The Lenten Season

Preparation and Intention
Since the 4th Century, the church has annually set aside a season called “Lent” as a preparation for Easter and a time of focus on personal spiritual transformation. Lent lasts for 40 days, beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending Easter Sunday (Sundays not counted). Two words capture the spirit of Lent: preparation and intention.

Originally, Lent was a time of preparation for those desiring to be baptized - a time of concentrated study and prayer before their baptism at the Easter service.  Since these new church members were to be received into a living community of faith, the entire community was called to similar preparation and spiritual formation. Lent was also a time when those who had been living separated from God would prepare to rejoin the community through repenting and seeking Him again.

Today, Lent is marked by 40 days of prayer and preparation to celebrate Easter. The number 40 is connected with many biblical events, but especially the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness preparing for public ministry. For Jesus, this season was marked by focus on prayer, the Scriptures, and an intense resistance of the temptations he was facing.

In similar fashion, Lent has traditionally been marked by intentional devotional practices. Christians use this period of time for introspection, self examination, and repentance, which leads to more focused times of prayer, Scripture reading, silence, solitude and fasting.

Giving Up and Taking Up
Two Lenten traditions mark this season. The Lenten Fast has emerged as a way for us to intentionally give up certain habits or activities for 40 days. This “fast” is done to encourage discipline, to experience sacrifice, to remove barriers to our connection with God, and to pursue holiness and intimacy with deeper intention and devotion.

Lenten fasts look different for each person. Certain foods. Alcohol. Smoking. Television. Other time consuming media. Swearing. Purchasing habits. The Snooze button. The key to the Lenten fast is to be relational and not legalistic. Give up something that will be meaningful to your faith and your connection with God.

We create space through giving something up so we might also take up certain devotional practices during Lent. Daily times of prayer. Books we’ve been wanting to read. Pursuing new ways to worship. Reading and journaling daily on the Scriptures. Rest. Giving of our time and resources. Days of silence and solitude. Again, the idea is to be intentional about taking up those spiritual practices that will foster our enjoyment and commitment in following Christ.

So what do you want and need in your relationship with God right now? Lent is a season for us to prepare for Easter by living out its message: life redeeming death.

Lent at TNL 2010

Fat Tuesday at Acoma On Tuesday February 16, TNL will be holding a Fat Tuesday event at our Acoma facility. There are two gathering times – one from 6:30-7:30pm with elements for children, and the second from 8:00-9:00pm. Together we want to engage the Lenten idea of taking up a practice that encourages your faith or giving something up that may distract from it. On Fat Tuesday bring a physical representation of what you are giving/taking up for Lent – together we will incorporate them as a visual concept piece at Acoma.

Ash Wednesday at Acoma Ash Wednesday is a day for quiet repentance and sincere devotion. We will have two traditional Ash Wednesday services that include elements of prayer, receiving ashes, and musical worship. The services will be at the Acoma facility – one at 7:00am and one at 7:00pm – for approximately 45 minutes.  Childcare will not be provided.

Contemplation and Creation Space at Acoma This year during Lent we want to share our experiences as a community through an interactive project. A contemplation and creation space at Acoma has been designated for you to meditate, write, and share on your experience as you journey through Lent. As each individual contributes, a collaborative Lenten story will emerge. In addition, visual artists are asked to contribute pieces—paintings, photographs, drawings, etc.—representing their journey through the Lenten season. We ask that you would consider spending 30 minutes, sometime over the course of the next 40 days, visiting this space and participating in this project as individually and communally we look forward to the celebrated resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Forty Hours: Spiritual Retreat Sometimes only in the silence can we truly hear. Make time this Lenten season for Forty Hours, a spiritual retreat set in silence. Forty Hours is Friday through Sunday, March 26-28, at the Highlands Retreat Center near Lyons, Colorado. Cost for the weekend is only $75 for housing, meals, and program. Registration forms are available online and at the Information Table in the Main Lobby.

Holy Week Services Holy Week is the week remembering the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. On Tuesday, March 30, TNL will be celebrating communion together. Greenwood Community Church will lead a Good Friday Service on Friday, April 2, at 7:00pm at GCC.

Easter Gathering & Dinner This year we will celebrate baptism during our Easter Gathering & Dinner on Sunday, April 4, at 6:00pm at Greenwood Community Church. If you have never been baptized before, consider participating in this special service. The service is a celebration of how God has changed individual lives and offered restoration to the entire world. Those interested in being baptized need to attend a brief class following TNL in the Chapel on Tuesday, March 23. Contact Chip for details.

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