Tag Archives: Lent

Lent, Liturgy Letter Year B

Liturgy Letter Newsletter – Fifth Sunday in Lent 2018 (Year B)

Liturgy Letter Newsletter – Fifth Sunday in Lent 2018 (Year B)

Fresh Faith and a Clean Heart
“The old passes away, the new emerges. The grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies. From it springs the stalk that in time produces much fruit. Death’s sting is tempered by the promise of new life. Do not cling to old ways that hinder your ability to realize the hope of the gospel. Rather, let what you glean from the past lead to fresh insight, so that you may mature in faith.”
“Create in us clean hearts, O Lord (Psalm 51:1-12); write your law on our hearts and forget our sins forever (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Christ, who was divine, took on human flesh in order to give us eternal salvation (Hebrews 5:5-10). Follow him. Walk in the light (John 12:20-33).”
-Thomas Oden, from Ancient Christian Devotional
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Lent, Liturgy Letter Year B

Liturgy Letter Newsletter – Fourth Sunday in Lent 2018 (Year B)

Liturgy Letter Newsletter – Fourth Sunday in Lent 2018 (Year B)

He Gave His Son
Give thanks to the Lord (Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22), for the power of sin was broken on the cross (Numbers 21:4-9). For God so loved the world that he gave his Son (John 3:14-21); by his grace and mercy, we are saved (Ephesians 2:1-10).
-Thomas Oden, Ancient Christian Devotional

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Lent, Liturgy Letter Year B

Liturgy Letter Newsletter – Second Sunday in Lent 2018 (Year B)

Liturgy Letter Newsletter – Second Sunday in Lent 2018 (Year B)

A Faith Willing to Give Everything

Peter is rebuked because he misunderstood what it meant to follow Jesus. Jesus must suffer, even be put to death. To be his disciple means sacrifice as well. Such a thought was difficult for Peter, just as it is for us today. To lose one’s life for Christ sake is to put self behind and serve others without thought of reward.
-James Kirk, in When We Gather: A Book of Prayers for Worship
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Ash Wednesday, Lent, Liturgy Letter Year B

Liturgy Letter Newsletter – First Sunday in Lent 2018 (Year B)

Liturgy Letter Newsletter – First Sunday in Lent 2018 (Year B)

God’s Covenant
Help us to know your ways, Lord; teach us your paths (Psalm 25:1-10). God has made a covenant with us (Genesis 9:8-17) and sent the Holy Spirit to guide us (Mark 1:9-15). We follow Jesus’ example and are baptized for the repentance of our sins and the promise of eternal life (1 Peter 3:18-22).
-Thomas Oden, Ancient Christian Devotional
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Lent, Prayer

Abide with Us: A Lutheran Prayer

Abide with us, O Lord,

for it is toward evening and the day is far spent;

abide with us, and with Thy whole Church.

Abide with us in the evening of the day, in the evening of life,

in the evening of the world.

Abide with us in Thy grace and mercy,

in holy Word and Sacrament,

in Thy comfort and Thy blessing.

Abide with us in the night of distress and fear,

in the night of doubt and temptation,

in the night of bitter death,

when these shall overtake us.

Abide with us and with all Thy faithful ones, O Lord,

in time and in eternity.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

— from The Lutheran Manual of Prayer

Lent, Poetry

“Haste to Me, Lord…” Poetry by George MacDonald

Haste to Me, Lord

by George MacDonald

Haste to me, Lord, when this fool-heart of mine
Begins to gnaw itself with selfish craving;
Or, like a foul thing scarcely worth the saving,
Swoln up with wrath, desireth vengeance fine.
Haste, Lord, to help, when reason favours wrong;
Haste when thy soul, the high-born thing divine,
Is torn by passion’s raving, maniac throng.

Fair freshness of the God-breathed spirit air,
Pass through my soul, and make it strong to love;
Wither with gracious cold what demons dare
Shoot from my hell into my world above;
Let them drop down, like leaves the sun doth sear,
And flutter far into the inane and bare,
Leaving my middle-earth calm, wise, and clear.

-George Macdonald (1824-1905) “May 11&12” from A Book of Strife in the Form of the Diary of an Old Soul (1880)