Dear friends,
I am starting my second month with you at Plymouth P.C. Already I have
received your warm welcome. Thank you for the joy shown at my coming. It’s a
pleasure to be here and to serve the Lord with you. I have received the keys to the
kingdom (I can open doors to my office and more). Gina has been referring to me as
St. Peter, so, having keys to the kingdom fits well. You have heard my first sermons. I
find myself saying, “Oh, you’ve come back!” It’s a great start. In this new year, we
have much to learn about each other and the road ahead.
It is February! We start Lent this month on the 14th. Yes, it’s early this year. Lent is
when we devote ourselves to drawing nearer to God with fasting and penitence. It
runs from Ash Wednesday (2/14) to Holy Saturday (the day before Easter), totaling 40
weekdays. We are planning to hold an in-person Ash Wednesday service 6:30 pm in
the sanctuary. For the weeks of Lent, we are planning to hold a study series via Zoom
called “Wandering Heart: Figuring out Faith with (disciple) Peter”. It is a study of
disciple Peter, who is steadfast and unsteady, a dear friend and a betrayer, a
follower and a wanderer. By following Peter’s journey, we’ll watch the story of Jesus
unfold through the eyes of a very normal human being trying to figure it all out – just
like us. We’ll discover that faith is a constant journey of pursuit with ebbs and flows. In
the study, we will look for ourselves in the stepping stones of disciple Peter’s story,
reflecting on who and what has shaped faith in us. We will use the lyrics from the
hymn “Come Thou Fount”. I invite you to join in this study for God to tune our hearts to
sing God’s grace. Through it, may we rest in streams of mercy, never ceasing. Join
Parish Associate Pat Berger and I for this faith-deepening study series.
Stay tuned for community worship opportunities for Holy Week, including
Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunrise services. Those details will be
available next month.
In the grip of Grace,
Pastor Peter J. Blank