Last night we gathered as a community of believers. We shared in the tradition of marking ourselves with ash as a sign of our mortality. And we started a new tradition of leaving a mark as a sign of our sentness in the world.

Join with us through this season of Lent as we daily pray this prayer together:

Purifying Mystery, Your light exposes in us all that we hide.

Awaken us and all Your Holy Church to spiritual combat.

Lead us to purity of soul and body in these forty days.

Fortify us to take an honest look at ourselves–to name our secret sins and our ruts of disobedience.

Let abstinence from our addictions free us for prayer and the fire of love.

Perfect us by steady gaze toward Your pure mercy and grace, so we may come to the Passion of Jesus and the Holy Easter in pure joy.

In confidence we commend ourselves and all our passions and cares to Your never-failing mercy. We intercede for the world, especially for those we have hurt by our preoccupations; for those who live sacrificially so others may know Your justice and compassion; for a just peace in and among the nations; for professionals who help others stand in the light; for the Church in every place and for the concerns and cares of our lives. Amen.

The first day of Lent. Today is Ash Wednesday…a day on our Christian calendar marking 40 days to the Resurrection Day. For centuries, this day of Ashes has served as a reminder to stop, reflect, and begin fresh again. Why? Because we need the re-start, we need to remove the spiritual safety blankets and pacifiers of routine, traditions, time-wasters, self-pleasing behaviors, and the settling of less-than-holy in our thoughts and words. We need to confess, to repent, to turn our passions back into God’s passions.

“That hollowness we sometimes feel is not a sign of something gone wrong. It is the holy of holies inside of us, the uncluttered throne room of the Lord our God. Nothing on earth can fill it, but that does not stop us from trying. Whenever we start feeling too empty inside, we stick our pacifiers into our mouths and suck for all we are worth. They do not nourish us, but at least they plug the hole.” - Barbara Brown Taylor, The Christian Century, 1998.

Lent is a chance to decide who’s we will be…our own, or His. Lent is a chance to decide what masters us…our habits, or Him. Lent is a chance to empty ourselves of us…and create space for Him.

Tonight we will gather as a church body and mark the moment together, commit to the 40 day journey of Lent.

Here is another brief article for you reading about the hope found in the midst of Lent. 

Not a Program, A Way of Life
By Jerry D. Porter

“To make Christlike disciples in the nations” is not a program; it is a way of life. Each Nazarene should answer two questions: Who is discipling you? Whom are you discipling?

I have adapted these gold nugget principles from Mike Henderson:

• Help your family and friends to follow Jesus.
  Always remember the goal: Christlikeness. How do you carve an elephant? Cut away everything that is not the elephant!

• Learn to listen.
  As preachers and teachers we are often poor disciplers because we do not listen. What the disciple says may be more important than what the discipler says. Let silence do the heavy lifting. The more emotional the issue, the more difficult the steps, the more silence is needed. If necessary, ask probing questions; a good question is worth a thousand words.

• Great leaders come out of great friendships.
  Who are your friends? How often do you get together? “More is accomplished in one hour of close conversation than ten hours of preaching” (John Wesley). Discipleship is about genuine love. “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends”
  (John 15:13, NIV).

• God’s Word is all the equipment you need.
  “The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12, NIV). Teach people to be taught by the Holy Spirit. We are not the Teacher. Our disciples are taught daily by the Holy Spirit.

Our passion to be Christlike—and to make Christlike disciples who make Christlike disciples—is not a program or a curriculum, it is a way of life. It is an intentional, relational, mutually-empowering, lifelong Jesus pilgrimage!

Luke 14:7-14 - ⁷ When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: ⁸ “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. ⁹ If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. ¹¹ For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

 ¹² Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

• Who are you “becoming friends” with in your life?
• Who are you “sufficiently weak and truthful” with in your life?
• Is there “peace in your hands?”
• Are you practicing community?

We, New Beginnings Church, are a people who understand God is at work in this world seeking to renew all things. We are a people of new beginnings.

We are a people who believe transformation in this life is possible.

We are a people who desire to be a community devoted to living out Christ-likeness.

Take time (7 min) to watch this video…then let us reflect together on what it means to be a people of “new beginnings.”

This day is celebrated by some as Valentine’s Day – a day to express our appreciation and love to the special people in our lives.

As Christians…we are called to live in love everyday. Love is the foundation of our relationships with one another. Jesus even said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).

Today, seek to make space in your day and read through this great article that calls us to live in the spirit of love and to practice truthfulness with one another.

Christine D. Pohl: Living into the practice of truthfulness

Watch…and comment.

The Threat of Resurrection: Do you deal in death? OR do you live with the threat of resurrection. How have you experienced resurrection in your life?

Scripture: Mark 1 - 40 A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’ ⁴¹Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ ⁴²Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. ⁴³After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, ⁴⁴saying to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’ ⁴⁵But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

Reflection: According to the social custom of the day, the lepers (those who had rough or scaly skin) were kept apart so that their sin and consequences might not be caught by anyone else. Although society (and Jewish law) declared this custom, Jesus declared a new reality. Jesus touched and healed the man…and then sent him back into town so that he might be restored into the community (be declared clean).

As those who bear the name of Christ in the world today…who are the lepers among us? And what does it look like to touch, heal and send them?

Could it be that the real “contagious” danger is not the sickness or sin…but the healing and transforming power of Jesus.

Jesus miraculously cured many sick  people when he walked this earth. And as God continues to heal this broken world today…there will be glimpses of God breaking through with the miraculous. We are asked to pray for such God sightings. Let us pray for healing today for the sick among us.

Psalm 41:3
The LORD sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness. (NIV)

Prayer:

Dear Lord of Mercy and Father of Comfort,

You are the One I turn to for help in moments of weakness and times of need. I ask you to be with your servant in this illness. Psalm 107:20 says that you send out your Word and heal. So then, please send your healing Word to your servant. In the name of Jesus, drive out all infirmity and sickness from the body.

Dear Lord, I ask you to turn this weakness into strength, suffering into compassion, sorrow into joy, and pain into comfort for others. May your servant trust in your goodness and hope in your faithfulness, even in the middle of this suffering. Let them be filled with patience and joy in your presence as they waits for your healing touch.

Please restore your servant to full health, dear Father. Remove all fear and doubt from their heart by the power of your Holy Spirit, and may you, Lord, be glorified through his life.

As you heal and renew your servant, Lord, may they bless and praise you.

All of this I pray according to Your will and in the name of Jesus Christ – our Healer.*

Amen.

*Prayer edited form of a online prayer by Mary Fairchild.

We often refer to Jesus’ teaching as “upside down.” I love the thought pointed out in this devotional video that it is not Jesus that is upside down, but it is us. May we seek to be so devoted to Christ that we would find ourselves living right side up.