Happy Lent?

A friend of mine sent a message to me on Thursday that simply said, “Happy Lent.” I quickly wrote back and said, “happy Lent?” She wrote back and said, “Yes, happy season of penitence.” I couldn’t wrap my mind around this because often all I can envision is sackcloth and ashes (symbols of mourning and repentance). As I reflected further, I could begin to see why this could be “happy.” It has nothing to do with our “feelings” about Lent. It has to do with the possibilities that lay before us in the water, the wilderness and the presence of God.

The season of penitence and self-examination began with Ash Wednesday. The mark of the ashes reminds us of our own mortality, but also calls into a period of reflection. We will be doing that at Crossroads and across the Metropolitan parish through our series on mindfulness. We will journey into the depths of our being as we seek to experience and practice the presence of God in our everyday lives.

The season of Lent beckons us to dive into this journey with all of our hearts. Whether you are giving up something or taking on something, I pray this will be time of praying, fasting, and practicing spiritual disciplines that will lead us to a deeper relationship with God.

My prayer is that in our worship celebrations each week that you will be equipped with resources, time, space, music, words of confession, and fellowship that will enhance this journey. I hope to see you (and I encourage you to invite someone to experience this as well) at 5 PM on Sunday. I can’t wait to see what God is up to as we begin this journey together…

Happy, er, Lent?!

Jimmy

Belonging

Since our days on the playground, there has been an innate desire in most of us to belong. We wanted to be a part of the group hanging out near the swings, or the group that was playing on the basketball court. As human beings, we long to belong. That is why community is so important. In true community and genuine Koinonia (the Greek word for fellowship), one experiences a place of acceptance and belonging.

This is not to say that we all conform to the same likeness or that our churches look the exact same. That is not to say that we do not have diversity. Rather, we have the authentic community that fosters a sense of belonging and purpose. This is exactly what happened in the early church. After Pentecost, Luke tells us in the Book of Acts that those who had believed in Jesus began sharing life together. There was probably a sense of belonging and purpose as they would sell their possessions and give the proceeds to those who needed them. There was something abuzz about this new community. It’s freedom. It’s joy. It’s love was something that was palpable and its actions very convincing.

This coming together in community in the early church probably created a sense belonging. From this belonging came a movement that spread throughout Israel, the Mediterranean, and beyond. I want to invite us all to consider the power of belonging and how it helps to create a movement. When we feel a part of something, energy is created, the group dynamics change, and we began to feel less alone and more a part of something. We hope that happens when we come together around the communion table, around the table to prepare sandwiches for Grate Patrol, and when we sit down around the table to eat on the third Sunday of each month, and we come together to celebrate in worship. The belonging that we feel creates the synergy that propels the movement that we are a part of.

I hope you will join us on Sunday at 5 PM. I will be preaching about continuing to create a movement (or continue the movement that was created 2000 years ago.) As well as how our sense of belonging is rooted in this movement. I can’t wait to see what God is doing among us, and I can’t wait to hear how God has been at work in your life this week.

What's in a movement?

I have always been curious about how a movement gets started. How does one go from an idea in the head or a conviction in the heart to creating a movement? My guess is that it might be those who have the conviction in the heart who are spurred to move. Nonetheless, there have been movements throughout the course of history. In Church history there was the initial early church movement that was referred to as “The Way.” The was the Protestant Reformation led by Luther. There was a movement to make bibles accessible to the masses. There was John Wesley’s Methodist movement. Outside the bounds of organized religion there have been many other movements, most recently our country’s own struggle with the Civil Rights movement, the human rights campaign, the movement for marriage equality, and, of course, you can’t forget The Occupy Wallstreet movement.

Why do some movements stay with us and others fade away? What is the importance of faith in a movement, if any? How do movements affect our lives, and how do we contribute? Might there be another movement within the church to take us to the next place that God wants us to go? Tomorrow, we begin a three week series that will hopefully speak to each of us an individual level (how the Gospel is moving each of us) and on a corporate level (how might we become a movement where we become a blessing to others?) During this series, we will dream, design and explore our destiny as a community of faith. This week we will focus on what gives life to our movement and the synergy created by “first followers” Next week we will explore the power of belonging in a movement, and finally we will close out the week before Lent begins looking at our purpose and the purpose of movement. I hope you will join us and invite others who may be looking for something to be a part of that is bigger than themselves.

Remember, this Sunday night is Grate Patrol. We will make sandwiches that will be delivered following the service.

We will share our God sightings as well. In what ways have you seen God working this week? I look forward to seeing you tomorrow at 5 PM! I can’t wait to see what will happen!

Joy and Peace,

Jimmy