The Season of Lent

Lent is the period of 40 days, excluding Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes with Easter. Sundays are not included as days in Lent because they are celebrations of the Resurrection. Because of this, they are traditionally seen as “Feast” days. The Lenten season reflects the 40 years Israel wandered in the desert, and the 40 days Jesus spent in prayer and fasting in the desert prior to the start of his public ministry. Often people choose to give something up for Lent, as a simple way of saying “no” to something, just as we do when we resist temptation – an important theme of the season.

When choosing to remove something from our everyday lives, a form of fasting, we seek to be filled with Christ instead. As noted, Sundays are Feast days – celebrations of the Resurrection that are not included in Lent – so we don’t have to abstain on those days.

As a church family we engage with the Lenten season through our Ash Wednesday Service, reading one of the Gospels together, a Lenten Project, and finally, our Good Friday and Easter services. Information about all of these can be found below.

We invite you to join with us in any or all of these ways as follow Christ through this unique season.

Ash Wednesday Services

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18 5:30 & 7:00 PM

Good Friday Services

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 8:30 AM, 10 AM, 11:45 AM

Easter Weekend Services

SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 6:30 PM

SUNDAY, APRIL 5: 7 AM, 9 AM, 11 AM

Join us this Lenten season as we partner with the Love One Another Foundation to support education and health initiatives in Southeast Asia.

STRONG FAMILIES

Although elementary school is free and compulsory, the various fees for textbooks, school supplies, and uniforms create a significant burden for many families living in poverty. This significantly increases the risk of children dropping out of school.

The Strong Families Project provides monthly scholarships for the associated costs of attending school and provides families with additional follow-up visits, nutritional support, and prayer. Additionally, parents receive biblically based teaching on parenting and marriage and are provided with opportunities to build strong support networks with other families in their communities.

$5 // covers parenting and marriage training

$20 // covers school-related fees and uniforms for a child for one month

$240 // covers school-related fees and uniforms for a child for one year

GOAL: $11,000

HEALTHY COMMUNITIES

The Love One Another Foundation is providing Community Health Clinics in communities with a significant deficit in health education and a lack of access to medical care. A high prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, and presbyopia are left undiagnosed and untreated within these communities.

The Healthy Communities Project provides emergency first aid, vision and blood pressure checks, simple blood tests, and diabetes-related wound care. Families receive critical medical screenings, child-health education, nutritional support and essential follow-up care. This project is breaking down barriers for sharing the love and hope of Jesus in these impoverished communities.

$9 // allows a child or parent to attend the Healthy Kids Education Program

$100 // provides medical supplies for one Health Clinic

$250 // to host a Community Health Clinic

$600 // to host Healthy Kids Education program in one community

$1200 // allows workers to provide food assistance during all follow up care visits

GOAL: $14,000

The Gospel of Mark Readings

As a church family we have traditionally read through one of the Gospels together in a three year cycle starting with Matthew (Year A), Mark (Year B), and Luke (Year C). This is Year B in the church calendar which means we will be reading the Gospel of Mark. We’ve made available a reading plan that includes some guidance for engagement that you can download and follow.