What is Lent?
Lent is the 40 days (not counting Sundays) from Ash Wednesday to the Saturday before Easter. It is a time of preparation and fasting that has been part of church tradition for hundreds of years. We use it for personal reflection and examine opportunities to move closer to God.
During Lent, we focus on prayer, fasting, and giving.
Why prayer?
During Lent, we focus on our need for God’s grace and forgiveness in our lives. We acknowledge our humanity and the imperfect choices we make. All of us, every single one of us, need God’s grace in our life.
Our sermon series this Lent will be focusing on prayer and the New Testament. We will look at some of the ways we might already be praying in our lives and be challenged to try some new ways of praying. Don’t miss worship on Sunday mornings to learn about the week’s prayer practice and try it together!
Why fasting?
My favorite practice during Lent since I was about 12 has been to give something up. Recently, I’ve enjoyed the practice of taking on a new habit during Lent. Some common things to give up are sweets, social media, or television. Others might fast from sunrise to sundown one day of the week. One year during Lent I made a list of 40 people to pray for and spent time praying for them each day. All of these serve as reminders of our need for God’s grace in our lives. We can pray the prayer “God, help me want you as much as I want ice cream or scrolling through Facebook” during this season and examine the way we are relating to God, remembering Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection we will celebrate on Easter!
Why give?
We always want to provide you with opportunities to be generous with organizations that are working hard to empower people to alleviate the injustices and inequalities in the world. This week I know your hearts have been with our siblings in Ukraine and have been wanting to find ways to help out.
Click here to visit The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) giving page that will send funds directly to United Methodists in Ukraine providing sanctuary, relief, and basic necessities to those in need.
Ash Wednesday Information
We have a few great opportunities for you to begin your journey of Lent 2022 today. In Room 110, some prayer stations are set up for you to participate in and enjoy. Tonight at 6:30 pm, we will have our annual Ash Wednesday worship service in the Sanctuary.
So welcome to the start of Lent, I sincerely hope you will find ways to move closer to God and be able to experience God’s grace in new and familiar ways.
Much love,
Keri Lynn
