Trinity Lutheran Church

“Let this mind be in you ….”

What’s on your mind? Work? School? Family? Finances? Health? Who’s going to win the Super Bowl? Saint Paul directs our thoughts to Jesus. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus….” Whatever may be on our minds from one moment to the next, Paul tells us to have the mind of Jesus Christ.

What’s on the mind of Jesus? In His own words He expresses His passion:  “the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10 NIV). On the mind of our Savior was every individual lost in his or her sin and destined for death. On the mind of our Savior was accomplishing an eternal rescue mission. Jesus gave His all to accomplish His mission. This was no half-hearted effort. He was in 100%. Paul explains Jesus’ commitment by saying,

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!

(Philippians 2:5-8 NIV)

Each year during the season of Lent, we at Trinity along with Christians around the world, walk the solemn road to Calvary, remembering our Savior’s sacrifice that found and rescued us when we were lost in our sin and destined for death. We recall how Jesus’ love for us and His humble service at Calvary forgives our every sin and brings us into God’s family. This Lent will be no different—the wooden cross and quiet purple color will be visual reminders of our Savior’s love and humble service on our behalf. Yet this Lent we will also reflect on our humble service motivated by Christian love.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus….” Are those lost in sin on our mind? Is sharing God’s love with the lost our passion? Is our attitude of care and concern for others so great that we are willing to take the form of a humble servant to express God’s love? During this Lenten season, the themes for our Wednesday worship will center on love’s humble service. Not only will we discuss the Bible’s teaching concerning missional service, we will also discuss practical ways we can serve. More than simply a conversation about service, this Lenten season will also include opportunities for individuals (and families together) to serve together. During the first three Wednesday s in Lent, step-by-step plans will be developed to take part in a brief service project. But schedules are busy, and people have many commitments, so to provide an opportunity for service, there will not be our usual Lenten worship on two Wednesdays. This does not mean that service projects will necessarily happen on those two Wednesdays; we are simply giving back two hours that would have been spent together in the sanctuary to go out and serve together in the community. Our missional service becomes our worship as we follow another of Paul’s instructions:  “offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1 NIV).

This year, our Wednesday worship schedule is as follows: