Wednesday with the Wesleys

Susanna Annesley Wesley led a prayer meeting from her kitchen during her minister spouse Samuel’s absence, a very unusual thing for a woman to do in 1711. He received letters of complaint from his curate (associate) and exchanged letters with Susanna on the subject. She gave him several excellent reasons for doing this audacious ministry and shut the conversation down with —

”If you do, after all, think fit to dissolve this assembly, do not tell me that you desire me to do it, for that will not satisfy my conscience; but send me your positive command, in such full and express terms as may absolve me from all guilt and punishment for neglecting this opportunity of doing good, when you and I shall appear before the great and awful tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

What is Lent and why does it last forty days?

Lent is a season of forty days, not counting Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy    Saturday. Lent comes from the Anglo-Saxon word lencten, meaning “lengthen” and refers to the lengthening days of spring. The forty days represents the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, enduring the temptation of Satan and preparing to begin his ministry.

Lent is a time of repentance, fasting and preparation for the coming of Easter. It is a time of self-examination and reflection. In the early church, Lent began as a period of fasting and preparation for baptism by new converts and then became a time of penance by all Christians. 

Today, Christians focus on relationship with God, growing as disciples and extending ourselves, often choosing to give up something or to volunteer and give   of ourselves for others.

Sundays in Lent are not counted in the forty days because each Sunday represents a "mini-Easter." This is why you will see the designation "Sunday in Lent" rather than "Sunday of Lent" in the naming of these Sundays. On each Lord's Day in Lent, while Lenten fasts continue, the reverent spirit of Lent is tempered with joyful anticipation of the Resurrection.

 This content was produced by Ask The UMC, a ministry of United Methodist Communications.

 

Virtual Ash Wednesday service

As we begin the Lenten season, the General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) invites you to a service to re-commit ourselves to the restorative work of justice, peace, and reconciliation.

Rev. William V. Lamar, III, Senior Pastor of Metropolitan AME Church (Washington D.C.), will be offering a reflection.

Rev. Camille Henderson-Edwards, GBCS Director of Health, Gender, and Economic Justice, will be presiding.

The Service will take place:

• Wednesday, February 22, 2023
• 10:00AM - 11:00AM MST
• Simpson Memorial Chapel (Mask Required), United Methodist Building 100 Maryland Ave N.E., Washington, DC 20002

The Service will also be live online via Zoom. At the time and date, connect here.

Devotional for Ash Wednesday

St. Paul's UMC - Boulder, Colorado
Ash Wednesday 2022

Read Psalms 10-12

Psalm 10 (BRG Bible)

¹ Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? Why hidest thou thyself  in times of trouble? ² The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. ³ For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth. ⁴ The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

⁵ His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. ⁶ He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.  ⁷ His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity. ⁸ He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor. ⁹ He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net. ¹⁰ He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.

¹¹ He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it. ¹² Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble. ¹³ Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? He hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it. ¹⁴ Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless. ¹⁵ Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.

¹⁶ The Lord is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land. ¹⁷ Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear: ¹⁸ To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.

A prayer for Shrove Tuesday

On this Shrove Tuesday, Lord help us to enjoy and give thanks to You for the bounty you provide for us and remind us to share Your gifts with others. And as Lent begins tomorrow, prepare our hearts and minds to reflect upon the temptation of Jesus for 40 days and nights and what that means for us. Amen

- from the Methodist Church in Great Britain 

Area UMC Ash Wednesday offerings

Arvada UMC: 7:00 PM service with imposition of ashes

Broomfield UMC: 7:00 PM service in the chapel with imposition of ashes.

Erie UMC: 6:00 PM service with imposition of ashes.

FUMC - Boulder: The United Women in Faith unit is leading an alternative Ash Wednesday service in the chapel at 11:00 AM. 

First UMC – Lafayette: Soup supper potluck and service at FUMC - Louisville.

FUMC - Louisville: Soup supper potluck at 6:00 PM followed by a short service with ashes and communion at 7:00 PM. 

Heart of Longmont UMC: 7:00 PM service with imposition of ashes.

Longs Peak UMC: 7:00 PM service with imposition of ashes.

Mountain View UMC: 7:00 PM service with imposition of ashes.

Niwot UMC: We are having Prayer Stations, open house style, with the sanctuary/space open from 11:30am-6:00 pm

St. Paul's UMC: No service scheduled.

Westminster UMC: 7:00 PM service with imposition of ashes. 

Devotional for February 21

Mountain View UMC - Boulder, Colorado

Read Psalms 7-9

Psalm 7 (Amplified Bible)

¹ O Lord my God, in You I take refuge; Save me and rescue me from all those who pursue me, ² So that my enemy will not tear me like a lion, Dragging me away while there is no one to rescue [me]. ³ O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is injustice in my hands, ⁴ If I have done evil to him who was at peace with me, Or  without cause robbed him who was my enemy, ⁵  Let the enemy    pursue me and overtake me; And let him trample my life to the ground And lay my honor in the dust. Selah.

⁶ Arise, O Lord, in Your anger; Lift up Yourself against the rage of my enemies; Rise up for me; You have commanded judgment and indication. ⁷ Let the assembly of the nations be gathered around You, And return on high over them. ⁸  The Lord judges the peoples; Judge me, O Lord, and  grant me justice according to my righteousness and according to the integrity within me. ⁹ Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous [those in right standing with You]; For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.

¹⁰  My shield and my defense depend on God, Who saves the upright in heart. ¹¹ God is a righteous judge, And a God who is indignant every day. ¹² If a man does not repent, God will sharpen His sword; He has strung and bent His [mighty] bow and made it ready. ¹³ He has also prepared [other] deadly weapons for Himself; He makes His arrows fiery shafts [aimed at the unrepentant].

¹⁴ Behold, the [wicked and irreverent] man is pregnant with sin, And he conceives mischief and gives birth to lies. ¹⁵ He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, And has fallen into the [very] pit which he made [as a trap]. ¹⁶ His mischief will return on his own head, And his violence will come down on the top of his head [like loose dirt]. ¹⁷ I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteouness and justice,  And I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.