We trust in Jesus Christ,
   fully human, fully God.
  Jesus proclaimed the reign of God:
   preaching good news to the poor
    And release to the captives,
   teaching by word and deed
    and blessing the children,
   healing the sick
    and binding up the brokenhearted,
   eating with outcasts,
   forgiving sinners,
   and calling all to repent and believe the gospel.
Unjustly condemned by blasphemy and sedition,
Jesus was crucified,
  suffering the depths of human pain
  and giving his life for the sins of the world.
God raised this Jesus from the dead,
  vindicating his sinless life,
  breaking the power of sin and evil,
  delivering us from death to life eternal.

-- based on lines 7-26 of the latest confessional statement of the Presbyterian Church (USA), “A Brief Statement of Faith,” which was first published in our Book of Confessions in 1991.

Lent is the 40-day period in the church year that begins with Ash Wednesday and ends on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. The tradition began in the early church of using Lent as a time for spiritual discipline in preparation for Holy Week and Easter, the high point of the Christian year. Long-standing Lenten traditions include penance, fasting and special times of prayer and devotion.

As a time of preparation for Easter and the celebration of our Lord’s victory over sin and death, Lent is a natural time to reflect on the person of Jesus Christ and the meaning of his earthly ministry.

May God bless us with fresh awareness of his love and grace in the person of Jesus Christ as we apply our hearts, minds, souls, and strength to contemplation of our relationship with Jesus during this Lent season and throughout the year.