In this Ash Wednesday homily, Co-Lead Pastor Jason Coker invites us into the solemn and reflective 40-day season of Lent. Contrasting the stark reality of Ash Wednesday with the vibrant "super bloom" of Easter, Jason explores a profound truth: you cannot have a super bloom without a desert, and you cannot have resurrection without death.

Drawing on Genesis 3:19 ("you are dust, and to dust you shall return"), the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes, and the spiritual insights of Thomas Merton, this message challenges our modern desire for endless, consumer-driven happiness. Instead, it offers a restorative view of repentance—not as a tool for shame, but as a clear-eyed embrace of our humanity and fallibility.

Join us as we step into our inner deserts, reckoning with our mortality to prepare our hearts for the unpredictable, unearned gifts of grace to come.

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