2025 Lenten Devotional Series
With fervent humility, there is much grit, faith, and determination that goes into the 200th year of our beloved Powell United Methodist Church.
We truly walk upon the footsteps of those who have built the foundation of our blessings. Assuredly, the vision of the early few have created privilege for us all. We reap the deepest of their heart imprints. And God’s faithfulness is undeniable! For all of this, and more, our gratitude is abundant.
200 times our sisters and brothers of this church community thoughtfully prepared for Lent (these 40 days prior to Easter). To this day, we do the same as we lift up the miracles and sacrifices of Christ as we commit to growing disciples.
This year our devotion book themes of gratitude, ministry impact, prayer, generosity/sacrifice, and faithfulness will afford us reflection on our foundation, and our future. We value the people of our church as they share their hearts on these pages…we are thankful to the dedication of our repeat writers and welcome those sharing for the first time.
No act of service, gift or otherwise has been too small in what we have built and continue to build together. What an honor to build upon the talent, treasures, and time of our Powell United Methodist church community of believers as we manifest MORE of God’s love into our future.
In Christ’s love, may we continue to be Great in our Faithfulness,
Dana Ullom-Vucelich
The Season of Lent
Lent is the season of forty days, not counting Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. The season of Lent is a preparation for celebrating Easter. Easter is the first Sunday, after the first full moon, after the vernal equinox. For this reason, Easter is never the same date two years in a row.
Lent is a time for penance by all Christians. The First Sunday describes Jesus’ temptation by Satan; and the Sixth Sunday (Passion/Palm Sunday), Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his subsequent suffering and death. Because Sundays are always little Easters, the penitential spirit of Lent should be tempered with joyful expectation of the Resurrection.
Ash Wednesday emphasizes a dual encounter: we confront our own mortality and confess our sin before God within the community of faith. The use of ashes as a sign of mortality and repentance has a long history in Jewish and Christian worship, and the Imposition of Ashes can be a powerful nonverbal and experiential way of participating in the call to repentance and reconciliation.
Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday and continues through the great three days from sunset on Holy Thursday through sunset Easter day. This is the climax of Lent and the whole Christian year, and a bridge into the Easter season. These days proclaim the mystery of Jesus Christ’s passion, death and resurrection. During these days, the community journeys with Jesus from the upper room, to the cross, to the tomb, and to the garden.