Mission Madness: A Lenten Journey of Service + Dinner
Lent has a way of sneaking up on me every year. One minute I’m putting away Christmas decorations, and the next I’m hearing the words, “Remember you are dust.” And it rarely arrives in a quiet way. It meets us in the middle of our messy lives filled with laundry piles, work deadlines, carpool lines, and the daily question: “What’s for dinner?” I know you can probably relate to this feeling.
Lent arrives and gently calls us to slow down and pause and reflect. It is meant for us to realign our hearts with God. Traditionally, Lent is a season of giving up something. We think of all the things we need to give up in order to make time for God or we add more intentional time with Jesus though our studies, devotionals and prayer time. Those practices matter. They help form and mold us. But what if we tried something a little bit different this year as a church?
What if growing closer to Jesus is not only about what we give up, but also about how we give and serve?
Introducing: Mission Madness – A Lenten Journey of Service + Dinner
Instead of our traditional Lent Bible Study that we have done the past couple years, we are launching a three-week, March Madness inspired focus on mission and outreach.
Each week will include:
- Fellowship and dinner.
- A focused time of learning about one of our mission partners.
- A meaningful mission project you can participate in right then and there.
Kids will head downstairs for their own Mission Madness after dinner to learn about a different mission each week through hands on activities and age-appropriate teaching.
Adults and students will gather in the Contemporary Worship Center to hear from a mission partner, learning about their work, how our church supports them, and real ways we can serve both individually and as a church family.
Why Service During Lent?
As Jesus journeyed toward the cross, He moved toward people, not Himself. Jesus did not think inward, but only outward. Each day he showed love and care for others around Him. He washed feet. He fed crowds. He noticed the unseen. Jesus led with a servant’s heart. Lent is not only about reflection; it is about reshaping our hearts to look more like Him.
But let’s be honest with one another, life is busy! We are captives of our busy schedules and full calendars. I can personally relate to this. It can be hard to know how to live our faith in tangible ways in the midst of busyness. This is why we have created Mission Madness. It is a starting point for taking the next step to be more like Jesus. Serving moves what we believe from our heads into our hands. It reminds us that following Jesus is not just about what we study, but how we love. This is the moment we put our faith into action. Being knowledgeable is great, but if it ends there, we have missed the point. We must take what we have learned, and start being the hands and feet of Jesus. This Lent, instead of only studying our faith, we will live it out, as a church, together. We will celebrate how God is moving through missions near and far and discern how we are called to join in.
So come hungry: Hungry for dinner. Hungry for connection. Hungry for a deeper commitment to serving Christ through missions.
We cannot wait to walk this Lenten journey with you.
