St. Paul Lenten Devotional 2021 Grace and Peace
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St. Paul Lenten Devotional 2021 Grace and Peace, Our Spiritual Formation team invited me to offer an introduction to this reprinting of a previous Lenten Devotional, as we begin this Lenten journey together, with some basic reminders about Lent. It begins with Ash Wednesday, which occurs forty days before Easter, not including six Sundays (which are considered feast days). The number 40 recalls the Israelites’ forty years in the desert and Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness. Lent is an opportunity to go deep into our hearts and the souls of our communities, and to recognize the depth of our estrangement from God. In practicing the disciplines of Lent, such as self-examination and repentance, we seek to put things right. On Ash Wednesday, we begin with self examination through the Ten Commandments and these questions: Having no other gods. Do I love God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength? Making no idols. Do I put possessions, career, family, reputation, or health ahead of God? Do I treat money and power as gifts or gods? Revering God’s name. Do all my words and actions glorify God? Keeping the Sabbath. Do I let work take over my life? Do I find my identity in work or in being God’s child? Do I set aside a full day each week to rest? Honoring parents. Do my parents know I value and respect them? Do my children? Respecting life. How do I respond when I am humiliated, insulted, or treated unfairly? Am I quick to forgive, or do I hold grudges and seek revenge? Do I let my anger get the better of me? Respecting marriage! Do I support and affirm the relationships of others? Respecting property. Am I greedy? Do I have things that rightly belong to others? Am I a generous giver? Respecting truth. Do I gossip? Do I keep my promises? Do I exaggerate to impress? Do I face the truth about myself? Do I share my true self with others? Curtailing desire. Am I jealous? Am I thankful? Am I content with what God has given me? Is the grass always greener on the other side? Whenever I have opened my life up to Jesus, he has always surprised me with something incredible. May it be so for all of us as we journey toward the new life that is coming this Easter. Grace and Peace, Darren In memory of Rodney Beck, Rev. Merrill Challman, Rev. Billy Cox, Sam Foster, and Louanne Oliver, St. Paul members whose words of wisdom remain with us in these pages. February 17 - Ash Wednesday - Genesis 1:1-2, (3-2:3) Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness forms vibrant life out of the murkiness of the was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of shadows. During Lent allow God to hover over you. God was hovering over the Spend time in the darkness of self-reflection and waters. Genesis 1:2 self-denial. God is there. Ask God to bring life out of this season of darkness. For on Easter morning, we As we journey through Lent it can feel like a season will celebrate the Resurrection of the one who said, of despair or “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will gloominess. We begin on Ash Wednesday when we never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” worship in a dimly lit sanctuary. We place ashes on (Jn. 8:12). our forehead to remind us of our mortality. Over the 40 days of Lent we practice more intimately prayer, Prayer: O Eternal God, we find ourselves in the midst fasting, and self-evaluation. We give up something of a seemingly formless, empty, and dark season. - not because it would be healthy or beneficial - but Yet we know that you called all creation out of such so that we might get closer to God. Lent can feel an environment. We glorify you for forming the like the dark days before the bright Easter morning. formless, providing fulfillment for the empty, and And in many ways it is. revealing light to the darkness. Heavenly God, remain present when we experience personal and Genesis 1:2 reminds us of the primordial darkness, communal emptiness or doubt. As you hovered over the darkness before the joy of God’s creation. the waters, we ask for your hovering love and grace Yet, even then in the darkness the Spirit of God is in our lives. We pray in your name, Amen. present. God hovers over the waters. God is near the formless emptiness. But out of that - out of - Rev. David Garvin nothing - God brings newness and creation. God February 18 - 1 Cor. 1:25-30 Have you ever been involved in a group The knowledge that God offers is there if we conversation and a “politically incorrect” topic surrender ourselves to him and experience a change relating to the Bible or to God comes up? Have you of attitude. If we accept the purpose of God in the ever heard someone refer to Bible stories as “nice message of the cross and ask God for forgiveness, stories for little kids?” Have you ever wondered we will experience his grace. The cross symbolizes a if that pop icon or fashionista wearing a necklace simple, yet profound, message that saves. We with a cross on it understands what that cross cannot create, buy, or build our salvation. All we symbolizes? Is God truly at the core of our lives, have to do is believe. or are we just satisfied with presenting the illusion of his presence? Prayer: God, reveal yourself to me today so that I may take steps to grow closer to you. I ask your We often rely solely on our work ethics, abilities, forgiveness for my arrogance in foolishly thinking and skills to survive in this life. We create tools and that I could control my life. Give me the humility technology to help us achieve more, faster. We “pull to do your will. Help me to realize that it is only ourselves up by our bootstraps” and declare that we through are masters of our own destinies. In our frantic lives your son’s death and by your grace that I can be at we don’t hear God calling us. Do we know what peace, experience your boundless love, and have God’s purpose is for us? Do we need God, or is he the eternal life that you have prepared for me. just a figment of our imaginations? We have so many Amen. questions for such an advanced society. - Lisa Todd February 19 - John 3:14-18 The story of Moses lifting up the bronze serpent, and only beloved son, became the symbol that is found in Numbers 21:4-9, is quite an odd one. The lifted up for us. He took on the image of what has people had sinned against God by grumbling and been torturing us – our sin. Then he shattered the complaining about their circumstances (again). God power of sin and its consequence, death, by his life, sent poisonous snakes to bite the people as a death, and resurrection. judgment for their sins. The people repented and begged for Moses to intercede for them. Moses did This is the glory of Lent. We are shown so clearly and and God told him to make a serpent replica of the painfully our circumstances - “...yet condemnation serpents, the things that were torturing them, and is already the reality for everyone who refuses to place it high on a pole in the middle of camp. When believe because they reject the only Son the people were bitten, they could be saved by of God.” (John 3:18, The Voice Bible translation) looking up at the symbol of their suffering. But we are also shown the vast, overwhelming love of God: “Here’s the point. God didn’t send His Son In this passage of scripture in John, Jesus very into the world to judge it; instead, He is here to clearly puts us in the same category as those ancient rescue a world headed toward certain destruction.” Israelites. It is our own sin that has gotten us into the (John 3:17, The Voice) And rescue occurs when mess we are in. We thought we knew better than we look upon the symbol of our suffering, the just God. We grumbled against our circumstances. We consequence of our sin, in the cross of Jesus Christ. rebelliously struck out on our own and found that we were poisoned and dying from the choices we - Lori Elbert made. But God’s infinite love for us reached out and The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation provided the way of escape for us. Jesus, God’s one © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. February 20 - Psalm 51 “This anguished cry of confession from the depths suffer and bear the cross. All of this David calls true of guilt finds GOD’s absolution and renewal on the sacrifice and worship. He rejects all other sacrifices certain footing of grace alone.” that the raving saints bring.” From Reading the Psalms with Martin Luther ... From The Wesley Study Bible ... “Psalm 51 is one of the foremost of the psalms “John Wesley was convinced that living truthfully is of instruction. In it David truly teaches us what sin a mark of GOD’s grace in our lives. GOD is actively is, where it comes from, what damage it does - at work, moving in and through the messiness of and how one may be freed from it.