Join us as we begin the season of Lent with an Ash Wednesday service on Wednesday, March 5th, at 12:00pm and 6:00pm. This is a short service where we commit to using the 40 days of Lent as preparation to grow deeper in our walk with Christ. We spend a few moments in worship, have ashes placed on our foreheads as a sign of our mortality and dependence upon God for life, and we spend time in prayer.
What is Lent?
Lent is a season of 40 days that begins on Ash Wednesday and last for 40 days. (The Sundays of Lent are not part of the 40 days of Lent and so remain “little Easters”). Lent is a time to prepare for Easter. It is a necessary prelude. The death and resurrection of Christ are true whether or not I prepare for Easter. However, without my heart and life being ready, I may not experience the depth and power of Christ’s death and resurrection. Lent is not about being miserable or sad, but about preparing to celebrate the greatest news the world has ever received. Fasting and giving up something can be part of Lenten disciplines, but so can taking on some things. Here are just a few suggestions:
___Try fasting one or two days a week during Lent (fasting can be a whole meal or leaving out a particular item such as meat.)
___ Spend time in solitude each day.
___ Read a book for inner growth.
___ Read through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
___ Begin to keep a journal of prayer concerns, questions, reading.
___ Focus on thanksgiving, rather than on asking, in prayer.
___ Give myself a gift of three hours to do something I always say I don’t have time to do.
___ Give up a favorite tv show and use that time for a devotional or spiritual reading.
___Give up a daily habit and use that money to help someone in need.
___ Make a list of people with whom I need to be reconciled. Pray for them and let Jesus guide me in my thinking and feeling toward them.
___ Take one hour to inventory my priorities and plan how I will reorder them.
___ Give up a grudge or a rehearsal of a past event.
___ Forgive someone who has hurt me.
___ Take on some loving task:
___ Plan to visit a “shut-in” neighbor or church member weekly.
___ Write a letter of affirmation once a week to a person who has touched my life.
___ Listen and respond to Christ’s call to a ministry of service:
___ Go to coffee or dinner with someone I want to know better.
___ Begin to recycle waste from my home and workplace.