Easter is Coming…On to Lent

Easter is Coming…On to Lent
Pastor’s Ponderings – March 2019 
Easter is coming in April. Before Easter arrives, we walk through the hardest days of the Christian life. Lent is a season of reflection and adaptation, making space in our heart and life for the Spirit. This Lent I will share with you a sermon series on Spiritual Practices that will help you find balance and joy. Jesus taught that he came so that we can have life, and life abundantly. Jesus didn’t come for us to be sad or somber all the time, but came for us to have life overflowing.
The first three weeks of Lent will focus on “DeCluttering”, “Turning Down the Noise” and “Feeling Hunger”. These spiritual practices reduce distraction and clutter in our life, challenging us to remember what the most important thing is to us. The second three weeks of Lent focus on “Giving”, “Creating” and “Traveling”. All of these fill us up in body and spirit by reaching out, taking in and being outside. These spiritual practices are inspirational, challenging us to touch the divine is life and experience God’s beauty. Easter is the ultimate revelation of God’s gorgeous creation and blessing of redemption.
Spiritual Practices are not activities to add to your busy schedule or an already crowed “to do” list. They are not specific to a season or a time. Spiritual practice is a way of life and a way of focusing that helps you be and become the person you are most called to be. Furthermore, Christianity does not have a cornerstone on Spiritual Practices. Every global religion has things to do that focus you on God or Spirit. There are more traditional practices like fasting and prayer and less traditional practices like travel and art. For many people exercise, surfing, writing and even singing are ways to center and grow closer to God. As we move through Lent toward Easter, the Spiritual Practices I share with you will be connected to our relationship with God through Jesus. We use a Christian lens when reflecting on Spirituality.
My prayer this Lent is that we have time to move through the hard things we are each going through, and find space to heal and renew in this resilient community. I continue to be tired and concerned, but also hopeful and engaged. My dear Church family, my prayers surround you… to each in your own journey… God is with you, calls you by name and affirms your sacred worth.
On to Lent…
Pastor Leigh Ann

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