This month of March brings us closer and closer to the event that changes everything we have come to know and understand. Even though we begin this month still wandering and following Jesus in the wilderness of Lent; we will find that our time will become a little clearer and a little more focused. Remember, we are getting closer and closer to Jerusalem, that will lead us to an Upper Room, a Garden and ultimately, a Cross. But what comes after that, indeed, changes, Everything!
For Lent we have been using 2nd Corinthians 4:7—9, 18 as a theme verse each time we bring ourselves into the worship gathering on Sundays. It reminds us:
But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed… because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen, for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.
The season of Lent is a mixed bag, I think. It reflects the reality of our broken-ness; our cracks and the various ways we fall short of reflecting the light of Christ. Yet, as Paul reminds the Corinthians (and us) we are not given up on. Our connection/relationship with Christ, however tenuous and illogical it may seem or feel, is always reconcilable. Connection and Reconciliation are always a part of God’s plan for us. They go hand-in-hand. In Christ, you cannot have one without the other. Lent gives us the time and space to examine our connection with God through the Holy One, Jesus Christ. And in those moments of honesty, vulnerability, and authenticity, we recognize our need for something better. Our need for forgiveness as well as the ability to forgive others. To remember that our relationship with Christ is not private; it involves other people. We are called to love God and to love our neighbor!
Connection and Reconciliation…with God, with each other…with the “other.”
From this moment until March 24th (Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week), you still have time to create some space. To look for that moment where you might get a glimpse of the sacred and the ordinary coming together and taking your breath away. A moment of authentic vulnerability to affirm your connection with the divine and in the midst of that encounter, to also speak, mutter, mumble words/feelings of honesty for your need to be forgiven and reconciled with God and/or others.
There is still time, brothers and sisters!
But Sunday is a coming…
Blessings and Joy!
Humble over Hype!
Pastor Mark (Rev)
February 18th – 1st Sunday of Lent
Sermon: “Friends”
Scripture: Mark 2:1—12
February 25th - 2nd Sunday of Lent
“Boundaries”
Scripture: John 4:1—42
March 3rd - 3rd Sunday of Lent
Sermon: “No One’s Immune”
Scripture: Luke 5:12—16/Luke 17:11—19
March 10th - 4th Sunday of Lent
Sermon: “No, Really!”
Scripture: Matthew 9:9—13
March 17th - 5th Sunday of Lent
Sermon: “Messy and Complicated”
Scripture: Matthew 20:20—28
March 24th - Palm Sunday
Sermon: “Lament, Blessing, & Rejection”
Scripture: Luke 13:31—35
March 28th - Maundy Thursday
Homily: “Pride Goes Before the Fall”
Scripture: Mark 14:66—72
March 31st - Easter Cantata
Homily: “I’ll Stay Right Here”
Scripture: Mark 16:1—8
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