How To Understand The Meaning Of Lent

Transcription

1 The Season of Lent PSALM 51

2 02 When you hear the word Lent, what comes to your mind? If you did not grow up in a religious tradition that observed the liturgical seasons of the church year, perhaps what comes to mind is a big question mark, What exactly is Lent, anyway? If you did grow up observing Lent, perhaps you remember giving up something for Lent, or how weird it felt to you to have ashes rubbed on your forehead as a child. Lent is a season in the church year, the 40 days, not counting Sundays, before Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday, and it is meant to be a time of intentional self-examination and repentance, which may sound like a bit of a downer. But true repentance is not about wallowing in our shame or regret; it is, rather, a time of turning our whole lives toward God and being renewed in faith and enlivened by love. Poet Ann Weems paints a compelling picture of what Lent can be: Lent is a time to take time to let the power of our faith story take hold of us, a time to let the events get up and walk around in us, a time to intensify our living unto Christ, a time to hover over the thoughts of our hearts, a time to touch his robe and feel the healing surge through us, a time to ponder and a time to wonder. Lent is a time to allow a fresh new taste of God! My hope and prayer is that this Lenten Season at TPC will indeed be a time of renewal. Our Lenten theme this year is RENEW. It comes from a line in Psalm 51, a heartfelt prayer of confession attributed to King David, that includes this plea, Create in me a pure heart, O God, and RENEW a right spirit within me. During Lent, we will be praying a version of this prayer together each week during worship, as our corporate prayer of confession. The prayer is printed on page 4, so that it can be prayed in small groups and ministry team meetings and around family dinner tables, and thus be a unifying corporate spiritual practice we share during this holy season. We

3 03 are also encouraging a community-wide participation in the ancient spiritual practice of Examen, a prayer to help us discern where the renewing spirit of God is at work in our lives. Will you pray with me that, this Lenten season, God will RENEW a right spirit within each of us and all of us together? I invite you to take the time during this holy season to let the power take hold of you and to allow a fresh new taste of God. Seeking renewal with you, Pam

4 04 Lenten Prayer We encourage all groups and committees to pray this same prayer together during Lent and to reflect on its meaning. Have mercy on us, O God, according to your steadfast love. According to your abundant mercy, blot out our transgressions. You desire truth in the inward being; therefore, teach us wisdom in our secret hearts. Create in us clean hearts, O God, and renew a right spirit within us. Restore to us the joy of your salvation, and sustain in us a willing spirit, that we may walk in the way of Jesus, in whose name we pray.

5 05 Worship Ash Wednesday MARCH 5 12:00 & 6:00 pm Dobbs Chapel Are You Ready for a Spiritual Detox? Psalm 51:1-17; Matthew 6:1-6, Rev. Pam Driesell preaching Child care is provided at both services. Lunch will follow the noon service. 1st Sunday in Lent MARCH 9 8:45 am Dobbs Chapel + 11:00 am Sanctuary The Renewing Power of Confession Psalm 32; Matthew 4:1-11 Rev. Pam Driesell preaching 2nd Sunday in Lent MARCH 16 Renew Your Vision Psalm 121 Rev. Matthew Ruffner preaching 11:00 am Spring Music Festival Renewal through Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs Trinity Chancel Choir Norman Mackenzie, director 3rd Sunday in Lent MARCH 23 A Deep Hunger, A Lingering Thirst, and a Renewed Life Psalm 95:1-7; John 4:5-42 Rev. Pam Driesell preaching 4th Sunday in Lent MARCH 30 Spit, Mud, and Renewed Sight John 9:1-41 Rev. Pam Driesell preaching 5th Sunday in Lent APRIL 6 Waiting for Renewal Psalm 130 Rev. Erin McGee preaching

6 06 Holy Week Palm Sunday SUNDAY, APRIL 13 From Hosanna to Humbled Psalm 1-2, 19-29; Matthew 21:1-11, 26:36-46; Philippians 2:5-11 Dr. David Bartlett and Rev. Pam Driesell preaching Maundy Thursday THURSDAY, APRIL 17 Saddest Night Ever: Family Maundy Thursday Worship 6:00 pm Williams Hall Families are invited to a special worship service remembering The Saddest Night Ever. Supper is served, and the stories of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are read. Child care is available for infants and toddlers. Reservations: Holy Communion and Tenebrae 7:30 pm Sanctuary This dramatic candle-lit service features the gradual extinction of lights in the sanctuary, as we experience the Biblical account of Jesus betrayal and arrest and hear beautiful seasonal music by our Chancel Choir. Good Friday FRIDAY, APRIL 18 Worship 12:00 pm Dobbs Chapel When Hope is Lost Mark 15: Rev. Craig Goodrich preaching Child care is available by reservation, Following worship a light lunch will be served in Williams Hall.

