Hello there,
First off, don’t forget to SPRING FORWARD before you go to bed on Saturday night. Daylight savings time is upon us so move your clock ahead an hour. I am sorry about missing that hour of sleep, but it will be nice to have it lighter later in the day.
We had a wonderful Ash Wednesday service last night. We want to say than you to John Foster who did a charcoal sketch while I was preaching. If you missed the service, the drawing is on the bulletin board just outside the church office door.
So we have begun the season of Lent leading up to Holy Week and the celebration of Easter. This year we will have a series of sermons based on the Old Testament lectionary readings. The theme will be “Give it up for Lent” only we will not be talking about chocolate or smoking or time spent on FaceBook. There are attitudes and patterns that we really should give up, if we want to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ. This Sunday I will be preaching on selected verses in Genesis 2 and 3, and my sermon title is “Give it up for Lent: Being in Charge.” Here is the schedule for the rest of the season:
March 16: Give it up for Lent: Your Comfort Zone, Genesis 12:1-4—Gifts of Women Sunday
March 23: Give it up for Lent: Your Doubts, Exodus 17:1-7—I will be preaching
March 30: Give it up for Lent: Your Prejudices, 1 Samuel 16:1-13—Pastor Beth preaching
April 6: Give it up for Lent: Give Up on Giving Up, Ezekiel 37:1-14—I will be preaching
With the weather getting warmer, perhaps you are starting to think about your plans for this summer. Once again, let me suggest that you consider taking your family to Synod School. It is a wonderful intergenerational experience; kind of a combination of summer camp, vacation Bible school, and your freshman year of college. There are activities for everyone from babies up to those in their 90’s. There are interesting courses for adults. There is worship and special speakers and fun things to do. You stay in the air conditioned dorm rooms of Buena Vista University, and someone else does the cooking and washes the dishes. They have asked me to be their “artist-in-residence,” so I will be there trying to capture the experience with my watercolors. If you would like to know more you can start by clicking here. If you would like to watch a ten minute video that explains in detail what Synod School is all about, click here. If you watch to the end of the video (about 9 minutes and 50 seconds) you will see a face of someone you know. If you have any questions about Synod School, let me know.
Stay in One Peace,
Howard