Every Sunday • In-person and Online • 8am, 9am, and 10:30am

February 22-April 16 • 2023

On the outside, most of us seem to have it all together—at least most of the time.  We try to keep busy, to keep showing up, to keep up appearances, and to Keep on Truckin’, as that old, familiar bumper sticker used to say.  

But on the inside, most of us are trying just to hold it all together.  We stumble, fumble, and tumble through life—through triumph and tragedy, through ups and downs, through long days and dark nights—often trying desperately to protect the image we want to project in this world.  Until eventually, what may look like beauty on the outside starts to feel more like ashes on the inside. 

We each carry within us the shame and secrets, the betrayals and bondage, the fears and self-doubt, that come to every human life.  Over time, we learn we can no longer hold these inside for the sake of holding it all together.  We long for the beauty that once dwelled in us.

The season of Lent is a time of cleansing and purging the lifeless ashes we carry.  By letting them out and letting them go, we make room for the grace and freedom and beauty that only God can give us.

Join us for this heartfelt series about God’s eternal promise to bestow on each us “a crown of beauty instead of ashes.”

February 22 • Ash Wednesday • Our Guilt • Psalm 51:1-4, 10-12

February 29 • Lent: Week 1 • Our Shame • Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7

March 5 • Lent: Week 2 • Our Certainty • John 3:1-17

March 12 • Lent: Week 3 • Our Self-Doubt • Exodus 17:1-7

March 19 • Lent: Week 4 • Our Blindness • John 9:1-12, 25b

March 26 • Lent: Week 5 • Our Tombs • John 11:1-7, 11-14, 20-23, 32-35, 38-44

April 2 • Palm Sunday • Our Betrayals • Matthew 24:14-16, 19-23, 25-28, 31a, 33-34, 47-50

April 9 • Easter Sunday • Newness of Life • John 20:1-18

April 16 • Preacher: Dr. Thomas Jay Oord