lord our God, we bless you. We bless you for our new identities. We bless you for making us holy and for
[2047.74 --> 2053.72] the journey of being made holy. Lord, we need you.
[2053.72 --> 2064.62] When temptation comes our way, we need you. And so speak truth in your word. Speak truth in your word
[2064.62 --> 2072.84] through this community of faith. And may we together love and support one another so that as we go,
[2074.84 --> 2082.10] as we face the battles of temptation, we might know the joys of new life in you.
[2083.72 --> 2095.26] This is our prayer. Lord Jesus, be our blessing. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Amen.

[1751.32 --> 1758.34] officially begins on Ash Wednesday. And this year for Ash Wednesday, we did things a little bit differently,

[1758.60 --> 1764.74] but we still did the imposition of the ashes. And so when Pastor Kevin and I came to the church on

[1764.74 --> 1771.72] Wednesday morning, we did the imposition of ashes for each other, so that when people came in to receive

[1771.72 --> 1778.36] those ashes, we weren't marked in the same way. And so as Pastor Kevin marked my forehead, he said,

[1778.46 --> 1783.36] for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. And then

[1783.36 --> 1789.38] I had this black cross on my forehead for the rest of the day. There was a moment where I was in my study,

[1789.38 --> 1798.12] I was working, thinking, writing, away, and without thinking, I just sort of put my hands on my face like

[1798.12 --> 1809.84] this because I was processing. And then I looked at my hands, and they were black. And I thought,

[1809.84 --> 1821.72] isn't that exactly how sin works? It stains me in an unconscious way. And the Ash Wednesday moment made

[1821.72 --> 1828.22] that real for me in a way that had not yet been happening in my life. And so then I went and I

[1828.22 --> 1834.64] washed my hands, and the sin went away. And I thought, isn't that exactly how grace works?

[1834.64 --> 1844.10] An hour later, I walked by the mirror, and I saw that my cross was smudged.

[1845.28 --> 1849.56] And I thought, oh, I can't do that. I'm going to have people showing up here in a few minutes,

[1849.74 --> 1853.88] where I'm going to have to do the imposition of the ashes. And so I very carefully took one of the

[1853.88 --> 1858.22] Lysol wipes, which we have plentiful around here because of our COVID policies, and I very carefully

[1858.22 --> 1867.44] cleaned my smudge to look like a nice, good cross. And isn't that exactly what we do with our sins?

[1867.54 --> 1871.72] We manicure them, and we present them to the world in a way that is socially acceptable.

[1872.78 --> 1873.84] We hide the rest.

[1873.84 --> 1889.96] And then, on that night between four and six, when some 25, 30 people came, we had a moment to be in

[1889.96 --> 1897.44] community together and to recognize the reality of our sin, to stand together knowing that the wages

[1897.44 --> 1902.94] of sin of death, but the gift of God is eternal life. And all of those reflections and struggles from

[1902.94 --> 1916.56] the day before filled up that experience with you for me. When we face temptation and trials of sin,

[1916.78 --> 1929.40] we do not face them alone. We are together as a body. We are together as a family, brothers and sisters.

[1929.40 --> 1936.24] And so whatever it is that you are struggling with, however it is that you are manicuring your sin and

[1936.24 --> 1948.54] temptation, you are not alone. Be with us. Join us on this journey of life and faith and of making it real.

[1948.54 --> 1958.20] To be hearers and doers of the word is to face temptation. When we make our faith real, it will be hard.

[1959.06 --> 1967.98] But God has equipped us through new birth and new identity as holy. So reframe the discussion of sin

[1967.98 --> 1977.50] and temptation in the categories of what it means to be holy. God has given us his word to grant life and

[1977.50 --> 1987.50] to power and has given us the power to defeat sin and temptation in life. And we are not alone.

[1987.50 --> 1999.52] You are not alone. We live this real life faith together in community and that changes everything.

[2001.12 --> 2009.82] It's my prayer that today you experience the grace of God in a way that is more real than you have in

[2009.82 --> 2017.28] the last days or weeks or months or years. And maybe this is the first time, maybe this is the time

[2017.28 --> 2023.08] innumerable of your experience of that grace, but if it is, would you bless God for it?

[2024.96 --> 2032.46] Would you bless God for what he has done for you in Jesus? Amen. Let's pray together.

[2032.46 --> 2047.74] Lord our God, we bless you. We bless you for our new identities. We bless you for making us holy and for

[2047.74 --> 2053.72] the journey of being made holy. Lord, we need you.

[2053.72 --> 2064.62] When temptation comes our way, we need you. And so speak truth in your word. Speak truth in your word

[2064.62 --> 2072.84] through this community of faith. And may we together love and support one another so that as we go,

[2074.84 --> 2082.10] as we face the battles of temptation, we might know the joys of new life in you.

[2083.72 --> 2095.26] This is our prayer. Lord Jesus, be our blessing. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Amen.