SEEK, KNOCK: Finding God in Our Decisions

by Pastor Karen Wight Hoogheem

Decisions are central to our lives as human beings. Throughout a lifetime and in each day, human beings make many, many decisions. We decide how to spend our time, resources, and energy. We decide what relationships to tend, when to ask for help, and what clothes to put on each morning.

To support the important role that decisions have in our lives of faith, the theme for Lenten midweek worship services is “Ask, Seek, Knock: Finding God in our Decisions.”

A traditional, spiritual term for decision-making is discernment. In the Christian tradition, discernment is the practice of seeking God’s call amid the decisions that mark one’s life. The season of Lent gives us an opportunity to consider simple prayer practices that support making decisions from the place of a loving and faithful relationship with God. Rather than going through life mindlessly, as though we’re on a default setting, God invites us to slow down, listen, and ask for guidance in the important decisions of life. Elizabeth Liebert’s book, The Way of Discernment: Spiritual Practices for Decision Making, will be used as a resource.

You will have a chance to listen to God’s voice during each midweek service as you focus your attention on an important decision in your life. The prayer practices will be a guide as you listen for God’s presence in the decision-making, or discernment, process.

Here are some examples of discernment questions:

Do I want to retire within the next five years?

Do I want to go to college after I graduate from high school?

Is it time to move to a new home?

Do I want to remain in this relationship?

Do I want to seek help for ___________?

Do I want to get more education?

Do I want to let go of _________ to do more of ___________?

Do I want to volunteer for that cause?

Jesus shows us how to live a life of discernment. Luke 6 tells us, “Now during those days he [Jesus] went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.”

Jesus slowed down the pace of his life to step away, to pray, and to ask for God’s guidance to help Jesus decide which people to invite to be his disciples. Throughout the gospels, Jesus carefully tended to the important decisions of his life. His thoughtful discernment shaped him as the person God created him to be.

During Lenten worship, Lord of Life will follow Jesus’ lead. In “Ask, Seek, Knock: Finding God in Our Decisions,” we will slow down. Step away from the noise. Pray. And seek God’s invitation to the next steps in our lives of faith. Together, Lord of Life will practice discernment. The decisions in our lives can become a spiritual practice and the very place where God meets us with an everlasting promise of life and love.

You are invited to Lenten worship services every Wednesday in March at 7 pm in the sanctuary. Soup supper in Fellowship Hall precedes worship.

Breathing In and Breathing Out

by Karen Naus

Lent in childhood was giving up candy and eating it at school. Not playing video games, except next door It was about McDonald’s Filet-o-Fish on Friday nights.

Today for me, Lent is learned from my maker’s breath.

I think of Christ asleep in the storm, restorative. The breathing in. The commanding of wind, rain, and waves to cease; the breathing out.

The waiting, the walking, and the tension in what the apostles thought was a delayed response. The breathing in. His arrival followed by the raising of Lazarus from the dead; the breathing out.

The greatest example the complete surrender before God and man. The carrying of the cross—being nailed to it—the filling of his own lungs—all in preparation. This was the greatest ask of his Father for us; the last breath in.

Then the freedom, our freedom. The power of the earth displayed, the tearing of the veil, crying of the rocks, and lifting of the graves. His victory over our sin so death has lost its sting. The action—the breathing out!

Let us rest in reflection of all Lenten lessons and recall even in the silence that we are free indeed.

Turn Reflection into Action

by Carol Estocko

Lent is a time that’s meant for reflection, prayer, worship and, for some, giving up something they enjoy (for example, chocolate). But, although these things are meaningful for many, Lent can also be a time for action. We can certainly attend mid-week services, read daily devotionals and work to prepare for a joyous Easter celebration. But perhaps we could also consider stepping up our game in other areas: in our church, in our communities, in our family units. Could Lent 2023 serve as a springboard for increased engagement? Could this holy season spur us to interact with people we may not have thought about reaching out to with a kind word or an offer of help? Jesus didn’t limit his actions to only those in his comfort zone, that’s for sure. He was a living sacrifice, ultimately displaying the highest degree of selflessness and love on that first Good Friday. Could we, in a way that’s achievable and meaningful for us, show that type of empathy to others now?

Holy Week

by Marge Lundeen

Holy Week is a well-worn path through my life. Palm Sunday brings to mind my Roman Catholic grandma who had a palm branch tucked behind her picture of Jesus with his wounded heart. Like Ash Wednesday a few weeks earlier, Maundy Thursday with flickering candles in the sanctuary and a ride back home in the dark, was solemn and sacred. As a teenager I sang in the ecumenical choir at a three-hour Good Friday service in the junior high auditorium. Stores were closed from noon until 3pm, and the auditorium was full. People from several churches joined in singing The Old Rugged Cross and Were You There? Often it seemed that the sky turned dark and gray around 3pm. Unlike all the other weeks in the year, I wasn’t allowed to go to a movie on Good Friday night. Finally getting to wear my new Easter Sunday outfit, I helped at the church breakfast after the sunrise service. Then I put on my choir robe to sing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus with the entire congregation standing. Every year the days leading to Easter evoke memories and gratitude for all the times I’ve taken the Holy Week journey and joined others to say, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!”

Lenten Experience

by Sue Malenick

Years ago, when my sons were in grade school, I asked them if they’d be interested in attending a Good Friday service at our parish.

Thank you to Karen, Carol, Marge, and Sue. These four women are participants, along with others, in Lord of Life’s Spiritual Writing group. This group explores writing as a spiritual practice. Participants are free to explore spirituality in various forms without specific assignments or writing during the group sessions. The group offers ideas and inspiration. Writers with or without previous experience meet once a month to share their work in an appreciative, non-critical setting.

No preparation or writing is needed before gathering on the first Saturday of the month from 10-11:30am. There is no cost, yet please register at lordoflife.org/spiritual writing.

Oh my, the experience was powerful. We walked into our church and the altar was bare. No music accompanied the service. There was minimal lighting. The prayers and readings focused on Jesus’ last words, his last breath. A huge, bare wooden cross was brought silently down the aisle and placed on the altar. No closing song occurred. Service ended with the congregation praying in silence, as the lights dimmed even more, and we filed out one-by-one. My sons spoke of this service afterwards; they told me it made them appreciate the beauty & joy of Easter Sunday even more. And it helped them understand what the apostles went through.

MARCH 4/5

Chapter 22

The Birth of the King

MARCH 25/26

Chapter 25 Jesus, the Son of God

MARCH 11/12

Chapter 23

Jesus’ Ministry Begins

MARCH 18/19

Chapter 24 No Ordinary Man

APRIL 1/2

Chapter 26 The Hour of Darkness

APRIL 8/9

Chapter 27 The Resurrection

APRIL 15/16

Chapter 28 New Beginnings

APRIL 29/30

Chapter 30

Paul’s Final Days

MAY 6/7

Chapter 31 The End of Time

APRIL 22/23

Chapter 29

Paul’s Mission