We have entered into a very special and important part of the annual calendar - the Season of Lent which runs from Ash Wednesday through Holy Week leading us to the annual Easter celebration. In many ways, this season of the year has become increasingly commercialized and secularized - much like the annual Advent and Christmas season. Even among those who are believers in Jesus as Savior and Lord, there are trends away from the sacred message of the Season of Lent and Easter and more emphasis on commercialized and secularized observances of this season.

This season of the year is one in which we recall and prayerfully consider the passion and crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the "Old Rugged Cross" at Golgotha - and then the celebration of the Good News that the tomb was empty - and that Jesus Christ arose from the dead! Let us never forget the message of the Cross and the Resurrection as the foundation of our Christian faith. Without the Cross, there is no Resurrection. Without the Resurrection, the Cross is nothing more than the story of the death of one among many enemies of the Roman state and a would-be Messiah of the Jews.

Let's make the months of March and April 2024 as a period of time in which we place emphasis upon the Cross and the Resurrection. On the Cross, Jesus paid the price of our sins. In the Resurrection, Jesus has conquered death. What a powerful and wonderful message we have to share with our community and world. Let's be about the business of our faith - sharing Jesus Christ with others - and ministering to the "lost and least" in the name of the Resurrected Jesus. Amen.