A Message from Pastor Stacey
Dear friends,
The season of Lent begins soon. Lent is the forty days from Ash Wednesday (March 6) to Easter, not counting the Sundays.
In the recent past, you may have thought of lent as a me to “give up” something. More recently we have also begun to think about lent as a time to pay special attention to the work of God all around us – in our lives, in our communities, in our world. We think about God’s values: peace, reconciliation, forgiveness, justice, and we ask ourselves whether our choices are what God would have us choose.
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday with our confession of our weakness and failings and then the freedom which comes from God’s willingness to forgive us and make us right. Then we turn our thoughts to “taking on” rather than “giving up” for lent. Taking on something new that will bring us closer to God, that will help us live more as God would have us live. Listed below are some possibilities to get you thinking.
I invite you this lent to think about the things in your life that you need to give up or let go of – but I also invite you to deepen your faith by taking an ac on that will make you a stronger, more faithful follower of Jesus Christ.
In Christ,
Stacey
Ideas for Spiritual Growth during Lent
Inner Directed
Spend time in solitude each day (even 10 minutes makes a difference)
Read a book for inner growth.
Read twice through a gospel (Luke is the gospel we read during much of 2019; John is the gospel on which the Lenten sermon series is based)
Begin to keep a spiritual journal where you jot down prayers, questions, ideas, inspiration quotes.
Focus on gratitude, rather than on asking, in prayer.
Find a way to go to bed earlier or sleep in so you get enough rest.
Make a list of people with whom you need to be reconciled. Pray for them and Let Jesus guide your thinking and feeling toward them.
Take control of your life by _______________________ (you fill in the blank)
Take one hour to inventory priorities and plan how you will reorder them.
Give up a grudge or a rehearsal of a past event.
Forgive someone who has hurt you.
Outward Disciplines
Plan to visit a homebound neighbor or church member weekly.
Write a letter of a affirmation once a week to a person who has touched your life.
Invite to coffee or dinner someone you want to know better.
Recycle waste from you home and workplace – if you already do this, bump it up a notch
Give blood and recall the cross.
Say “NO” to something that is a waste of money and time.
Pray for God to give you the courage to speak out against prejudice.
Find a way to live out your baptismal promise to “resist evil, injustice, and oppression” by ___________ (you ll in the blank)
Write a letter to one of your representatives and explain how your faith affects your thinking on an issue.