March 14, 2024
by Mandy Mercado
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Category:
Lent Reflections
I'm relatively new to this "Lent and fasting thing". I grew up in a very fundamentalist Baptist church. I heard a couple of my friends talk about "Lent" and giving up meat on Friday nights. But I really had no idea what it was or why they were giving up meat.
I learned a bit more about it over time. At college I became friends with people from many different Christian tra...
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March 12, 2024
by Chris Francis
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Category:
Lent Reflections
"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift." - Matthew 5:23
This is not an explicitly traditional "Lent" passage, but hang tight and I'll show you how it ties in.
During our...
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March 7, 2024
by Rebecca Carlson
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Category:
Lent Reflections
Over the past decade or so I have become more interested in the church calendar including the season of Lent. I was not raised in the Catholic Church, so the rhythms that some of my friends participated in growing up were not familiar to me until adulthood. As I have discovered more about this season, one of the traditional anticipatory periods of the church calendar, I ha...
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March 6, 2024
by Chris Francis
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Category:
Lent Reflections
And they praised God because of me. - Galatians 1:24
Paul wrote this to the Galatian church when he was recounting his testimony. Jesus got hold of his heart, then he spent some time with Peter and James, and then:
Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report: "The ...
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February 28, 2024
by Nanci Schiavo
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Category:
Lent Reflections
Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit." --Luke 23 :44-47
Ever since I became a Christian 40 years ago, I've often visualized various Scripture ...
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February 26, 2024
by Christine Aylett
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Category:
Lent Reflections
The disciples wondered this as well when he died. It wasn't what they had expected the Messiah to do. How had it come to an end so quickly? Jesus had tried to explain to them several times that he had to die. At the last supper, when he took the cup he said "this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
God is a just and holy ...
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February 21, 2024
by Pam Hess
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Category:
Lent Reflections
There isn't a day that goes by now that doesn't have an unthinkable headline hitting the news outlets. Long gone are the days that I remember as a teen when I would spend a summer afternoon lying on the front lawn of my home, along with a friend or two, looking up at the sky and pointing out the animals that we saw in the cloud formations. Life has become increasingly comp...
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February 20, 2024
by Donna Hack
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Category:
Lent Reflections
Does it sound to you like we are owning stuff that no longer belongs to us?
Listen to our words:
My sorrow
My pain
My loneliness
My lust
My addiction
My anger
My fear
My fatigue
My confusion
My lack
My depression
My anxiety...
We forfeit our peace when we fail to recognize the victory Jesus has won for us on the cross. Once, for all!Romans 6:6 (Message) "Coul...
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February 16, 2024
by Dan Dornacker Jr.
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Category:
Lent Reflections
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and he will direct your paths." -Proverbs 3:5-6
This scripture became real for me when I was in college several years ago. My first year in college was extremely challenging for me. In addition to all the normal "identity crisis" challenges that people face when...
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February 13, 2024
by Bill Meyer
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Category:
Lent Reflections
"You are dust, and to dust you shall return." Genesis 3:19b
These words were spoken by God to Adam when he fell into sin in the Garden of Eden. They remind us of the fragile and fleeting nature of life. The phrase is often read at the graveside during the funeral of a Christian or repeated in Ash Wednesday services in . many different branches of the church. They serve as...
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