Lenten Devotions
Lent 2018
Dear Friends,
Every year on the First Sunday in Lent, we hear the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. The first three gospels tell us that immediately after Jesus was baptized and heard the words “You are my Beloved; with you I am well pleased,” he was led into the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan. I believe that in the wilderness, Jesus wrestled with his identity as the beloved Son of God. In the wilderness, where there was nothing and no one else on whom to depend, Jesus had to fully rely on his identity as the Beloved Son of God.
Lent is such a wilderness for us. During Lent, we wrestle with what it means that our primary identity is as beloved children of God. We learn to deepen our dependence on God for our security rather than people or things. We give up habits or make new habits to help us put our trust in God.
Unlike Jesus, however, we do not enter the wilderness of Lent alone. With this Lenten Devotion book, written by members and friends of Christ Church, we journey together through the Lenten wilderness. These reflections and meditations come from the hearts and minds of a community of faith that prays, practices, and plays together. Weekly we gather for worship, study, and fellowship as we work to deepen our understanding of our identity as God’s beloved children. With this book, we are able to gather daily as well.
Thank you to Heather Swift for her tireless efforts to produce this book, to Kathy Garber for her administrative assistance, and to all of you who offered your faithful reflections to guide us this Lent.
A blessed Lent to each of you,
Charlotte +
Dear Friends,
Every year on the First Sunday in Lent, we hear the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. The first three gospels tell us that immediately after Jesus was baptized and heard the words “You are my Beloved; with you I am well pleased,” he was led into the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan. I believe that in the wilderness, Jesus wrestled with his identity as the beloved Son of God. In the wilderness, where there was nothing and no one else on whom to depend, Jesus had to fully rely on his identity as the Beloved Son of God.
Lent is such a wilderness for us. During Lent, we wrestle with what it means that our primary identity is as beloved children of God. We learn to deepen our dependence on God for our security rather than people or things. We give up habits or make new habits to help us put our trust in God.
Unlike Jesus, however, we do not enter the wilderness of Lent alone. With this Lenten Devotion book, written by members and friends of Christ Church, we journey together through the Lenten wilderness. These reflections and meditations come from the hearts and minds of a community of faith that prays, practices, and plays together. Weekly we gather for worship, study, and fellowship as we work to deepen our understanding of our identity as God’s beloved children. With this book, we are able to gather daily as well.
Thank you to Heather Swift for her tireless efforts to produce this book, to Kathy Garber for her administrative assistance, and to all of you who offered your faithful reflections to guide us this Lent.
A blessed Lent to each of you,
Charlotte +
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