Brian doesn't get a chance to blog much (or ever) because he is generally pretty busy writing and rewriting other important things, like sermons, and newsletter articles. I thought you all would be interested in hearing from him for a change, so here is a Lenten message from Pastor Brian. It is copied from the upcoming April Newsletter at church. Enjoy!
April Newsletter Article
Our Journey with Christ
On March 9th, Ash Wednesday, we began a journey to remember Christ’s road to the cross. On that day, we were reminded of our sinful nature. Without the mercy of Christ, we are no more than dust. We neglect God’s love, and we even push this love away. However, by an act of sheer mercy and love, our God came to us anyway, but it is amazing how quickly we can forget the significance of this.
We are all so busy with work, school, and countless other activities, and sometimes taking extra time everyday to focus on what God has done can feel like a burden. We are in the middle of our Lenten Journey, and these 40 days can become long. As we stay so focused on the sins that are imprisoning us, we can become tired. We can be worn out by our constant failure to follow God’s path. In these dark moments, we long for the celebration of Easter. I have heard people say that we should remove a few weeks from Lent and just tack them on to the Advent season. Doesn’t that sound better, celebrating the gifts of God, rather than mourning over our inadequacies?
If only life were that simple. The truth is that this life will always be difficult. Lent is a time to focus on where our sins have led us. Who are the people we have hurt? Who are the people we have forgotten? We live in a world that often tries to cover up pain through celebration, but that is a deception. We can tell ourselves that we deserve all the blessings we have. We can tell ourselves it’s okay to ignore people who are less fortunate. Our sins can be pushed aside as we find something else to celebrate and cheer us up.
However, Lent does not let us escape these sins. Jesus did not come into the world to tell us not to worry about our sins. On the contrary, he said our sins would destroy us, but Jesus does not leave us there. Christ went to the cross to free us from the death brought by sin. So as we look forward, we have to take a good honest look at where we have fallen short. I would also like to encourage you not to take the easy way out. We all need to take a look at where we stand, and we need to come to some honest conclusions about how we live with others. We walk on a difficult path, but Jesus walks with us, and it is important to remember that at the end of the journey Christ will bring us life. Have faith in that!
May the strength of God be with you this season!
Pastor Brian
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