The Gift of Resurrection

It seems like a week ago that we gathered together for Ash Wednesday to begin Lent. We begin the journey of Lent with this phrase “You are dust and to dust you shall return.” A phrase that reminds us that this journey of earthly life is temporary, but the promise of eternal life is firm for all.

Throughout the season of Lent, we listen and reflect on the clues Jesus gave before his death. He said “the kingdom of God has come near, but that same kingdom would also be destroyed and rebuilt on the third day.” Messages that anticipated his persecution, the contempt he would face, and his suffering on the cross with these words “If anyone wants to be my disciple, let him deny himself, carry his cross and follow me” Mark 8:34. “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified… unless the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.” John 12:24. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man also be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life” John 3:14-15.

This year, the forty days passed quickly and we soon found ourselves in Holy Week. A time in which we remember and reflect how our Lord in the midst of his agony on the night he was betrayed, washed the feet of the disciples, instituted Holy Communion and told us “a new commandment I give you: that you love one another.” “Just as I have loved you, you also love one another.” On Good Friday, Jesus is abandoned, scourged, crowned with a crown of thorns and sentenced to death on the cross. His death put an end to the beauty of his messages and his presence among the people.

But is this how it all ends? In no way, three days later the gift of the Resurrection occurs. The purpose for which our lord had been sent had been accomplished. Death was defeated and no longer has power over us. We have been freed from slavery. The temple that had been destroyed was rebuilt on the third day just as the Lord had mentioned to his disciples. With the Resurrection, the persecutions, contempt and agonies have been left behind, it takes us to a space where there is only joy and peace.

Last summer, a month after my installation and ordination, as you already know, my father went to enjoy the gift of the resurrection. Although his absence left a void in our lives, my family and I hold on to the hope of the promise of eternal life. His death brought an end to his earthly suffering, as I have peace knowing that my father was at peace at the moment of his death. The pain of my father’s death was tempered with the hope that gives us strength, comfort, joy, love and peace. In some of you there are probably gaps in loved ones who came before us, that just as Jesus died and rose again, so we will also rise to eternal life.

Brothers and sisters, my wishes are that the empty tomb fills us with Hope, comfort and peace as we walk on this new journey of resurrection. Happy Easter!

“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” (Peter 5:10)

Pastor Edwin 

Christ Is Risen!

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

I never get tired of hearing those words. They offer praise. Bring peace. Extend comfort. Reassure troubled hearts. And even raise the dead. Okay, maybe not in the literal sense, but for many of us who know someone who is in a season of their life that is painful, difficult, hopeless – these words of resurrection joy can lift someone from their suffering, if only for a momentary glimpse of the Kingdom of God and the joy to be found there.

I have often wondered why our funeral liturgy does not include this resurrection announcement. I imagine the mood would change for those who gather to remember a loved one, if the first words they heard and said included: “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”

I am all for: 

  • John 14 – Let not your hearts be troubled;
  • Psalm 23 – The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want;
  • Matthew 11 – Come to me all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens;
  • John 11 – I am the resurrection and the life.
  • Romans 8 – What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us?
  • Job 19 – I know that my redeemer lives.
  • Psalm 118 – Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter them; 

And yet, none of those words fill me with the power of belief like, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Who among us has not known the sting of death or felt the bitter wind at graveside? Even in the warmth of the summer sun, to stand at the edge of the grave of someone we love, there is a known sense of loneliness, regardless of the gathered crowd around you. So again, I ask, why do we not include the resurrection announcement at the beginning and end of every funeral we attend? For that matter, why is the story of resurrected Savior and empty tomb not reminded to us again and again at the entrance to the sanctuary and the gate of the cemetery? It is as if the celebration of Easter is not enough for us. AND YET THIS EASTER NEWS IS ENOUGH! It is all we need. If we had no other words of Scripture but this story of resurrection of the Son of God, it is enough. 

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’s head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed, for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not touch me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

I invite you to carry the story and these words of resurrection joy and promise with you into each new day – long past these 50 days of Easter celebration. Carry this resurrection joy deep within you, write it on your heart, and speak it in greeting to remind yourself and others of the good news of our God. “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! 

May the joy of Easter carry you into each new day.

Pastor Chris

God of the Resurrection

Over the past few months in our Monday Adult Education classes we’ve been exploring our faith by way of the Chosen video series, the Bible, and many wonderful and engaging discussions. Throughout our time together I’ve noticed an openness, energy, and excitement welling up in many of those participating. And this has led me to see that the Holy Spirit is up to something else beautiful and amazing here at Ascension. Coincidently, just last week a friend of mine shared the following poem, “Watered Gardens” by Joyce Rupp. And I feel like it does a great job highlighting the same openness that Easter and the gift of resurrection joy call us toward.

