Praying and Practicing Our Way Through Lent

As we journey through the church year together, we move along with Jesus and his followers through seasons of  anticipation, growth, sorrow and celebration. In our own lives,  circumstances can set the tone for the season.  At other times, we intentionally choose to set aside time for reflection and renewal.Lent is one of those times, and it is almost here.  You and I need to decide how we will spend these forty days.  We are invited into a season of self-examination, of losing and finding, of evaluation and re-commitment.  It is a time to look within, to discover what we are clinging to that leaves no room for the new life that we long to experience through Christ.  It is a time to prepare for resurrection.During Well worship gatherings and dinner groups, we will use this time to explore and practice the Lord's Prayer together.  We will ask how the words that Jesus prayed were much more than prayers for personal comfort and security.  They were words that call us to practice and participate in the revolutionary kingdom of God.  We'll begin with a simple time of worship this Ash Wednesday at the City Kidz Event Center (6 p.m.).  There will be music and a quiet space for prayer and reflection.  You may also choose to be marked with ashes, a reminder of our humanity and our need for the living God.I hope you will choose to be part of this important time in the life of our community, and that you will join us in praying and practicing these words:

Pray then in this way:Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.Your kingdom come.Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread.And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one.Matthew 6:9-13, NRSV