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This Wednesday is known as Ash Wednesday and begins the season of Lent. Lent is an early church practice of spiritual preparation for Easter. The following is a brief description of Lent:

“Lent is a season of forty days, not counting Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday (Saturday, April 11^th). Lent comes from the Anglo Saxon word lencten, meaning “lengthen” and refers to the lengthening days of spring. The forty days represents the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, enduring the temptation of Satan and preparing to begin his ministry.

Lent is a time of repentance, fasting and preparation for the coming of Easter. It is a time of self-examination and reflection. In the early church, Lent began as a period of fasting and preparation for baptism by new converts and then became a time of penance by all Christians. Today, Christians focus on relationship with God, growing as disciples and extending ourselves, often choosing to give up something or to volunteer and give of ourselves for others.

Sundays in Lent are not counted in the forty days because each Sunday represents a "mini-Easter" and the reverent spirit of Lent is tempered with joyful anticipation of the Resurrection.” (umc.org)

Here are some steps that we invite you to commit to for these forty days:

1. Join us at our Ash Wednesday Service at 7:00 PM in our Pepper Pike sanctuary. This will be our last message in our “From Vision to Values” teaching series. Pastor Lori Stubbs will be preaching on our Core Value of Forgiveness. There will be an opportunity for you to receive ashes or oil; and also to take something or someone that you need to forgive or something that you need forgiveness for, and literally turn it into “ashes” that night.
2. Join with other members & friends of GMUMC for a daily interactive online devotional with our Online Pastor Curt Bissell. Use this link to sign up to our Devotions for Lent from Holy Bible: Mosaic). Ground each day in scripture and share thoughts with other friends online each week.
3. Make a commitment to be in worship EVERY week of Lent and Easter for 7 straight Sundays. If you are traveling, sick or out of town, join us online (you can join us either via garfieldchurchonline.org or Facebook live. You can also always watch or rewatch past messages from our 10:00 Mosaic service in Pepper Pike via our website at garfieldchurch.org/media). Let your friends and networks know that you have made this commitment and invite for them to join you along the way some Sunday, either live or online.
4. Specifically think of one or more friends, family or acquaintances in your “village” who are not part of a regular church family. Write their names down now and begin to pray for them that they might be open to come to worship with you on Easter Sunday. Pray for how you might invite them in a loving and non-threatening way. Then, invite; but please pray first. Prayer opens doors in amazing ways. If you have someone come with you on Easter, please email me their name and address, and I will follow up with a hand written note of welcome.

Four Things for these Forty Days to grow and prepare to experience Easter in a whole new and meaningful way this year!