Ash Wednesday

Lent is the season of 40 days (not counting Sundays) observed in preparation for the celebration of Easter. It is a season of reflection and self-examination. In the early church, new believers in Jesus would spend forty days preparing for their baptism on Easter Sunday. Later, Christians began to use the weeks before Easter to spend focused time reflecting on their need for Jesus and their commitment to walk in repentance and faith.

Psalm 30 provides the backdrop for Lent in 2026 at Chapelgate. The Palm Sunday and Easter messages will both come from this Psalm, and members of Chapelgate have written prayers based on it. In addition, a playlist of songs suggested by the authors is available on Spotify - just follow the QR code. Prayer authors were free to read Psalm 30 in any translation they chose, and we have preserved their wording of the verse that they focused on. The scripture quoted on the back is from the Christian Standard Bible by Holman Bible Publishers, 2017.

This psalm uses the images of night and morning to reflect on periods of suffering and isolation that are followed by God’s gift of salvation and joy. These prayers and songs will lead us each day as we journey through the sorrow of Jesus’s crucifixion - when the day turned to night and God himself lay in darkness - and onward to Easter morning, when we celebrate the joy of his empty grave and the sweet promise of eternal life.

Father, as we enter this season of Lent, we ask you to join us on the journey to the cross. We remember that we are dust, and we mourn our sin before you. Send your Spirit to heal us and to raise us up. May your favor never leave us, and may you strengthen our faith in this season of weeping. We wait expectantly for the joy that comes in the morning.