Hi First Presbyterian Church,
It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! In October, we joyfully welcomed six people into our church's membership. This Sunday we will have that opportunity again as we welcome seven more people into our membership! You won't want to miss this celebratory Sunday!
It’s hard to believe, with Christmas still in the rear-view mirror, that Lent is only four weeks away! The forty days leading up to Easter that we now call “Lent” were not always observed within Christianity the way they are today. In the earliest days of the Church, prospective converts to Christianity would spend three years preparing to make a profession of faith in Christ and receive baptism on Easter. In the weeks leading up to Easter, the prospective converts would enter into times of prayer and fasting. As time went on, this practice of prayer and fasting before Easter extended beyond prospective converts and included anyone within the Church who needed to “get right with God.” By the fourth century, the Church-wide observance of forty days of prayer and fasting before Easter had become solidified. The word “Lent” comes from a Latin word that means “Springtime,” since it occurs during a time when the days are becoming longer (at least in the Northern Hemisphere). So, in a sense, you can think of Lent as a time for spiritual “spring cleaning.”
This Lent, you can go on a journey of spiritual spring cleaning with us at First Presbyterian Church. We will be reading a daily devotional by N.T. Wright called Lent for Everyone: Matthew, Year A. This devotional follows along with the lectionary readings in the Gospel of Matthew for the Mondays-Saturdays throughout Lent. Then, each Sunday’s readings focus on the Psalm for the day. Worship will coincide with the devotional’s focus on the Psalms reading. Like we did for Advent this past year, there will be opportunities to discuss the readings and the Sunday sermons. Each Sunday of Lent, there will be a brief Q&A following worship and our parish associate Ernest Krug will also be leading a discussion group on Sunday evenings from 5-6 pm. You can order the book yourself either here or here. In the coming weeks, copies of the book will also be available from the church for $10. I hope you will journey with us!
Enjoy these beautiful and snowy weeks before Lent. Springtime is coming!
Peace,
Aaron