Heidi Epp, a music educator, choral conductor, and a program director at the Bakerview Music Academy in Abbotsford, spoke on lenting and fasting. Three years before the first adult baptism, what might be the first act of Anabaptist rebellion took place in the form of sausage eating. During lent, several believers broke the law of fasting as a protest against the unbiblical practices of the church at the time. Though many centuries have passed since then, we have long kept up our love of sausages and the unobserving of fasting.

Heidi also looked at how she observed lenting in her own life. During her two pregnancies, she practiced a "maternal lent" in which she avoided coffee and all caffeine. Though the journey was far longer and more difficult than she initially expected, she reflected that it was beautiful and that God seemed to have been with her during those times.

She concludes that lenting isn't just about removing something from our lives—and replacing it with some other distraction. It's about emptying ourselves and creating space for God to fill up. It's about removing something old, no matter how painful, so that something new can enter our lives.

Passage: Psalm 130; Matthew 6:6; Isaiah 43:18-19
Communion: No
Ecumenical or Event: Lent 5
Potluck Lunch: No
Congregational Meeting: No

Speaker: Heidi Epp
Worship Leader: J. Evan Kreider
Song Leader:
Pianist: Zachary Kuepfer
Usher:
Zoom Coordinator: John Lee
Children's Feature Leader:

Bring Flowers:
Coffee Helper:
Sound Helper:

Child Care Volunteer: