Lent is the time we walk with Jesus to the event that will define His life and ours as Christians.

So in this Lenten season the winds of God are blowing and soon the springtime kites will be flying. The grip of winter will loosen and the outdoors will beckon. Do you remember the days of standing out in a field and challenging your friends with whose kite will fly highest? It was a time to experiment with the bigger kites, different sizes and geometric configurations and all types and lengths of string. Letting out the string in a proper pace would enable the kite to climb higher and higher and higher.

But, we might reason that if the kite flies well tethered to the string, how well will it soar if it is turned loose? So you cut the string and the kite is loose. However we find that in the freedom of being loose we forfeit the freedom to fly and your kite takes a tailspin toward the ground.

Could it be that people are like kites wanting to be cut loose from the bondage of the string, only to discover the truth that there is no such thing as an unmastered life?  A balloon floating in the air is not free, but captive to every passing breeze. A ship with no propeller or rudder is captive to the power of the waves. A person free to yield to every passing passion becomes not free but one captured by the dictates of one's own selfish desires. Goethe wrote: "No one is more a slave than the one who thinks him or herself to be free without being so." True freedom is not doing what one wants, when one wants. Freedom in Christ is freeing the mind from following the herd, from a need to hate and despise, from a need to condemn and judge. Being tethered to Christ and Christ-like virtues, is being free to live, laugh, love and to be in the greatness of what we understand is God.

Thomas a Kempis said: "One who has denied oneself is exceedingly free and secure." It takes discipline to be free to do something well, whether in music, business, sports, or life itself. The boxer Joe Frasier said it well! "The thing about it is, you got to do your own roadwork. Nobody gonna' do it for you. Everybody's got some kind of roadwork preparation...If you don't have the roadwork done, nobody can help you."

There is yet a price to be paid to be free, a challenge that must be met.

As we travel down the road to Jerusalem with Jesus in our Lenten journey we ask who shall be our master, our example, our savior? To whom shall we be tethered? Our Lenten prayer could well be:

"Make me a captive Lord, and then I shall be free."

Have a very reflective Lent.  Rev. Ron W. Purser

Keep connected with the Book Club, get the latest details, and see what our guests are saying about the group at 

www.meetup.com/LHC-Wayne-IL-A-Book-and-a-Prayer-Readers 

 

Choir

Many thanks to Tom Havel and the Bartlett High School Vivaldi Ensemble for sharing their music in our worship service on February 19, 2012. 

 

March 15, 7 pm

Mark your calendars for a free concert in our sanctuary featuring the complete Bartlett High School Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Tom Havel. The concert will feature an evening of serenades by Mozart and Tchaikovsky. Dress casual and enjoy a night out in Wayne.

 

We have a number of meaningful anthems prepared for the worship services during Lent and Easter:

April 1 - Palm/Passion Sunday - The Choir will present "We Were There," a cantata that tells the story of Holy Week. It will feature solos, readings, and a full choir. The children
will also sing that morning with the adults on an anthem entitled - "Hosanna, Loud Hosanna!"

April 5 - Maundy Thursday - Join us for a night of communion and meditative music. 

April 8 - Easter Sunday - The choir will sing some special anthems accompanied by the handbells and we will finish the service with G.F. Handels' "Hallelujah Chorus" from Messiah. 

 

Adult Choir: Practice on Wednesdays at 7 pm.

Bell Choir: Members will be contacted with practice and performance dates/times.

Children's Choir: Practice during Sunday school each week.

 

 

College Care Update!

Starting last year, a group of parents and grandparents got together a few times each semester to pack care boxes for our college-aged students. We have made two shipments this school year: one in time for Halloween and one for Valentine's Day. We will have one more mailing before the end of the year. We also include a copy of By the Way and personal notes. Shipping costs are covered by the Brent Alex Memorial Fund. Anyone can participate! Contact Lori in the church office or Anne Bouchard if you want to join the fun.  Here are a couple thank you notes the church has received:

 

Thank you grandparents [Rik and Nancy Alex] & Little Home by the Wayside Church for the INTERNATIONAL Care Package :)  

 

Thomas Davison 

Universitat Ramon Llull

SBA Dean's Advisory Council Member
Loyola University Chicago

* * *

Dear Little Home Church by the Wayside,

Thank you SO MUCH for the care package you sent me. All the treats are 

delicious and it was nice to find out about what's been going on in the 

church in the By the Way.

I miss everyone and thanks again!

Corinne Thornton :)

Welcome a Stranger & Help Change the World!

Now is the time to consider the possibility of hosting an AFS exchange student for the 2012-13 school year or semester. Students from over 50 countries are hoping for a host family to choose them as a family member for this next year. Would you consider opening your heart and home to one of these adventuresome young people and offering them and your family a life expanding opportunity to learn firsthand about another person and culture?

AFS Intercultural Programs is a nonprofit student exchange organization whose mission is to work towards the creation of a more just and peaceful world by providing international and intercultural learning experiences to individuals, families, schools, and communities through a global volunteer partnership. AFS, formerly known as American Field Service, began as a volunteer ambulance service during World War I. Today, AFS continues to work towards the healing of the nations by facilitating student exchange with an ever diversified list of countries, including countries of the Middle East and former Soviet Union. "And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations..." Our hope is that these students will become the leaves of the tree that help heal the nations. 

If you are interested in learning more about hosting or volunteering with AFS or becoming an exchange student yourself, please attend an info night March 13, 7 to 8:30 pm at Geneva Public Library, or contact Leslie Surta at lsurta@comcast.net or by phone at 630.738.3526, or fill out an interest form on the web at www.afsusa.org.

Provided by Leslie Surta