An invitation to worship...

Good Day College Church,

We are now in the Season of Lent, which began three days ago, on Ash Wednesday. Lent is a season of reflection, remembrance and repentance, in anticipation of Easter and has been observed by most of the church since the fourth century. It is forty days (not counting Sundays), mirroring the forty days Jesus spent praying and fasting in the wilderness.

This year, College Church is observing Lent by offering up continuous prayers from the sanctuary, from 7:30 until 5:00, Monday through Friday. We have filled every 20-minute spot except for four! Thank you for your faithfulness. I believe this is honoring to our Lord and I am truly wondering what the result will be, of God’s people faithfully praying.

But I should have warned you. It could be that our lives could get more difficult precisely because we are more intentionally praying. The Apostle Paul wrote that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Eph 6:11-12) I don't know that we take the Apostles' words here seriously enough, but it could very well be that this commitment to prayer might agitate and provoke "the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." We may find ourselves more engaged in a spiritual battle, and for that reason, our lives could get more difficult. I probably should have warned you.

And if they do, if our lives do get more difficult because we are praying, we are in good company. Our gospel reading this Sunday (Matthew 4:1-11) is the story of Jesus being sent by the Spirit, into the desert, to be tested by the devil. So at the very beginning of Jesus' ministry, Jesus revealed that the work of God was not going to be without conflict. While we may not always be conscious of the nature of our struggle, Jesus surely was. It is an important story that needs to inform how we are to be as followers of Jesus Christ.

So thank you again for your faithfulness to prayer, even when it is costly. It is just the most important work of the church.

See you Sunday!!

Pastor Mark