Are you ready?

Dear Brothers and Sisters of St Mary's, 

   Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Are you ready?” A question I come to ask myself.
Ready for what, you may ask? Ready for Lent 2025.

Ash WednesdayFor many Christians in the body of Christ, the next 40 days
beginning on Ash Wednesday is an opportunity for solemnity and self-reflection. A time to seek more of God, and this can be through fasting,
praying more and seeking more of God in daily life.
A time to remember Jesus own wilderness experience for 40 days,
where “He ate nothing at all during those days”. Luke 4:2.

Are you ready? Ready to journey through our own wilderness and
deny ourselves of daily pleasures? What is that for you?
Is it food, drink, Netflix, or social media? We each have our own pleasures;
I wonder if it can be laid aside for the next 40 days for a closer pursuit of Jesus instead.  

Lent, as we look through the lens of Jesus, is one of denial of self, his sacrifice,
his victory over temptation, Jesus himself, though God, was fully man and overcame the temptation he faced in the wilderness. Where was his strength to do so? In the word. He repeatedly said during the 40-day wilderness temptation experience, “It is written”.  

I encourage you this Lent to go deeper in the word of God by reading your Bible more,
maybe starting a Bible reading plan, joining a home group, or finding a friend or family member
to study the Bible with. How about attending the ‘Exploring our Faith’ course
we are running every Tuesday for the next six weeks,
for we are all learners of Christ with an L plate.  

Pause & Pray

I encourage you to go deeper in prayer this Lent, commune with God,
speak to him, and let him speak back to you. We have the weekly Lent Prayer meeting, the Monthly Prayer meeting, and the daily Morning Prayer.
I wonder if prayer can take a bigger role in your life.

Why did Jesus do what he did in the wilderness for 40 days?
A sacrificial demonstration of his obedience to God because of his Love for each one of us. 

Are you ready?
At St Mary’s, let's get ready together, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

I sign off with these words.  May it be our Lenten prayer:
“For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.”
John 3:29-30

Grace and peace.
Rev Funmilayo 


Lent