God of openness, of life and resurrection,
Come into this Easter season and bless me.
Look around the tight dead spaces of my heart
That still refuse to give you entrance.
Bring your gentle but firm love.
Begin to lift the layers of resistance
That hang on tightly deep inside of me.
Open, one by one, those places in my life
Where I refuse to be overcome by surprise.
Open, one by one, those parts of my heart
Where I fight the entrance of real growth.
Open, one by one, those aspects of my spirit
Where my security struggles with the truth.
God of the Resurrection , God of the living,
Untomb and uncover all that needs to live in me.
Take me to people, events and situations
And stretch me into much greater openness.
Open me. Open me. Open me.
For it is only then that I will grow and change.
For it is only then that I will be transformed.
For it is only then that I will know how it is
To be in the moment of rising from the dead.

My friends, I pray that the God of the Resurrection would continue to inspire us and open us to discover the gift of a new life in Christ. And as we do, may all our days be filled with hope! 

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Pastor Tony

Holy Week 2024

Holy Week will once again offer us the power of the story of God’s love for us.

Palm Sunday, March 24

8:30a & 10:45a (English), 10:45a (en español)

Hear the story of the entrance of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem to shouts of “Hosanna. Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Maundy Thursday, March 28

6:30p (English), 6:45p (en español)

Remember the Last Supper in the Upper Room, prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus’ arrest, and trial. This worship service ends with the meaningful “stripping of the altar” to remind us of the humiliation and suffering of our Savior.

Good Friday, March 29

Worship: 12p and 6:30p (English), and 6p (en español)

Hear the story of the crucifixion of Jesus along with the seven last words of Jesus from the cross. We will gather to remember and offer worship to the One who saves us from our sins. The sanctuary will be open with candlelight from 1-3 p.m. for those who desire a time of quiet prayer.

Good Friday Procession: We invite you to participate in our Latino Ministries’ Good Friday procession. We will start our procession from the three crosses in the memorial garden. We will lower the cross and the participants will be able to pass the cross to the people who will carry it on our trip to the tomb (Latino Sanctuary). In the sanctuary, we will, as always, have the experience of walking and experiencing how the beauty of the alfombras/carpets disappears.

Easter Sunday: The Day of Resurrection Joy

8:30a & 10:45a (English), 10:45a (en español)

The story of the power of God overcoming the power of death. The story of the power of love overcoming the power of death. The story of Jesus defeating the grave. It is our story. Come and see what God has done. Be reminded of the promise of God’s unimaginable love for you. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Preparing for the Beauty of Holy Week

While we just celebrated Ash Wednesday, preparations for Holy Week at Ascension are already underway. In the Latino Ministry, we have begun coloring sawdust to prepare our traditional alfombras for Good Friday. During Journey to the Cross, families began the first alfombra.

Some of you have asked me where all that large amount of sawdust comes from. Sawdust is not just from one place, last month, I had to visit Bliffert, Waukesha, Home Depot, Waukesha and Bliffert, Germantown. We have enough material to make all of the alfombras for this year. The sawdust that those stores collect is put in the trash, but for the month of February, they invite us to use and do wonders with material that is normally garbage. I showed them photographs of last year’s alfombras. They said, “Wow! Thank you for inviting us to be part in some way in this project!” Yes, everyone is invited to participate in some way in the alfombras during Holy Week.

In previous years, I have colored all the sawdust by myself. This year CRASH students were invited to experience the colorization of sawdust. The students really enjoyed it and learned a new skill. This was not only a time of work, but it was also a time for fellowship, sharing and continuing to learn about what Ascension is and what God is doing in our multicultural Christian community.

As we continue to walk this Lenten journey, let’s think about God’s call to us to pass the good news to others. In Holy week, we invite you to participate in our Good Friday procession. We will start our procession from the three crosses in the memorial garden. We will lower the cross and the participants will be able to pass the cross to the people who will carry it on our trip to the tomb (Latino Sanctuary). In the sanctuary, we will, as always, have the experience of walking and experiencing how the beauty of the carpets disappears.

The beauty of the savior living among us dies, but that is not the end. Three days later, beauty returns never to disappear from our lives. Jesus continues to reveal the beauty of the kingdom of heaven here on earth through us and others. We are invited to spread the message of the kingdom of God from where we are.

May God open your eyes this Lenten season to help you find the beauty of the kingdom of heaven in your lives.

