Preparing for Lent

What comes to your mind when you hear terms such as “Lent” or “Ash Wednesday”?  Your response would certainly be shaped by your past spiritual experiences—or inexperience—with these annual events.  Some of us who previously worshiped in a “high church” tradition (Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopalian, etc.) might remember ashes on the forehead, fasting and prayer, or abstaining from something such as meat or smoking.  Others, including many of us who have been life-long practicing Baptists, have had little or no experience with Lent-related practices.

Traditionally, Lent has functioned within the church as a time of preparation for believers, helping them to meditate upon the crucifixion and resurrection for a forty day period, culminating during Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  The symbolism of “forty days” is related to the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness, fasting and praying before he entered into public ministry.  Over the centuries, Christians have developed various disciplines to help them focus during the period of Lent, including fasting and prayer, as well as other forms of abstinence and self-denial.

In recent years, we have gently explored the season of Lent at Altadena Baptist Church, making an effort to more intentionally prepare for Easter in the weeks preceding it.  This year, we have chosen to work more methodically through this Lenten period, but in ways that are geared to address the needs and spiritual journeys within our own congregation.  Our expression of Lent in the coming weeks won’t necessarily look like the way Lent is  practiced in other churches; we will seek to find unique ways to examine the challenges of living our lives for Christ in a world filled with distractions and temptations.  We will consider the cost of committing and devoting ourselves to Christ, remembering along the way the cost that Christ himself paid for us through his own death.  For the next six Sundays, our pastors will be preaching on Scriptures concerning Jesus’ final days as he approached the reality of the cross.  The other elements of our worship services will supplement the content of the sermons, and will also focus on various disciplines that we are called as Christians to practice daily, not simply during the season of Lent.  These disciplines include such themes as confession, sacrifice, humility and compassion, forgiveness, perseverance, and faithfulness.

We invite you to join us at ABC on Wednesday, February 22, at 7:00 PM, for an evening of worship and reflection, as we officially enter into Lent as a community.  It will be unlike any other Ash Wednesday service you may have attended, but it will be true to who we are as the Altadena Baptist Church family of believers.  The service will be a meaningful way for us to prepare for what promises to be a spiritually enriching opportunity for us, both individually and corporately.

A Moment in Time and Space, Part 2

If you came here because today as a result of my recent article for the ABC Messenger, congratulations! (For the rest of you, you might want to read this linked article first.) Below are the lyrics for the songs we will be singing this Sunday at Altadena Baptist Church. For those who will be worshipping with us this weekend, please feel free to read them once or meditate upon the lyrics throughout the week. (For the rest of you, this might not be the blog entry you're looking for.  You can go about your business...  move along.)

You can also download the lyrics through this link.

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HOW GOOD AND PLEASANT

Tommy Walker

How good and pleasant it is when we dwell together in unity

And praise the Lord, praise the Lord!

How good and pleasant it is when we dwell together in unity

And praise the Lord, praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

Showers of blessing, showers they fall;

When we love and live in unity, when we lift one voice, loud and strong!

©2000 Integrity’s Praise Music/BMI. CCLI License No. 67437

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EVERYDAY

Joel Houston

What to say, Lord, it’s You who gave me life,

And I can’t explain just how much you mean to me;

Now that You have saved me, Lord, I give all that I am to You,

That everyday I can be a light that shines Your name!

Everyday, Lord, I’ll learn to stand upon Your Word,

And I pray that I, that I might come to know You more;

That You would guide me in ev’ry single step I take,

That everyday I can be a light unto the world!

Everyday it’s You I’ll live for, everyday I’ll follow after You;

Everyday I’ll walk with You, my Lord!

It’s You I live for everyday, it’s You I live for everyday,

It’s You I live for everyday!

©1999 Joel Houston (Hillsong) (Admin. in U.S. & Canada by Integrity's Hosanna! Music). CCLI License No. 67437.

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THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT

Bill Fiala

I love You, Lord, with all my soul,

With all my mind, with all my strength.

