March 2017

Jottings…

“March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb.” Sounds like something you might read in the Farmer’s Almanac. The basic idea is that weather this time of year can jump around. Still we know we are moving steadily towards spring, when the threat of frost is past and we can focus on our gardens. As I look at the scriptures for Lent, my initial impression is that they too “jump around” a lot. Yet they too move us steadily towards something even more significant than the weather. Soon enough we will be face to face with the truth and the meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection.

I encourage you to take full advantage of this Lenten season to grow in your love for Christ. Some specific things you can do:

• Start using the Upper Room devotional daily if you have not been doing so.

• Attend the Ash Wednesday service and weekly Lenten services at our sister church Oak Grove

• Find a time and a place to donate your time in service to others that stretches you a bit.

•Be present with your Cole family on Sunday mornings for worship.

I greatly admire a 20th century English pastor named G. Campbell Morgan. He once said, “The whole life story of Jesus, on the human side, is the life story of One who lived by faith.” That is especially true of Jesus in the weeks leading up to His crucifixion. He knew the difficulties and controversies and temptations ahead but stayed true to God’s purpose for His life. We have that same privilege as followers of Christ to live by faith in our lives.

- Pastor Brian