Lent is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar of many Christian denominations that begins on Ash Wednesday (February 10th this year) and covers a period of approximately six weeks before Easter Sunday. There are traditionally forty days in Lent which are marked by the practices of prayer (justice towards God), fasting (justice towards self), and alms giving (justice towards neighbor). However, in modern times, observers give up an action of theirs considered to be a vice, add something that is considered to be able to bring them closer to God, and often give the time or money spent doing that to charitable purposes or organizations.
At New Hope we wish to spend this time individually and collectively reflecting on ways that God has prepared our hearts for this coming Easter and everyday. To help facilitate this time of renewal and reflection we are offering some action steps to begin this journey towards the cross:
1. You can find some great Lent devotionals online at BibleGateway.com. Or if you have a smart phone you can start a Lent devotional on your YouVersion bible app.
2. To have a more interactive experience we are inviting you to reflect on a verse or passage that has really spoke to you and share that verse and a brief explanation of its importance to you. You can leave give us feedback in one of three ways.
A) Leave a comment in the space below on this blog.
B) Post a comment on the church's FaceBook page.
C) You can email your reflection to pastorjason@nhcc4all.com.
In all three situations, please include the phrase "#nhcclent2016" in the body of the text or the subject of the email. This will help us track and repost exciting reflections from our members!
