Pastor Chris' Letter February 2016



Dear Trinity Family,

 It seems odd that my letter this month is about Lent, but this year Lent begins on February 10. Lent is a time in the Christian year where we take time to reflect and focus on our relationship with Jesus Christ. Lent is a period of forty days that runs from Ash Wednesday and ends before Easter. Now some of you have begun to count and notice that this is more than forty days, but Sundays do not count as every week we celebrate the love of God in Christ as a “mini-Easter.” This forty day period is designed to mirror the time that Jesus spent in the desert as he prepared for his public ministry.

 This year we will have many ways for us to participate in Lenten reflection as we think about our relationship with God in Jesus Christ as we think about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Some of these experiences will be new and different for Trinity Church, but I invite you to try all of these different worship experiences as we take time to reflect on God’s love for us. The first opportunity is the Ash Wednesday service on February 10 at 6:30 pm. This service helps us to reflect on our own mortality, the link to ashes, and the grace that God has given despite our personal shortcomings. Another opportunity will be the celebration of Palm Sunday, March 20, as we kickoff a reflection of the last week of Jesus’ life. This celebration will continue with a Community Meal, sometimes called a Maundy Thursday service, on Thursday, March 24, at 6 pm with prayer stations opening up after the short meal and service. These prayer stations will remain open all day on Good Friday and continue after our Good Friday service, which will be Friday, March 25, at 6:30 pm. These services will use several different elements from music to drama so as to help us get in touch with Christ’s sacrifice for us. Then we will celebrate the risen Christ at our normal services on March 27. I hope everyone takes advantage of these marvelous opportunities to grow deeper in our relationship with God in Jesus Christ.

 I also wanted to let you know that because of your amazing response to our paper poinsettia campaign, we are going to have a paper lily campaign. Instead of supporting an outside ministry like the refugees, this special offering will help support our young people. All the money that is raised through the paper lilies will go to help our young people have life-changing opportunities in their lives. This money will be divided equally between scholarships for our children to go to church camp and our youth to attend Momentum. These two events can provide life-changing moments for our young people to grow deeper in their relationship with Jesus Christ. Keep an eye out for more information about how we can support our young people on their journey of faith as they are the future of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.



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