This week’s short message by Pastor Eric Stetson. Watch the video or read text below.
Tag: Lent
From our service on March 14, 2021, a sermon by Pastor Eric Stetson. Watch video below.
Today is Laetare Sunday, a special day in the Christian liturgical calendar when we pause during the austere season of Lent for a joyful celebration. The word laetare in Latin means rejoice! — and it comes from a verse in the Book of Isaiah that is traditionally read on this day:
In this week’s service, we focus on the theme of Joy — rejoicing even despite our troubles and afflictions, which is made possible by faith in a God who loves us with infinite compassion. In the middle of Lent, we pause for celebration of a God who cares for us and uplifts us as our perfect Mother and Father in Heaven, fortifying our souls for the journey to the cross of Christ that lies ahead. We also tell the story of Fanny Crosby, who overcame severe disability and became one of the most prolific hymn writers in history.
This week’s short message by Pastor Eric Stetson. Watch the video or read text below.
From our service on February 21, 2021, a sermon by Pastor Eric Stetson. Watch video below.
Today is the first Sunday of Lent, a 40-day season of sacrifice leading up to Easter in the Christian liturgical calendar. Lent commemorates the 40 days that Jesus fasted in the wilderness of the desert before beginning his mission, according to the Gospels [e.g. Matt. 4:1-2].
To fast for 40 days is a big commitment. This year, for Lent, I’d like to ask all who are watching or reading this sermon to make a much smaller, but very important commitment: to wear a mask whenever you’re around other people. In fact, I’d like to ask you all to wear two — a surgical mask on the inside, and a cloth mask on the outside. According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, double-masking in this way increases protection from the Covid-19 virus from under 50% with just one mask to a remarkable 90% or greater rate of protection with two masks.
During Lent, many followers of Jesus make conscious sacrifices or commitments to become more righteous in the path of Christ. In our service this week, we focus on the theme of Commitment — an essential virtue for spiritual progress, or for any kind of success in life. We also honor Richard Allen, a former slave who was so committed to the cause of equality that he founded a new Christian denomination.
From our service on February 14, 2021, a sermon by Pastor Eric Stetson. Watch video below.
On this day, the last Sunday before Lent, many Christian churches observe the Feast of the Transfiguration, or “Transfiguration Sunday,” calling to remembrance the story in the Gospels when Jesus revealed to his chosen disciples his glorious nature as a spiritual being of light.
As the story goes, “Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. … [A] bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!’” [Matt. 17:1-2,5]
This week, followers of Jesus observe Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of the Lenten season of sacrifice leading up to Easter. Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting — and it is a time for contemplation of our human nature as both the dust of this world and the light of the Spirit into which we may grow through our spiritual discipline in walking the path of Christ. As a reminder of these truths, many Christians place ashes on their foreheads and recite the words, “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”
At the beginning of Lent, Christians reflect on the theme of Repentance — turning away from wrongdoing, and reorienting our minds, our lives, and our world toward the God who calls us to be transformed in the image of Christ. This week we observe Transfiguration Sunday and Ash Wednesday. We also honor the repentance of Bartolomé de las Casas, a slaveowner who became an activist for the equal rights of all.