Dear First Pres,
The Lenten season has begun; last night’s Ash Wednesday service was a wonderful start to this special season in the life of the church set aside for spiritual reflection, renewal, and restoration. Last night’s Old Testament reading was Joel 2:1-17 in which the prophet urges the people of God to return to their Lord with all their hearts. They had fallen away from God, and His judgment was looming. Still, God’s call was for them to return to Him.
I hope that every person who considers First Pres their church will also use this Lenten season as a time to return to the Lord. Some of you are probably feeling far from God; use this Lenten season to draw near to Him intentionally. Some of you are probably aware of some persisting sin in your life; use this season to lay it out before God. Some of you are probably struggling over an important decision in your life; use this season to fast and pray for God’s wisdom. Let’s make this a season of return.
One of the best ways to do this is with the help of a friend, but that help has to be intentional. That’s why we’re launching a special project during this year’s Lent. Here’s the project: I’m asking every person in the church to find one or two people to serve as their Discipleship Partners during Lent. A Discipleship Partner is a person with whom you will intentionally help to grow as a follower of Christ through daily individual prayer and a weekly conversation (face-to-face, phone, or even email). This conversation is primarily to ask each other three simple questions: In what ways has God made His presence known to you this week? In what ways have you been impacted by your time in the Scriptures this week? In what ways do you need the Holy Spirit’s help this week?
On Sunday I’ll be talking with the congregation about this special project, but I wanted to give you the head start on finding your Discipleship Partner(s). I encourage you to ask someone from your Community Group (our mid-sized groups that meet all around Fresno/Clovis), and I encourage you to ask someone who isn’t already your best friend. Don’t worry about trying to memorize the questions; we’ll be giving them to you in written form on Sunday. The discipline of negotiating these questions each week during Lent (only six weeks) with your Discipleship Partner(s) will be a wonderful way for us to engage together in Christ’s work of making disciples for the redeeming transformation of our city and world. It is also a wonderful way for you to make this Lenten season a season of return.
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