To access the Sunday Feb. 21st recording of this week’s service, please go to the Kamloops United Church YouTube channel Worship – Sunday February 21, 2021 and click on the service. 

This Sunday is the first Sunday of Lent. Lent is the Church Season that begins with Ash Wednesday and ends approximately six weeks later. Lent represents Christ’s 40 days of being tempted in with wilderness. Traditionally, Lent has been seen as a time of fasting and self-denial. Today, many Christians see his time as a period of reflection, prayer and meditation. The traditional colour for Lent is purple.

This year, our theme is “Holy Vessels” and our symbol for Lent is sea glass. In this week’s service, the call to worship is from a quote by Marcia McFee:

“Sea glass begins as something whole and yet discarded. As it is tumbled by the sea, it is broken and polished until it becomes a treasured “mineral gem.” We do not embrace that suffering is necessary or God- given, but that suffering is a part of life. When pain comes and brokenness enters our lives, Jesus reaches out to touch and remind us of the Treasure that we all are–worthy of new life in the midst of hopelessness. In a year when pandemic has wreaked havoc on our world, we begin by affirming our journey to physical health.”

A question for this Lent is “where do we see God taking the broken and shattered areas of our lives and helping us to refine and beautify our lives through the challenges that we face in life?”.

The Scripture this week looked at Jesus healing a leper. What does healing mean to us today?

Tomas Bijok led us in music, accompanied by Rachel Caspioni.

Once again, we were delighted that the congregation of Revelstoke United Church is joining us in worship.