Certainly most of you have just finished putting away all of the Christmas decorations, and are getting used to writing “2008.” Believe it or not, Lent is quickly approaching with Ash Wednesday on February 6. The GLACE team (Group Life and Adult Christian Education) is recommending two resources for small group and individual study during this season.

With “pursuing a Sabbath lifestyle” from our newly formed Statement of Direction, the first offering is Sabbath: the Gift of Rest (IVP, 2007) by our own Lynne Baab. The heart of the book is derived from two questions: 1) what will I stop doing on the Sabbath? and 2) what will I do on the Sabbath to draw near to God?

This eight-study guidebook considers biblical passages that provide a background for many Sabbath practices and opportunities. It has a workbook format with leaders notes at the back. Details of how to purchase copies will be announced this month.

Another offering is Christine Sine’s Take Up Your Cross: A Journey Into Wholeness. During this six-week journey in Lent, this guide “offers an opportunity to examine areas of brokenness in our own lives and in our world and to explore how we can move closer to God and more effectively be God’s hands of healing and wholeness.” Each weekly entry provides a scripture passage for meditation, questions for discussion and lifestyle challenges to consider. This resource is not so much a bible study as a guide for a life-challenging journey. Copies are free and will be available in early January. For a PDF version, click here.

Please contact Marie Fritzberg, Group Life elder at fritzbergs@comcast.net for more information.