On Wednesday February 22nd, we will once again enter that season
in the Church year called "Lent". Lent is the 40-day period, not counting Sundays, that leads us to Easter. During this season of penitence, we have time for honest reflection upon our lives, goals, and relationships. This year's theme is "Profiles of the Passion". together we will learn from major characters in the Passion story- and perhaps we will even see our own life experiences reflected in theirs.
Beginning with Ash Wednesday, we join together in worship to look both inward and outward so that we can seek God's mercy and better prepare our hearts and minds for the calling that God gives to us through our baptism. During Lent, some traditions speak about ""giving up" something. To focus only on this practice is to deny the importance of "taking on" new responsibilities, answering new challenges and accepting new "calls" or opportunities to serve God and the Church.
During Lent we have the opportunity to "give up" all the hustle and bustle of life, and the distractions and behaviors which compromise our response to God's call. Perhaps we might consider giving up one or two hours of television in order to read God'd Word. If you are interested in "giving up" the habit of eating too much or too often, consider nourishing your body and soul by "taking on" the challenge of skipping a meal, exercising and taking time to pray for others and yourself.
If y9ou are tired of being bombarded daily with advertisements and flooded with bad news, consider "giving up" the daily news and "taking on" a devotional reading Grace has a lot of good books available in the library to enrich the soul rather than the news of the media!
It's my prayer and hope that we all will "take on" the discipline of the extra opportunities for Worship and fellowship available through the Lenten season!
Why should we "give up" and "take on" during Lent? Because Jesus was willing to "give up" everything to rescue us from sin and He was willing to "take on" the cross to redeem us from death. Thanks be to God!

Pastor Gene Wickman