Dear People of God, Gathered at Resurrection,

The View from the Pulpit:

Dear Fellow Lenten Sojourners at Resurrection Lutheran Church & School,

I like LENT!  I have always liked LENT!  I can still remember some of the special LENTEN services I attended as a boy at Emmanuel, Asheville, NC.  When I attended St. John’s College, Winfield, KS, other classmates in my dorm would devise the most ingenious schemes for skipping LENTEN Services and not getting caught – but not me!  It wasn’t that I was so pious – it was that LENTEN Services are some of my favorite worship experiences.  AND I STILL LIKE LENT (even though it keeps me so busy!).  I don’t think that makes me ghoulish or morbid.  Really, I just happen to like LENT.

There are two reasons why I like LENT.  One is that I have always been fascinated by the stories that are told during the LENTEN Season about Jesus’ followers.  They do not come off very well!  They are often shown as betrayers, deniers, deserters, doubters, afraid, weak, selfish, and just not very bright!  Yet they are real flesh and blood human beings … just like you and me!  And that is very comforting to me.  Jesus does not look for perfect people to be His disciples.  He takes us just as we are, and He cleanses, restores, and uses us for His service.  He did that for people like Peter, and Paul, and James and John – and He does that for ME and for YOU!

The other reason I like LENT so much is because it is during that time of the Church Year that the love of our Savior is proclaimed so simply and so clearly!  From Ash Wednesday through Good Friday we see Jesus’ kindness, patience, understanding, gentleness, selflessness, mercy and forgiveness.  In other words, we see in Jesus pure love.  We see it in His encounters with various people during His passion, and we see it poured out upon people today, even people like you and me!

I hope that a little of my enthusiasm for LENT rubs off on you!  I hope you catch enough of it to make attending the Wednesday evening Midweek and Sunday Lenten Services a part of your LENTEN observance.  LENT began on Ash Wednesday, February 14 and continues on the Wednesdays of LENT.  On Wednesdays, the Worship begins at 7:00 PM, preceded by the LENTEN Fellowship Meals at 5:45 PM.  Please be sure to sign up for the meal – and please honor your registration by showing up!

I sincerely pray that LENT will be a very special time for all of you!  May God use it to draw all of us closer to Him and to fill our lives with His perfect love and peace!

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THE ASHES OF ASH WEDNESDAY

Ashes are a part of Ash Wednesday, just as they are a part of life.  Everything ends up as dust and/or ashes.  We need to remember how quickly and inevitably we also will end up that way.  Then we will not put our trust in things that crumble or rust!  Then we will not think too highly of ourselves!

We begin the LENTEN SEASON with Ash Wednesday, but we close it with EASTER GOOD NEWS!  In the beginning, God made man out of the dust of the ground – in Christ we are made new creatures, resurrecting us from our dust and ashes!  We have hope because we trust in Him who thought so highly of us – and loved us so much! – that He sent His one and only Son to save us.

Christ came to share His life with us and with all people.  That is our purpose, too!  We can bring beauty out of ashes, life out of dust by sharing with others the Good News of the Savior!

Pastor Hank Hollar