Pastor Bob Langston

 

 

Dear Friends,

           

            It’s hard to believe, but by the time this is in your hands, we will only be a few short weeks away from Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent!  (Please see piece below by D.E. Leininger; the italicized comment is mine.)  Hopefully, most of you will remember that during Lent last year, my clergy group focused together in our preaching on a study Tim Keller did called The Prodigal God.  It was, for me anyway, a fresh and new way to think about an old familiar story about “The Prodigal Son” in Luke 15.11-32.  And one of the highlights for all of us, pastors and people, was the pulpit exchange we did in the middle of the season.

            This year, we are trying something different again to mark the beginning of Lent. First Baptist Church of Syracuse will be hosting a combined Ash Wednesday Service at 7PM on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012 at 7PM for all of our congregations.  All 6 of the pastors in my group will be inviting their churches to join in this special time of worship and each of us will all have a special part in the service.  And by the way, our praise team will be leading the music for this service!  I’m hopeful that many of you will make this a priority of your time, so that you can actually see and meet some of my colleagues who have been a true gift to my life…and so that you can experience a great time of worship where our Lenten theme will be introduced for this year :  Walking With God in the Desert, which was put together by Ray Vander Laan.  

Desert…the wilderness, is a rich metaphor in Scripture and we will explore this more in depth each Sunday during Lent as we consider the desert experience of Aron Ralston, whose story was made famous in the film 127 hours and in his book, Between a Rock and a Hard Place.

            So…two things:  First, PLEASE make sure you come to the Ash Wednesday service on Feb. 22 at First Baptist Church of Syracuse at 7PM.  Their address is 5833 E. Seneca Turnpike, Jamesville NY 13078, and their telephone number is (315)469-2000. The very simple directions to First Baptist from OHPC are:  turn left out of the church driveway onto Makyes Road and then turn right at the light onto W. Seneca Turnpike.  Follow the turnpike all the way to the “T” at E. Seneca Turnpike-Tim Hortons is at the corner.  Turn right onto E. Seneca Turnpike and the church is 0.8 of a mile on the left!  It’s a SHORT 10 minutes from OHPC!

And second, rent and watch 127 Hours sometime before Feb. 26!  Trust me…it will help to make a meaningful Lent for you!

 

And…we’ll see you in church!  (And why not bring a friend?!)

 

With love,

 

Pastor Bob

 

Ash Wednesday. In the Christian church, the first day of Lent, occurring 6 1/2 weeks before Easter. In the early church, the length of the Lenten observance varied, but eventually it began six weeks – 42 days – before Easter. But this provided only 36 days of fasting (because Sundays were not supposed to be fast days). So, in the 7th century, four days were added before the first Sunday in Lent in order to establish 40 fasting days, in imitation of Christ’s fast in the desert.

 

The custom of using ashes today is from an old ceremony. Christians who had committed grave faults were obliged to do public penance. On Ash Wednesday the Bishop blessed the hair shirts (garments of rough cloth made from goats’ hair and worn in the form of a shirt or as a girdle around the loins) which they were to wear during the forty days, and sprinkled ashes over them which had been made from the palms from the previous year. Then, while the faithful recited the Seven Penitential Psalms, (Psalm 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143) the penitents were turned out of the holy place because of their sins, as Adam and Eve were turned out of the Garden of Eden because of their disobedience. They did not enter the Church again until Maundy Thursday after having won reconciliation by doing penance for forty days and receiving sacramental absolution. Later on, the practice came to include ALL Christians in recognition that, “ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”(Romans 3.23)  (That’s why I hold to the notion that the disposition of ashes is a Christian thing, not a Catholic thing! RBL)

-from Good News in the Ashes by David E. Leininger