Journey of Stones

like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.     I Peter 2:5

This month marks the beginning of Lent, the season of the church year where we focus on our walk with God.

Key to this focus is the Christian principle of repentance, changing one’s ways and thinking, re-orienting one’s walk with God. Repentance in Lent is commonly marked with a renewed focus on prayer, giving to the poor, and for many, some sort of self-denial, be it fasting or giving something up, until Easter.

Martin Luther viewed Lent as an opportunity for the strengthening of faith. “Lent, Palm Sunday, and Holy Week shall be retained, not to force anyone to fast, but to preserve the Passion history and the Gospels appointed for that season” (Luther’s Works  53:90).

Our theme for Lent comes from the verse listed above, we are living stones being built into a spiritual house.

On Sundays this Lent we are doing a series on rocks and stones in the Bible. Called “Journey of Stones” we will consider stones and our willingness to throw them as a reflection of our need for Jesus. Each Sunday we will consider Biblical passages on rocks and stones, and there are plenty of them.

Worshipers will see a bowl full of stones when they enter our space. Everyone is invited to reach into the bowl to take a stone and carry a stone with them throughout the week during Lent, a reminder of their faith and need for God, a reflection of the living stones which the Bible says we are, offering spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ.

Throughout Lent we are aware of what comes at the end, a stone that is placed at the entrance of a tomb on Good Friday and that is removed on Easter. The goal of Lent is Easter, God’s taking away of sin and death.

Listening to Each Other

This Lent comes to Amazing Grace with an additional focus, listening to one-another. We spent the season of Epiphany focusing on Listening to God. This important practice will continue in Lent, but our ears will also be tuned to one-another.

You are not a Christian in isolation. You are connected to other Christians, these fellow followers of Jesus who together make up the community of Amazing Grace Lutheran Church in Lawrenceville, Ga.  Our theme of living stones this Lent refers to being built into a collection of stones that is a house, a church.

The focus of our listening is the second stage of the three conversations we are undergoing this year, listening to God, listening to each other, and then listening to our community. Listening to each other is a way for us to reflect on our life together and this ministry. A question you’ve been invited to reflect upon is “What is God calling Amazing Grace to do next?”.

Lent is a fitting time for listening to each other as we spend more time together as a result of our Lenten midweek soup suppers.

Living Stones, My Hope for You This Lent

My hope for you this Lent is that you grow closer in your walk with Jesus through repentance, through worship on Wednesdays and Sundays, through the token act of carrying a stone each day this week, and that you engage in discussions offered as a part of the “listening to each other” phase of mission planning. It is through these avenues of offering spiritual sacrifices that God will build us up, living stones that make up a strong house, with a strong foundation in Jesus Christ our Lord. That is my prayer for you and us this Lent, may you be blessed as a result of these efforts.

Yours in Christ,
Pastor Jason Talsness