Lent is a church season that gives us an opportunity to prepare for Easter. We will appreciate Jesus’ Resurrection more fully if we first ponder our situation without Jesus, oppressed by sin, evil, and death. There is nothing we can do about that situation by ourselves. It took God’s action in Jesus to address the problem. 

Many people think about Lent as a time to give something up. That can be helpful if it keeps us focused on Jesus. But don’t think that by avoiding chocolate you can somehow earn God’s favor. God’s favor is a free gift that can never be deserved. By all means give something up if it helps you increase your love for God, but don’t think that it will make God love you. God already loves you! He gave his son Jesus to live and die to save you.

Another approach for Lent is to take on something new. Try daily prayers. Go to church regularly. At St. Barnabas, you can participate in our weekly class on St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians. That will be on Tuesday evenings. This will be a zoom Bible study on Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m.. If you’re interested, email us at saintbarnabasanglican@outlook.com We’ll send you a link to attend the course. Our first session begins on Tuesday Feb. 23, 2021 at 7:00 pm.