Dear Friends,
Greetings in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ! I cannot believe it is time for us to begin a new church season already. The season of Lent will begin on February 22nd with our Ash Wednesday worship service at 7:00pm. Lent is a season in which we prepare for the celebration of Easter (The Resurrection of Jesus Christ)! We usually think that during this season we need to be repentant and spend time in prayer and bible study.
We are asking the entire congregation to participate in a Lenten Study on "Three Simple Rules" a Wesleyan way of living. Our small groups will be studying and discussing the book by Reuben Job on the subject. We are hoping to have everyone participate in a small group even if it is just during this season.
My sermon on February 26th will begin the first Sunday of lent with the subject of "Lenten Disciplines". Then the month of March will focus on Job's book on the three simple rules: 1. Do No Harm, 2. Do Good, and 3. Stay In Love With God. The last week in March we will see how we pull this all together as we share in the youth service on March 25. We will need more facilitators for our small groups for this study. There will be a sign up sheet in the narthex for groups and facilitators. We will equip the facilitators with guides for the study. With the Holy Spirit's guidance, this study could really impact us as a church family as we move toward more faithful discipleship. This small group experience for leaders and groups is a four week commitment only. Please prayerfully consider how God my calling you to be part of this experience at Wesley Church.
I would like to thank all those involved with the Children's musical for a very wonderful and powerful worship experience on January 8th! We are truly blessed with many talented leaders and young people. With the overflow crowd for the performance, it is obvious that we will need to have additional worship times in the future for this experience! What a great problem to have!!!
As we begin this Lenten journey, let us keep in mind Claudia Hernaman's words from her hymn:
Lord, who throughout these forty days for us didst fast and pray,
Teach us with thee to mourn our sins and close by thee to stay.
As thou with Satan didst content and didst the victory win,
O give us strength in thee to fight, in thee to conquer sin.
As thou didst hunger bear, and thirst, so teach us, gracious Lord,
To die to self, and chiefly live by they most holy word.
And through these days of penitence, and through thy passiontide,
Yea, evermore in life and death, Jesus, with us abide.
Abide with us, that so, this life of suffering over past,
An Easter of unending joy we may attain at last.
May God be with you on your journey during this season!
Pastor David
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