Weekly Update// Pastor Will
Hi church!
Do you remember getting Valentines from your classmates back in grade school? The ones that had pictures of a train and read something like, “I choo choo choose you.” Or maybe a picture of some cheese and asked, “Will you brie my valentine?” I confess I never got one with a cheese reference when I was younger but wouldn’t have minded if I did.
As I write this email, it’s Tuesday, February 14, or Valentine’s Day. Alicia and I recently just received pictures from Liam’s teacher as he exchanged Valentines with his classmates. To say both our hearts melted would be an understatement. It took me back to the days when I would nervously sit in class waiting to receive Valentines from my classmates, and of course, my class crush even though she gave everyone else one as well. Despite my slight jealousy back then, I still look back on those memories with fondness.
All this highlights how wonderful and important love is, especially for Christians. Scripture identifies in 1 John 4:12 that “if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.” We’re also told that the greatest commandments have to do with love. Both loving God and loving each other as we love ourselves. And that includes all types of love such as love between friends, romantic partners, or family members. It’s all important! And though the 14th of February shouldn’t be any different, it helped me appreciate love a bit more today!
This Sunday, Pastor Chris will wrap up our sermon series on the Lord’s Prayer, and then we’re full speed into Lent! Lent kicks off on Wednesday, February 22, with our first Lenten Gathering at 12 Noon in the Fellowship Hall, where we will have a great line-up of speakers guiding us through our 2023 series The Last Seven Sayings of Jesus on His way to the Cross. We will also have our Ash Wednesday service that evening in the Sanctuary at 7pm. We will impose ashes at both services. Further, we have our Lent devotionals that will be ready to be picked up on Sunday at the church campus, or you can find them online at AsburyLent.Com. We hope to see you Sunday at either our Celebration Service at 9:30am in the Fellowship Hall or our Traditional Service at 11am in the Sanctuary, or both! If you can’t make it in person, both will be live-streamed on YouTube and Facebook.
Last, I ask for your prayers for my family and me in these upcoming weeks as we welcome our second child. I’ll be out for a month or so as we focus on our quickly growing family but will send updates when I can. The doctor planned the scheduled delivery for Monday, but God and the baby could have other plans, so we will see!
God Bless and take care!
Pastor Will