Introduction
by Pastor Mike
Let me tell you something you already know: you’re deep. I think we all know this.
We are more than our body. More than how much we can bench press or how good we look in a bathing suit. We are more than our brains. We go deeper than our IQ and our GPA.
C.S. Lewis said it this way: “You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body”.
You are deep. The essence of you is so much more than your brains and your body.
In fact, your life is even deeper than your circumstances. We’ve all watched men and women endure difficult circumstances with what can only be described as joy that comes from deep inside. We’ve also seen men and women who seemed to live miserable lives, even though, on the outside, they seemed to “have it all.”
This season, as a church, we’re going to be turning inward, going deeper. As David wrote in Psalm 23:
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters,
He restores my soul.
We are spending some time this Lent season asking God to restore our soul.
Lent is a perfect time of year to do that. On the calendar, Lent is 46 days, but traditionally, it doesn’t include Sundays when we come together to celebrate at church. So Lent is 40 days, from Ash Wednesday (March 5th this year), through Holy Week all the way to Easter Sunday (April 20th).
Quite literally, from Ashes to Beauty. We all have our ashes, those ruined parts of our soul. Deep within us we all feel pain, loss, insecurity, anxiety and shame. We all need restoration. You were made to live a beautiful life out of a beautiful, restored soul. That’s what these 40 days are all about.
To go from Ashes to Beauty... to restore your soul. A restored soul which will live, as Jesus promised, “Freely and Lightly.”
There will be many reasons that could possibly keep you and me from taking this journey from Ashes to Beauty. “I’m too busy.” “I need to focus on ‘real’ things, not ‘spiritual things.’” “I am scared that God is going to try to get me to give up something I really like.” “I’m pretty sure God is disappointed in me, so spending time with Him will just be depressing.” “I need to do things that will actually help me, not waste my time praying.” “I’m ashamed to spend time with God, I’ve just let Him down so often.” “I’m a self-made person. I don’t need help to restore my soul. I’ll do it myself.”
All of these, all of them, can be answered when we fully understand this: God is not a taker. God is a Giver. He made you. He loves you. He has a plan for you that includes a restored soul, for a life lived freely and lightly. He is the Maker of your soul, and only He can restore it. This journey, from ashes to beauty, is one none of us can take without Him.
Ready? I am. Let’s go.
-Pastor Mike
Day 1
by Corinne Mannes
Ash Wednesday, March 5th
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"
(Matthew 7:9-11 NIV)
For some of you, this will be the first time you have participated in any sort of Lent observance; it may even be the first time you’ve heard the word! Observing this time of Lent isn’t something the Bible commands us to do; it is a church tradition, started more than a thousand years ago as a time for Christians to prepare their hearts for Easter. The Lent season is a time to remember and thank God for what He did in sending his son Jesus to earth to die for us, so that we could be reconciled to him. Regardless of whether you’ve been a Christian for a few weeks or a few decades, I am so happy you’ve decided to join us on this journey.
In making the decision to set aside the next 40 days to seek God, there is one guarantee: God WILL show up for you. He doesn’t take out a score card for your behavior over the last few months and decide whether He is going to show up for you–He doesn’t get out his scales and load your good deeds onto one side and see if they outweigh your mistakes. There are a lot of reasons why we avoid or quickly give up on spending time with God everyday; Pastor Mike talked about many of them in his introduction. The challenge is to take our eyes off ourselves and our excuses and instead, look toward God. He always shows up for us when we seek him because He is our good Father. He will show up for you because He is your good Father.
Expect some adversity. We have an enemy, the devil, who is never too tired to rock the cradle of a sleeping Christian. When we answer the call of God to wake up and go deeper with him, the devil’s favourite strategy against us is exposed. CS Lewis in The Screwtape Letters says, “it is funny how mortals always picture [the devil] as putting things into their minds: in reality [his] best work is done by keeping things out.” So, when you open your mind and heart to the voice of God, you will face every temptation to quit, but I will be praying that God will protect and strengthen you to see this thing through to the end.
My hope and prayer is that at the end of these 40 days, we will all know better what it means to live “freely and lightly” (Matthew 11:30) in this broken world. I pray that this journey will form new habits in our lives as we practice giving our burdens to Jesus every day. I pray that at the end of these 40 days, these new-found habits will be things we realize we can’t live without as God’s Spirit fills us, heals us, and changes us. And as He works in our hearts individually, I pray that together as a church family, we will shine the light and hope of Jesus ever brighter in this dark world.
"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord.
(Jeremiah 29:11-14 NLT)
