University Church http://university-church.org A Church Family in Conway, Arkansas Sat, 25 Feb 2012 15:43:23 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Ash Wednesday http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ucc-conway/wGMv/~3/StaS-XmOXIE/ http://university-church.org/blog/ash-wednesday/#comments Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:31:50 +0000 larmon http://university-church.org/?p=339
I remember the first time I experienced Ash Wednesday. It’s not that hard since it was only 7 years ago. I grew up not doing Ash Wednesday. The only reason I could give you is because the Catholics did Ash Wednesday. I didn’t know anything about it, nor even try to understand it. But as I reached Highland and saw how the youth ministry here participated in an actual Ash Wednesday service I began quickly to see the benefits.

Preparation: Ash Wednesday is a day where we begin to prepare for the crux of our faith, Easter. Easter came and went for me as a kid with only the knowledge that we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus every Sunday and the Easter Bunny gave good candy (and $5 if you found the golden egg). But as I sat through my first Ash Wednesday service I quickly realized I could have 40 days to prepare for what should be the largest celebratory Sunday we have each year.

Sacrifice: I had heard of lent and all I really knew growing up was that my catholic friends couldn’t eat meat or something. I understand now, as a protestant Christian, that the 40 days of lent are a time of sacrifice. It is a time where we give up something we cherish throughout the year, so that distractions are minimized between us and God. Usually this means fasting from Dr. Pepper, but since I gave that up for good, it will need to change this year. The sacrifice allows us the tiniest taste of the life-giving sacrifice from Jesus.

The Slow-Down Effect: This isn’t something we truly practice in our fast-paced society. However, when we are practicing sacrifice and preparation we must slow down our pace. In my first Ash Wednesday service I was wanting a celebration of song and what I got was lament, contemplation, and time to listen to God.

These are just three benefits I find in observing Ash Wednesday and the Lenten season. I’m not sure what I might sacrifice this year, but I know that I am looking forward to preparing for Easter, sacrifice/fasting, and taking time to listen to God.

Do you celebrate Ash Wednesday?

Share how and benefits you find from the Lenten season.

]]> http://university-church.org/blog/ash-wednesday/feed/ 0 http://university-church.org/blog/ash-wednesday/ Dear Church http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ucc-conway/wGMv/~3/-1WBaSIpbdM/ http://university-church.org/blog/dear-ucc/#comments Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:57:54 +0000 larmon http://university-church.org/?p=336 Thank you so much for all of the hospitality and love you have shown our family. We are excited to be coming to Conway and partner in ministry with you. It seems as soon as the announcement was made time has begun to stand still. April 1st just can’t seem to come soon enough. We appreciate your prayers through this time of transition for our family and for University church, our church.

I want to use this space to blog about happenings at UCC and share dreams of what we can do as a church for one another, the community, and the world. I hope to share something here once a week. It is my prayer that this blog becomes a place where we can interact with ideas and stay informed with what we are doing in ministry. I also hope that it can be a place where I can encourage us in our journey together.

If there is something you want to hear more about then this may be the space to share and dialogue about ministry, community, theology, and life.

Join the conversation here at my blog.
-Michael

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