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Please join us for our Wednesday evening Lenten Series: You shall love the Lord Your God.

In Mark 12, a scribe comes to ask Jesus, "Which commandment is the first of all?"  Jesus answers, "The first is, Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." (Mark 12:28-30).  Jesus responds to the scribe's question with words from the Shema, the passage from Deuteronomy 6 that is recited daily by many of the Jewish faith.  These words form a covenant between God and God's people and show us a way to respond to this God who so extravagantly loves us through the cross.

The first week of this series sets the stage with the Shema from Deuteronomy and the encounter between Jesus and the scribe in Mark 12.  The following weeks center on how we can love the Lord our God with all our hearts, our souls, our minds, and our strength.  Our Wednesday evening worship series begins at 7PM:

Feb. 22, Ash Wednesday--Sermon on the Mount.  In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21) Jesus commends almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, but emphasizes that spiritual devotion must not be done for show.

Feb. 29, Lent 1--Hear, O Israel.  In Genesis 9, God establishes a covenant with Noah and all of creation after the flood.  The Shema in Deuteronomy 6 reflects this fundamental covenant between God and God's people.

March 7, Lent 2--You Shall Love the Lord Your God with All Your Heart.  In Genesis 17, God establishes a covenant with Abraham and Sarah.  They place their faith, hope and love in God, trusting with all their hearts.

March 14, Lent 3--You Shall Love the Lord Your God with All Your Soul.  In Exodus 20, God establishes the "Ten Commandments", as guideposts for our lives to serve God with all our hearts and souls.

March 21, Lent 4--You Shall Love the Lord Your God with All Your Mind.  In Numbers 21, the Israelites in the desert set their minds not on the deliverance from slavery in Egypt but on the hardships of their journey.  God rescued them with a bronze serpent, and rescues us by lifting up Christ on the cross.

March 28, Lent 5--You Shall Love the Lord Your God with All Your Strength.  In Jeremiah 31, God longs to establish a new covenant, written on our hearts and in our lives.  We are God's people, redeemed through the blood of Christ.

Please plan to attend these wonderful mid-week Lenten worship opportunities.  It is a refreshing spiritual break to the hectic world around us.  We begin at 6PM with a soup and salad fellowship meal.  Worship with Communion begins at 7PM. "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." (Deut. 6:4-6)