7 07 Easter Fun Night and Flashlight Egg Hunt for Grades 2-5 6:30 pm Williams Hall Children in grades 2 through 5 and their families will eat dinner together, hear the Easter story, play a few games, and then hunt eggs with flashlights. Reservations: Holy Saturday SATURDAY, APRIL 19 Easter Family Breakfast and Egg Hunt (Ages Birth Grade 1) 9:00 am Williams Hall Children ages birth through 1st grade and their families will have breakfast, hear the Easter story, and hunt eggs on the front lawn. Reservations:

8 08 Spiritual Practices for Lent What Is The Purpose Of Spiritual Practices? The purpose of spiritual practices is to invite us to honestly examine our lives, with an open posture to what might be revealed to us. Regular observance of a practice can inform our hearts and actions as people of faith. The season of Lent provides a specific window for reflection the hope is that we arrive at Easter morning with fewer pretenses and more authenticity, and with a heightened awareness of the divine dwelling in us and all around us. During Lent at Trinity this year, we will highlight two spiritual practices: Daily Examen and a Bible Study of Psalms.

9 09 Daily Examen Sunday, March 2 12:00 pm B108 Daily Examen, initiated by Ignatius of Loyola, is rooted in the assumption that God speaks to us through our deepest feelings. The practice involves taking time each day to reflect and name the occasions that we felt most alive and grateful, as well as the occasions when we felt most brittle and drained. These reflections can provide the seeds for our personal prayers of thanksgiving and confession. For more detailed background and instructions on the practice of examen, visit click Connect and Spiritual Formation. To help encourage the exploration of the practice of Daily Examen, an overview and practice session will be offered to the congregation immediately following 11:00 worship on Sunday, March 2, in B108. Whether you are an individual who wants to do this practice at home, or you are a leader of a class or ministry and would like to engage Examen as a group during Lent, join us! Duration will be 20 minutes, so that those who want to join the congregational lunch will be able. Study of Psalms Thursdays, March 13, 20, 27; April 3, 10 6:30-8:00 pm B112 Led by rotating clergy. Come and engage scripture during Lent, as we explore human emotions expressed in the Book of Psalms joy, despair, pain, suffering, thanksgiving, delight, trauma, oppression, exile, exuberance the book of Psalms has it all. God s people, given voice in the Psalms, struggle to make sense of who God is and who they are, and in so doing invite us to do the same. Join us for a deepening discussion of how these ancient texts of praise and lament can speak to us in our lives today. Cost is $13 for the book. Contact: John Ryan at jryan@trinityatlanta.org or

10 010 Children & Their Families Families are invited to have story time in preparation of Easter. Each week, carve out some time to read a Bible story, based on scripture, about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The stories are available online at Week 1 Jesus Gets Ready Matthew 4:1-11 Week 2 Nicodemus Comes to See Jesus John 3:1-21 Week 3 The Woman at the Well John 4:5-30, Week 5 Lazarus Is Alive! John 11:1-53 Palm/Passion Sunday Jesus Gets Ready to Die Matthew 21:1-11; 26:14-27:56 Easter Sunday Mary of Magdala Sees Jesus John 20:1-18 Week 4 Jesus Heals a Blind Man John 9:1-41

11 011 Easter Sunday SUNDAY, APRIL 20 7:00 am Chapel Glen Morning Glory John 20: 1-18 Rev. Craig Goodrich preaching 9:00 & 11:00 am Sanctuary Stop, Look, Listen, Go! John 20:1-18 Rev. Pam Driesell preaching The 9:00 & 11:00 am services are identical in format and will feature the Chancel Choir and Brass Easter Sunday fellowship will follow all three services. Church school classes will not meet.

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