The Beginning of Lent
Today marks the beginning of Lent… Ash Wednesday.
It is interesting to me how this season has different significance in different parts of the country. I have lived in Missouri, Tennessee, Florida, Ohio, Alabama, Florida and now New York and this part of the country because of the Catholic influence is much more connected to this season then in other places I have lived.
I like what Mark Beeson says about Lent…
Lent is a forty-day period before Easter. It begins today, Ash Wednesday. We skip Sundays when we count the forty days, because Sundays commemorate the Resurrection. Lent begins on March 9, 2011 and ends on April 23, 2011, which is the day before Easter.
Lent is a season of soul-searching and repentance. It is a season for reflection and taking stock. It’s a time for listening. It’s a season for cold hearts to thaw. It’s a time when the ”frozen chosen” can remember their first love…and catch fire again.
Lent originated in the very earliest days of the Church as a preparatory time for Easter, when the faithful rededicated themselves to Jesus and HIS Church.
If you go to our website you can download a 40 days of prayer journal that many churches all over Western NY are engaging in. We are going to be starting a series called Why Jesus on the first Sunday of April and we are going to take the month of April to answer many of the questions that our friends and family members and even ourselves have about who Jesus really is. This will be a different kind of series than we have done in the past… we will be using some video teaching that was shot in Jerusalem – just seeing where Jesus walked and talked is really powerful… each week leads up to a powerful message on Easter Sunday.
Let’s begin to pray that God will do an amazing thing not just at Renovation but all over Western NY… that thousands of men, women boys and girls will get to hear and see the amazing transforming message of Jesus Christ and that many will answer the call to follow Him!