Pastor Edwin

Welcome to the Season of Lent

It feels as if we are constantly playing catch-up with the season of Lent. The calendar did not help this year. In only seven weeks we went from the celebrations of Christmas to reminder of our mortality on Ash Wednesday. Some years we have as many as 10 weeks to make the transition. As I have entered into conversations with members of the church, I am struck by the fact that I am not the only one who feels rushed this year into the season of Lent.

On the first Sunday in Lent, I invited people at worship to write down the name of someone in their life who is in need of prayer…for whatever reason. My accepted “extra” in Lent has been to pray over these names each week. It is a daunting pile on my desk. Prayer cards stacked some two and three inches high with the first names of people who are loved, considered, remembered by many of you in your own daily prayers. It is humbling to be entrusted with those names. There are names that give me pause because I know the story behind the name. On some cards, people feel the need to offer explanation, which can be helpful but not necessary. And there are always a few cards with not just one name but three and four names. Just so you know – I stop and pray for each name – not just the first one at the top. What grounds me in the season of Lent, as we wander in the wilderness for a time, is the opportunity to settle into my prayers. Each prayer card offers me a little extra moment of time to speak the name and ask God to tend this loved one in some way. There is a meme running around the internet that says:

It is a solid reminder for my own prayer life. Of course, right after I saw that reminder meme, I saw this one:

And that brought me right back to why sometimes my life is messier than it should be. It is no surprise. My faith life ebbs and flows like everything else that clamors for time in my life. Depending on which guilt lever gets pulled can often determine the next task to tackle. Reading with my youngest child – yes, important. Checking in on my dad, my sister – yes, important. Date night with my wife – yes, SO IMPORTANT (if she is reading this)! Reconnecting with an old friend – yes, important. Visiting someone who is sick or feeling lonely – yes, important. Getting this newsletter article done – yes, important. All the things that beg for attention are almost always important enough to be listed. It amuses me that right after I typed the list above I realized that I left off “tending my relationship with God.” How did I miss that in the season of Lent? It happens.

The gift of this season of Lent is that we have the opportunity for just a little extra opportunity to tend our relationship with our God. Sunday worship, The Chosen Video series, midweek soup supper and worship, and Holy Week events to name a few “extra” opportunities. The Soup Suppers are always a gift to be in relationship with other members of the body of Christ in simple ways around a simple meal and a new recipe. You still have three more opportunities to join us on Wednesday nights. Before we know it, Holy Week will be upon us.

See you in church,

Pastor Chris

Serve With Ascension

Healing Hearts Meal March 18

We have committed to providing several simple suppers each year for the families who participate in the sessions on grieving and healing through Healing Hearts. Did you know that Ascension played a key part in bringing this much needed ministry to our community? We value the service they provide and have had members of our congregation benefit from their program. We recognize that we cannot do everything on our own but by supporting community partners that do the needed service, we are making sure the work is being done.

As with each of our Community Partners, we seek out ways to provide a service that helps them do their mission. The meals assure that families are fed and ready to participate in the groups. March 18 is the next meal that we will serve. We would love to have someone step forward to plan a simple meal, prepare or donate food and serve the meal. This would be a great service project for a small group. You don’t have to make all the food on your own. We can request help from the congregation. They prefer very simple foods that can be quickly served so the families can get to their group or class. Ascension members who have participated report that they really enjoyed the experience. Watch for a Sign-Up Genius to volunteer or contact Teri Quam.

Mustard Seed Ministry Fair April 14

The parable of the mustard: Last fall, we were inspired by a guest minister at the SOPHIA breakfast as she shared with us the parable of the mustard seed. She spoke about how Jesus said that faith as small as a mustard seed could grow into a great plant that would help many people. A small seed can yield great results and blessings but it has to be planted. When we think of all the needs of the world, the community and our own church, it can be overwhelming. If each person would step forward and do one new thing, it would change our church, our community and our world. Rather than thinking  that we can’t tackle a big problem, we each need to ask what is one new thing we can do to serve God.

On April 14, we will be holding a Ministry Fair to share all the wonderful ministries of Ascension and to encourage each person to sign up for one new thing that they are willing to do in the coming months. This will be a chance to get more information about all the ministries within the congregation and with our community and global partners. 

Often, people don’t know enough about the needs or what the commitment involves. The Ministry Fair will give everyone a chance to ask questions and even to suggest new ministries or ways to serve. Many of our community partners are in need of volunteers and many of our own congregation ministries need people to serve.  If each person in the congregation pledged to do one new step of service, we could change our community, our church and our world. “Whatever we do for the least of these, we do unto Christ Himself.”

Follow Mission Outreach/Serve on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Ascension.ELCA.MO/  to keep up with all the service opportunities.

We don’t just go to church. We are the church.

