Into The Desert
Pastor Sean Palmer shares vulnerably from his own story, inviting us to consider how we are called to prepare for and enter into the sacred season of Lent. The desert is a place which can feel barren and hopeless, but is where God comes to meet us separated from our ego and defenses. May these weeks of fasting and contemplation transform our experience of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and help us to faithfully walk the path he has laid before us.
Text
Matthew 4: 1
“According to ancient theory of art, the practice of sculpting has less to do with fashioning a figure of one’s choosing than with being able to see in the stone the figure waiting to be liberated. The sculptor imposes nothing but only frees what is held captive in stone.”
— Martin Laird, A Sunlit Absence
The “Three Lies”:
1. I am what I have.
2. I am what I do.
3. I am what others think of me.
- Henri Nouwen
Reflection & Practice
Sean suggested us to consider certain elements of the desert as we prepare our hearts for the season of Lent:
The Desert Is Where God Sends You
The Desert Forces You To Pay Attention
The Desert Forces You to Let Go
What habits / vices / compulsions have an unhealthy and corrosive hold on your soul? How is God inviting you to address them in the weeks to come? Join us as a community in considering the things in our lives from which we need to fast, and how we might make room for new rhythms that will attune us to God’s voice.
Worship Set
I Shall Not Be Shaken
Justice Will Roll Down
God’s Highway
See The Love
The Master’s Calling
Rock Of Ages (When The Day Seems Long)