This document outlines the sermon series at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church for Lent 2015. The series is titled "The Road" and will explore themes of morality, tradition, and hope. The March 1st sermon is called "The Father: God in the Midst of Ashes" and will discuss father-son relationships in the novel "The Road" and biblical stories like the binding of Isaac. It will also examine the father's protective love for his son in the story and how nothing can separate us from God's love according to Romans 8:38-39.

1. St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
The Road
2 Lent March 1, 2015

2. February 22: The Road: Morality,
Tradition, and Hope
March 1: The Father: God in the
Midst of Ashes
March 8: The Mother: The Choices we
Must Make
March 15: The Son: The Word of
God
March 22: The Coast: Love’s Embrace
Lent 2015: Sunday Mornings
“The Road”

3. March 1, 2015
 The Father: God in the Midst of Ashes

4. The Father: God in the Midst of
Ashes
 There are two main characters, both
unnamed, in The Road.
 It is a father and son story set in a
dystopian, almost Biblically apocalyptic
American landscape.
 It recalls Biblical father and son stories
as well, including…

5. Biblical Story #1: The
Akedah
 The near sacrifice of Isaac

6. Biblical Story #2: The Parable
of the Prodigal Son
 Like The Road, we
are not told the
names of the father
or the son either in
this parable.

7. Biblical Story #2: The Parable
of the Prodigal Son
 TABLE CONVERSATION (10 minutes)
 1. Have someone read the parable of the
prodigal son, and then use these questions
to reflect on the story:
 What words come to mind as you describe
the father in the parable?
 What words come to mind as you describe
the father in The Road?
 From what you know of both stories, how
are they similar? How are they different?

8. The Father
 The Father has a history. He
was once married. But in this new
world, the past no longer matters.
The father takes off his wedding
ring and leaves it on a bridge.
(Watch 30 – 33:30)
Table conversation: (7 minutes)
What things are you unwilling to leave behind?
What would need to happen for you to give up?
What would courage look like in the world of The
Road? What does it look like in your life?

9. The Father
There are some things the Father does
want to share with his son, things we
take for granted – like bathing and
toothpaste.
The father and son find an old bunker that
affords them a few luxuries in the midst
of a hostile environment.
(Watch 59:19 – 1:01:30)

10. The Father
 The Father is fiercely protective of his
Son. After nearly escaping a
threatening group, the father’s love for
his son is evident in comforting his
scared boy.

11. Romans 8:38 – 39
 “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor powers, nor heights, nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be
able to separate us from the love of God in
Christ Jesus our Lord.”
 Table conversation: (5 minutes)
 In light of what we have discussed so far,
what truth does this verse convey to you?
 In the narrative world of The Road does this
verse apply? Why or why not?

12. Next Week: March 8, 2015
 The Mother: The Choices we Must Make