Ash Wednesday and Lent

O Lord, maker of everything and judge of all that you have made, from the dust of the earth you have formed us and from the dust of death you would raise us up. By the redemptive power of the Cross, create in us clean hearts and put within us a new spirit, so that we may repent of our sins and lead lives worthy of your calling: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I took my grand children to the Children's Parade on Monday evening. While it was lots of fun, there was something very spiritual about the time. People spend a lot of time and energy seeking and searching for trinkets in life. Not that catching the beads wasn't fun, but half were broken by the end of the night. And then, when we were able to leave the parking lot, there was trash galore in the street, on the sidewalk, everywhere. So Preacher, what's so spiritual about that? We leave behind a path of discarded, piles of junk that seemed to mean so much to us, but won't really do much for us in the eternal perspective of life. Ash Wednesday is a call for us to look around at the trash in our life, and then ask the only one who can "clean" us up: our Lord Jesus Christ to cleanse us and set our feet on the path that leads to Holiness. That is what Lent is all about!

We begin tonight, following a delicious meal, shrimp fettuccine as the main course, served at 5:30pm. Our Ash Wednesday Service will begin at 6:30pm, where we commit to allowing the Lord to work in us to clean us up. Holy Communion will be served.

Sunday, we will begin looking at the Questions of Faith found in John's Gospel, and we start with Jesus asking us: "What are you looking for?"

Next Wednesday night after our dinner, We will begin a four week study on Resurrection and our Easter Faith.

Looking for a way to make a difference in our world?  Try finding a place of ministry here at Covenant and do something in our community. March 17th - Race for the Cure, help raise funds to stop Breast Cancer. Register for our Covenant Team on Komen Acadiana web site.

Sincerely,

Midweek Reminders - April 19, 2011

Our hearts and minds center on you at this time of Holy Week, O LORD. Even as we prepare to rejoice as Easter People, we do know that we can continue to encounter you in new ways. May we extend our hearts to people in need of your healing touch, extend our love to people who grieve daily, and extend our hope to people who know no hope. May our services be rich and full of worship, as we seek the Risen Lord among us. Amen!

Mid-Week Reminders:

Wednesday
8:00am - Pilates Exercise Class in Fellowship Hall
9:30am - Explorers Bible Study
No Wednesday Night Dinner
6:00pm - Holy Week Wednesday Night Service featuring the Last Supper of Christ as we Gather at His Table

Good Friday
9:00am - 4:00pm - Sanctuary will be open for Self Directed Devotional Time as we follow Jesus to the Cross.

Easter Sunday
7:00m - Sunrise Service as we meet outdoors (weather permitting) and we greet each other and the Risen Lord greets us.
9:00am & 11:00am - Worship Services
We begin singing Songs of Faith, then the Redeemed leads us in worship with orginial songs about the Resurrection from the perspective of Eyewitnesses. Come support this vital part of our Music Ministry. Easter is about New Life and I know you won't want to miss the opportunity to bring your family and friends. to Easter Services.

Sincerely,
Chris Blanchard
Covenant United Methodist Church

Midweek Reminders from Covenant - March 15, 2011

I don't know about you, but there are waves of emotion that just roll over me, whenever I watch the television news about the events of the earthquake, tsunami, and now impending nuclear disaster in Japan. We can do several things - we can pray. Just last Sunday I spoke about Jesus being the LIGHT OF THE WORLD, let our prayers be that the Christian Community be that light in the darkness and we can give, over the next few weekends, we will receive special offering for the United Methodist Committee on Relief effort geared towards that need.

We are also touching base with the Rayne tornado efforts and will let us know what if anything we can do to help with this local need as well. It has been reported some 90 homes will need complete renovation. I know Covenant will respond to this local need as well.

We are such a generous church. My words of thanks for providing over $500 last weekend for the MPKids bake sale.

---

Wednesday Schedule Reminder:
8:00am - Pilates Exercise Group Fellowship Hall
9:30am - Explorers Bible Study
5:00pm - Bell Choir Rehearsal
5:30pm - Wednesday Night Dinner
6:15pm - Children's Music Ministry
6:20pm - Holy Communion and Prayer
6:30pm - Session #1- Bread and Broth Lenten Study - Jacob and Lentil Stew. Lent is the best time of the year to add to your life a discipline of Study. Come out and Let's grow spiritually together.

---

Saturday Events -
First, the Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure - not too late to enter into Covenant's Race for the Cure Team, go to www.covenantum.org and find the link. Will have our own Covenant Tee Shirts available Wednesday afternoon or at Wednesday Night Dinner.

If you have signed up for the team or are going to sign up this week, please come by and pick up a Covenant Race for the Cure shirt.

Second - our Men will have a working breakfast - 8:00am - devotion by Rev. Bernie Shamp, followed by work around our flower beds and/or some work relamping sanctuary lighting. If you aren't headed out to the Walk for Cure, come to church and help out.

---

Sunday Morning join us for a lively worship service. We are looking at the I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD text. Come to pray, come to praise, come to hear God's Word, come to find your way as part of the Body of Christ.

---

Someone in our church needs a ride to the doctor in Shreveport on Friday April 8th, please let me know if you can take time off that day to do this needed task.

Chris Blanchard
phone: 337.981.2088
chris@covenantum.org

Ash Wednesday - Why and What?

I grew up with only a vague notion of Ash Wednesday. To me, it was some Catholic holy day that I, as a Protestant, didn't have to worry about, thanks be to God. In my view, all of “that religious stuff” detracted from what really mattered, which was having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In my early years as a Methodist it never dawned on me that some of “the religious stuff” might actually enrich my faith in Christ.

But then, in 2004, Ash Wednesday came to the forefront in American Protestant consciousness. Why? Because, on that day Mel Gibson released The Passion of the Christ. For the first time in history, the phrase "Ash Wednesday" was on the lips of millions of evangelical Christians, not just Catholics and other "high church" Protestants, as we anticipated the official release of The Passion of the Christ.

Ash Wednesday is a Christian holiday that has been honored by Christians for well over ten centuries at the beginning of Lent, a six-week season of preparation for Easter. Around 1000 AD, all believers began to signify their need for repentance by having ashes placed on their foreheads in the shape of a cross. Even this sign of sinfulness hinted at the good news yet to come through its shape as a Cross.

Today, celebrations of Ash Wednesday vary among churches that recognize this holiday. More and more Protestant churches hold some sort of Ash Wednesday services; where ashes are placed on our foreheads as a reminder of our mortality and sinfulness. The person who imposes the ashes quotes something like what God once said to Adam after he had sinned: You are dust, and to dust you shall return (Gen 3:19). This is the bad news of our sinfulness that prepares us to receive the good news of forgiveness in Christ.

Do we have some peculiar fascination with dying? I don’t think so. Rather, it allows us to stare death in the face is the assurance of real life, eternal life. When we know our lives are safe in the hands of God, and that this physical life is just the beginning of eternity, then we’re free to be honest about what lies ahead for us. We can face death without fear or pretending, because we know the One who defeated death. Thus Ash Wednesday’s vivid reminder of our mortality leads us, not to despair, but to hope. It points not to defeat, but to the coming victory of Easter. Make plans now to join us and your church family for an Ash Wednesday service on March 9th at 6:00pm. You do not have to have your forehead marked with ash, but you may choose to do so. Either way, join us as we begin the Lenten Journey towards the Cross.

Chris Blanchard