Two years ago at Hope Chapel we began the tradition of observing Lent.  And, while it was new to many of us, it is hardly a new practice in the history of the Church.  For centuries, communities of Christians from many denominations and backgrounds have engaged in this season of repentance and renewal.  So, you may be wondering, what exactly is Lent?  A short answer:  Lent is the 40 days leading up to Easter (excluding Sundays), when followers of Christ take time to examine their lives, to identify idols, and repent of those and seek deeper intimacy with God as we look to the Cross.  It is also traditionally marked by a renewed commitment to compassionate service (as we remember that grace we’ve been given, it compels us to offer grace to others).  Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (March 22nd) and ends the Saturday before Easter (April 7th).  As Martin Luther rightly said, all of life is repentance, but this is a season designed for a more focused look at our brokenness.  As some authors have put it, Lent is like the spiritual equivalent to an annual physical exam. 

However, it is not intended to be a dark season of self-loathing.  We live in the reality of a risen Savior, who paid for our sins and made us Sons and Daughters of the Father, so the entire Lenten season points to Easter, the great celebration.  There are reminders of this along the way.  Each Sunday is considered a “mini-Easter”, when fasts are temporarily broken (more on fasting later) and we gather to worship and feast together.  On Sunday mornings, we will be studying the seven deadly sins in a series called Struggling Well.  Throughout the season, you’ll have the opportunity to serve Greensboro with your community group and through Project Hope.

One of the biggest misconceptions about Lent is that it’s all about giving something up.  Most of us have probably heard someone talk about giving up chocolate and thought it sounded trivial.  The purpose of Lent is not to prove your devotion to Christ by giving up something that you love.  It’s not really about identifying with the suffering of Christ, either.  Again, the purpose of Lent is mainly to repent and refocus our hearts on Christ.  Fasting has traditionally  been part of Lent for a couple of reasons:  first, on a very practical level, you may not have time in your current routine to spend time reflecting and engaging in the Lenten season.  So “fasting” from something (whether it’s a meal, television during certain hours, or whatever) might be a helpful tool to make space in your life.  Second, sometimes repentance and refocus looks like cutting something out of our lives that is a “rival god”. 

Since Lent is relatively new to us at Hope Chapel, we want to keep things very simple.  We’ll worship together on Ash Wednesday to begin the season, and have a special Maundy Thursday worship gathering during Easter week.  We’ll celebrate Easter Sunday in a big way.  For the forty days in between, we’re making a few simple resources available to you: a Scripture reading guide, along with a prayer guide, and a short three page essay called Keeping a Holy Lent.  All of those are available for download on this page.  In terms of fasting, we are leaving that to personal decision.  If you feel that fasting from something would be a helpful tool in self-examination and refocusing, then we encourage you to consider it.  If not, that’s okay too.

Our hope is that this would be a sweet time of repentance and renewal for the Hope Chapel community as we see our great sin, but remember that we have a Savior who is much greater.