2022 Devotional
Download the Lenten Devotional HERE
In our Lenten devotional this year, produced by The Salt Project, the words of Scripture and the paintings and letters of Vincent van Gogh will be our guides. Each week, biblical texts and Van Gogh’s work will cast light on each other, pointing toward simple, powerful practices you can try yourself, or with your family or friends. Hard copies are available in the narthex.
The light of creation, the light of painting, the light of God’s grace – and the light in humanity, mind, body, and soul. The son of a Christian pastor, Vincent fervently set out to be a preacher and missionary himself, but his ministry eventually took the form of nearly 900 paintings shimmering with dynamism, with passion, and above all, with light.
The word “Lent” refers to the “lengthening” light, the growing days that, in time, will coax the sunflowers to open, the wheat fields to rise again, and the irises to bloom. What better companion on this forty-day pilgrimage, then, than Vincent van Gogh, this apostle of light?
Van Gogh’s creativity was a response to beholding God’s Creation. Whenever he wanted to feel closer to God, he told his brother, Theo, he would “go outside at night and paint the stars.”
Weekly Lent Classes & Activities
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MON | Painting the Stars Painting the Stars: Science, Religion and an Evolving Faith celebrates the communion of science and faith and contemplates what a meaningful faith might look like today. Led by Pastor Jeff and Amy. Learn more HERE. Email the church office to register. |
6:00pm |
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TUE | Simplifying Life Join Pastor Joel and Amy on Facebook LIVE as they share their experiences and reactions as they follow Paula Huston’s book “Simplifying the Soul: Lenten Practices to Renew Your Spirit” as a Lenten journey. Watch HERE on Facebook LIVE (Dayspring Arcadia) |
Noon |
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WED | Tending the Soil, Tending the Soul: Experiencing Gardening and Earth Care as a Spiritual Practice. Participants will experience spiritual and biblical stories centered around the gift of creation and growing practices. In addition, participants will have opportunities to practice “noticing” the plants that are growing around them and what we can learn from them. No fee, but registration is required by emailing Pastor Joel by March 8. Classes begin March 9 at 6:00pm at Dayspring Arcadia campus. Look for this class to be repeated at the Dayspring Tempe campus later this year. | 6:00pm |
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THU | Open the Door A Lenten Study using the book, Open the Door by Joyce Rupp, will be led by Shirley Wells on Thursday evenings at 7:00pm on Zoom beginning on March 3 and ending on April 7. Please email the Church Office to register, even if you are already participating in TIME TO WONDER on Thursdays. Beloved author and spiritual guide Joyce Rupp explores the rich image of the door as an invitation to growth and awareness. Discovering the many ways that doors are a potent symbol for spiritual growth, she leads us to search more deeply for our authentic selves in fuller union with God. Ordering the book before the class will make this time together much more valuable. Designed as a six-week process with a reflection for each day of the week, Open the Door is a guide to discovering one’s rich potential for goodness and fulfillment. We will discover together that opening the door of the heart will reveal the vast treasure of who we are and how the sacred is present within us. |
7:00pm |
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FRI | Movie in the Dayspring Arcadia Park Wrap up the week with some family fun in the Dayspring Arcadia Park with family-friendly movies on the big screen. |
7:00pm |