From April 2016 Bethel Bell Tower newsletter
I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.
~ Philippians 1:6
We began the season of Lent on Ash Wednesday as I said the words: “today with the whole church we enter the time of remembering Jesus’ passover from death to life, and our life in Christ is renewed.” Especially during the season of Lent, “We are called to a discipline that contends against evil and resists whatever leads us away from love of God and neighbor.” Some of us gave things up, some took on new habits, some engaged with the 40acts daily challenges.
The disciplines of Lent can tend to look a bit like New Year’s resolutions, but, instead, they are faith practices. They are intended to be ways that we grow and become strong in our faith and our relationship with God. I pray that all of our experiences through Lent will actually match the emergence of a butterfly from its chrysalis. So, the season of Lent would be like the time of transformation from the worm’s entry into the chrysalis to its emergence as a new thing. The time of Easter is when we, like the butterfly, flutter about joyfully as we experience the new life that God has been working in us. It leads us to the season of Pentecost – a time of growth and continuing to live with the gifts God gave us, but we continue out into the world making use of these gifts.
God has begun a good work among us, and God will continue that work in us … thanks be to God!
So, as we are now in the season of Easter, I encourage you to see it as your own “passover from death to life.” Keep alert to see what God is doing in and through you. Pay attention to those often small ways in which we can live generously and glorify God.
In Christ,
Pastor Jeff
Epicurious Lutheran 