An Invitation to a Holy Lent

In Bishop Sam Rodman’s sermon this past Sunday, he invited the people of Emmanuel to an intentional practice of making our lives hearts and available to God. This practice is the vision of a holy Lent, a season of refocus, a journey of recentering our whole lives on the limitless love of Christ. He said, “Limitless love is rooted in God’s love of each of us, of all of us” based on Jesus’s message of God’s love for all. Jesus’s limitless love is for all people, each and every one of us.

Practicing limitless love is not easy. Living like Jesus is always an aspiration. We never arrive at the destination, but we continue to try. Even in our efforts though, practicing limitless love is truly not possible without the help of the Holy Spirit. It is not our task to do so alone. In all that we do it is important to remember that the grace of God gives us this limitless love but also enables us to practice it in our daily lives.

The Holy Spirit empowers the church to participate God’s process of transformation together. We build each other up, we learn from each other, we listen and we pray together. So, as you contemplate your own spiritual discipline for Lent, I invite you to consider joining in the formational offerings we have designed for this purpose. First is a Lenten retreat, Table Talk: A Lenten Day to Nourish your Soul on March 14 at the church. In addition, I invite you to join a Small Group studying A Hidden Wholeness, Practicing Hospitality, Grace and Hope in Divided Times, which is taught by the Quaker spiritual leader Parker Palmer. Both of these opportunities for formation and growth explore themes of hospitality and as pathways to wholeness in our lives.

These offerings are not intended to be one more thing on your calendar, but something that might gently anchor you in the midst of everything else.

For more information about the retreat and to register, click here.

For more information and to sign up for a Small Group, click here.