Our Lenten Hope

​You’ve likely heard the saying, “It has to get worse before it can get better”.

This saying rings true during the church season of Lent of which we now are in. 

Lent is traditionally a time of repentance, recognizing and turning from our sins, remembering and reflecting on the passion of our Lord, and searching within ourselves for a renewed faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Lent is often a somber, reflective, and perhaps even a depressing time for us as we journey together through it. Strangely, that is the purpose of Lent. Lent calls us to realize that as it happened for Jesus, it must happen for us – that life will often get worse before it can get better. Lent and Holy Week are opportunities for you to walk those last weeks, days, and hours with Christ and to experience again the pain and suffering He endured as he was led up that mountain to the cross.

But Lent is also a time of hope. As Christians, we have hope because we know the end of the story. We know that the original Lenten journey did not end at the cross. We know that the journey of faith never ends! Our journey of faith only continues on into life everlasting with our loving Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Embracing that promise, I challenge you this Lenten season to fully participate in the worship opportunities that are planned and in place for you to fulfill these strange intentions of the season. Opportunities that will allow you to repent, reflect, give thanks, be healed, be renewed, and be strengthened in faith. Our Wednesday midweek worship services are planned and in place not to replace your Sunday morning worship but to complement it. As you worship on Sundays and Wednesdays throughout Lent, the suffering, pain, distress, and betrayal that Christ experienced will be felt again by us as we, together, gather to reflect on the emotions, thoughts, reflections, and insights that we might be having in the midst of our own wilderness journey. See the Lenten schedule below for more details regarding those midweek services.

By fully participating in Lent and Holy Week worship services you will appreciate and experience more the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday Morning as we celebrate the Hope in all of its fullness!

So together, as we journey through Lent, we trust that this long, dark, and sometimes difficult walk will indeed get better – and that is our Lenten Hope!

See you in Church! (and bring a friend!)

​Pastor Dale