Lent 2018

In his book A Hunger for God: Desiring God Through Fasting and Prayer, John Piper writes; “As Jesus teaches it, fasting is an intensely Godward act. Do it toward God, who sees when others don’t.”

Lent begins this Wednesday, February 14th. Traditionally, Lent is a 40 day period of fasting, prayer, and devotion as we remember our own brokenness and God’s work of redemption through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

At Redemption Church, we aren’t looking to establish a bunch of rules and regulations about how to observe Lent, but we are inviting you to enter into this season together prayerfully and “toward God.” 

HERE ARE A FEW RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

Hearing the Voice of God: A Lenten Art Show  Scott Erickson

In the windows of The Doris Building this season you can find Scott Erickson’s newest art show meant to help you engage in the season of Lent. 

On Saturday, March 17th, Scott will be performing his one man show We Are Not Troubled Guests live at the Doris Building. Tickets available here. Scott will also be sharing more on the subject of prayer at Redemption Church on Sunday, March 18th at 10:45am. Don’t miss it!

Prayer: Forty Days of Practice  Justin McRoberts and Scott Erickson

This is a beautiful guided prayer resource from Justin McRoberts and Scott Erickson. Find out more about it on their website. 

Living Through Dying: A Six Week Community Guide Through Lent Brad Watson

In Living Through Dying you will read the Psalms, discuss the themes of Lent, and practice the spiritual disciplines of fasting, confession, praise, and lament as a community. Each week your community will be looking to Jesus, looking inwardly at his or her own heart, and looking outwardly in what it means to live in light of the gospel. This is an opportunity to re-center your community on the gospel of Jesus.

God is on the Cross: Reflections on Lent and EasterDietrich Bonhoeffer

These forty stirring devotions will guide and inspire readers as they move thematically through the weeks of Lent and Easter, encountering themes of prayerful reflection, self-denial, temptation, suffering, and the meaning of the cross. Passages from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s letters and sermons provide special encouragement as readers prepare themselves spiritually for Holy Week and Easter Sunday. Supplemented by an informative introduction to Bonhoeffer’s life and a Scripture passage for each day of the season, these daily devotions are moving reminders of the true gift of Christ on the cross.”

Lenten Devotionals Redeemer Presbyterian Church

“In 2011 Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York published 40 Lenten Devotions written by a variety of authors including Kathy Keller. Due to popular demand over successive years, RPC have continued to make the devotions available to help their people ‘prepare their hearts for Easter.”

This devotional material is also available through the You Version Bible app.

 

Black History Month & Recommended Resources

February is Black History Month. Last Sunday morning I read over some reasons, written on Meridian Hill DC pastor Duke Kwon’s social media post, why we ought to intentionally observe and celebrate Black History Month at Redemption Church. 

  1. To deepen fellowship with our black Christian sisters/brothers by honoring their family stories, learning about the historical and cultural contexts that shape who they are.

  2. To cultivate cross-cultural skills in order to love our black local neighbors more genuinely and more effectively; after all, we cannot love our neighbors well without knowing their stories and without sharing a “common memory” of the past.

  3. To learn more of the all too neglected history of the Black Church, recognizing that Black Church History is Church History.

  4. To model the gospel ethic of mutuality/interdependency by esteeming a subdominant culture—historically, one devalued/subjugated even in/by the Church—celebrating its people and achievements and witnessing its vast potential to fortify the ministry and mission of the Church.

  5. To grow in repentance for corporate sins committed against Black people, often in the name of Christ—sins past and present, of commission and omission—as a necessary step toward true reconciliation and interethnic unity in the Church.

I would add, for Redemption Church, that as we are praying to be a diverse community of believers representative of our community, celebrating and observing Black History Month intentionally is a practical step, however small, in that direction.

Therefore we are doing a couple of things this month with intention. 

First, we have asked a couple of our African-American friends to join us in continuing to preach through the book of Acts. We highly value their voice and perspective, and we want to deepen our fellowship with them. Here is a quick introduction:

  • John Farmer will join us this Sunday, February 11th. John is a pastoral intern at First Presbyterian Augusta, and he is the Paine College Director for Campus Outreach. John and I have been meeting to pray together regularly for several weeks, and he has become a friend and a real blessing to me personally. 
  • Dante Stewart will be with us on Sunday, February 25th. He is a student at Reformed Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Jasamine, live in Augusta, Georgia, where he teaches Bible at Heritage Academy Augusta. They are members of Crawford Avenue Baptist Church. Dante is a great writer, and he has published several articles – many are recommended below.

Secondly, I want to encourage you to spend some time utilizing a few suggested resources – books, articles, media – to learn about Black History and racial divisions in our culture in order to cultivate your ability to empathize, repent, and love cross-culturally.

There are certainly many more great resources out there, but here are just a hand full of suggestions from myself and others.

Books

Divided By Faith – By Michael Emerson And Christian Smith

United – By Trillia Newbell

God’s Very Good Idea – By Trillia Newbell And Catalina Echeverri

The Genesis Of Liberation – By Emerson Powery And Rodney Sadler

Free At Last? – By Carl Ellis

White Awake – By Daniel Hill And Brenda Salter McNeil

Articles

The Witness: A Black Chrisitan Collective “engages issues of religion, race, justice, and culture from a biblical perspective.” There are several resources there worth checking out. Here are a couple by our friend Dante Stewart:

Dante has also been published at The Gospel Coalition:

Monét Robinson, also one of Augusta’s own, recently had this excellent article published at Radical.net:

The C&MA posted an old Alliance Life article honoring several African-Americans who “played a significant role in early Alliance history”:

One of the most stirring articles I read last year was written by D.L. Mayfield at Christianity Today:

Media

If you’re more into listening than reading, here are a couple of good podcast recommendations:

Lastly, I recently attended an Acts 29 & Carolina Greenhouse sponsored event called Race, The Church, and The Gospel. Antony Frederick shared a “plea to my brothers and sisters in the faith that lead predominantly white Christian churches, denominations, networks, etc to pursue racial harmony on a “macro” level, with your African-American brothers and sisters.” You can watch the video here: