THEME: People on the Way
The journey of the people from bondage in Egypt to the Promised Land is the template for our journey. Bondage, Deliverance, Celebration, Covenant, Wilderness, and Promised Land. Along the way, the people of Israel learned to be the people of God, and our journey brings the same result. God rescues us, redeems us, establishes us as His own, and leads us in such a way that we learn to trust and follow. In some ways, the journey is the destination, for we are formed and shaped as we experience grace along the Way.
Ash Wednesday
WORSHIP THEME: “Bondage” – Exodus 2:23-25, John 8:34,35
The journey begins in bondage. The people of Israel were in captivity, powerless to release themselves from Egypt’s domination. It was God who reached in to Egypt and released the Israelites – it was nothing they could do themselves. Our journey begins the same way. We were in bondage to sin. Despite our most valiant efforts and our noble intentions, sin held us in its grip, and we were powerless to move, totally in need of grace.
Lent 2
WORSHIP THEME: “Deliverance” – Exodus 6:6-8, John 1:29-34
Into the heart of Egypt, God stretched His arm of deliverance. With plagues, and with the great parting of the Red Sea, He brought the people of Israel to the edge of the wilderness. They were set free. And into the heart of our sinfulness, God has stretched His arm or deliverance. We are delivered not through plagues and an exodus through a parted sea, but through the death and resurrection of the sinless Son of God, a mighty act even more amazing that plagues and parted seas. God has delivered us. We are free
Lent 3
WORSHIP THEME: “Celebration” – Exodus 15:1-6, John 2:1-11
On the wilderness side of the Red Sea, having been delivered from the pursuing Egyptians, the Israelites burst into song – “God is my strength and my son. He is my salvation.” Song and celebration is a most natural response on the part of those who have been delivered. We, too, celebrate. We, having been delivered from our sins raise our voices and join in celebration: “This is the feast of victory for our God, for the Lamb Who was slain, has begun His reign. Alleluia!
Lent 4
WORSHIP THEME: “Covenant” – Exodus 19:16-19, Luke 22:14-20
Having brought the people of Israel out of Egypt, God brought them to Sinai. There they were to receive the Covenant. God proclaimed that He would be their God – and described how He expected His people to live. Throughout the history of the people of Israel, the Covenant became the foundation on which they stood, and they experienced blessings and/or curses determined by their willingness to be Covenant people. God has entered into Covenant with us – a New Covenant. Our Covenant is the same as that between God and the Israelites. He proclaims He is our God, and describes how He expects us to live. Our Covenant is new in that it is written on our hearts, and sealed in the blood of the Lamb.
Lent 5
WORSHIP THEME: “Wilderness” – Numbers 32:9-13, Mark 9:1-8
The people of Israel, brought to the edge of the Promised Land, demonstrated they did not yet know what it meant to live as the people of God. For 40 years they learned to live on the providence of God, eating manna and quail, following as the Lord led in a pillar of cloud or fire. They learned to trust. We are in a wilderness as well. Life can be difficult, and the Way doesn’t always seem clear. And yet we follow, learning to trust and obey and live as the people of God.
Lent 6
WORSHIP THEME: “Promised Land” – Joshua 3:1-6, 14-17, John 14:1-6a
The journey reached its conclusion. 40 years after being delivered from bondage, after receiving the Covenant and learning to trust the leading of God, the people of Israel entered the Promised Land. In a liturgical procession, the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant entered the Jordan, and, reminiscent of the Red Sea, the waters of the Jordan parted and the people entered the Promised Land. There will come a day for us, as well, when we will enter the Promised Land. That will be a day of ultimate celebration, for we will cross over into that place that has no need of sun, for the Lamb will be its light.
