A Message fom the Senior Pastor

Dear Community of St. John’s,

“How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty…even the sparrow has found a home…blessed are those whose strength is in you…better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.” Psalm 84

Now, I want you to read all of Psalm 84 out loud (check out the right sidebar). Now. I am serious. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

It is important to hear those words out loud. They are words of comfort, words of strength, words of hope and words of home. Our Lenten theme for 2010 is “House to Home, Forty Days of Lent.” There is a little prodigal son and daughter in all of us and God is the one always, ALWAYS welcoming us home. Even the lowly sparrow has found a home in the presence of the Lord Almighty.

As for the past two years, I am asking you this Lent to remember 2-2-1. Two-Two-One. For our Lenten journey 2010 there are TWO daily disciplines, TWO weekly disciplines and ONE seasonal discipline.

TWO Daily Disciplines: Prayer and Bible Reading
Certainly we are to pray every day. For our own health and spiritual well-being we need to be in constant communication with God. But, for Lent 2010 I would encourage and challenge you to be deliberate about your daily prayers. For those who live with others, I would encourage you to pray together. The second daily activity is Bible reading. In this booklet we have divided up the 24 chapters of Luke into 47 daily readings.

TWO Weekly Disciplines: Worship and Study
Every week there are seven worship opportunities, on Sunday four English language worship services (8, 9, 11:30 am and 5 pm) and one in Spanish (10:15 am), as well as one on Wednesday at 12:15 pm and NEW for Lent 2010 is a THURSDAY evening worship. Actually, Thursday will be a time of fellowship (a light soup supper at 6 pm), discipleship (Bible study at 6:30) and worship at 7 pm. At some time during the week I encourage you to spend time in community worship and time in Bible study, either with a group, on Thursday night, or in personal study. A 5-week study is included at the back of this booklet and a guide on how to host a Bible Study.

ONE Seasonal Discipline: Service
On page 8 you can read all about the service opportunities here at St. John’s as well as with some of our ministry partners.

I am confident that God will richly bless us on this Lenten journey from house to home. I am confident that God will accept our offerings of prayer and study and worship and service. I am confident that through these disciplines the words of the Psalmist will be embodied in our lives and we too will sing, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty…Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.”

In Lenten Joy,
Pastor Scot Sorensen