Dear Church Family,
This time of year when the days are short and ground is either snowy or muddy, I find that my focus moves away from the here and now and toward the hope of what is to come. I sit here bundled up in my sweater daydreaming about the spring, about warmth and growth and new life. As we enter into this Lenten season, it is a time of preparation. We are preparing our bodies and our minds for what is to come.
We begin at the end, which might sound silly, but it is the truth. We take last year’s palm
branches, and we turn them to ash. We hear those words, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, and we focus on our sinfulness before God and our human mortality. We start Lent by looking at the frailty of human life and considering just how we are living the days that we have been given. Are we striving toward Christian perfection, or are we allowing our sinful nature to rule our lives?
For the forty days of Lent, we live in a time of repentance. We often choose an act of piety, such as fasting or daily devotions, or an act of mercy, such as serving our church or our community. These acts help us to grow in our inward relationship with God or our outward relationship with God’s people. As God’s creation sprouts new life around us, we too use this time for renewal.
I welcome you to join us in worship this Lenten season. We will be exploring the miracles that Jesus performs in the book of John, as we work our way toward celebrating the ultimate miracle of the death and resurrection of our Savior.
Blessings,
Pastor Kim