[Featured Art by Jen Horton, “Palm Sunday”] We’ve arrived at the final week of Lent, the week set apart as holy for Jesus followers to commemorate and celebrate all that happened over the course of the last days of Jesus’ life on earth. And rather than rehearsing the well-known facts of the story, let’s engageContinueContinue reading “Set Apart: Holy Sacrifice”
Tag Archives: Lent
Set Apart: Holy Places
The Bible paints a clear picture for us – wherever God is present, the place itself becomes holy. What was once common becomes set apart as holy upon God’s arrival: Plain dirt becomes holy ground when God’s glory, His earthly presence, manifests in a tree as fire that burns but does not destroy (Exodus 3). ContinueContinue reading “Set Apart: Holy Places”
Set Apart: As Holy
Welcome to the Season of Lent! These are the set apart days leading up to Easter. ‘Set apart’ in the sense that these weeks are different from any other on our church calendar because they serve as a time to focus on the passion of Christ – His sufferings on our behalf. His death forContinueContinue reading “Set Apart: As Holy”
Embrace Prayer: Forsakenness Prayer
Christ is risen!!He is risen indeed! We’ve spent the week immersing ourselves in the stories of Jesus’ final days on earth, and if we’ve read the words written in the Gospels with any sort of openness, emotions have run high – shock and surprise, anger and angst, grief upon grief. Our feelings might be sourcedContinueContinue reading “Embrace Prayer: Forsakenness Prayer”
Embrace Prayer: Forgiveness Prayer
Today marks the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey, hailed as the Savior of Israel. Coats lined the road. Palms waved overhead. Shouts of “hosanna” rose in the air. This ‘triumphal entry’ of Jesus was His intentional, public pronouncement of Kingship; He finally and fully claimed His Messianic title and role.1 ContinueContinue reading “Embrace Prayer: Forgiveness Prayer”
Embrace Prayer: Glory Prayer
This is the third Lent that I’ve let go of tuning into TV as ‘normal’ and watched The Chosen instead. This year I’ll add Season Four to my viewing repertoire, which builds my anticipation, even my anxiety, of knowing we’re getting closer and closer to the cross. In fact Season Five releases just in timeContinueContinue reading “Embrace Prayer: Glory Prayer”
Embrace Prayer: Teach Us to Pray
Years ago I had the great honor of co-leading a class about worship and prayer alongside our Associate Pastor. As one who has had a mostly ongoing conversation with God for big chunks of my life, I admit my inability to answer the question we got the most frequently in that class: Why should weContinueContinue reading “Embrace Prayer: Teach Us to Pray”
Hidden in Christ: Resurrection Life
Days of darkness have broken open into glorious light! The tomb is empty. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. On this day, over two thousand years ago, the world changed forever. A new day dawned as the people of God began to see Him through newly opened eyes, realizing that His plan for salvationContinueContinue reading “Hidden in Christ: Resurrection Life”
Hidden in Christ: Pray and Proclaim
We have arrived at a pivotal moment in the Christian story – it’s the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey as King of Israel, fulfilling prophecy and initiating His week of passion (John 12:13-15). This man, who was also God, willingly entered the gates of a city whose leaders plotted His death. JesusContinueContinue reading “Hidden in Christ: Pray and Proclaim”
Hidden in Christ: New Self
Word-nerd alert! This week we’re following Paul into the second half of Colossians. We’re moving from learning about who Jesus is and what He’s done for us into lessons about how these truths are meant to impact our lives at very practical levels.1 We know we’ve died to our old selves and that we’ve beenContinueContinue reading “Hidden in Christ: New Self”