Many Christians either had a bad experience with Lent (it was too legalistic, guilt producing or phony) or they just never really understood what it was about. But Lent is a great time and opportunity to practice the key spiritual disciplines of prayer and fasting. These disciplines help us connect with self-denial and the way of Jesus.
Lent is 40 days of fasting before Easter (Sundays were not traditionally counted in the fasting). Lent is a time of preparation for remembering and celebrating the suffering of Jesus on the cross and his victorious resurrection on Easter.
Our theme for Lent this year is The Way of Jesus…The Way of the Cross. In Luke 9:23 Jesus says that “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem to die on a cross. His way is the way of the cross. He invites us to follow him (go his way) and take up our cross. Lent is a powerful time to experience self-sacrifice through the spiritual discipline of fasting.
Why should a Christian consider fasting? During Lent we decide to fast from something that we consume and consumes us. It can be something that we typically “can’t live without” or it can simply be something we enjoy and would miss. We can fast from food in general or from specific foods like sugar or chocolate. We can also fast from activities or hobbies (like watching TV), or habits (like talking too much) or even from sinful things (like addictions).
We fast for four basic reasons:
1) It reminds us of our selfishness and self-focus. Fasting is an act of self-denial and dying to self.
2) During our fasting, the desire or temptation to partake of the food, activity or habit becomes our reminder or prompting to pray.
3) We use the time we would invest in eating, preparing food or in the activity or habit we are fasting from to use for prayer, Bible reading and reflection.
4) In a small way during our fast we join Jesus in his suffering and dying. We join him in “crucifying our flesh” during this time.
I am inviting you to experience the Lent season. Join us for the Ash Wednesday service on Wed. Feb. 6 (7pm) for encouragement, resources and instructions. We have a 2008 Lent Guide available in hard copy or online (use keyword “Lent”). The Guide will help you understand the meaning of Lent, show you how to fast and provide a daily Bible reading guide.
Following the way of Jesus together,
Glen
No, this blog is not about fake TV wrestling. This is about wrestling with God. I started the Book of the Month project and began in Genesis. I am loving it and seeing things I’ve never noticed!
I came to one of my favorite stories in chapter 32. On the surface, it is a story of a wrestling match. But it is much more. Jacob is getting ready to return to his homeland and has to face his brother Esau. Jacob had deceitfully gained Esau’s birthright and blessing (he became the heir of his father’s possessions) and had to run to save his life. The night before this meeting, Jacob, all alone, wrestles with God in the form of a man. In this wrestling match we learn how strong willed and stubborn Jacob is. The text says that God “could not overpower him” (Gen. 32:25). This is not a reference to Jacob’s physical strength, but his strong will.
So, God touches the socket of his hip and wounds him. At that, Jacob asks for God’s blessing. He finally realizes that God is the source of blessing, not his conniving and clever ways. God asks his name. Names are huge deals in ancient cultures. Jacob means “he grasps” and figuratively means “deceiver.” Now God gives him a new name describing his new character - Israel, which means “struggles with God.” God is inviting us to wrestle with him!
The strong willed, self confident and very successful Jacob is not limping. His strong will is finally broken. And the end of the story is cool. God does bless him in many ways.
Here’s the point. We need to enter into an honest wrestling match with God. Clinging to our self-determined ways and plans, we enter the ring with God and sooner or later we’ll be gently wounded by God. When we are finally broken and limping after our encounter with God face to face, we move from total self-sufficiency to dependence on God. It is only in full dependence on God that we will ever experience God’s full blessing.
For a few years now I’ve been on a journey. A wise Christian man who was helping me gave me the name “storm-trooper.” Today, I’m a limping storm-trooper. Sometimes I’m still not comfortable with the limping part and I’m still learning to embrace brokenness and my limitations. It is so much better to limp with God than be strong in our self-sufficiency.
My prayer today is that you’ll read God’s Word, study it in 222 or a life group, or participate in Book of the Month. May we take God’s invitation to join him on the wrestling mat as we encounter Him in His Word. Let’s wrestle!
Glen Elliott
You know my passion is to reach those we are not reaching. You know that I am passionate about Jesus, the One I want everyone to know in a real and personal way. A book called Jim and Casper Go to Church came out this summer. Jim Henderson is a Christian leader and Matt Casper is an atheist. Together, they visited the “mega-churches” of America. I saw this interview in a weekly email I receive. Notice what they experienced in some of the “better” churches.
In your visits to churches, how important were first impressions, say during the first 5 minutes of arriving? If the first impression was negative, did you sometimes find the overall experience overcame that?
Jim: VERY important- if ANYONE approached us (without it being their job) it was the exception rather than the rule. It hardly ever happened but when it did we NOTICED. Frankly the lack of that failed to change much else for us since we adapted to the environment and simply stopped expecting spontaneous, unsolicited, non-directed greetings. Here’s how people feel whenever they enter a new experience-alone and stupid. Churches need to “attack” those feelings by training Christians (the non-professional and non-highly motivated kinds) to simply say “hi” to someone who they have not noticed before. That one small action would do more to increase church attendance than any other single action currently being tried.
