Belgian Ecclesia Brussel - LeuvenSunday service 2026 March 1: Lent
On this sun-drenched first day of March, we welcomed many people in the ecclesia hall and in their homes via Zoom.
Lets begin our service looking by joining together in fact, amazing time. We thank God for the blue skies and sunshine.
This morning in particular we share the pain and anguish of our brethren in Iran and other conflict areas, at the balance in enrolment since the start of this year in particular, we share their emotions. What we do know of our brothers in Iran is that the fast moving situation is causing panic, worry and the real struggle to survive.
Tim was talking about ‘Lent’ and what it means to us.
Psalm 105 which is all about the faithfulness of God towards His people Israel and their travelling through the wilderness.
Moses gave praise to Jehovah the almighty Lord. He gave honour to His Name, talking of His doings among the peoples. The psalmist asks to let our voice be sounding in songs and melody. Let all our thoughts be of the wonder of Hs works.
We must have glory in His holy name; therefore let the hearts of those who are searching after the Lord be glad. Let their search be for the Lord of lords and for His strength. We can only hope numerous people shall let teir hearts ever be turned to Him.
We have to keep in mind the great works which He has done; His wonders, and the decisions of His mouth, He is the Lord our God: He is judge of all the earth.
Today we find the Middle East burning, but they and we should remember that Jehovah has kept His agreement in mind for ever, the word which He gave for a thousand generations; the agreement which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac. And He gave it to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an eternal agreement.
The land of Canaan, the measured line of the Jewish heritage was given by God. When they were still small in number, and strange in the land; when they went about from one nation to another, and from one kingdom to another people. He Who is the Mightiest would not let anyone do them wrong; He even kept back kings because of them.
We can see that in the past several were tested by the word of God.
God sent Moses, His servant, and Aaron, the man of his selection to let His signs be seen among the people, and His wonders in the land of Ham. Jehovah sent black night and made it dark; and they did not go against His word. God according to His Wish brought several disasters over the Egyptians. Jehovah kept in mind His holy word, and Abraham, His servant. And He took His people out of Egypt with joy, the men of His selection with glad cries: and gave them the lands of the nations; and they took the work of the peoples for a heritage; so that they might keep His orders, and be true to His laws. Give praise to the Lord.
Remembering what God has done to His people we should be taking care that no one takes you away by force, through man’s wisdom and deceit, going after the beliefs of men and the theories of the world, and not after Christ: for in him all the wealth of God’s being has a living form, and we as followers of Christ are complete in him, who is the head of all rule and authority: in whom we had a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ. Having been put to death with him in baptism, by which we came to life again with him, through faith in the working of God, who made him come back from the dead.
After this reading we looked at the letter of Paul the apostle who wrote to the church in Colossae, which is now in modern Turkey.
We being dead through our sins and the evil condition of our flesh, to us Paul said that he gave life together with Jesus, and forgiveness of all our sins. Paul asks:
14 Having put an end to the handwriting of the law which was against us, taking it out of the way by nailing it to his cross; 15 Having made himself free from the rule of authorities and powers, he put them openly to shame, glorying over them in it.”
For this reason let no man be our judge in any question of food or drink or feast days or new moons or Sabbaths: for these are an image of the things which are to come; but the body is Christ’s. Let no man take your reward from you by consciously making little of himself and giving worship to angels; having his thoughts fixed on the things which he has seen, being foolishly lifted up in his natural mind, and not joined to the Head, from whom all the body, being given strength and kept together through its joins and bands, has its growth with the increase of God. (Colossians 2:8-19)
Catholics and Muslims started their fasting, which they each try to fulfil in a different way. For them it is a time for purifying their heart. We ask God to purify our hearts, telling Him how our heart is one of desire, asking Jehovah to set it apart, because we choose to be holy (set apart) ready to do His Will. We ask God to cleanse our hearts from within.
