15 South Mulberry Street
Hagerstown, Maryland 21740
301-733-3565
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the Hagerstown Church of the Brethren is to celebrate the love of Jesus Christ and glorify the
Lord by striving to live as Christ lived,  experiencing the power of God's healing in our lives.  We seek to nurture
our faith community through prayer, music  and the proclaimed Word, while enthusiastically reaching out to
others with compassion, respect and love for everyone so that we may grow in faith and commitment together.

VISION STATEMENT
Journeying with Christ - Serving Our Neighbors - Uniting at the Master’s Table
February 2009

We are entering into the season of Lent.  You won’t hear much about it
on television, but it is an important time for the church.  Wikipedia
describes Lent this way:

“Lent, in some Christian denominations, is the forty-day-long liturgical
season of fasting and prayer before Easter. The forty days represent
the time Jesus spent in the desert, where according to the Bible he
endured temptation by Satan. Different churches calculate the forty
days differently.

“The purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through
prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual
commemoration during Holy Week of the death and resurrection of
Jesus, which recalls the events linked to the passion of Christ and
culminates in Easter, the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus
Christ.”

In the western Christian tradition Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and
concludes on Holy Saturday, the final day of Holy Week, just before
Easter.  If you count from February 25 to April 11, 2009, you will discover
forty-six days. What about those six extra days?  Oh yes, Sundays are
not counted.  These six days of Sabbath are not fast days, but feast
days.  Christians are invited to fast for six days but the seventh is a day
of feasting.  There is an interesting rhythm of fasting and feasting.  Not
all the days are designed for sackcloth and ashes. The Lord’s Day is
meant to be a time of great rejoicing, rather than of self-denial.

Emma Lyles shared a mediation with the Parish Nurses that speaks of
Lent as both a time for fasting as well as a time of feasting. As we enter
into this season of Lent, let us be ruled by this rhythm.  (Check out the
bulletin board at the West Entrance.) Below are some words that may
help us on our Lenten Journey with Christ:

                                                                                Pastor Ed

Lent – A Season for Fasting,
a Season for Feasting

Fast from judging others; feast on Christ living in them.
Fast from harsh words; feast on words that build up others.
Fast from discontentment; feast on gratitude.
Fast from anger; feast on patience.
Fast from worry; feast on God’s care.
Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation.
Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others.
Fast from discouragement; feast on hope.
Fast from facts that depress; feast on facts that uplift.
Fast from suspicion; feast on truth.
Fast from thoughts of weaken; feast on promises that inspire.
Fast from idle gossip; feast on silence with a purpose.
Fast from guilt; feast on the mercy of God.
Lent is such a time for fasting and feasting.  
The Pastor's Pen