` 120 WEST MAIN STREET, NEW HOLLAND, PA 17557 Church Phone: 717-354-0226 Website: http://nhumc.us/ Pastor: Ray Voran Pastor Email: revoran@gmail.com
MARCH 2015 THE SEASON OF LENT We find ourselves in the middle of the season of Lent. As you probably know, Lent is the time of year leading up to Easter -- 40 days (not counting Sundays) that commemorate the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness. Christians often make a special commitment to remember Christ’s love and suffering during this season, often given up something they enjoy as a reminder of His sacrifice for us. I think this is a wonderful tradition. Giving up chocolate or ice-cream or television and then thinking of Jesus each time we are tempted is a great way to stay connected to Him, but I have a specific suggestion this year. As Roy Schroll wrote about in his e-book (The Love Chapters) I Corinthians 13 tells us how we should treat one another…..with patience, kindness, unselfishness, mercy and forgiveness etc. Following these behaviors will help all of us build a church that is more unified and caring, more joyful and worshipful, quite simply, more loving. In the sermon series throughout this season, we are looking at a group of attitudes and behaviors that God will like us to lose at this time and throughout the year -- hatred, distraction, fear, pride and self-centeredness. So, I suggest that each of us identifies one of these things or possibly another habit that hinders this unity. Find one thing that we tend to do that does not demonstrate Godly love, and then make every prayerful effort to give that up during this season of Lent. Of course, you can also give up something more concrete like chocolate or broccoli to serve as a reminder. Each time you feel like doing what you have decided to “give-up” remember that you are not indulging because you recognize Jesus’ sacrifice and desire to become more of what He wants us to be! Hopefully, at the end of 40 days, we will find that it is possible to make the behavior that demonstrates love and fosters unity a permanent condition. This will help God’s light shine more brightly through us!