Ministers message: Church gazette March 2019
Dear Friends,
As March
arrives, we enter into the period of the Christian year we call lent, beginning
to journey with Jesus and his followers towards Jesus’ coming death and
resurrection.
Through its
history, lent has had a rich and varied array of meaning to individuals and to
the church, including being a time of self-examination, strengthening of faith
and deepening of discipleship.
Today, we
often talk about giving something up for lent, but in recent years, I have found
it much more rewarding to use lent as a time to take something up. So for 2019,
I want to encourage you to think about how you might take something up during
lent.
Perhaps you’d
like to commit to reading scripture and spending time in prayer each day. One
way you can do this is through our ‘journeying with Luke in lent’ booklet. With
our friends at Felpham Methodist Church, I’ve been putting together a booklet
which will encourage us in our daily reading of scripture and prayer, using
passages from Luke’s gospel as we journey with Jesus and his followers through
lent to Jesus’ triumphal entry, the cross and empty tomb. These will also be
available at BRMC if you’re interested.
Another way
would be to join a study group. There are a number of lent study groups that
Churches Together in Bognor Regis and District are co-ordinating (there’s info
about them at the back of church). These can be great opportunities for meeting
with and learning from Christians from other churches.
Through lent
we are also running ‘Rooting Faith’ a course which Rev Tony and I will be
running, exploring key aspects of faith and Methodism, and also explore what it
means to be a ‘member’ of the Methodist Church. Whether you’ve been a Methodist
all your life, or only recently, do come along and discover more with us. If
you’re interested in exploring membership, this is just right for you, do come
along on Tuesday afternoons, and/or have a conversation with me. If you’re interested,
but daytime isn’t good for you, please let me know, as we may run the course
again in evenings if there is demand.
There’s lots
more ways you can engage with lent this year. As ever, do feel free to get in
touch if you’d like some help in thinking about how you can deepen your
discipleship and strengthen your faith.
In Christ, Rev Dan