Lenten Practice

Most of us get the concept of Lent. Lent is the 40 days prior to Easter that begins with Ash Wednesday. It is a time to prepare our hearts for the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus during Holy Week and Easter.

As I said, we get the concept. We understand that to do anything well, you have to prepare, you have to get ready. But how do we get our hearts ready for Jesus?

Traditional Christian teachers for centuries have advocated what they call “Lenten practices” or “spiritual exercises” to prepare our hearts and spirits. Just as physical exercise improves the body, spiritual exercises are meant to improve the spirit. In the church, it is our job to encourage these exercises and to provide opportunities to perform them. This month, I want to highlight three opportunities that are available for our folks to exercise a Lenten discipline.

First, there are the Ecumenical Lenten services sponsored by the Sand Springs Ministerial Alliance. These services will be every Tuesday at noon and a light lunch will follow. The schedule is on page 4 of this newsletter, and responsibility for these services is shared by the Presbyterian, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, and Episcopal churches. If you have not done so before, you may want to take advantage of these services.

Second, Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery is sponsoring their annual Cursillo weekend on March 12-15. This would be a wonderful way to deepen your spiritual walk. The retreat is designed to encourage people in their personal relationship with Jesus Christ, to deepen their faith, and give them the tools and the inspiration to move forward in their spiritual journey. There are more details in the newsletter, and application forms in the church office. I would love for us to take a group to Dwight Mission for this year’s event!

Third, I will be preaching a series of sermons during Lent on the topic of the cross, which is both a significant Lenten theme, and one of those aspects of our faith that many of us struggle with. Why did Jesus have to die? Was that really necessary? What does the cross really mean in our modern context, and how can I understand it? I hope you will make an extra effort to be in church every Sunday during Lent (a spiritual discipline in itself) and take advantage of these messages. If you are unable to be present, you can always view them online by accessing our church web page at www.fpcsandsprings.org, and clicking on the “video sermons” link.

I hope you will take advantage of these opportunities to grow in your faith, and we also have many others, like Sunday School, Bible Study, and Lifetree Café. Whatever method you choose, make this the year you took the extra time to prepare your heart for the coming of the Savior.