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Service Times: 9 and 11 AM on Sunday morning.
Lenten Suppers: Join us on Wednesdays at 6:00 during Lent for Eucharist followed by a simple meal.
Please mark events on your personal calendars. Send us feedback about the articles!
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Self-Examination, the 7 Deadly Sins, and Repentance
by Pastor Clancy Nixon
Observing the season of Lent is a very old tradition in the church.
Central to Lent is the call to self-examination
. Periodically taking inventory helps understand how we are doing. In Lent, we ask God to shine his light, truth and love on us as we examine our souls. It is meant to be a humbling time. We examine especially any character defects in ourselves - both reviewing our chronic tendencies, as well as considering other sins that may be new to this season of our lives.
I'm now re-reading a book by my church history professor in Seminary, Bill Stafford, on this topic called
Disordered Loves: Healing the Seven Deadly Sins
. His writing is both lucid and penetrating. With my every re-read, I'm brought up short as he names subtle sins that I find in my own life. I highly commend it for your use this Lent; it's on sale in our bookstore. Stafford points out that in the Middle Ages, throughout Christendom during Lent, every member of a village was expected to thoroughly examine themselves with the help of a parish priest, "to expose the damage that [their] spiritual disease had done in the last year." In this discipline, they used the list of the seven deadly sins: gluttony, lust, greed, anger, envy, sloth, and pride - so they would not be deceived about blind spots. This helped them to reconcile with God and each other.
Once you name your sin, what do you do about it? The medieval church said that there were
3 steps of repentance: contrition, confession, and satisfaction.
Stafford says, "Contrition meant being sorry for your sin; Confession is opening the sin to God and receiving forgiveness; and Satisfaction is struggling to undo the continuing effects of your sin."
Contrition- being sorry:
"A broken and contrite heart, oh God, you will not despise." (Ps. 51:7) It seems that many people today feel little guilt and less shame for what they have done. We feel no sorrow for what we do not know we have done wrong. Many of us are oblivious to our sins; we need others to point them out to us. Others of us know we hurt others, or dishonor God; yet our consciences have been seared to certain pet sins. Still others brush off our sins as mistakes. How can we sorrow for our sins? Begin by asking God to soften your heart and give you deep and real sorrow for your particular sins. That you would know the weight of your sin. Patterns of confessed sin often recur because we have not fully taken in the magnitude of our sin.
Confession- naming sin:
"Confess your sins to one another and pray for each other, that you may be healed." (Janes 5:16) Doing this silently and only to God is an important start. However, if we do not name our sins, speaking them out both to God and to another person, they can have continuing power. They can act like zombies, killed yet undead, plodding and wrecking through our lives from behind corners when we least expect it. Our church has a rite called Reconciliation of a Penitent, whereby your confession is framed with Biblical prayers. A confession may be heard by a priest, or any mature, discreet lay person. Your pastors are at your service to help you in this. After my personal confession to another, when I have heard another person say to me, "Your sins are forgiven," God moves in my soul in powerful, freeing ways.
Satisfaction -mitigating sin's effects:
The Reformation properly taught us that we cannot make up for our sins by piling up good behavior. Yet we do have a responsibility to mitigate the effects of our sin on other people. That is what justice demands. So if you lose something that belongs to another, you buy them another one. That is called restitution. When we have given offense to another, we are to go to them, confess our sin, and be reconciled, as the gospel of grace directs in Matthew 18.
The love of Christ compels us to be reconciled to God. Grow up in Him this Lent through these spiritual disciplines.+
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Holy Week Schedule
Lenten Eucharists and Suppers
Wednesday Evenings February 21-March 21 at 6:00pm
Palm Sunday
Sunday, March 25 at 9:00am and 11:00am
Maundy Thursday Foot washing
Thursday, March 29
Good Friday Service
Friday, March 30 at 7:00pm
Easter Vigil
Saturday, March 31 at 9:00pm
Easter
Sunday, April 1 at 9:00am and 11:00am
Egg Hunt at 10:30am
PASSOVER SEDER
With Sar Shalom
Thursday, April 5 at 6:00pm
All events, except Passover Seders, will be held at:
Church of the Holy Spirit, 908 Trailview Blvd, Suite 200,
Leesburg, VA 20175 / www.HolySpiritAnglican.org
Contact us at 703.726.0777 or email to [email protected]
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Community Vacation Bible School (July 23-27)
by Terry Johnson
Hey kids!!! If you would like to have VBS
in your yard this summer and invite
your friends and neighbors, talk to your parents and
let me know.
Yes, we are doing something different this year for VBS, it's called CVBS and stands for Community Vacation Bible School. It's VBS outside the walls of our church building and in the community, accessible to more kids.
Church family, we need your involvement in many ways and as we get closer to the middle of July, you will be informed of ways you can help, but now we are looking for two or three locations; homes that host a 2-hour, five-day club to meet in your yard.
As a host home, you will be assisted by a team who will do all the work for you; you just need to let us use your yard and be there to watch the fun. If you live in an area with many kids, please prayerfully consider if God is calling your yard to spread the good news. If you might be interested or have questions, contact me at the church office.
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Art Saturday at CHS
by Matthew Murnion
Join us this Art Saturday (March 3 from 1:00-4:00) in the CHS multipurpose room for an afternoon of painting with acrylics! Experience is not needed. God placed a creative side in each of us, and this is a great opportunity to explore it! There is a masterpiece waiting to come out, so come put it on a canvas!
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Senior High Youth Group - Sunday Evenings
Join us for a time of weekly dinner, fellowship, and Bible Study, as we strive together to grow in discipleship and deepen our relationship with the God of the universe - to know him and make him known! Our meetings are open to all senior high students, and this season, we will be spending time in Paul's Letter to the Romans. Pizza is provided. Come as you are, and feel free to invite friends!
When: Sundays from 6:00-7:30
Where: Church of the Holy Spirit (multipurpose room)
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Mark Your Calendars
CHS has a number of events scheduled for this year and next year already. Please go to www.holyspiritleesburg.org/events-calendar to see all of them.
Here are our upcoming events!
Feb. 21-Mar. 21
Feb. 27-Mar. 12 - Uganda Mission Trip (See Clancy Nixon)
Mar. 3 - Art Saturday at CHS
Mar. 3 - Regeneration Fundraiser
Mar. 3 - Healing Service
Mar. 21-30 - Haiti Mission Trip (See John Nuzum)
Mar. 25 - Palm Sunday
Mar. 29 - Maundy Thursday
Mar. 31 - Easter Vigil
Apr. 1 - Easter
Apr. 6-8 - Couple's Retreat in Reston (Family Life Marriage Conference)
Apr. 8-June 24 - ALPHA Course for Young Adults
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Church of the Holy Spirit | 703.726.0555 | www.HolySpiritLeesburg.org
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