Lent 2022
Welcome to the season of Lent! This is the time of year when we begin to anticipate the celebration of the glorious good news of Christ’s resurrection at Easter. Yet before we celebrate the empty tomb, the forty days of Lent leading up to Easter invite us to slow down and draw near to God in solemn recognition of our humanity and desperate need for Him. It is a season marked by confession and repentance, of fasting and prayer. It's meant to be a “holy disruption” of our often busy, distracted lives and an invitation to draw close to the One who loves us and has redeemed us from sin and death. This year at Community Church, we will again be embracing this invitation of Lent in several ways:
LENTEN FASTING: Each year, we encourage everyone at Community Church to consider fasting from something during Lent -- to lay down something good in order to take up something even better. It could be giving up coffee or going out to restaurants for the season, in order to free up those funds to be used for something else. It could be disengaging from social media, or cancelling cable or Netflix, in order to use that time differently. Whatever it is, the goal is not just to stop doing something; the goal is to redirect our time and attention and resources from these things and instead use them to create space for the Lord in fresh ways. It's your chance to read your Bible more. It's a chance to explore different ways of praying. It's a chance to spend time with others who love Jesus, exploring faith and praying for one another. It's a chance to give your time in service to others. It's a chance to sit and worship with your voice, your own instruments, or worship songs playing in the background. This is what we mean by laying good down to take up something even better: time with the Lord. We encourage you to make a commitment like this during Lent this year -- and let us know! We're always encouraged to hear what's going on!
LENTEN GIVING: Often times when we fast, it ends up freeing up money that we would have otherwise spent elsewhere. Each year, we highlight a different one of the church's outreach partners during Lent and encourage you to give this displaced money to bless them. If you're giving up coffee, figure out how much money you won't be spending on coffee, and offer that to the Lord and His service through these partners. If you've cancelled cable for Lent, take those funds and give them on Sunday morning. At the end of Lent, the church will take all of this Lenten giving and send it to the designated outreach partners. Stay tuned for more about which partners we will be highlighting this year!
Just select Lenten Giving
from the "Give To" drop-down menu
in the giving portal.
WORSHIP RHYTHMS:
This year, we also will once again be intentionally incorporating traditional Lenten visual elements, prayers, and readings into our sanctuary space and worship gathering, to help guide our time of worship, as we focus on the beauty of Christ and the power of His sacrifice on the cross. We look forward to seeing you on Sundays (or having you join us online) as we enter into this season of reflection and preparation!