A Note From The Pastor:
The Scripture says, The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
Repentance is at the heart of the Christian Confession. To repent simply means to “turn back” or to “change course.” As sinners, our lives are filled with all sorts of wrongful thoughts, actions, and habits. For each of us, honest reflection of our lives and of God’s Word will reveal such wrong doings. As sinners, we’re all called to turn from our wicked ways and to live a life of faith and good deeds in Christ. This is the explicitly stated intention given to us this Word in 2 Peter: that all should reach repentance.
And so, we come to the season of Lent which traditionally has been a time marked out by the Church devoted to sincere reflection and repentance. To be clear: our lives should be marked by repentance all year long! But there is something beautiful about the Lenten season that can move us to sincere focus on personal repentance.
To be sure, the culture has twisted the best intent of the season through things like Fat Tuesday, Papal food restrictions, and the like. But for our purposes, let us simply consider God’s desire that all should reach repentance. For us, at Ebenezer, let’s hear the call of God’s Word to take repentance and faith seriously.
In the weeks to come, I would like to encourage all of us, myself included, to take seriously God’s Word which calls us to turn from our wicked ways. Make no mistake about it: God hates sin. Upon honest reflection, what might the Spirit be calling you to turn from?
I want to invite everyone to come out to our Wednesday evening Lenten services beginning on Wednesday, February 18th at 7:00 p.m. We all have sickness of heart that needs to be dealt with by God’s Holy Word. And so, we’ll consider the Great Physician, the only Savior of the World, Jesus Christ. Our Lenten series will consider how Jesus deals with us sinners as the Prophet who speaks God’s intent, the Priest who intercedes on our behalf, and the King who executes righteousness and justice. Truly, Jesus is the great Prophet, Priest, and King who calls us to turn from our wicked ways and to receive Him through faith and repentance. As we see the ugliness within ourselves; we too, can look forward to the reminder of Good Friday that Jesus has dealt with every wrongdoing on His cross! And this Prophet, Priest and King is also the Savior of the World!
In Christ, Pastor Alex
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