THE HISTORIC COMMUNITY CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
OF MANITOU SPRINGS, COLORADO
A United Church of Christ

Up

  
In the tradition of the Christian church, it is a sacred season for the faithful to prepare for Easter.  The length of the Lenten fast, during which an observant eat sparingly, was established in the 4th century as 40 days.  In the Eastern churches, where both Saturdays and Sundays are regarded as festival days, the period of Lent is the eight weeks before Easter; in the Western churches, where only Sunday is regarded as a festival, the 40-day period begins on Ash Wednesday and extends, with the omission of Sundays, to the day before Easter.  The observance of fasting or other forms of self-denial during Lent varies within Protestant and Anglican churches.  These bodies emphasize penitence.  The Roman Catholic church has in recent years relaxed its laws on fasting. According to an apostolic constitution issued by Pope Paul VI in February 1966, fasting and abstinence during Lent are obligatory only on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

improve our daily lives.  It is a passage of discipline we travel through, where prayer is perhaps more intentional, personal devotion disciplined and more moments of meditation taken in each of these 40 days that point us to the promise of Resurrection!

In the life of our church, affords us many opportunities for the good growth of our Christian faith.  The music shared on Sunday morning's are grounded in the sacred.  The great words of scripture tell of the final days of passion and promise in the life of Jesus.  We will come to terms with the reality of death... and the eternal promise of life!

Lent 1, "Rainbow Promise"
March 12, 2000
Genesis 9:8-17

Both the magnitude and the longevity of God's covenant promise stretch and shock our human limited capacities.

If you were to name the essential elements of God's rainbow promise, what would you say? How is it possible for God to call out a special people, yet be in covenant relationship with all creation? Is the rainbow as much a reminder to God as it is to human beings? Just as human covenants need to be renewed and reaffirmed over and over again, is this true also for God's covenant with creation? When you look at the created earth, and all the creatures on it, what are the tangible and visible signs of God's covenant that need to be remembered and celebrated within faith communities?