March Madness and Lent

Most of you are probably aware that I’m a huge fan of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament better known as March Madness – and I’m thrilled that it’s almost here!  In just a few weeks millions of people, superfans as well as fair-weather ones, will be filling out and checking their brackets daily, if not hourly. Workplace production is certain to take a dive. And for three straight weeks sports fans will be glued to their screens watching all the drama unfold.

For some, their enthusiasm can appear almost religious. All over the country, fans will deck themselves out in their favorite team gear or team colors all while exhibiting a heightened sense of nervousness; desperate for their team to win and advance to the next round. They’ll be watching games while yelling “No, no…yes, yes!” while kids are running around the house dribbling and shooting basketballs as adults are running to the kitchen for more appetizers. It’s chaotic. It’s madness. And I’m not ashamed to say that I can’t get enough of it!

But as I’ve been psyching myself up for this year’s tournament it occurred to me that there was a connection between our faith, the season of Lent, and The Big Dance and I’m wondering, “What if we viewed our faith and the experience of Lent through a different lens”? What if we used the “madness” of the NCAA basketball tournament to better understand our nature as humans created in the image of God?

I think the attraction to March Madness reveals aspects of our life of faith and our journey through Lent that may be helpful in reorienting us and reenergizing us for the road ahead. 

We want to be part of something bigger than ourselves. March Madness allows us to be part of something bigger than ourselves. We may not be on the court, but filling out our brackets and cheering alongside countless others gives us some skin in the game. So too does our faith. Especially in the season of Lent as we stand alongside countless other Christians taking time to reflect on our lives, intensify our faith practices and turn back to God. Much like the discipline and focus necessary for teams in the tournament to be successful, we too must engage in this same discipline as we make our journey toward Easter.

Disappointment and heartache are lurking around every corner. Teams dream, plan, and prepare for a long and successful run deep into the tournament, however, anyone who’s ever witnessed an upset knows that even the best laid plans are sometimes met with unexpected disappointment. Our lives are like that aren’t they? We plan, save, try to eat healthy, live responsibly, pray and come to worship and yet we still encounter heartache, disappointment, sadness, pain, and grief. Although God never promises us a life absent of difficulties and pain, the more connected we are to God and one another, and the deeper we engage our faith and faith practices the more we open ourselves, allowing God to comfort us and heal us in times of brokenness.

We crave hope. Every year in the tournament there are amazing comebacks and last second buzzer beaters. Underdog teams who can’t seem to miss a shot or a team that finds itself down as the final seconds tick away relying on a step back three pointer or an unbelievable half court prayer thrown up in desperation – Cinderella stories reminding us that David can beat Goliath. Personally, I just hope not to be in the bottom half of my family’s bracket pool this year. For people around the world, hope is wanting something to happen or be true and to think that it could happen or be true. For Christians, our hope rests not in our own abilities or a last second desperation attempt but rather in a sure thing. We trust that God’s promises will be fulfilled because God promised them. Our hope rests in the truth that Jesus’s death and resurrection secured victory over sin and death and sealed our relationship with God forever.

Victory is found in the most unexpected places. An unexpected player or team that surprises everyone by playing far beyond what anyone thought possible and ends up victorious. A superfan nun whose health isn’t the greatest but still manages to get herself to the sidelines to cheer on her team. The coach or player who overcomes a life-threatening illness or injury only to find themselves on one of the biggest stages of their lives. The unexpected surprises us but it also has the potential to enliven us, if we allow it to. But these stories merely echo the greatest story in all of history. Separated from God because of our sin, humans had no shot of making it back into God’s favor. But then came Jesus, in the form of a servant – living, teaching, and preaching about a different kind of kingdom. Jesus lived a perfect life while challenging the rules, assumptions, power structures, culture, and people’s beliefs and conquered sin and death by dying a sacrificial death and rising from the grave victorious for all. We love underdog and comeback stories, and this is the greatest one for all eternity.

As we step into Lent on our journey toward Easter, I’d like to invite you to join me on this sacred journey and allow God to draw us in and transform us so that we might more fully live into the abundant life that God has promised us. The Final Four may signify a nearing of the end of the tournament as we approach the championship game and prepare to crown a tournament champion. Similarly, our journey through Holy Week gets us one step closer to the culmination of an empty tomb on Easter morning as we celebrate the victorious journey of Jesus and the fulfillment of all God’s promises.

So, for the next few weeks I hope you’ll enjoy some great basketball games and have fun rooting for your favorite teams. But while you do I also invite you throughout the upcoming Lenten season to pay attention for the unexpected because you just might be surprised at what God has waiting for you.

