Dear Grace,
Sarah and I are into our 5th week of praying the Spiritual Exercises each day, and it’s hard to put into words how the Lord is coming to us. There’s something so transformative about taking intentional time each day to meditate on Scripture while asking the Lord to deepen His life in you. I’m seeing entirely new ways in which God wants to fashion me more into an instrument of His love. Sarah and I are experiencing another level of passion and love both for one another and for God. I ask for your continued prayers as we have another 30 weeks to go(!)
This weekend our high school students are heading up to Camp Joy El in PA for a retreat. I have been looking forward to this kind of space for our high school students (and then in a couple of weeks our middle school students). While we love having the whole Grace Student body together during the Fall retreat, I have been sensing the need to create separate spaces – to be able to give attention to each segment of students with the unique discipleship challenges/opportunities that the different stages of life bring. Pray for deep connection and a passion to exalt Jesus! I’ll be speaking Saturday morning on the uselessness of worshiping idols.
This coming Sunday, we close out our study in Hebrews that began in January! When our teaching team met this past week, we all remarked how the book seemed to gain momentum and intensity over the second half of the letter. The recurring theme of endurance… Jesus as our better high priest… these truths seem so timely for so many. We’ve covered a lot of ground, and the final chapter packs a punch. There’s so much there, in fact, that we will be look at parts of Hebrews 13 on Good Friday, and then even on Easter.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’m part of a speaker lineup at a “7 Last Words Service” being held on Good Friday morning. I spoke at one last year at Bishop Donte Hickman’s church, and he has invited me back along with 5 other area pastors. So much joy and so much passion goes into this service. It’s a unique way that the Black Church has come to worship Jesus and what he did on the cross. The unique thing about this year is that it’s being held at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall! All of you are invited!
Because it’s at the Symphony Hall, there will be a few logistical complexities: you’ll have to pay for parking and make sure you get there with plenty of time before it begins at 9:30. There’s also a blanket/food drive that’s a part of it. A summary of details can be found here. I hope you’ll come out for the experience of worshipping the Lord in (potentially) new ways!
As we make our way towards Easter, I feel a greater sense of desperation for the power of resurrection. There’s just so much loss and death all around us.
Keep Francis in your prayers. Many are convening together next week to mourn the sudden loss of his young adult daughter.
Keep the Osborn family in your prayers in the aftermath of a beautiful funeral and celebration of life – that God would be present and near in the silence and quiet.
Make sure also to look around. All of creation is beginning to bud and sprout, hues of green popping up and tinting the barrenness that winter left behind. It’s a very poignant reminder that what we might see as lifeless and dead is in fact getting ready to burst forth in life. This is where we find ourselves, and Easter is the reminder that life abounds. I hope you can get out and experience it!