Things We Need to Hear Jesus Say Ash Wednesday

Things We Need to Hear Jesus Say
We know that often we only hear what we want to hear when someone is talking, but what
about Jesus? Do we already have an idea of what he might be saying to us before we begin to
listen? Do we truly listen and hear what Jesus says? This seven-week Lenten series will engage
moments in Scripture where Jesus speaks words we need to hear.
Ash Wednesday Service
The first day of Lent is Ash Wednesday; a day for quiet repentance and sincere devotion. Join
us tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. in the Chapel at Greenwood Community Church for a
30-minute service to set your focus and prepare your soul for the next 40 days of Lent.
Spiritual Disciplines Group
Have you wanted to know more about spiritual practices or interested in the classic spiritual
disciplines during the season of Lent? Join a six-week study of the book Spiritual Disciplines
Handbook beginning February 25 at 7:00 p.m. in the Pikes Peak Room here at GCC. You
must sign up for the group tonight at the Information Table. Space is limited.
Forty Hours: Silent Retreat
Sometimes only in the silence can we truly hear. Sometimes only in the stillness the Spirit of
God is most active. Make time this season for Forty Hours, a spiritual retreat set in silence. It is
Friday through Sunday, March 20-22, at the Highlands Retreat Center near Lyons, Colorado,
cost is $105 for housing, meals, and program. Registration forms available at the Information
Table in the Main Lobby.
Holy Week Services
Holy Week is the week remembering the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. On
Tuesday, April 7, TNL will be celebrating communion together. A Good Friday Service led by
Greenwood Community Church will be on Friday, April 10, at 7:00pm in the Auditorium.
Easter Gathering & Dinner
Our Easter Gathering & Dinner is Sunday, April 12, at 6:00pm at Greenwood Community Church. TNLC will provide drinks and paper goods. Please plan to bring food to
share for 4-6 people based on your last name (A-L brings sides and salads, M-S brings
main dishes, T-Z brings desserts). We will be introducing the new Teaching Core Pastor
at the Easter Gathering, so don’t miss this special evening.
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Monthly Budget:
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Weekly Budget:
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“Your sins are forgiven”
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period is from July 1,
2008 through June 2009.
FEBRUARY TWENTY-FIRST, 2009
We know that often we only hear what we want to hear when someone is talking,
but what about Jesus? Do we already have an idea of what he might be saying to us
before we begin to listen? Do we truly listen and hear what Jesus says?
This seven-week Lenten series will engage moments in Scripture where
Jesus speaks words we need to hear.
The stories within TNL come from a spectrum of experience with God and His Church.
We want you to hear from those who call TNL home, using their words to tell their stories of
faith. Each week a different writer will reflect on their experience with the Scripture
and content of the evening.
“Your sins are forgiven.” – Mark 2:1-12
Being raised in the Catholic tradition, I was trained to understand that if I sat in a little
dark booth with a screen between me and the priest, that with a few Hail Marys and a
few Our Fathers, I could walk out of there scot-free, absolved of my sins, with a first class
ticket to heaven in the event that I was killed on the way home from church. I had to
wait until the next Saturday to unburden myself again and sometimes prayed I wouldn’t
be hit by a bus during the week because it would mean a less than first class ticket to
Purgatory - not the ski resort, but a holding place between Heaven and Hell for those not
having committed mortal sins - the good news being that you would eventually end up in
Heaven, the bad news, you didn’t exactly know when.
As a teenager, I was in many ways a paralytic, which in my thesaurus reads: incapacitated,
powerless, immobilized and useless, all of which described my relationship with God
and those around me. I then had a ‘Saul to Paul’, audible voice of God experience while
sitting in a bathtub ready to check my ticket and knowing that what I was contemplating
equaled a mortal sin, which meant definite damnation as I understood God’s rules.
I cried out to God, challenging Him to make himself tangible, real and present. He heard
my call, and He answered my call. He delivered me into His kingdom promise, putting
me on an eternal course of following Him. I realized I now had a direct connect to Him
and no longer had to sit in a little dark booth to be freed of my sins. All I had to do was
cry out to Him, acknowledge my need and accept His Son. Meaning I had, and have, and
do accept His grace. And I am assured of a first class ticket to heaven with no layovers.
When Jesus healed the sick He also healed the spirit. He did so to show us that He
would continue to do so and does so even today. He is a God who has the authority on
earth to not only heal but to forgive, absolve and toss our sins into the sea of forgetfulness.
All He asks - is that we ask.
Justin Matott began attending TNL bringing his high school age sons and their friends. His sons are now
away at college; Justin and his wife are still at TNL, serving regularly with FIRST:LINK and TNL
Middle School.