Tag: devotional

January 31, 2024

The young people of the Sunday School are already on board. Are you?

I’m talking about our planned 2024 Church of the Holy Cross Lenten devotional, “Fill the Heart.” Over the last couple Sundays, the students have prepared a set of comforting and inspiring Scripture verses on the theme. Just looking over their selections brought tears to my eyes.

What can you provide that will bring tears to my eyes?

I grant you that making me teary is not the most difficult thing in the world. There are movies I’ve seen countless times and the same scenes get me every time. There’s a song by Fred Small about the evacuation of Denmark’s Jews in 1942 that had me weeping the first time I heard it and every single time since. You’ve got every chance of bringing me to tears again.

What has filled your heart in your life? What experiences, sights, sounds, smells, tastes? Is there a photograph you’d like to share that makes your heart sing? Can you offer a memory of a sweet, powerful time of your life that might just fill someone else’s heart, too?

You’ve done it before, friends. I’m quite sure you can do it again.

As in the past, we’ll publish the devotional in three volumes. As noted on the front page of this Messenger, we’ll need items for the first volume by February 1^st so that we can make the booklets available on Sunday, February 11^th, before Lent begins on February 14^th.

I’m looking forward to your contributions. And I’ll keep some tissues handy.

In peace,

Pastor Eric

Photo by Eric Anderson

January 10, 2024

We’re doing it again! We’re producing a home-created devotional for people to use during Lent of 2024. The theme is “Fill the Heart.”

We’ve created them recently in 2022 and 2019. In the church library, there are devotionals that go further back as well. For each day of Lent this year, we’ll have a short reflection, a poem, a photo, or a piece of art that people can consider and pray over.

Where will these come from? You!

And me, too.

Reflection pieces should run no more than 300-350 words. We can include photos or artwork with them if desired. Pictures need to be sent to us in a digital format or brought to us for scanning.

As in previous years, we plan to distribute the devotional in three volumes, with the first to be issued on Sunday, February 11, before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 14. Anything to include in that first volume must be received by Tuesday, February 6. If you sent items in after that, we can still include them in later volumes – at least until all of them have been produced.

All pieces must be original or you are able to document that we have permission to reproduce the item.  

Think about what fills your heart, friends, and share it with us! I am greatly looking forward to what you contribute.

In peace,

Pastor Eric