Tuesday it was Shrove Tuesday and Tim had pancakes that evening. He didn’t understand Sue using the eggs and flour to get rid of that stuff, sweets in the house. Tim did not understand why we would do that. The following morning he was getting up it was Ash Wednesday. He looked at his grandchildren he found it was the beginning of Lent: the seven weeks of prayer, fasting and almsgiving before the arrival of Easter. That morning he learned a person stopped eating chocolates and on the radio there were other things as mentioned as well.
For many Christians, Lent is a season for fasting and abstinence in imitation of Jesus Christ’s fasting in the wilderness before he began his public ministry. In Western churches Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, six and a half weeks before Easter, and excludes Sundays. In Eastern churches Lent begins on the Monday of the seventh week before Easter and ends on the Friday before Holy Week (Passion Week) that immediately precedes Easter. This 40-day “Great Lent” includes Saturdays and Sundays as relaxed fast days.
The purpose of it is that of spiritual reflection repentance and inner conversion and often described as a spiritual springtime.
Abstaining from luxuries or vices, that might be chocolates. Increased prayers and charitable acts.
Lent is not mentioned in the Bible at all. Moses in the old time Testament was always telling people of God to be aware of forgetting. Moses was very concerned that we didn’t forget God when they got there in the land. and Jesus himself used the word beware. He used it quite a lot. And in his case it was normally to do with the teachings of the clerics.
Beware the teachings of the times. And Paul in the chapter Caroline read, gave three warnings, if we are to enjoy a real life in Jesus Christ.
Paul was talking about it what people were undertaking what we might call a severe self-discipline. An extension from all forms of indulgence, identity management, but whatever it was Paul’s warning about abstention was popular in the Middle Ages.
Paul actually tells us that physical trauma is of some value. We know that he disciplined his own body and kept it under control, because he tells us that. And all of us will agree that we need physical discipline in our lives. We need to walk, run, to get up and go. We need to do things. We need to be aware of eating too much, becoming overweight. We need to be aware of drinking too much coffee and coke. Landing up nervous and dark scent, the possibility of ease. So our temples, as the Scripture tells, are our bodies, we should say , our temples of the Holy Spirit. And yet sometimes we do not care for our bodies as we should.
So the Colossians started to think that disciplining your body would actually sanctify their soul and their position before God. If they didn’t do this, if they didn’t complied with the 7 way of behaving, it would be alright with him up there.
Do not submit to its rules. Do not handle. Do not taste. These are all destined to perish with use, which they are based on human institutions. Not having, appears then for they are just another way. Making yourself looking more important. So Paul is telling us that days are of no value, rigorous fleshy discipline for religious purposes. There is no manual either. So we need to be clearly understanding and be careful in our approach to things like games as well. Indeed what should our approach to this religious festival be? Well there is a sharp distinction between the days leading up to this history. And the days afterwards. The days leading up to Easter and all our lamenting. The days after Easter all about rejoice. So the weeks either side of Bistro. See, the world history diving into 2 periods. Time before Jesus’ death and resurrection and then the time afterwards. New creation has been launched by the resurrection in the middle of the old, energized with the freshness of your spirit as appointed by Jesus. And this is the distinction between Lents, whatever that might involve an Easter. And it’s not just a question of thinking on Ash Wednesday you start late. We finish that Monday, Thursday. We should be thinking about what Lent is all about and what Easter is all about throughout the whole meeting.
We look internally and we look at the wider church. And we ourselves fail missionaly in our love for God and for one more. And so our lament is to recognise that things are still a mess. And this is perhaps where we can join in with God’s own song on the continuing tragedy of this world, because manual. To contrast that then with importance simply for the celebration of the Easter story.
Once we learn to lament properly, their minds, their hearts, we can praise God for the New Creation which we have bind. Without sanction or treatable.
Set your hearts and things above where Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds to things above, not on earthy things. And when Jesus who is your life. Then you also will appear within the book. He shaped into the kind of people that God wants to be.
Our thoughts must be on set things which are above. No longer concerned with trivial passing things of earth. Jesus Christ, as Paul says, is the most important thing. No more. This is life.
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