Greetings, Glen Mar,
It’s a new year, but it doesn’t need to be a “new you.” Instead, we are invited to continue living into the unchanging promises of God. My hope is that over these past few weeks, you have been reminded, or perhaps discovered anew, how faithful God is and how God’s promises continue to take shape in our lives. Remembering those promises sustains us when life is difficult and reminds us that our own willpower, while important, can only take us so far.
Speaking of willpower, are you ready for Lent? I know it may feel like Advent and Christmas just ended, but Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 18, and carries us through the rest of February and all of March, culminating on Easter Sunday, April 5. Lent is not about white-knuckling our way toward spiritual improvement. It is about making space for God to work in us through the gifts and fruits of the Spirit, preparing our hearts for the joy of the Resurrection.
This year, we will journey together through a Lenten sermon series on the Desert Mothers and Fathers, using resources from Lectio365 and 24-7 Prayer. These early Christian leaders lived in a time of great upheaval, when faith was becoming entangled with power and politics. They longed for silence, solitude, and a deeper spirituality in a noisy and distracted world. They hungered for holiness, troubled by a church that was beginning to look less like Jesus.
Their response was not despair, but retreat. It was not withdrawal from God, but movement toward God. They entered the wilderness, embracing simplicity, prayer, silence, solitude, and self-denial as a way of deepening their relationship with God. Their ancient wisdom can still speak powerfully to us today.
Our series will begin the Sunday before Ash Wednesday and continue through Palm Sunday. Each week, we will explore a different Desert Mother or Father, their spiritual practices, and how those practices can shape our daily lives as we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. I encourage you to download the Lectio365 app and pray along with the daily morning prayers throughout the week, as they will follow this same theme throughout Lent.
Together, these practices will help us stay centered on Christ, not relying on willpower alone, but on the work of the Holy Spirit, who draws us closer to God. Then, when Easter arrives, we will be ready to rejoice with renewed awe at what God has done in Jesus Christ: conquering death, offering eternal life, and extending this good news to all.
These are the promises of God, embodied in our risen Savior, who invites us to draw near and assures us that when we do, he will draw near to us. Let’s walk this Lenten journey together, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Chris
