FROM THE PASTOR'S DESK

We are in the midst of Lent. Lent is the 40 days (not including Sundays) from Ash Wednesday to the Saturday before Easter. Lent is often described as a time of preparation and an opportunity to go deeper with God. This means that it’s a time for personal reflection that prepares people’s hearts and minds for Good Friday and Easter. 

The Shared Ministry of Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Lexington, and Hope Lutheran Church, Frankfort, began our Lenten journey on February 22nd. If you have a chance, please view the video on Facebook which I have provid-ed for this liturgical season. The theme for Lent this year is God is Bigger! We are seeing and remembering that God is bigger than our problems or our needs. We thank all the volunteers who are lectors and monologue readers for our worship services. 

Another thought I have had this Lenten season is that there is BEAUTY in Lent. While we may not think of the idea of beauty during this season of repentance, fasting, and alms-giving (the practice of giving money or food to the poor), we can assuredly see Christ’s beauty through these things. Christ is beautiful as he is taking up his cross, for us. Even in the midst of the pain and suffering and on the cross, Christ is beautiful in his sacrifice for us. Christ’s shed blood and name are holy. “Ecce homo,”—“Behold the Man”—has a unique beauty, in that Christ is the only Lamb of God who could take away the sin of the world. 

Please visit the respective church websites in order to find the dates and times for all the services at both locations of the shared ministry. 

And I pray a Blessed Lenten Journey to you and yours. ”Then Jesus came forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, ‘Behold the man!’” John 19:5. 

Press on with me into the adventure of God’s amazing grace and love. 

With Hope & Confidence in Christ,

Rev. Jerri Morton Carlin, Interim Pastor