This Sunday marks the first Sunday of Lent, the 40 day period of reflection, repentance, and spiritual deepening that leads us towards Holy Week and Easter. This year we are diving into the book of Psalms as our Lenten theme, exploring how these ancient songs can help us grow closer to God not only in our individual spiritual lives, but also as a community seeking to follow God’s call toward justice, compassion, and peace. Our first focus Psalm is number 119– we’ll hear excerpts of it in worship (if we read the whole thing, we might not have time for a sermon!), and ponder together how God’s instructions for us (often referred to as God’s “law”) give us something to hold onto when it feels like all else is crumbling around us, and how trusting in God’s law and ordering our individual and communal lives around it can bring us both delight AND rest.
Join us at 11am in the Sanctuary or on YouTube to worship, pray, and sing together!
In faith,
Amy
Lenten Opportunities
The season of Lent (February 22-April 8 this year) is a time for us to deepen more intentionally into our spiritual life — perhaps in new ways or refreshing some old ways. Typically, people think of giving up something for Lent. However, Lent can also mean taking on something. Basically, Lenten practice is about adopting patterns or practices that help us sink more deeply into our souls and draw closer in our relationship and understanding of God.
As always, we will provide opportunities for all of us to do that this year. We heartily encourage you to try some if not all of them.
Praying with the Psalms. On Sundays, we will immerse ourselves in this big, rich book of poetry and the ways that faithful people throughout the centuries have used it as prayer. How may we re-enter this ancient collection in new ways and how may it enrich our collective and personal prayer lives?
Study Groups. We will have in-person and online study groups to help us deepen our own personal and collective practice of praying with the psalms. Meetings after Sunday worship in person and Tuesdays at 7pm on Zoom.
Prayer Partners. We encourage ALL of us to try or re-commit to having a prayer buddy in Lent — someone you can check in with during the week, go over your concerns and joys and offer them in prayer. We provide guidelines to make this fun and helpful. If this is something that sounds welcome and soothing or sounds like a challenge, or anything in between, then we encourage you to try it out! Prayer partnering helps us strengthen as a spiritual community.
Dinner Church. For the first time in THREE years, we will gather again like the ancient church, around a table for a common meal of soup and salad, communion, song, prayer and conversation. This is a beautiful way to worship in a different setting and rhythm. Thursdays 6:00-6:45pm in the Parlor, March 2-30. Doors open at 5:45pm.
As our congregation goes more deeply into clarifying our purpose and mission in this time and place during Lent, deepening in our spiritual practices becomes even more important to ground us in God. We heartily encourage you to take part.
Image credit: Lamp to My Feet, Light for My Path, by Rebecca Brogan
