A Lenten Message from West Ohio UMC Bishop Bruce Ough

CALL TO PRAYER AND FASTING

I am Bishop Bruce Ough. Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are about to enter the season of Lent. This is a season that begins with ashes pressed upon our heads and ends with the triumphant song “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today!” Lent is:

• a time of self-denial and return to disciplined living;


• a time to repent and experience God’s extravagant forgiveness and mercy;


• a time to be set free from past patterns of self-indulgence and negative behavior;


• a time to embrace a life of joyful holiness.
  
  The pattern of Lent was set by Jesus during his forty days of solitude, prayer and fasting in the Judean desert. This was an essential period of preparation for his public ministry. And, throughout his ministry, Jesus urged those who wanted to become his followers to “deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
  
  Jesus is calling us to live as he did. Jesus is calling us to deny our preferences for the sake of His kingdom purposes. Jesus is calling us to die to our selfishness so that others may have a more abundant life. Jesus is calling us to address the problems and issues people face – disease, poverty, prejudice, hunger, loneliness, hatred, fear, sin-sick hearts – with an extravagant generosity, compassion and love that the world will consider strange and wonderful.
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• Jesus is calling us to live out of God’s abundance,
  when the world says hoard your resources.


• Jesus is calling us to witness for peace,
  when the world is mad with war and violence.


• Jesus is calling us to seek justice,
  when the world says look out for yourself.


• Jesus is calling us to proclaim hope,
  when the world embraces doubt, despair and cynicism.


• Jesus is calling us to offer salvation,
  when the world offers false security.
  
  This Lent, I am calling upon every United Methodist in West Ohio Conference to embrace the pattern of Jesus and enter into forty days of prayer and fasting. I invite you to fast at least one day a week and offer your savings to the poor. Pray for God to give us a “heart for the lost.” Pray that God’s “house may be filled.” Pray for and offer your lives for the desperate and dis-spirited people of Haiti, and around the world.
  
  As we move ever deeper into our Lenten journey, I invite you to prayerfully seek ways to live that bring abundant life to others. I invite you to lose your life for Jesus’ sake, so that your life may be whole, complete, joy-filled, saved.
  
  And, so I pray for each of you:
  
  Almighty God,
  Pour out your Holy Spirit and
  anoint your faithful servants.
  Cause your good gifts to flow
  in and through their lives and ministry.
  Receive their prayers and fasting
  as a holy and living sacrifice
  that others may have abundant life.
  Prepare your people during these days of Lent
  for the inexpressible joy and
  triumphant hope of the Risen Christ,
  In whose name I pray. Amen.

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