Pastor Tony

Quesadillas and Baked Goods in El Salvador

When Ascension hosted Together in Mission at the beginning of February, we wanted to be able to show hospitality to our guests in a way that showed our visitors who we are. With the synod’s connection to El Salvador and our Latino Ministries, it was a natural fit to offer some food from El Salvador. We had pupusas, plantains, frijoles, and Salvadoran quesadilla. Salvadoran quesadilla is a very different food from Mexican quesadilla. It looks similar to cornbread, and is sweet/savory cake to be enjoyed with coffee. Several people asked Pastor Edwin for the recipe. He had to tell everyone that the only person in his family that knows how to make a traditional Salvadoran quesadilla is his very non-Salvadoran wife. 

Pastor Edwin’s family isn’t unusual. Most people cook either on something resembling a camp stove using propane, or the cheapest option — using firewood. Cooking over the open flames has caused Salvadoran women to suffer disproportionately from respiratory issues since these fires tend to be indoors so cooking can happen regardless of the weather. The World Health Organization is educating the women of El Salvador on the dangers of cooking over firewood, so little by little, tortillas are no longer being made at home, but being purchased from people that have saved up money to buy a propane griddle to make small businesses selling tortillas from their homes.

In El Salvador, owning an oven is a luxury. For the few that own an oven, it is even more unusual to be able to afford to use the oven part for baking. Nearly everyone that owns an oven uses the oven part as a storage cabinet and only cooks on the stove top. When people need baked goods, they need to purchase them since no one has the means to bake at home. This is why the bakery ministry at San Jorge church is a blessing in so many ways. Thank you to everyone that supported the San Jorge Bakery and other ministries during Love Your Church, Love Your World.

If you are interested in trying your hand at making Salvadoran Quesadilla, our favorite recipe can be found at https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/255919/quesadilla-salvadorena/.

What the Holy One Can Do With Dust

“All those days you felt like dirt, as if all you had to do was turn your face toward the wind and be scattered to the four corners or swept away by the smallest breath as insubstantial –did you not know what the Holy One can do with dust?” (Jan Richardson, Blessing the Dust)

Already we find ourselves on our way to the story of Lent. Jesus climbs a mountain and shines like the sun enjoying the presence of friends and the strength of spirit that comes with hearing the voice of God share God’s desire, “This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him.” Only to be driven into the wilderness days later to face the temptations of the devil. What we know so well is that the mountaintop moments in our lives do not last nearly as long as the wilderness wanderings. Why is that exactly?

Are the mountaintop moments so focused, so blindingly glorious that we cannot bear them for too long a time? Consider some of the mountaintop celebrations in this life: a wedding, the birth of a child, the miracle of healing, a long night of conversation with old friends, a seven-course dinner that excites all your senses to name a few mountaintop moments. Yes, we want them to go on forever and if our hearts could be any fuller, they might explode from the overwhelming feelings of joy. But in the wilderness, we can wander amidst one distraction after another: a career change, a relationship ending, the death of someone we love, a question of which path to choose, the diagnosis, the untold story, and even the secrets we keep which we believe make us unworthy of love or peace or joy or God’s forgiveness. Yes, the wilderness offers us many distractions which can keep our eyes, our hearts, our minds, and our ears distracted from all that God wants for us. Welcome to the story of Lent. All those days you felt like dirt…but do you not know what the Holy One can do with dust?

As much as the journey of Lent leads us into the wilderness, God promises to be present for every mountaintop and valley, twist and turn, of this wilderness journey. While Jesus enters the wilderness alone, God promises that we are never alone. While Jesus suffers the temptations of the devil, God stands as a shield against all that would harm us. Even in our struggles, when we believe God has abandoned us or does not listen to our prayers, God is more present than we can imagine. The journey of Lent is our reminder that we do not wander alone in this wilderness. God is present with us – always, everywhere – that is God’s promise to us. Lent may call us to turn our hearts back to God, but God has never turned God’s face from us. And that my friends should bring us joy, no matter how deep the valley we travel in the wilderness moments of our lives.

“Let us be marked not for sorrow. And let us be marked not for shame. Let us be marked not for false humility or for thinking we are less than we are, but for claiming what God can do within the dust, within the dirt, within the stuff of which the world is made and stars that blaze in our bones and the galaxies that spiral inside their smudge we bear.” I am grateful to the author of these words. Jan helps me remember that God offers us so much more than the world, or we, can possibly imagine.

You are invited – join us on the journey of Lent. Start with Ash Wednesday on Wednesday, Feb. 14, at 12 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. Receive the smudge of ash on your forehead and be reminded what the Holy One can do with dust. To the great glory of God.

Peace be with you.

Pastor Chris