In one of our worship planning resources the following description for Lent was offered to the reader:

"These forty days called Lent are like no other. It is our opportune time to return to God who rescues; to receive the gifts of God's grace; to believe with the heart and confess with the mouth the wonder of God's love in Jesus; and to resist temptation at every turn. This is no small pilgrimage in which we have just embarked. It is a struggle Jesus knew. It is a struggle Jesus shares. The nearness of the Lord, in bread and wine, water and word, will uphold and sustain us." (Sundays and Seasons, Year C 2010)

If you have been away from the church for a while... this is the opportune time to return to God who rescues. If you have been at church every Sunday but somehow feel disconnected... this is the opportune time to reconnect with the brothers and sisters who gather with you in worship.

Lent is both possibility and promise. It is challenge and confidence for all of us who call ourselves children of God. As the season of Epiphany draws to a close we find ourselves thrust into Lent with the dawn of Ash Wednesday. We will celebrate Ash Wednesday with two services. You are invited to attend either service. We will worship at 11:00am in the morning with a service of prayer, imposition of ashes, and holy communion. A soup and bread luncheon will follow. You are also invited to attend the evening service where the choir will join us in worship, the imposition of ashes will be offered, scriptures, sermon, and communion will all be a part of our evening worship.

As Ash Wednesday begins our Lenten journey, you will have an opportunity to share in a time of prayer each Friday from 1-2pm in the sanctuary. We will seek the presence of God in the quiet peace of the sanctuary. Wherever your prayer life may be at this moment, these Friday gatherings will be an opportunity to learn new ways of praying and to simply be present to the voice and presence of God.

As we gather on Sundays for worship, so we will gather for soup and bread each Wednesday at 6:00pm and for worship at 7:00pm. We will use the resources of Holden Village, the Evangelical Lutheran Worship Hymnal (our red hymnals), and the Celtic Evensong service of worship from Iona, Scotland. Something new, something old, something borrowed, and well maybe the night sky will be our something blue. As we have found our relationship with God in moments on mountaintops and lost in valleys of darkness, Lent is a time of discovery and refreshment for our weary hearts as the world comes at us from all sides. And so Lent waits in front of us... a few weeks from today.

Read the words from our brothers and sisters in the Community of Iona off the coast of Scotland these words are offered to us:

From all corners of the earth, Christ invites everyone who hungers to this table. So come to this table, you who have much faith and you who would like to have more. Come to this table, you who have been to this sacrament often and you who have not been for a long time. Come to this table, you who have tried to follow Jesus and you who have failed. Come to this table for Christ invites us to meet God here.

Lent is an opportunity to meet God in new ways. A time to have your relationship with God renewed and refreshed. Come to a place of grace. Let God find you. Let God rescue. Let God gift God's grace to you. Let God uphold you and sustain you as the journey of the season of Lent unfolds before us. Let us keep Lent!

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