a2 Observes Lent

a2 Observes Ash Wednesday and Lent
a2observeslent.com

Ash Wednesday is a day set aside by many churches for prayer, repentance and fasting. It is also the first day of Lent, a 40-day period that begins on Ash Wednesday, Mary 9 and culminates on Good Friday, April 22.

The observance of Lent offers us a great opportunity to deepen our commitment to Christ and grow in our relationship with God… During Lent believers step back from the busyness of life, turn off the noise, see through the superficiality, reflect on how we got here and re-focus our attention on Christ and what He accomplished on the cross.

Many writers see the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness (Luke 4) as being a model for what Lent is all about…. During His wilderness experience Jesus prayed, fasted, was tempted, but ultimately emerged with power!

Lent is a time for 1) focused prayer, 2) intentional fasting, 3) personal repentance, 4) and random acts of kindness (Isaiah 58:5-12). And just as Jesus stepped out of His desert experience in the “power of the Holy Spirit” (Luke 4:14), we make ourselves available to be filled with and empowered by the same Holy Spirit. We also prepare ourselves to more fully experience the miracle and power of Jesus’ victorious resurrection on Easter Sunday!

Lent represents a great time for us to:

1) Focus on all that Jesus accomplished on the cross.

Sometimes the busyness and superficiality of our world keeps us from really thinking about all that Jesus accomplished on the cross. That’s why throughout Lent our weekend worship experiences will focus on the cross (At the Cross) and include the opportunity to worship each Sunday by receiving Holy Communion.

2) Pursue God for the freedom, deliverance, healing and wholeness made available at the cross.

Perhaps there are self-defeating, sinful habits that have held you in bondage for years. When Jesus stepped out of the wilderness, He stepped out with an announcement of “freedom for the captives and setting at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18). The next forty days could represent a defining moment for you to believe God for complete healing and total freedom! Your complete freedom really is possible!

3) Finally, Lent represents a great time to seek God for personal direction and guidance.

Sometimes we can’t hear God simply because we don’t get quiet and still enough to listen. Lent is a season to “be still and know that [He} is God” (Psalm 46:10).

We really believe Lent can represent one of the most meaningful church-wide experiences in the short history of a2 Church, and a strategic opportunity for spiritual growth and breakthrough.

Make certain you check out a2’s special Lent devotional blog with daily devotionals (Monday – Friday) from members of the a2 family. It’s our prayer that these devotionals help our church family to focus on Christ and believe God for breakthroughs in every dimension of life.

a2observeslent.com