Archive for the ‘God’ Category:
My Lenten Challenge
Every year during the season of Lent, I like to try to do something to better myself or help me prepare for the culmination of the season, which is Easter Sunday. This time, I didn’t have to search for that something, but was given a challenge for Lent instead. My church pastor has developed a Lenten sermon series for each Sunday leading up to Easter this year. The series discusses the “I Am” sayings of Jesus and how we can apply and live these teachings in our own lives. For my Lenten devotion, I decided to create seven art pieces to visualize each week’s “I Am” saying. Each piece is done using charcoal pencil on 9 by 12 inch paper and depicts how I think each saying can be seen. I plan on combining all the pieces together at the end of Lent for a final series piece. Below you can see the first two of the series. Under each, I’ve listed the corresponding scripture if you’d like to dig deeper. Stay tuned for the rest of the series….and let me know what you think :)
The Bread of Life
John 6: 35-51
The Light of the World
John 8: 12-20
It is finished.
Holy Week, which marks the end of the Lenten season, has always been a favorite time of mine during the church year. I am one who very much enjoys the dramatic, and Holy Week never disappoints. This year was no exception.
Tonight I attended the Good Friday Tenebrae service at The First United Methodist Church of West Newton. It was awesome. In past years, I have attended a combination service which included elements of both Holy Thursday and Good Friday. This year I was able to experience these two dynamic services separately. Tonight’s Good Friday service was especially powerful. The quiet hymns, solemn readings, vivid symbols, and immersive darkness of the tenebrae service provided for me a time to reflect, remember, and re-experience the Passion of Christ. I felt very moved by the recounting of the ancient story tonight. If you believe in this story, as I do, and have never experienced such a service, I encourage you to make a note to experience such a service next year. Or for something even more awesome, just wait and see what happens on Sunday.