{"id":168,"date":"2015-03-17T16:20:51","date_gmt":"2015-03-17T16:20:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rsaustin.lnoldan.com\/?p=168"},"modified":"2015-03-02T23:08:47","modified_gmt":"2015-03-02T23:08:47","slug":"lent-what-it-isnt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/risensavioraustin.net\/?p=168","title":{"rendered":"Lent – what it isn’t"},"content":{"rendered":"

The season of Lent is important for many reasons. \u00a0One blessing it gives is a focus on Christ’s passion and death – the price of our sin.\u00a0 It brings us to the joy of Easter and the assurance of our salvation!\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes the commercialism of Easter has the potential to mask the real prize that God has in store for us.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve noticed it too!\u00a0\u00a0 Easter bunnies and Easter candy can easily eclipse the even sweeter celebration of Jesus\u2019 resurrection from the grave.\u00a0 Some even go from the wild excessive parties of Mardis Gras to a kind of austere self-denial during Lent.\u00a0\u00a0 It makes you wonder if some believe that Lent is a time for us <\/span>to make up for all the sins of the rest of the year by living a few days of sober behavior and personal sacrifice.\u00a0\u00a0 As if we can atone, even in part, for our own sins.<\/p>\n

Thankfully you and I have been given a clearer picture than that.\u00a0 For Lutheran Christians, Lent gives us yet another opportunity to remember \u2013 Christ crucified for me!\u00a0\u00a0 Each Wednesday when we come to church, we have an opportunity to let God strengthen our faith through the message of Jesus suffering and death on our behalf.\u00a0\u00a0 As the apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians chapter 1 \u2013 The message of Christ crucified is for us \u201cthe power of God and the wisdom of God\u201d\u2026<\/em><\/strong>a message of comfort that is backed up by the Spirit\u2019s power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The season of Lent is important for many reasons. \u00a0One blessing it gives is a focus on Christ’s passion and death – the price of our sin.\u00a0 It brings us to the joy of Easter and the assurance of our salvation!\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes the commercialism of Easter has the potential to mask the real prize that God … [Read more…]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[30,29,28,31,33,34],"class_list":["entry","post","publish","author-pastordan","post-168","format-standard","category-our-pastor","post_tag-devotion","post_tag-lent","post_tag-lent-devotion","post_tag-pastor","post_tag-pastor-dan","post_tag-pastor-schmidt"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t