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Lent: “In the Dusk, We Prepare to be Witnesses”
February 26, 2012 First Sunday in Lent
Texts: Psalm 1
Title: “Meditation”
Focus: What is Meditation? How do we do it? In order to embrace meditation for our lives we must overcome these common misconceptions: (1) It is an Eastern religious practice. (2) It is difficult or complicated. (3) It is impractical or out of touch with modern life. (4) It is simple psychological manipulation. The goal of meditation is “resting in him whom we have found, who loves us, who is near to us, who comes to us to draw us to himself.”
Function: With a description and introduction to Christian spiritual disciplines and meditation, we hope to get started in the season of Lent with practicing the disciplines that form us as Christians.
March 4, 2012 Second Sunday in Lent
Texts: Matthew 20:20-28
Title: “Service”
Focus: When we spend time “resting in him whom we have found, who loves us, who is near to us, who comes to us to draw us to himself” we discover a heart of love that beats for the world. This heart of God leads us to service. The Son of Man came to serve, not be served, and when we draw near to Him, we draw near to that service.
Function: We drink the Cup of Christ today. It is a cup of sacrifice and service. It is a cup that embraces death, so that we might truly live. We must embrace the death of Christ and our own death, even in service to the world, so that we might live. This is the call to service in Christ.
March 11, 2012 Third Sunday in Lent
Texts: Matthew 6:25-33
Title: “Simplicity”
Focus: When one has drawn near to God so that your heart beats to serve the world, the allures of the world’s temptations for more are heightened or negated. In either case, the discipline of simplicity sharpens our living to match the inner reality of mediation (detachment from the world—attachment to God) while reflecting a conscious response to the imbalance of consumption in the world (another act of service).
Function: Our challenge in the culture we are surrounded by is the allure of the materialism that permeates everything. Our goal is to move beyond materialism in large and small ways to embrace a life free from that trap. A simple life is a free life.
March 18, 2012 Fourth Sunday in Lent
Texts: Matthew 9:14-17; 6:16-18
Title: “Fasting”
Focus: Simplicity leads to an evaluation of every area of life, including what we eat. Fasting is not a form of diet or even simplicity in food consumption, but an acknowledgement that self-denial in one area can lead to a deeper understanding and attachment in another area. When we fast, we seek to focus our need for food to our need for God, disciplining our bodies to reflect the meditation of our hearts.
Function: It is easy to think of giving something up for Lent, but we are consumed by food. It is an ironic reality for our culture. We consume an inordinate amount of food and this obsession consumes us. Fasting is a form of separating ourselves from things that can consume us and instead focus our hearts and minds on the one who can set us free.
March 25, 2012 Fifth Sunday in Lent
Texts: Luke 5:12-16
Title: “Solitude”
Focus: Solitude is not isolation, but the choice of limiting the influences and “noise” that bombards us every day. Solitude allows us the opportunity for meditation. It is a form of meditation in itself. Solitude scares us for we are alone with God and ourselves, but solitude is essential for our walk with God and our service to the world.
Function: We are afraid of being alone. Loneliness can be crippling, so this is understandable, but it is not loneliness that scares us, I think. It is a fear of facing ourselves before God. This practice of solitude is meant to draw us back to God to set our hearts on God, and remind us that in Christ we do not need to be afraid.
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