I love You, Lord, with all my heart,

With all I am for who You are.

Because You loved me first, I love You, Lord.

© 1996 Bill Fiala. CCLI License No. 67437

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HOW DEEP THE FATHER’S LOVE FOR US
Stuart Townend

How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure,

That He should give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss; the Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One bring many sons to glory.

Behold, the man upon a cross, my sin upon His shoulders;

Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life—I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything, bo gifts, no power, no wisdom;

But I will boast in Jesus Christ: His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer;
But this I know with all my heart: His wounds have paid my ransom.

© 1995 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing). All rights Reserved. CCLI License No. 67437.

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CENTER OF MY JOY
Gloria Gaither, Richard Smallwood, and William J. Gaither

Jesus, You're the center of my joy.

All that's good and perfect comes from You.
You're the heart of my contentment, hope for all I do;
Jesus, You're the center of my joy.

When I've lost my direction, You're the compass for my way;

You're the fire and light when nights are long and cold.
In sadness You are the laughter that shatters all my fears;
When I'm all alone, Your hand is there to hold.

You are why I find pleasure in the simple things of life,
You're the music in the meadows and the streams;
The voices of the children, my fam'ly and my home,
You're the source and finish of my highest dreams.

Jesus, You're the center of my joy.

All that's good and perfect comes from You.
You're the heart of my contentment, hope for all I do;

Jesus… You are… the center… of my joy…

© 1987 William J. Gaither, Inc. | Century Oak Publishing Group | Richwood Music ARR UBP of Gaither Copyright Management | (Admin. by MCS Music America, Inc.) | (Admin. by MCS Music America, Inc.) CCLI License No. 67437.

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NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE
Text: Sarah F. Adams
Music: Lowell Mason

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me;
Still all my song shall be, nearer my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee.

Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,

Darkness be over me, my rest a stone;
Yet in my dreams I’d be nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee.

There let the way appear steps unto heav’n,

All that Thou sendeth me in mercy giv’n;
Angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee.

Then, with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,

Out of my stony griefs, Bethel I’ll raise;
So by my woes to be nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee.

Public Domain

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THE WONDERFUL CROSS

Original music based on a Gregorian chant; arranged by Lowell Mason, original lyrics by Isaac Watts
Arrangement by Jesse Reeves and Chris Tomlin; refrain lyrics by Chris Tomlin and J.D. Walt

When I survey the wondrous cross

On which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride

See from his head, his hands, his feet

Sorrow and love flow mingled down
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown

O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross

Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live

O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross

All who gather here by grace draw near and bless your name

Were the whole realm of nature mine

That were an offering far too small
Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all

Arrangement ©2000 Rivermusic Songs/sixstepspublishing. CCLI License No. 67437

STATIONS mentioned in local Altadena blog

A local blog for the city of Altadena genorously posted an article regarding our Good Friday service.  You can read it by clicking here.

Merry Christmas!

Like many others, Shanti and I are using the Internet to send out our Christmas greetings this year. (Why not, it's FREE!) Anyway, we invite you to click here for your viewing/downloading/printing pleasure.

May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit bless you richly in the coming new year.

Advent

We were blessed this last Sunday to have a few of our church members share their artistic talents as we entered the Advent season. My friend (and fellow band member) Tim read a poem he had written, and another friend, Matt, provided a series of realtime drawings that were inspired by Tim's poem. We had a videocamera capture Matt sketching out the drawings as the poem progressed, and I provided music inspired by both the poem and the drawings.

I want to post more about how this all worked and how it impacted our corporate worship, but in the meantime, you can read the poem and see the drawings here.

Even More Easter Musings

For a nice article by Bono regarding Easter and other things...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/opinion/19bono.html?_r=1

More Easter Musings

Dr. Mouw, the president of Fuller Seminary, has a great little blurb about Easter on Fuller's website:

http://www.fuller.edu/news-and-events/home-features/easter-mouw.aspx

Let us proclaim the Resurrection boldly and unabashedly!