Matt: Jim puts this very much like a pastor wanting visitors to feel at home in his church. For me, if everything in the Bible is true, and Christians are going to enjoy immortality in paradise-as church attendees are supposed to believe-why aren’t they dancing for joy every second they’re in church, or every second of their lives…? If I believed that my time on earth was only the beginning of my existence, and after I died I’d be going to heaven, I’d be WILD about my church. I’d probably scare people away I’d be so passionate. It seemed, at most every church, that what was going on-during the first five minutes, the middle five minutes, and the last five minutes-was simply a routine. Steps to walk through. No real thought about what was being offered and what awaits. [End of interview].
Are we authentic and real? Are we naturally passionate about Jesus (and not just at church)? Do we naturally look to welcome people to the Kingdom of God at church and 24/7? If we are going to see revival and real transformation of our city, then we’ve got to be so genuine, real and passionate about Jesus that others are captivated or captured. That is my prayer for us as a community.
I wonder what Jim and Matt would experience if they came to Pantano Christian Church services this weekend? Actually, we have Jims and Matts visit every weekend. You and I can make a difference.
Glen
God has been teaching me dependence. I know, I should have learned this 25 years ago. It is hard to learn. God continues, in love, to discipline and correct me and I’m grateful for that.
The core idea of dependence is found in Jesus’ words to Satan who was trying to tempt Jesus. The temptation was for Jesus to trust himself and take the situation into his own hands, rather than be dependent on God. Jesus said (quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 in Matthew 4:4): “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
We need to hear from God all the time. We need to depend on him first. He is more vital than food (though few of us honestly experience this). His words to us give us life. There are two key ways we experience God’s life giving words and dependence on God - in prayer and from the Bible.
Here are a few ways to help you practice dependence on God through prayer and the Word of God:
PRAYER OPPORTUNITIES
• Elders prayer time - Tuesday January 15th at 7PM in the auditorium (every 3rd Tuesdays of the month)
• Missions - Tuesday mornings at 6:30AM in D1
• Weekly Prayer Group - Wednesdays at 7PM in the Office Conference room
• Prayer Rooms - 2nd and 4th Tuesdays from 6-8PM in Towne Hall room 4
GOD’S WORD
• New Series - Last week I started our new message series called A la Carte. For the next 4 weeks we’ll be learning how to get into God’s Word to nourish ourselves. Use this series to motivate you to use the different “menu items” to get into God’s Word and let his words feed you.
• Book of the Month - I introduced an idea to help you read and study the entire Bible in just over 5 years. You can do this as an individual, as a couple or as a group. Details of the Book of the Month project can be found online (pccwired.org) using key word: Book of the Month.
• 222 - This on-campus Bible study just began this past Wednesday. It is not too late to start. They will study a book of the Bible at a time, starting with James. They meet Wednesdays at 7PM in Coop Court.
• Women’s Bible studies begin Jan. 24th with registration open now. Go to the women’s ministry table to sign up.
Together, depending on God in and for everything;
Glen
There’s lots of “new” for the New Year here at Pantano Christian Church. If you missed the weekend services, please listen to the message on CD (you can get those in the foyer) or the podcast on line. The message is called “Looking Forward” and I share the things we have sensed God leading us to do in 2008. I so love this church. I am blessed to be with a group of people who live in and give grace and who care about others, especially those who are hurting and lost.
SITES & SERVICES
TRADITIONS - This week we start our Traditions service at 8am on Sunday. That means we move the 9am PCC Live service to 9:30am and 11am stays at 11am.
SIERRA VISTA - The Sierra Vista folks are moving from Sunday pm to Sunday morning. They will start training and preparing for the August 2008 launch. By the way, you gave $7,553 toward the Sierra Vista launch at our Christmas Eve services. Thank you Pantano!
ELEMENTS - The Elements service will discontinue on Saturday nights (we’ll just have PCC Live at 6pm). The Elements team is “re-grouping” and we’ll restart later, probably on a different night. We’ll let you know when we’ll re-start.
FREE & CLEAR
In just two months 252 folks gave $88,855 toward Free and Clear. Free and Clear is our project to eliminate our church mortgage. It is our goal to retire one million dollars a year over four years. You can find out more details on our web site. Thank you to all who have given gifts to move us toward financial freedom. Thank you to the 70 folks who have made a commitment to get out of personal debt - YAHOO!
YEAR END NUMBERS
Here are the numbers for 2007. Like I said last week, numbers don’t tell the main story, but they are important in their own right.
• Our average weekend attendance for 2007 (last year) - 2170
• Our average attendance for 2006 (previous to last year) - 2243
• We completed 6 months of our financial year and are $144,719 behind budget.
This is the worst financial situation we’ve experienced in the last decade or so. Part of it is due to some people who left over our May ‘07 controversy. Some of it may be the economy. Some of it may be that the new folks who have replaced those who left haven’t started giving yet. God is never short on money. If you are a consistent and sacrificial giver - thank you. If not, please begin giving. If you are able to do more than you’ve been doing, this is a critical time to help all of us out.
Together to make a difference,
Glen
