March madness is upon us. And I don’t just mean in the basketball tournaments. No, the madness of March I mean is the busyness of life at full speed in the month of March, and on toward the end of the school year.
We have lots of winter visitors, family, and friends in town. The weather is perfect. The school year has turned toward the home stretch, so all the schools are pouring on the homework, the field trips, the special days of celebration and service. For some, even graduation ceremonies and celebrations are in the works. And life at Hosanna Lutheran Church, and Little Palms Preschool, is in full swing as well. It’s March Madness.
Here at Hosanna, we’re into the season of Lent. Lent, an old English word meaning springtime, is a special season in the church year when we focus a little more intently on the Passion of the Christ. Lent leads us into the springtime when new life begins to emerge as flowers sprout and new blooms come.
Lent brings us a little more March Madness, so to speak, because we add mid-week worship services to our schedule (Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.) to focus more intently on Christ, our sinfulness, His sacrifice to redeem us, and the new life He gives us. Lent leads us to Easter morning and the new life we know in Christ, who rose up from the dead, overcame sin, death, and the devil. All this he did because HE wants YOU to have New Life through Him. March madness will lead to Easter joy.
How about you? Are you in need of a new beginning? Do you need a fresh start, a do over, a new lease on life? Are you carrying around the bricks of guilt, shame, sorrow, grief, regrets, fears, or anxieties over what tomorrow might bring? Do you need a new life? That’s what the season of Lent is all about. It’s a reminder for us that “anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come!” (2Corinthians 5:17) Would you like to experience the full message of just what Easter morning means?
Come join us at Hosanna Lutheran Church not only for the Sunday morning services, but also for the mid-week services, for Holy Week services, and for Easter morning services soon to come in April. Join us in this new life in Jesus’ holy name. Amen.
Hosanna Lutheran Church is located at 9601 E. Brown Road, Mesa.