The decorations have been up for weeks. Christmas dinner was still digesting when it seemed like the colors at the mall and the stores changed from red and green to red and pink. From snowflakes to lace hearts. From Christmas candy and stocking stuffers to heart shaped boxes and stuffed bears. Mid-February is, of course, Valentine’s Day. And the whole month seems to be about love.
The season of love coincides with the season of Lent for the church. With Ash Wednesday on February 10, Lent will officially begin. We’ll have Wednesday evening worship services from then until late March. The season is often a time of penitence and recognizing our need for the sacrifice of Jesus. Wednesday worship services will focus more on the sacrifice of Christ and what it means for us. Sunday services will share the theme, “A Greater Love.”
We know the love of God is found in Christ. We have received that love through His word and sacraments. We celebrate that love each time we worship Him. We live in that love wherever we go. That love is different from the way the world teaches love. It’s different because it goes far beyond good feelings toward another. It’s sacrifice. It’s humility. It’s a love that has changed us and made us children of God. See 1 John 3:1
| 1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. … |
What a wondrous love that is. All through Lent we will consider that love and how it allows us to love others differently. You are encouraged to be in worship as we grow in faith toward God and love the way He intended.
In His Love!
Pastor John