Pancakes…

“There are difficulties in everything except eating pancakes.” –Charles Spurgeon

Hello! So Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras) is tomorrow,  and it’s a church tradition to eat pancakes this day (yummm). We get the “fats” out of the house like butter and oil, and the idea is that we simplify and focus on Jesus’ incredible love and sacrifice for us–the Lenten Season.

Lent, Noah and Moses, oh my!

Lent is really special, and it starts on Wednesday, March 26 with Ash Wednesday. Just like Jesus fasted for 40 days (& Noah and Moses did stuff for 40 days and 40 years), we spend 40 days (6 1/2 weeks–Sundays don’t count in the 40 days) praying and focusing.

Some choose to “give up” something and replace that time or energy (like not watching TV or not drinking coffee) with time in prayer, reading the Bible and generally focusing on getting closer to God. It’s a good idea, if you choose to “replace” something in your life with Jesus for the next 40 days of Lent. Talk to your family or friends about your plan. They can be encouragers during this time.

Lent starts on Wednesday, and let’s start our special focus on Jesus by worshiping together at church, the annual Ash Wednesday service. Pastor Allen burns the palms from last year’s Palm Sunday and mixes the ashes with olive oil to make a paste. Pretty neat, right?

Coming Up:

Wednesday, February 26: Ash Wednesday Worship at 6:30pm in the Sanctuary

Sunday, March 1: Worship at 9:00am, BFGs (small groups) at 10:15am

• San Diego Mission Team Meeting #1 (REQUIRED), 11:30am-1:30pm in Youth Room (lunch provided)

Sunday, March 8: Worship at 9:00am, BFGs (small groups) at 10:15am

• Family Ministry Team Meeting, 11:30am in Conference Room #1

Sunday, March 15: Worship at 9:00am, BFGs (small groups) at 10:15am

• Deacon Council, 11:30am in the Parlor

Sunday, March 22: Worship at 9:00am, BFGs (small groups) at 10:15am

Sunday, March 29: Worship at 9:00am, BFGs (small groups) at 10:15am

• The Youth host Meet & Greet! (every youth family: please bring a batch of cookies, muffins or a bowl of fruit to share)

No matter what you decide to change in your daily behavior to focus more on Jesus, be sure and prioritize this change for 40 days–Jesus certainly deserves our focus!  = )

Have an awesome week! Go eat some pancakes. 😀☕️

Laurel

Summer Plans –Mark your calendars (add to your phones)!

• Heartland Camp – July 6-10. A five-day, all day camp at church! We will learn, play, share and serve. Water games and others fun will be happening. The cost is $60 per camper, and scholarships are available!
• Youth/College Mission Trip to San Diego – July 18-24. A 7-day trip to San Diego with Sierra Service Project, working directly with organizations and locals around God’s work in immigration, wealth inequality, and the environment. We will stay in South County Boys and Girls Club, and we will work among Sierra Service Project’s  established, incredible ministries. This will be a life-changing, meaningful, fun trip! 
• 4D2nd Street Camp – August 3-6. Learn and perform an awesome musical in 4 days! Does it seem impossible? Well, it isn’t! Registration opens soon for this wonderful camp, directed by Pastor Allen.

Registration for Campers AND Volunteers opens up Sunday, March 15!!

Have the most wonderful Thursday ever!

SPECIAL NOTE FOR YOUTH & YOUTH PARENTS (see below)!

What are you doing on Friday? (multiple choice)

• Swapping candy and silly cards with classmates and teachers
• Going on a date with a special someone or a group of friends
• Attending an anti-Valentine’s event for fun
• Nothing to celebrate…it’s just another day

Loving or Lacking?

Valentine’s Day brings out a range of emotions. Sometimes there are feelings of gooey love and the warm and fuzzies for our dear friendships and/or romantic relationship. Other times, we might feel terrible and dread February 14. It’s understandable–this holiday can highlight our feelings of lacking something…lacking popularity, lacking a healthy relationship, lacking close friendships. Sometimes it can be awkward, when you aren’t sure how to express to another how you feel or don’t have the financial or creative resources to gift others. For some of us, we draw our value and worth from a day like Valentine’s Day. (It’s really easy to do!) Full of wisdom, Jesus has something to say about our worth and belonging:

Valentine’s Day: 2 Things

An awesome blog from Sparkhouse (a publisher that provides materials for our kids and youth BFGs) mentions two crucially important points about our self-worth:

1. “Our true worth is located in our identity as children of God who are created in God’s image, not in the way others feel about us.” Sometimes Jesus was super popular, speaking to crowds of thousands, and those same crowds that loved him turned against him within a week and asked for him to be killed. Even his closest friends abandoned, denied, and betrayed him. If you are lonely, if you’re unpopular, if your friends aren’t acting the way friends should, if people are talking behind your back, you’re in good company. And while things may improve for you in less dramatic ways than they did for Jesus with the resurrection, things will improve.  

2. “Real love from one human being to another is not about buying someone roses or chocolates.” When we in the church think about love, we may think of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7: “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” This is a good place to start—a better place to start, certainly, than the materialistic messages that claim love is all about gifts that people buy for each other at stores. Yet we need to be careful with how we read and talk about a love that “endures all things.” We must have this non-boastful, non-arrogant love for ourselves first and foremost, not to hold ourselves above others but to keep ourselves safe from abuse and to leave situations that become toxic. We are not required to endure these things. (If you are in an unhealthy relationship, please talk a trustworthy family member/pastor/friend.) Equipped with this love for ourselves, we can proceed into healthy, life-giving relationships with each other, honest and real relationships that rejoice in the truth of Christ’s love for all.

So, as we approach Valentine’s Day, remind yourself and your loved ones that our value is not located in our popularity or relationship status. And it is really important to work toward healthy relationships, recognizing any sort of mistreatment or abuse as something we need to distance ourselves from. A holiday about love should make people feel included and valued, not alienated.