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What Do You Believe?
We are about to enter into a holy season of the church year: Lent. Lent is the season that leads up to Easter. It is a time of self-reflection and quiet; helping us to prepare our hearts for the celebration of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Lent begins on Wednesday, February 18, with Ash Wednesday.
We invite you to re-shift your focus this Lenten season and reflectively ask yourself about what you believe. What do you believe? What do you believe about God and life and everything in this world? What do you believe about what your priorities are? What do you believe about church and Sunday mornings and fellowship and community? What is important to you?
The church believes something. The church believes in God, it is why we are the church. We are God’s people who believe in our relationship with the Lord. Our desire is to be a shining light to our community about who God is. This Lent, our church focus will be on who we believe in. We will be celebrating God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, according to what the church has proclaimed through the Nicene Creed. In Lent, we want to help you shift your focus back to God. In order to do this, we will be offering the following opportunities:
Weekend Worship
Is this the season that God is inviting you back to weekly weekend worship? Make the commitment to participate in worship every week. We will be making some changes to help us approach worship in a Lent-filled way. For example, liturgy in our traditional services will be changing. Jennifer will be sharing more with us about this in worship. Come be a part of these ways that we turn back to God.
Ash Wednesday Worship
Ash Wednesday worship is Wednesday, February 18 at 7:00pm in the Sanctuary. This is the day that starts our entire season of Lent. Come start the season in the most appropriate way: in worship. Receive the ashes on your forehead as you enter as a reminder: from dust you came, to dust you shall return. No dinner is served on this night, only worship. It is a holy and sacred start to the season.
Wednesdays in Lent
Every Wednesday after Ash Wednesday we will continue to gather as the family of God in the evening. A dinner meal is provided in the Gathering Place at 5:30pm, followed by midweek worship at 6:15pm. The services will be short, giving us a brief pause in the middle of the week to reflect on what we believe. Wednesday services will continue all the way through March (up until Holy Week).
Kids and Youth!
Parents, bring your kids on Wednesdays: on Ash Wednesday and on the following Wednesdays. Whenever we have a midweek service in Lent (above) we will also have a concurrent Kids ministry. Bring your kids to the Kids Room and our faithful leaders will share all about our great God! Youth, you are a part of this important season also. Your regular all-youth guys/girls nights (Tuesdays), High School Bible study (Wednesdays), and Youth Group (Sundays) will continue to meet as usual. Check the Youth webpage for the latest details.
Devotions
Every Lent we offer a devotional book to help you center on Christ. The book contains Scripture and readings to reflect on. This year’s book is titled: This We Believe. It is all about what the church believes according to the Christian creed created at the First Ecumenical Council in the year 325. It is a 1700 year-old statement of Christian belief that remains precisely relevant today as it lifts up Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Devotional books are available through the church.
Small Groups
We also encourage everyone to reflect not only on their own, but with others in the church family. We learn and grow in faith from each other. Visit our church website, lacasadecristo.com/lent, to join a small group. Your commitment is only for the season of Lent so it is a good time to try something new and meet new people. All of the groups discuss the devotional book together.
Recap
Here’s a recap:
- Lent is a holy season.
- Lent leads us to the cross of Christ and ultimately Jesus’ resurrection.
- Lent is a time to prepare our hearts for Jesus’ holiness.
- Lent is a time for worship on the weekends and midweek.
- Lent is for the whole family; kids, youth, and adults.
- Lent is a time for devotions and reflection.
- Lent is a time for building relationship in small groups at the church.
So, we’ll ask you again: What do you believe? Do you believe in God? Do you believe your relationship with God could use a re-focus? Do you believe in holiness? Do you believe in worship? Do you believe in church? Do you believe in devotion? Do you believe in fellowship with other Christians? Do you believe in relationships? Do you believe in really good meals from the La Casa kitchen crew? Do you believe in the Christian Creed? Do you believe in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
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