Lent
From the Pastor’s Desk:
Lent
Lent is a solemn liturgical season in the Christian calendar that spans approximately 40 days, beginning on Ash Wednesday and concluding with Holy Saturday, just before Easter Sunday. Rooted in the themes of repentance, reflection, and spiritual renewal, Lent commemorates Jesus’ 40 days of fasting in the wilderness and invites believers to engage in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as a means of drawing closer to God. It is a time of self-examination and preparation, encouraging Christians to turn away from sin and embrace the transformative power of Christ’s resurrection. The season is marked by a subdued tone, with worship services often emphasizing penitence, humility, and the hope of redemption.
This year for Lent, I am planning on doing a series on Wednesday Nights called ‘Guided to the Cross.’ Many understand Lent as a journey for we are journeying with our Lord as he heads to the cross. But what are we going to find there? As we are guided to the cross, what we find is that we are called to live in forgiveness, hope, love, peace, trust and perseverance. Each week, the services in this series reveal how Christ and his cross serve as examples for us of how to live our lives for and through our crucified Lord and Savior.
Below are the themes for each week and special services during Lent:
March 5: ASH WEDNESDAY--Guided to Forgiveness • Colossians 1:13-14 • When we confess our sins, we find forgiveness in the cross of Christ and are empowered to forgive others.
March 12: Guided to Hope • 2 Corinthians 1:10 • When we are uncertain about what the future holds, we discover in the cross the sure hope of heaven.
March 19: Guided to Love • 1 Timothy 1:13-14 • When we are separated from others and from God by our sin, the cross brings us together through its love.
March 26: Guided to Peace • Colossians 1:19-20 • With wars waging within and without, the cross settles them all with peace to body, mind and soul.
April 2: Guided to Trust • 1 Timothy 1:15 • Plagued by doubt and competing voices, we turn to the cross to put our trust fully in the salvation won for us there.
April 9: Guided to Perseverance • Ephesians 6:18 • When we are faced with hardship, we look to Christ on the cross who endured to the end so that we might carry on.
April 13: Palm Sunday-- Guided to Humility • James 4:10 • As Jesus enters into Jerusalem in humility on his way to Calvary, we contemplate how to live lives of humility, guided by Christ and the cross.
April 17: Maundy Thursday-- Guided to Service • Romans 7:6 • As Jesus washes the disciples’ feet in service to them on his way to Calvary, we contemplate how to live lives of service, guided by Christ and the cross.
Join us this Lenten Season as we are guided to the cross and we hear the call to live in forgiveness, hope, love, peace, trust, perseverance, humility and service.
Be guided to the cross this Lent. Be guided to Jesus this Lent.