Your personal guide for living life to its fullest for 40 days (plus six Sundays)….

As you live the Lenten life in the year 2008, you have the possibility of discovering how your life can be enriched, enhanced and lived more deeply than ever before. Jesus promises: "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) All of us want a full, rich and deep life and God is inviting us to have just that. For forty days plus the six Sundays, try living your life differently remembering God promise of the abundant life.

Life Enhancers:

1)  Three Practices.  For hundreds of years, the three pillars of a traditional Lenten experience were prayer, fasting and almsgiving. These three practices enhanced and enriched millions of lives during the forty days of the Lenten life. Incorporate these three into your life for these forty days and you too will have an enhanced life.

          
     a)  Prayer.  Use some new forms of prayer for forty days such as contemplative prayer where you listen and God does the speaking. Another form would be "praise prayer" in which you simply say "thank you" to God throughout the day. 

     b)  Fasting.  Fasting is a biblical tradition during which people limit the amount of food they eat during a prescribed amount of time. Jesus fasted for forty days in the desert following his baptism. You decide the day and type of fast you would like to try. Some eat only after sundown, some limit themselves to no meat, others to soup and liquids. Fasting develops spiritual life insights.

     c)  Almsgiving.  For thousands of years God’s people have been giving people who are concerned and care about the poor. Set aside some money each day or week for forty days to give to the poor. Designate it as you place it in the offering plate as “almsgiving” and LCC will see that it goes to feed the hungry.

2)  Read longing for enough in a culture of more.  We in the United States seem to have built into us a drive for more--more stuff, more money, more food, more vacation trips, and on and on it goes. The book will address this need for more and will be discussed on a number of different days. The book will also be the topic for our Wednesday evening worship times. After these forty days your life will be enriched by your participation in this LCC tradition.

3)  Worship.  The gospel texts for the Sundays in Lent all focus on life experiences. By worshiping each Sunday for six weeks, your life will be challenged, given new spiritual insight and deepened.

4) Faith Builders. We are having a spiritual retreat here at LCC, February 29-March 1. What is Faith Builders? It is a time set aside and dedicated to focus on the basics of our lives. The Pastors will be speaking on "faith basics," "Bible basics" and "What is the Creed?" Other people will be sharing how they use Scripture and their faith in their daily life. Everyone is invited to attend for a time of learning, sharing, laughing and growing.

The purpose of the forty day journey for Lenten living is to deepen your life, enhance your life and have the life God wants you to have. If you stay faithful, God will bless you and surprise you during the forty day life journey.
                   
~Pastor Swenson