Read this Scripture: Joel 2: 1-2, 12-17
Key Verse: Verse 14:” And round up everyone in the country; Get them into God’s Sanctuary for a SERIOUS prayer to God.”
The Message Devotional: Let’s Get Serious
Today is Ash Wednesday, beginning a 40 day period in the Christian church called Lent. It is a time of searching, a time of prayer, a time of looking at your life in relation to God’s miracle of resurrection, Easter Day.
In Church of the Reconciler we will gather for a time of prayer and “putting on of the ashes". Kevin, our pastor, will remind us of our commitment to live a life of service and prayer and place on our foreheads the sign of the cross from ashes.
My first experience of receiving the Ash Wednesday ashes was in Joppa. We were there in the St. Peter Roman Catholic Church on a trip to the Holy Land. Our entire group was worshipping in the huge cathedral and everyone lined up down the central isle heading for the alter toward the priest leading the service. I had not grown up with this ritual, but was moved by the beauty of the service. I got in line with everyone else to receive the ashes. I was not denied. From then on I have always included this SERIOUS part of worship to my 40 days of Lenten worship. As Joel reminds us in verse 14 of Chapter 2, we need to “round up everyone and come together for a SERIOUS time of prayer to God.”
Prayer: O God, help us to celebrate Lent this year in a SERIOUS manner of prayer.
Guide us in these 40 days as we contemplate the life of Jesus Christ, his teachings, and his resurrection.
Thought for the Day: As Christian people, help us to gather for a SERIOUS Lenten prayer.
Nancy DeVore Higgs
Beginning today, we will have a devotional each day for Lent from Reconciler people.
Todays's is by Nancy DeVore Higgs, one of the founding members of Church of the Reconciler; a Sunday School teacher and member of the Board of Stewards, wife of founding pastor and mother of current pastor.
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