Some of you may know the whole story, others might not. This coming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday which begins for us as Christians the observed season of Lent. Not all faith expressions observe Lent, but we do as our heritage goes back to formal liturgical traditional denominations.
Anyways, we observe the time of Christ going into the desert by often sacrificing something of our normal day to ‘prepare’ ourselves or to ‘purify’ ourselves for Holy Week and our ministry beyond then.
We in the youth stuff will be doing a couple of things to move into the desert of our normal to ‘prepare’ and ‘purify’ ourselves a bit more.
Lenten Practices
As a Group
- Hard Core Bible Talks : Wednesday Evening at 6:30 – 7:30 – We will get more indepth into the stories and scriptures of the bible than is our norm. If you are game for some deeper talks, deeper questions, then give this a shot.
- Girls Book Club : Wednesday Evening at 6:30 – 7:30? – This is exclusively for girls who want to digest some books that are of interest to them & discuss amongst peers. Cheryll Young will be helping facilitate the group.
- Eikon Photography : Wednesday Evenings at 6:30 – 7:30 – We are looking to bring back our Photog group. How does your photography impact and reflect your spirituality
- Prayer Txts : I am going to start up sharing some of my daily prayers via txt again. If you are interested in getting some reflection from me sign up here.
On Your Own
- Wesleyan Fast : Each Thursday evening, after the evening meal, until mid-afternoon on each Friday, Methodist people are invited to follow Wesley’s example of fasting and prayer. During this time he did not take solid food but fasted and focused much of his time in prayer. (Water is permissible in the fast)
- the H2O project : Water is a global crisis. You might not know this because it comes so easily for us here in the states. Fast from drinking anything but water & save that money you might otherwise spend on cokes or lattes and give it to a global water project to help those around the world have a safe drinking water.
- Examen : much like we do at Drive Groups, ask yourself each evening “Where did I see God today?” “Where was I reflecting God today?”
- Read the Bible : Don’t just randomly read, but pick a book of the bible, spend your Lent reading each day. There are many daily reading options out there (like Nashville Area Journal) that are longer or shorter readings.
- Pray Regularly : Use your cellphone to set an alarm for morning, midday & evening prayers. No need to say something uber formal, but just take a minute to say a prayer in your day. Its what Jesus did most in the desert.
