A Pre-Ash Wednesday Introduction, Tuesday, February 25, 2020

on February 25, 2020

These devotions are also available on the GAFCON website

Every Lent we take time to reflect on things we have left undone. We repent of our sin and contemplate our mortality as we prepare for the great feast of the Resurrection.

This year, I invite you to join me in a different kind of Lenten devotional. We will think about Christians across the globe persecuted for their faith in Jesus. We will repent for things that we who are Christ’s Body worshiping in freedom have left undone for these brothers and sisters. Both as individuals and as “the whole Congregation,” we have failed through apathy and inaction those who daily suffer and die for the sake of the Gospel.

As we contemplate our own mortality, we’ll awaken to the fragile mortality of Christians whose lives are stolen by evil and atheistic governments, mobs and militias, and terrorists and tyrants. We’ll discover how to be advocates for these beloved members of Christ’s Body.

And we’ll find comfort when we have done all that we can, and when our hearts have been broken for those whose bodies have been broken, in knowing that through Jesus, this is not the end! We’ll rejoice in knowing that the LORD will bring justice and vindication for His precious ones who have suffered. We’ll cling to the promise that God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And we’ll celebrate Easter with an added awareness of that great company of witnesses and martyrs that surround us.

SCRIPTURE
To prepare for a Lent devoted to understanding our advocacy for persecuted Christians and the reality that we are one Body:

Galatians 6: 10
Proverbs 24: 11-12
John 13: 34-35
1 Corinthians 12: 12-13, 25-26

Prayer
Almighty and merciful Father, thank You for Your immeasurable love revealed to us in Jesus. LORD, forgive us for the things that we have left undone for our persecuted brothers and sisters. Give us the grace clearly to see that we are all members of one Body, Your Body, and to comprehend the privilege You have given to us, allowing us to minister to You by ministering to your suffering children. Help us to use this Lent to draw closer to You as we devote these days to drawing closer to our brothers and sisters. Please let them know that they are not forgotten. They know You love them. Let them know that we do, as well.  In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

SUGGESTED ACTION: Here is a PDF of this devotional. These will be provided every day for your to download and share with friends.

February 25

  1. Comment by Joe Acanfora on February 25, 2020 at 2:09 pm

    Thank you sister-Faith, for taking this on, and bringing us to the cross of Christ with our brothers and sisters around the world

  2. Comment by Faith McDonnell on March 1, 2020 at 6:15 pm

    Thank you so much, Joe. And thank YOU for bringing us, at Church of the Apostles, to the cross of Christ as our shepherd and teacher. I couldn’t keep on keeping on with the sorrow and evil and injustice if I didn’t have a bulwark of years of Jesus-and-people-loving ministry to give me strength and keep me on the Way.

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