Let's Race! (Then, Let's Walk)

February 17, 2015

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

Once again, it is Shrove Tuesday, on the cusp of another Lenten season. This evening, we will join with festivities around the world with our own version of Mardi Gras: a Pancake Race from City Hall to the front steps of the church, with a worship service and pancake supper to follow. We are anticipating local television news coverage from ABC affiliate KCAU ABC9, so you might check tonight’s news broadcast for coverage of the event. You can read more about the return of the race in last week’s Mid-Week Message, and it’s still not too late to register to race by visiting www.pancakerace.com. 

Then, starting tomorrow, we will embark on the sacred 40-day journey that leads us from the ashes of repentance to the glory of the resurrection. To guide us along that journey, I would once again encourage you to sign up for a project I have been a part of called #pictureLent.  It is a series of daily devotions written by me and clergy colleagues that will focus your attention on seven key words:

• Return: To remind us of the temporal nature of human existence, and to return to Christ, who is the source of all life.

• Reveal: To be open to the many ways God is revealed to us in every day moments.

• Reflect: To internalize the words and work of God in our lives through meditation, prayer, and study, and then to reflect God’s love to others.

• Reject: To confess the ways we have rejected Christ, and to renew our commitments to acts of mercy, piety, and justice.

• Remember: To recall the stories of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, and to live into the example of Christ through daily living. 

• Replace: To give thanks for the sacrifice of Christ, who took our place on the cross and saved us from our sins.

• Resurrection: To rejoice in the new life and power God gives to us through the resurrection.

Each of these weekly key words will be interpreted by a daily devotional written by a United Methodist clergy person, and we have expanded the number of writers this season to give you a wider, fuller diversity of authors.  As during #pictureAdvent, you can share a picture of how you interpret these key words via social media, constructing an expansive virtual gallery of fellow sojourners on the journey.

In addition to family activities for parents and children, there are also new resources for churches that you can share with family and friends in other congregations: sermon ideas for preachers, youth group activities, bulletin inserts, and much more.

To sign up, simply visit www.lecfamily.org/lent and register your email address.  The journey begins tomorrow with Ash Wednesday, with a devotional written by me.

So tonight, let’s race!  And tomorrow, let’s walk. Let’s take this Lenten journey, one step at a time, and discover all that God has to share with us.

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega

St. Paul's United Methodist Church

531 W. Main St.

Cherokee, IA  51012

Ph:  712-225-3955

Email:  mdevega@sp-umc.org