This Wednesday night at 6:00 PM, we will enter the season of Lent together. It is a season of reflection and preparation for Easter. This year we will focus on the good news of Jesus' teachings.

If we're being honest, we can easily distort or sanitize Jesus' teachings. Following Jesus leads to a richer, more expansive life, but it’s not necessarily comfortable. We often describe Jesus’ ministry as “radical” which comes from the Latin word “radicalis,” meaning “root” or “ground.” Therefore, the good news should bring us back to our roots, back to what grounds us: loving our neighbor, caring for the vulnerable, pursuing justice and mercy, and resting in God’s unending grace. 

The good news is extravagant, untamed, illogical, and persistent. It is joyful—like fine wine saved for celebration. It grows like a mustard seed that flourishes rapidly into a tree to shelter the birds. It smells like expensive perfume poured from an alabaster jar and like crumbling bread passed endlessly through a hungry crowd. It sounds like children laughing and like stones dropped to the ground instead of violently thrown. It feels like feet washed with tender care. The good news is alive in the world.

We are once again partnering with our friends at Sanctified Art to incorporate beautiful visual imagery into our lenten journey together. Watch this newletter each week for art work. We will also have devotional cards and booklets available beginning at our Ash Wednesday service. 

A Sanctified Art has provided a special e-reader version of this year’s Lenten devotional, which you can access on your computer and mobile devices: online.flippingbook.com/view/546389771/ In order to protect their work, please refrain from sharing this link or posting it on social media

This month in worship we have been spending time exploring Strength for the Long Way. We wrapped it up Sunday with "Community for Strength," a fitting transition to us beginning the lenten journey together.

If you missed any of the series you can see them here. 

Join us tonight  at 6:00 in the sanctuary for a brief service of scripture, prayer, sng and the imposition of ashes as we begin the lenten journey together. 

Our Nehemiah Action is 5 weeks away! On Tuesday evening, March 24th at 7:00 PM, we will gather, along with 27 other congregations in Palm Beach County to hold our public officials accountable for solutions to serious issues facing our community including affordable housing, immigration, and mental health support. The way that we are taken seriously is through the power that we demonstrate by our presence together. The goal for the action this year is 1600 people. The goal for Lake Worth United Church of Christ is 65. To reach that goal, we want to confirm 85 people attending (to account for emergencies an inabitlity for some to attend at the last minute). We currently have 48 committed. We are half way there! We would like to be at 85 by February 22nd. 

We woud like to keep an accurate count of who will be going so please register here, even if you are already on the list!

There will be a bus leaving from our church, as well as other locations, to take action attendees to JupiterFirst Church. You MUST register for the bus by March 17th. You can register here.

You can sign up here.

Resources for Staying Centered, Grounded, and Connected

It is helpful and encouraging to remember that we are not alone in our work for justice. You can read UCC General Minister and President Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson's statement regarding the killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti here.

The Hope Circle Book Club

Lake Worth UCC Member Johanna Castillo is facilitating a new group, The Hope Circle Book Club. They meet every other Thursday evening in person in our office and online. They are currently discussing The Book of Hope by Jane Goodall. You can find more information here.

Together: Hope: A User's Manual

Our Together group which meets on Wednesday nights is currently discussing Hope: A User's Manual .

In Hope: A User’s Manual, pastor and theologian MaryAnn McKibben Dana offers a clear-eyed, compassionate vision of hope for a world that often feels exhausted, divided, and afraid. Rather than treating hope as optimism or positive thinking, Dana reframes hope as a practice—something we learn, exercise, and return to, especially when circumstances don’t improve as quickly as we’d like.

The book gently dismantles common misconceptions about hope and replaces them with something sturdier. Hope is not denial, certainty, or success. It is attention, courage, imagination, and persistence. Drawing from scripture, pastoral experience, psychology, and community life, Dana shows how hope can coexist with doubt, grief, and frustration—and how it often appears in small, quiet, faithful acts rather than dramatic breakthroughs.

Throughout the book, Dana invites readers to see hope not as predicting a better future, but as participating in God’s ongoing work in the present. It is a form of holy resilience that keeps us engaged, connected, and moving forward together.

This book is especially meaningful for those who care deeply about the world, feel the weight of its brokenness, and are looking for a hope that is honest, grounded, and sustaining.

We will be discussing chapter six tonight on site at 1415 North K St and via Zoom. After two weeks off, we will resume meeting on January 7th, discussing Hope: A User's Manual.

Spiritual Direction 

Lake Worth UCC member Stacey Harter is a seminary student focusing on spiritual direction. She is currently open to taking new directees. You can learn more about her and spiritual direction at Nautilus Spiritual Direction.

Pastor Jason posts a couple of times a week on his Subtack page, Building Soulforce. You can find it here.

It is easy to give online at our website lakeworthucc.org/give.

Our app is now back up and running on all of your favorite app stores. You can watch services, keep up with what we are doing, and connect with one another. Go to our app page to find the links to download.

Join us at 10:00 on Thursday morning as we gather to catch up with one another! Currently we meet only on Zoom - you can join us here. We will resume in person meetings later in the year.