March-ing On

Tomorrow is March 4. It’s the most progressive day of the year. Get it? March forth. I can feel the days getting longer, though, and the weather warming slightly. We’ll have Spring flowers before you know it.

Speaking of signs of Spring, pie-baking will be a week from Thursday. If you have ingredients for the pies, they should be here by next Sunday, please. The Illinois Mennonite Relief Sale will be held Saturday the 15th. On Friday, the 14th, there will be a trivia night and some of the food vendors will be open. You can find more information at this website: https://www.ilreliefsale.org/

This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday which marks the beginning of the season of Lent. Mennonites don’t traditionally observe this season, but I personally find it helpful to prepare myself for Holy Week culminating in Easter Sunday. The purpose is simply to make us more aware of the importance of Christ’s sacrifice for us. It helps turn our minds to focus more on Jesus. Instead of focusing only on “giving something up,” I also like to try to add something during Lent—to choose to focus more on some spiritual practice.

Next Sunday during our worship service, we will be looking at Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. We will see that Jesus says about himself that he is “the resurrection and the life,” (John 11:25). What does it mean to us that Jesus is the resurrection and he displays the truth of this by raising Lazarus from the dead?

Remember that the Pancake and Sausage breakfast to raise money for God’s Little Acre Preschool will be held this Saturday, March 8th, from 8-10am. It’s a great chance to come out and support the preschool. Let your friends and neighbors know as well.

While you’re inviting, invite someone to come along with you to the worship service next Sunday! Hope to see you there.

God bless,   Brian

Scripture readings for next Sunday

John 11:38-57—How would you describe the significance of Jesus raising Lazarus?

Psalm 49—What does this psalm teach us about death and resurrection?

1 Corinthians 15:42-58—What does the truth of the resurrection mean to us?

Romans 8:9-13—What does this say about how the truth of the resurrection affects us?