One of my desires for this year is to be more intentional about my song-writing… I’ve always struggled deeply with writing lyrics though. I have been doing some writing exercises to help me get my thoughts and ideas out on paper in a lyrical format. My desire is to share these with you throughout the year.
“Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him… So also consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Rom 6:8,11)
It is easy, in our daily routines, to forget that we have been given new lives. It is easy to kill our joy by indulging our irritations, our pettiness, or our selfishness.
But when we flower the cross at Easter, we receive a reminder. As we cover the symbol of our sin with freshness and beauty, we acknowledge the barreness of our own efforts and the growth that can only come from grace.
May we remember throughout the year that as we have died with Christ we are also alive (or flowering) to God in Christ Jesus.
The small group I am a part of was discussing the passing of the peace and what that means especially for our congregation. We can be a rather aggressive bunch when that time in the service arrives and for a visitor it might be intimidating. We talked of removing this from the service completely. Also of moving it to the end of the service and tying it to exiting from church and into society.
The more we discussed, the more we realized passing the peace might need to stay right where it’s at in the service. Maybe we just need to define it for everyone.
Last night was Ash Wednesday. At RHPC we celebrated with a service called “Holden Evening Prayers,” which is a musical service, which also offers silence during prayers. On Wednesday evenings during Lent, Soup and Sandwich Suppers will be served at 5:30 with the service at 5:55. If you know anyone looking for a wonderful experience, invite them to come to RHPC on Wednesdays (Sundays too at 10:30). Come and invite your friends to this service led by regular people (not clergy). I think you’ll be amazed and blessed.
