Pastor Corner
What is lent all about??
Have you ever wondered what people are talking about when they say they’re giving something up for Lent? Do you want to understand what Lent is and how it relates to Easter?
Lent is the 40 days (not including Sundays) from Ash Wednesday to the Saturday before Easter. Lent is often described as a time of preparation and an opportunity to go deeper with God. This means that it’s a time for personal reflection that prepares people’s hearts and minds for Good Friday and Easter. Jesus begore starting his public ministry went away to spend time with God his father and to overcome temptations. This is his example to us.
What Are the Key Days During Lent?
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. You will notice people with a smudged, black cross on their foreheads. Those are ashes from the Ash Wednesday service. The ashes symbolize our grief for the things we’ve done wrong and the resulting division of imperfect people from a perfect God.
Maundy Thursday is the day before Good Friday. It commemorates the night before Jesus died, when He shared the Passover meal with His closest friends and followers.
Good Friday is the day Christians remember Jesus’ death. The “Good” reflects how Jesus’ death was a sacrifice on our behalf so we can receive God’s forgiveness for our wrongs, or sins.
Easter Sunday is the joyful celebration of Jesus rising from the dead to give us the opportunity of eternal life. While people still die, Jesus made the way for people to have a relationship with God in this life and to spend eternity with Him in heaven.
What Happens During Lent and Why?
Lent reminds us that we do not belong to this world and that we need to take time to come away with Jesus and re-focus our time and energy on living into the kingdom that Jesus has invited us into. The three main things people focus on during Lent are prayer, fasting (abstaining from something to reduce distractions and focus more on God) and giving, or charity.
Prayer during Lent focuses on our need for God’s forgiveness. It’s also about repenting (turning away from our sins) and receiving God’s mercy and love.
Fasting, or giving something up, is a very common practice during Lent. The idea is that giving up something that’s a regular part of life, like eating dessert or scrolling through Facebook, can be a reminder of Jesus’ sacrifice. That time can also be replaced with more time connecting with God.
Giving money or doing something good for others is a way to respond to God’s grace, generosity and love. For example, some people spend time volunteering or donate money they would normally use to buy something, like their morning coffee.
It’s important to note that doing these things can never make us earn or deserve Jesus’ sacrifice or a relationship with God. People are flawed and will never be good enough for a perfect God. Only Jesus has the power to rescue us from ourselves. But we live in an imperfect world and Jesus invites us to come away and to prepare ourselves to grow in our relationship with God. He knows how hard this is to do in our busy and crazy world, so he invites us to take 40 days to prepare our hearts for the event that makes sense our of our faith life.
On Good Friday, Jesus sacrificed Himself to take on our sins and offer forgiveness. He was raised from the dead -on Easter Sunday to overcome death and to give us an opportunity to have a relationship with God for eternity.
Spending time during Lent praying, fasting, and giving can make Jesus’ sacrifice on Good Friday and His resurrection on Easter even more meaningful. May all of us make some changes to grow in our faith and make this Lenten season a fruitful and life changing one.
In Christ’s Love,
Rev. Stephen W. Barch
What is lent all about??
Have you ever wondered what people are talking about when they say they’re giving something up for Lent? Do you want to understand what Lent is and how it relates to Easter?
Lent is the 40 days (not including Sundays) from Ash Wednesday to the Saturday before Easter. Lent is often described as a time of preparation and an opportunity to go deeper with God. This means that it’s a time for personal reflection that prepares people’s hearts and minds for Good Friday and Easter. Jesus begore starting his public ministry went away to spend time with God his father and to overcome temptations. This is his example to us.
What Are the Key Days During Lent?
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. You will notice people with a smudged, black cross on their foreheads. Those are ashes from the Ash Wednesday service. The ashes symbolize our grief for the things we’ve done wrong and the resulting division of imperfect people from a perfect God.
Maundy Thursday is the day before Good Friday. It commemorates the night before Jesus died, when He shared the Passover meal with His closest friends and followers.
Good Friday is the day Christians remember Jesus’ death. The “Good” reflects how Jesus’ death was a sacrifice on our behalf so we can receive God’s forgiveness for our wrongs, or sins.
Easter Sunday is the joyful celebration of Jesus rising from the dead to give us the opportunity of eternal life. While people still die, Jesus made the way for people to have a relationship with God in this life and to spend eternity with Him in heaven.
What Happens During Lent and Why?
Lent reminds us that we do not belong to this world and that we need to take time to come away with Jesus and re-focus our time and energy on living into the kingdom that Jesus has invited us into. The three main things people focus on during Lent are prayer, fasting (abstaining from something to reduce distractions and focus more on God) and giving, or charity.
Prayer during Lent focuses on our need for God’s forgiveness. It’s also about repenting (turning away from our sins) and receiving God’s mercy and love.
Fasting, or giving something up, is a very common practice during Lent. The idea is that giving up something that’s a regular part of life, like eating dessert or scrolling through Facebook, can be a reminder of Jesus’ sacrifice. That time can also be replaced with more time connecting with God.
Giving money or doing something good for others is a way to respond to God’s grace, generosity and love. For example, some people spend time volunteering or donate money they would normally use to buy something, like their morning coffee.
It’s important to note that doing these things can never make us earn or deserve Jesus’ sacrifice or a relationship with God. People are flawed and will never be good enough for a perfect God. Only Jesus has the power to rescue us from ourselves. But we live in an imperfect world and Jesus invites us to come away and to prepare ourselves to grow in our relationship with God. He knows how hard this is to do in our busy and crazy world, so he invites us to take 40 days to prepare our hearts for the event that makes sense our of our faith life.
On Good Friday, Jesus sacrificed Himself to take on our sins and offer forgiveness. He was raised from the dead -on Easter Sunday to overcome death and to give us an opportunity to have a relationship with God for eternity.
Spending time during Lent praying, fasting, and giving can make Jesus’ sacrifice on Good Friday and His resurrection on Easter even more meaningful. May all of us make some changes to grow in our faith and make this Lenten season a fruitful and life changing one.
In Christ’s Love,
Rev. Stephen W. Barch