Slideshow image

Today is the last day of February. The month went quickly. March is here and with March comes the start of spring, daylight savings time returns, spring training baseball followed by opening day, and of course, the season of Lent begins next week. And we were blessed with some warmer weather this week as a reminder that spring is on its way. Hope you had the opportunity to enjoy some of the warmer, brighter days this week.

Tomorrow I will pick up Ruth at the airport in Harrisburg. I am glad she is coming home as I have missed her. While we talked every day, it is not the same. I missed her presence at home. I missed sharing a meal together and waking up next to her. There is something about the presence of a person in our life that keeps us grounded and secure. I didn’t have that this week but am excited to have that tomorrow again as she returns home.

This week I was at Solanco Neighborhood Ministries for pastor’s hours and was able to talk with a gentleman on the phone and pray with him. I was able to visit some this week but preparing another sermon and planning for the Lenten and summer season took extra time this week. Tonight is the Grace Marriage date night but with Ruth in Florida I will have to skip this one. I’m so excited for this ministry and for those couples who are giving leadership to strengthening marriages at Mechanic Grove.

On Sunday we will conclude our Dream BIG series with a message from Luke 19:1-10. We will be observing pew communion in both Sunday morning services. My thanks to the prayer and share triplets who have been meeting throughout the series and I hope they will meet one more time next week. The Dream Big board will be up until the end of next week so please take time to read what is there and more importantly add your own God-given dream for Mechanic Grove.

Lent starts on Wednesday and so we will be sharing a reading each week during Lent with a significant object from Jesus’ life and what it means. In addition, during Lent our preaching series is “Encounters with Jesus” as we look at some amazing, life changing encounters that Jesus has in the Gospels. Plans are underway for Love Feast on Maundy Thursday and yes there will be a sunrise service Easter morning at the Platts. The March/April newsletter is out, and you can see all that is happening in the next couple of months at Mechanic Grove Church of the Brethren.

Back in January we began the puzzle exchange, but it is now time to return those puzzles. I think I did five puzzles from the table since it started with another one underway. My thanks to Donita Reimold for the idea and for the many who contributed puzzles. With the calendar changing to March that means our Branches Brunch is coming so this is the month for our adults and Little Roots to be paired up. Hope it is a great season for those who are participating in this special ministry. 

I will be finishing praying through the directory this coming week and then I will begin praying specifically for the ministries of the church during the Lenten season. My devotions this week were in the end of Deuteronomy and the beginning of Joshua. I read again of Rahab sheltering the spies in her home, of Jericho falling to the Israelites and of course of Moses’ final days. Moses was a great leader and yet the Israelite people didn’t always appreciate him. He was faithful to God and served well an often-ungrateful people. Moses was able to view the Promised Land from Mt. Nebo but was not able to enter. Moses died there and it says that God Himself buried Moses (Deut. 34:5-6) and no one, to this day, knows where God buried him. The Israelites grieved for Moses for thirty days (v. 8). Moses lived to be 120 years old. He had spent 40 years tending sheep and then 40 years leading the Israelites. God gave him a big task tied to a big dream and Moses saw it through. Moses is remembered with great esteem in the Hall of Fame of faith in Hebrews 11. 

Spring-like weather should continue for today and tomorrow, but winter will be back for Sunday. That is typical for March. No matter what the weather is we can be assured that God is on the throne and worthy to be praised. On Sunday, we will celebrate our Savior Jesus who came to seek and to save the lost as we focus on the ones Jesus misses most. And we will wrap up our Dream Big series appropriately by receiving the bread and the cup in remembrance of our Savior’s sacrificial death. What a great Lord’s day God has for us as we conclude our Dream Big series and anticipate the season of Lent. Ruth and I are looking forward to seeing you. Have a great weekend but remember it is Friday…but Sunday’s coming!

Pastor Kevin