The Lenten Journey to the Cross
THE LENTEN JOURNEY TO THE CROSS
The call of faithful discipleship is a call to empty oneself and be renewed in spirit by the risen Christ.
Living Well…God cleanses our sins
From dust we came and to dust we shall return. The body is temporal but the spirit is eternal. The spirit incased in flesh becomes broken and struggles when yielding to sin. God knows our every thought, sees our successes and failures. God is a second chance God, offering Jesus as the sacrificial lamb to atone for us – to cleanse and make right again our brokenness.
…God reigns forever
Our God is an awesome God – even death cannot conquer God. We are Easter People living on the firm foundation that because Jesus lives, we will live also. Such proclamation is the good news of our faith
The Lenten image that leaps out as we live into the Living Well thematic is that our earthen bodies are likened to the clay mold of the earth cast of The Well. Sayre intentionally left pieces of trash, grass, debris in the trenches of “mud” forming the vessel holding the Living Water. From dust we came, to dust we shall return. Our bodies are likened to that earth cast. As we live, we find in our brokenness, in our struggling – that sin finds a place of entrapment. It takes the refreshment of Living Water, the presence of an ever cleansing God, to shape us, mold us and remake us. We are always becoming disciples. God continues
take the “spoiled clay” to once again create a right and new spirit within us.
The victory, the hope into which we live is the Easter Proclamation – that all that dies is conquered by the ever-living presence of God – who reigns forever.
Begin your spiritual journey with your church family on Ash Wednesday at 11:45am or 7pm when we are marked for these 40 intentional days of self examination so that the work we do, the prayers of our lives and the cleansing received prepares us for new creations on Easter.
Links that aid us in the journey:
Ash Wednesday – Earthen Vessels Jeremiah’s vision of the potter’s wheel
First Sunday in Lent - March 5, 2017
Free But Not Cheap
Lent has its origins in Jesus’ wilderness experience. Human nature and our contemporary culture encourage us to make Lent easy and manageable. Our call, on this first Sunday of Lent, is to see Lent as a wilderness where we can meet God in new, profound ways. Only then can we hope that angels will minister to us, as they did to Jesus. Matthew 4:1-11
Second Sunday in Lent – March 12, 2017
Come, sinners, and look on Christ
Faith that isn’t continually renewed and refreshed fades away. And without living faith, there is no motivation to do all the good things we urge people to do. Refueling comes from Christ. John 3:1-17
Third Sunday in Lent – March 19, 2017
No Lifosuction Necessary
In Jesus’ presence, we begin to see who we are, but we also see who he is, and if we drink the living water he offers, whatever we’ve done, the good and the bad of it, cease to be things we have to lug around. His living water performs its own spiritual lifosuction so that while our history remains, the judgment on it is gone. John 4:5-42
Fourth Sunday in Lent – March 26, 2017
Following Jesus
The decision to follow Jesus is not an illogical choice. Faith requires us to go beyond reason, but reason can help us to get to where the leap of faith is possible. John 9:1-41
Fifth Sunday in Lent – April 2, 2017
A Tin Can Filled With Hope
The story of the raising of Lazarus gives us hope for the future. Jesus weeps for Lazarus, showing us that he understands the human condition of sorrow and grief. But he also raises Lazarus, and he will raise us out of whatever pains us in this life, because the compassion of Jesus gives us the ultimate hope of eternal life. John 11:1-45
Palm/Passion Sunday – April 9, 2017
Palm Sunday Crowd
This entry – this procession – this parade into Jerusalem was highly symbolic. A deep analysis of each word and action unfolds a drama for us to grasp.
Matthew 2:1-11
Holy Thursday – April 13, 2017
An Affair of the Feet
Jesus act of washing his disciples’ feet was a demonstration of love. That love is not so much something we understand as something we begin to live into as we consider his sacrifice. John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Good Friday – April 14, 2017
A Tenebrae Service – a service of shadows
Easter Sunday – April 16, 2017
Like a Rolling Stone
The Resurrection is the central miracle of the New Testament. Its reality validates Jesus’ identity as the Messiah. It is also the most difficult miracle for us to embrace and understand. John 20:1-18
Living Well – A Journey with Christ, Rick
