Greetings!
Lent offers you and I an opportunity to follow Christ and his journey to the cross during Holy Week. I invite you to join me as we begin this trek together tomorrow evening with the ritual of Ash Wednesday and the mystery of receiving Christ again through Holy Communion. These services offer you the opportunity to begin our journey of "24 Hours that Changed the World," together.
Traditionally, Lent has offered us the opportunity to give up something for the 40 days that way engage in this journey. Once again, this year, I want to invite you to add some important disciplines to your life which might assist you in experiencing God's grace more deeply. Our Wesleyan Tradition instructs us that these disciplines are "means of God's grace" and give us glimpses of the life we have been invited to live in solidarity with Christ in his ministry, his suffering, his death and ultimately, his resurrection. Here is a list which you may use for the season to spend time with God and develop a rich intimacy out of which your faith may flourish and be emboldened.
Sundays: Corporate worship in which you celebrate God's love by gathering with your brothers and sisters in Christ for worship at Pleasant Valley UMC. As Christians, it is our duty to worship regularly together to give thanks to God in "passionate worship," as a means to living in the midst of God's grace.
Mondays: Prayer John Wesley once called private prayer the "grand means of drawing near to God". We invite you to focus on these disciplines during Lent.
Tuesdays: Fasting The normal fast usually lasts from sunset to sunset. You abstain from food and liquid for a period of one day. You can also fast from sunrise to sunset on your chosen day. You may choose to not partake of food during this time but consume only liquids. The partial fast places emphasis on the restriction of the diet (eating only vegetables and drinking water) rather than abstaining from eating or drinking. Fasting does not have to include refraining from food and drink. Fasting is giving something up in order to focus on God. You can fast from a particular activity such as watching television or playing video games, or fast from a vice such as talking on the phone while driving or gossiping.
Wednesdays: Constant Communion Join me for Holy Communion in the Chapel each Wednesday evening at 5:30. The service of Holy Communion begins right at 5:30. For those unable to make it right at 5:30p.m., this is not a full worship service but it is a come and go time to celebrate Holy Communion throughout Lent. You are welcome to spend as much time as you would like in prayer and meditation each week following communion.
Thursdays: Search the scriptures Take time to read a few verses of the bible or even "pray" those scriptures as you spend time with God. Throughout Lent we will provide a scripture each day that you may read in order to spend time with God.
Fridays: Spiritual Discipline and Reflection
Spend time reflecting on your Lenten journey this week.
Did you worship God this week? Were you part of a community of faith?Did you pray this week?
Did you fast this week?
Did you participate in communion with Christ? With others?
Did you read your Bible this week?
Did you spend time with Christ through the study of scripture, devotional reading and prayer?
Saturdays: Works of Mercy
John Wesley taught people to be Christians in both word and deed, in order to express the love of God.
We invite you to spend some time each Saturday in service to others. Help a neighbor. Visit a nursing home. Let someone in front of you in traffic. Help someone with their bags at the store. Donate items to charity. Offer to babysit. Practice the Golden Rule. Read to a child. Give of yourself. The PVUMC community will be in mission together by seeking to feed 3,000 families. Take time to purchase and donate either cans of tun or boxes of macaroni and cheese. We are trying to raise 3,000 of each. Drop them off at the front of the sanctuary. Mission and service will be organizing them each week to help us know where we are on our count.
See you tomorrow as the day begins.
Rethinking church,
Nathan D. Stanton
Senior Pastor,
Pleasant Valley United Methodist Church |
