Well, here we are – the season of Lent – a time of reflection, of self-examination, of repentance, of fasting, and certainly of preparation for Easter. It is a season in which we spend a lot of time focusing on our relationship with God and how we are called to continue our growth in discipleship.
https://www.umc.org/en/content/ask-the-umc-what-is-lent-and-why-does-it-last-forty-days
The real question is – how are you planning to do so this year? So many concentrate so much on fasting – giving something up for the forty day period between now and early April. Yet, I think, this season is about so much more than just giving up something. As we’ve already noted, it should be a serious reflection on the state of our discipleship journey – where we are in our faith and how we are being called to dive deeper into it. You see, we’re never done. There’s always more for us to learn from Jesus, more for us to do in his name.
As such, during this Lenten season, we are going to spend our Sunday worship time concentrating on the theme “Reflections on how we live out our faith.” It will be a deeper dive into some of our spiritual practices, but also an opportunity to reflect on some of those things that we often choose not to do because we think we’re not qualified enough or really can’t believe that God would call us to do something like that.
For the next five Sundays, the Sundays in Lent, we are going to spend a lot of time with God, in prayer, in song, talking and listening, reflecting and examining our reflections, all in an effort to grow our faith, to be better disciples, to focus on what God has called us to do, and to prepare ourselves for what Jesus did for us all that first Easter weekend.
Prepare your hearts. Prepare your minds. Most importantly, prepare your spirits. For, I think, God is going to do something amazing this Lent, and I invite you to ponder what it might be – for you and for us all.
Always pondering, Pastor Steve