Ash Wednesday - Beginning of Lent March 9th
It’s Ash Wednesday. It’s the first day of Lent, a 40 day season of preparation for Easter. The journey begins today, with ashes representing a repentant and reflective heart. I was reminded of this as I walked into Tim Horton’s and saw a mom and her three sons take the spot in line behind me. All of them had the mark of the cross on their foreheads with ashes.
My first thought was “so we’re not alone in remembering this lent season”. There are millions of followers who are preparing for Easter Sunday by walking the journey to the cross together. That’s good news. I was also encouraged by the public nature of their worship. It’s pretty tough to miss a cross on your forehead, and I’m sure it will lead to many good / interesting conversations today. May God give me a boldness to allow my faith be public everywhere I go!
Today is the day we begin our journey to Easter in four ways.
Fasting
Filling
Finances
Friday
Lent originated as a time of fasting from various foods and pleasures, and replacing the attention we’d give to those things with time spent with God. Fasting during Lent is an opportunity, in a very small way, to identify with the suffering and denial Jesus went through on our behalf. We’re inviting our church family this Lent to consider giving something up.
I’m going to invite you for this Lent to consider giving something up. There is something very healthy about voluntarily choosing to restrain yourself in certain ways. How about 40 days without TV. . . is that even possible? What about setting aside movies or DVD’s for Lent? How about pop? Coffee? Chocolate? Video Games? Shopping? The Internet? Facebook?
I don’t want you to do it just because I encouraged you to, or because you think it’ll get you extra brownie points with God, because that doesn’t work. I want you to make that decision because you are serious about taking some time to prepare for what is to come. Because every time you say no to something you’d like to have, you are drawn to think about Jesus.
In some small way, very small way, you are joining in his suffering. You are turning your heart to him. You are letting him know that there really is nothing before him, not food, chocolate, coke, movies, video games, internet, shopping. It will be a sacrifice. But I wonder what will happen to you if you say yes to that?
Beyond fasting comes filling. I’d like to challenge and encourage you to consider setting aside time in the next the 40 days as intentional time of prayer and spiritual growth. As a church family, we are walking through a devotional by Chuck Swindoll called “Walk with Jesus – A 40 Day Journey to the Cross & Beyond”. You can pick up a copy for free at KGF. We’re also encouraging people to read scripture and journal, as well as join a Life Group for this six week period.
Some of you are saying, “I don’t have time to read or journal.” The good news is you will if you give up TV, or movies, or shopping, or video games, or the internet! That’s what Lent is about, taking time away from our normal day to day life and focus attention on the things of God.
Part three is Finances. Over the centuries, one of the key components of Lent was “almsgiving”. That’s a fancy word for saying “giving to the poor & less fortunate”. We are excited about an opportunity to do just that.
On Palm Sunday, April 17th, six weeks from now, we are going to have a special offering to bless and support one of our partner ministries, Gardom Lake Bible Camp. Many of you know the incredible work Gardom Lake is up to, not just with their summer camps, but throughout the year. Over 1100 kids went through camp last summer, with nearly 250 of them making a commitment of some sort to Jesus.
We want to support them, and have done so with our Extreme Camp Makeover last fall when we built a camp store in a day. And now we want to help them with a very tangible project of upgrading their boys cabins. They have 6 cabins that need a new paint job and floor, costs about $1,000 each, and so we’d like to give towards that project. Any money above and beyond that will go to scholarships for kids who can’t afford to go to camp.
Here’s the deal. . . the money you would normally spend on the item that you’re giving up for Lent, plan to give that to this Gardom Lake Project. If you are giving up coffee, and normally spend $2 per day on coffee, plan to give that $80 on Palm Sunday April 17th. If you are giving up pop, and you normally have a pop a day, plan to give that $40 April 17th. If you are giving up TV for 40 days, plan to give the price of cable, $50, April 17th. If you’re giving up chocolate, and that is a buck a day, plan to bring those $40 April 17th. Movies – once a week equals $50 you can give April 17th.
Of course you can give more than that, as an above and beyond offering to your regular giving at KGF. $6,000 divided by 200 families is $30 per family. I think it’s doable, and I’m putting the challenge out there that we work towards that. I believe God is honored as we put our faith into practice in ways like this.
The fourth component of this spiritual journey of Lent is what I call “Friday”, Good Friday. Good Friday is the day we remember the sacrifice of Jesus, through his death on the cross. KGF is planning a powerful experience this Good Friday, and this final challenge is one of invitation. Would you be in prayer already as to who you could invite to that morning? Invite Cards for Easter weekend will be available first week in April.
I am really excited about what is going to do in my life and the life of this congregation over the next six weeks. I invite you to fully embrace this as a season of preparation for Easter. Fasting – Filling – Finances - Friday.
Pastor Mike Penninga