SOURCE Community are entering the period of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of a 40 day period of prayer, reflection, fasting or abstinence prior to Easter. Ash Wednesday is so called because it reflects the practice of placing ashes on the forehead of adherents as both a celebration, symbol of mortality and repentance to God.
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us that, after Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist, he went in to the desert and endured temptation by Satan:
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.' ”
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.Generosity is one of the principles of SOURCE Community's life and this Lent SOURCE will be collecting donations through our cell groups for the Trussell Trust - if you would like to help us do this you can view the foodstuffs that can be donated here.
We will also be taking part in the Emmaus Challenge - each day in Lent, everyone will be finding one item to donate to Emmaus Colchester. If you would like to join us, you can find more details on the SOURCE Community web site here.
SOURCE will also be spending Lent reflecting on who Jesus is to us - where we see Him, where we find Him and where we have encountered Him. We will also be reflecting on how this has blessed us.
In that theme, SOURCE will be hosting an event on Easter Saturday at St Leonard Church on Hythe Hill, inviting people to share who Jesus is to them through poetry, music and art. The event is open to anyone, atheist, Christian, agnostic, Muslim - whoever you are, if you would like to share how you see Jesus in a creative way, please get in touch.
There will be more information about this in the next few days. In the mean time, we will see you around the Hythe!
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