Christ and the Fig Tree Reflection
\nfor the Community.
\nModern Song Focus on Contemporary Church Artists
\nperforming hymns of traditional foundation.
\nEveryone is Welcome!<\/p>\n
Christ and the Fig Tree Reflection Introduction:
\nIsaiah calls for us to recognize the fullness of our Lord. A new day under a new king was traditionally met with a forgiveness from debt and a banquet. The Lord will quench our thirst for knowledge and forgiveness. Lent is an invitation for us to thirst for the Lord and seek Him.
\nOur psalm invites us to long for our Lord as least as much as the way in which we long for the presence of a loved one who is departed and physically separated from us for some time.
\nIn Corinthians Paul is counseling his people from a physical distance by means of a letter. Believers must be prepared to manage challenges that arise in life. It is better for an entire community to support one another through testing than it is for an individual to carry this burden alone.
\nA conversation at the community water well: While Pilate was in power there was a massacre of Galilean Pilgrims. We can draw the act of blood shed here to that of Christ’s own blood shed while under Pilate’s reign of brutality. The Tower of Siloam appeared to fall on unsuspecting people by natural means. Both stories end people’s lives for no apparent good reason. Jesus tells us not to credit divine punishment for tragedy. Jesus does not assure us freedom from calamity, rather we must repent for that control we have upon ourselves. In the parable of the fig tree, Jesus likens repentance to a changed mind. Humanity, given its vulnerability, is a gift that we must care for in ourselves and others.<\/p>\n
You Shall Cross the Barren Desert Be Not Afraid
\nRobert Dufford
\nperformed by Michael John Talbot
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