Get Ready

First I want to praise God for the youth who led worship yesterday. You did a wonderful job at offering a worship service that did touch many lives. I had many people make positive comments to me. So great job!
I think God was leading our youth to help all of us get ready for Lent which begins with Ash Wednesday this week. Then starting next Sunday we will be focusing during Lent on the last 24 hours of Jesus' life. There is a video introducing this series on our church webpage. During the six Sundays of Lent we will remember the Last Supper, Jesus' prayer in the garden, Jesus' time being tried and tortured, and finally the crucifixion. All of this is to get us ready for a wonderful celebration of Easter.
If we want a joyous Easter we need to get ready by remembering what Jesus went through to get there. Jesus did not just have a nice wonderful life on earth and rise to heaven. He had a life of wonderful ministry, but also difficulty, temptation, and suffering. When we better understand what Jesus went through for us, we become ready to celebrate Easter more fully. My hope is also that we do not just celebrate Easter on that one Sunday a year we call Easter, but that each and every day becomes an "Easter" for us, as we rise each day to praise and serve God.
So I hope you will join me over these next six weeks of Lent and then the grand celebration of Easter. My hope is to reconnect with Jesus' last hours that we might experience God's work in those moments and what God is doing today. Get ready because God has big plans for this Lent.