Lenten Invitation: Ash Wednesday

humility

Lenten Invitation

Ash Wednesday ushers in the Lenten season. On this poignant day of corporate worship and quiet reflection, we muse upon our human mortality (from ashes to ashes, from dust to dust) amidst our spiritual reality (loved, cherished, forgiven and bought with a price). Our life on earth is short-lived amidst the backdrop of eternity. For that we are profoundly grateful.

It’s appropriate that we lean into Lent with a slightly tilted posture. We need God. We trust God. We depend upon God. Therefore, we bow down in reverence and gratitude and prayer.

For the next 40 days (plus Sundays) we will traverse the landscape once more. The roads Jesus walked. The messages he conveyed. The lives he transformed. The events he experienced. The lessons he embodied. The suffering he endured.

We join Jesus and his disciples as we watch. And wait. And wonder. And worship.

And all the while our world spins, faster and faster, until the centrifugal force propels us outside the quiet of our souls.

Unless we slow down. Stay grounded. Shut out the noise. Embrace the invitation. Notice more. Listen more. Be more.

Let Lent in this year. Don’t miss it. So much richness. For the sake of your soul.

 

PS There’s still time to order a copy of Outstretched Arms of Grace, a 40 day Lenten journey, and the LTI Online retreat guide for Lent, also available in our spiritualformationstore.com

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Steve Macchia

Founder & President

Steve is a graduate of Northwestern College (IA) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.Div. and D.Min.). His prior ministry includes serving on the pastoral staff at Grace Chapel (Lexington, MA) and as president of Vision New England. Since July 1, 2003 Steve has served as founder and president of Leadership Transformations, director of the Pierce Center for Disciple-Building, and adjunct faculty in the Doctor of Ministry department at Gordon-Conwell. He is the author of sixteen books, including The Discerning Life (Zondervan Reflective),  Baker bestseller Becoming a Healthy Church, and Crafting a Rule of Life (IVP). He lives in the Boston area with his wife Ruth and is the proud father of two grown children, Rebekah and Nathan, daughter in-love Ashley, and papa to his beloved granddaughter, Brenna Lynn and twin grandsons, Aiden Joseph and Carson Stephen. “My soul comes alive singing the great hymns of the church and enjoying the beauty of God’s creation. I’m in awe of God for fulfilling the dream for LTI that he birthed in my heart, for the team he has assembled, and the transformational impact experienced in the leaders and teams we serve.

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