Moving Towards the Cross:
“Why do we celebrate Lent?” This questions seems to come up every year. Traditionally, Lent is all about preparing ourselves for Easter. Easter, of course, is all about gaining our new life in Christ! But Lent is one of those things where, if you put nothing into it, you get nothing back. By going through the celebrations of Lent, Easter becomes more significant and special for us. The challenge for us is to decided, “What will take precedent in our lives?” Will we seek and uphold that which is important? Or will we allow ourselves to be dominated by the mundane business and pressure of the world that surrounds us? I realize that this is hard. Choices in life can be grey and difficult to deal with. But too often we fail to choose, we simply let life take over, let others decided what we will value or devote ourselves to. We allow all the things that cry loudest, flash brightest, or push the hardest to determine what we will devote ourselves and our lives too, instead of that which truly matters.
Lent provides an opportunity for us to free our hearts and minds from the selfishness that dominates the world around us. To say no to something we long for, and instead allow the Holy spirit to cleanse us as we turn our hearts and minds towards the power of the Cross of Christ. The Cross is what can free us from everything that so easily captivates us. My prayer for all of us is that during the upcoming season of Lent we will choose to avail ourselves of the opportunities to step outside the pressures of our lives and devote time to God. To prepare ourselves, so that we can receive all the benefits and blessings that a new life in Christ can offer. That is after all, what Easter is really about.
Lenten Opportunities at Alpine:
Lenten Worship Series Moving Towards the Cross: During our Sunday morning worship services and every Wednesday during Lent (as we gather for a soup supper at 6 PM and worship at 7 PM) we will be examining how aligning ourselves with the Cross of Christ can unleash the power of Easter in our lives.
Take part in fasting. Chose something to sacrifice during Lent, so that we can better identify with the sacrifices that Jesus made for us. The key here is to take the time and resources we would have spent on our chosen item/habit and use them instead to focus on our relationship with Christ.
Lenten devotionals and bookmarks will be available in the gathering area. Grab one and explore (each day) what Moving Towards the Cross: means with a short reading, prayer, and response.
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