A Message from Pastor Chad – A Time to Grow and Getting Centered
Welcome to the season of Lent! This week we observed Ash Wednesday in a service of music, silence, scripture, and the imposition of ashes. We had a pretty full sanctuary and blessed to receive some visitors from Hiram CC, Hilltop CC, and the community. Know that you can catch up on all our worship services (thanks to Carol Magyarics and Rick Painley!) on our website/youtube channel. Also, the Lenten schedule is attached in case you missed it.
This Lent is a Time to Grow and hopefully you have given some thought into what areas of your life you want to see some growth. When I meet with individuals or couples for spiritual coaching I often provide them with what I call the Getting Centered wheel. On the wheel are varying areas of our life — family, friends, spiritual life, etc — and I ask people to gauge their satisfaction in those areas using a scale of 1-10. Usually people find that they are thriving in some areas and struggling in others. Most of the time we hope for contentment in all areas of our lives or at least some good balance. It is easier said than done because often one segment of our life will dominate our time and energy leaving the others wanting. How do we find ways to balance our life in such a way that we can give time, energy, and focus to those people/things that are most important to us? This is an ongoing challenge. If you want to give the Getting Centered wheel a whirl, please reach out to me to set up a time for some spiritual coaching.
Our Lenten study seeks to offer lessons from the garden to the table. In nurturing a garden there are many dynamics involved — some of them we can control and some of them we can’t. How can we prepare the garden to have the best chance of flourishing? How can we prepare our own lives to thrive as God’s children? This Sunday, our first lesson is from the Gospel of Mark when Jesus is tempted in the wilderness. What can we learn from this story about what it means to align our lives with God’s way and not our own? What can we learn to make this truly a time to grow?
Thank you for being a part of the Mantua Center Christian Church family and I look forward to walking with you on this Lenten Journey. God’s grace and peace be with you and I hope to see you this Sunday morning!
Peace in Christ,
Chad
