Dear Friends and Family of RRUMC,
Spring is getting closer and closer and the sun is setting later and later. The other night as I was going to bed, I noticed that all of the trees were casting a shadow in the backyard. It was a full moon that night and there was not a cloud in the sky. It was so bright that I walked downstairs, put on my jacket, and walked outside to take in its beauty. As I gazed upon the moon, I was reminded that a human being has actually walked on it. It also reminded me of the Lenten Bible study and sermon series called “The Last Supper on the Moon.”
Did you know that the first thing that happened once they landed on the moon was that Buzz Aldrin celebrated communion? He had a pouch with a little cup of wine and a small piece of bread. He took those out and celebrated the Last Supper on the moon. The first ever meal eaten on the moon was the Last Supper.
In the book we are using to guide our studies and sermon series throughout Lent, it says, “Bestselling author and pastor Levi Lusko journeys back in time and forward in hope, using the 1969 lunar mission as an analogy of God’s mission of salvation.” The five chapter titles are “Crisis in the Skies,” “Prepare for Liftoff,” “Obstacles in Orbit,” “Mission Accomplished,” and “The Journey Home.” I have been working to put the sermon series together as well as my lesson plans for the Bible study I will be teaching on Wednesday nights through Lent and this study is fantastic. The author does a masterful job of linking the mission of landing on the moon and God’s mission of saving us from our sins.
In the study, I learned that the word EXCRUCIATING was a word that originated during the time of Roman crucifixions. At that time, there was not a word that fully captured the horrible amount of pain that someone experienced when being executed upon a cross. The word excruciating came into being to capture the horrible amount of pain one went through while hanging there. The word means “from the cross.” When someone uses the word excruciating, they are literally saying that they are experiencing a pain that is similar to that of being crucified on a cross. I don’t think I will ever use that word again to describe a headache or a stubbed toe.
This sermon series looks to be an incredible way to take us through the journey of Lent. Come and worship with us this Lenten season, as we go from the dust and ashes of our Ash Wednesday service on February 22 at 7:00pm, all the way to the empty tomb of Easter Sunday morning.
I am certain that God has great plans for you if you will just be part of that Lenten journey. May you have a holy and blessed Lent this year.
Peace and Blessings,
Rev. Dan