Greetings friends!
Pastor Sam here, I pray everyone is staying safe and warm during the end of this years winter season. Already we see flowers beginning to burst from
the ground as a chill remains in the air. Spring is not yet fully sprung, but I hope these final days of winter may be a blessing for us all.
One of the things that marks this strange time between the end of winter and the beginning of spring is the season of Lent. This section of the Christian year starts on Ash Wednesday (Feb. 14) and runs through Easter (Mar. 31), and focuses on repentance and renewal. This season before Easter mirrors the 40 days that Jesus spends in the wilderness in Matthew Chapter 4, in which he spends time in a meditative, reflective, and penitent attitude as God prepared his own life for the ministry he was about to begin. In the same way, God calls us to use Lent to prepare our hearts and lives for the celebration of Easter and the new life and ministry God has in store for each of us. In order to grow with God in this way, many Christian traditions center Lent on a pattern of fasting from worldly things and feasting on spiritual things. It is common to give up a practice or luxury for the season and at the same time take on extra devotions or acts of service.
Above all, our feasting and fasting ought to point our lives and communities to Easter and to God’s great love for us all. Fasting is far from an act of self-abasement, but instead guides us to deeper reflection on the state of our lives and souls. In the same way, our feasting on the spiritual things God gives isn’t just for ourselves, but for the sake of spreading God’s love and grace to all the world. Just as the season of Lent ends with the triumphant celebration of Easter, so too should our periods of reflection and fasting end with a new spring of devotion and passion for living into the love of the Lord.
Regardless of the specifics of your Lenten fasting and feasting, we as individuals, communities, and a nation are called to center ourselves on repenting of all sin and finding renewal in God’s love. I pray our last few wintery days call us deeper into repentance, and our first few spring days call us to renewed life in God’s great love.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Sam Mitchell
3/24/2021 Virtual Lenten Service
2/14/2021 Virtual Worship Service
1/31/2021 Virtual Worship Service
1/24/2021 Virtual Worship Service
1/17/2021 Virtual Worship Service
1/10/2021 Virtual Worship Service
1/3/2021 Virtual Worship Service
12/27/2020 Virtual Worship Service
12/24/2020 Christmas Eve Service
12/23/2020 Blue Christmas - Service of Lament
12/20/2020 Virtual Worship at Trinity
12/13/2020 Virtual Worship at Trinity
12/6/2020 Virtual Worship at Trinity
11/29/2020 Virtual Worship at Trinity
11/22/2020 Virtual Worship at Trinity
11/15/2020 Virtual Worship at Trinity
11/8/2020 Virtual Worship at Trinity
11/1/2020 Virtual Worship at Trinity