Lent

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Holy Week

Palm Sunday
Sunday, March 24 at 10AM
Wandering Heart: "Songs of Loudest Praise"
Join us for our Palm Sunday service! Pastor Edgardo’s sermon will be based on our Sanctified Art series Wandering Heart: "Songs of Loudest Praise"

Maundy Thursday Cluster Service at Liberty Grove UMC
Thursday, March 28 at 7:00PM

Good Friday Worship Service at Emmanuel
Friday, March 29 at 12:00-2:00PM
Stations of the Cross at Emmanuel
Beloved Emmanuel Community,
Lenten Blessings! As we prepare for Holy Week, we will have an opportunity as followers of CHRIST to reflect upon the meaning and significance of Christ's act of love. Please join us for a two-tier liturgy in remembrance of Christ.

The Sanctuary will be open for meditation on Good Friday from 12:00 – 2:00 PM, and the stations will be displayed in the narthex. It will be an integrated worship service that includes the stations as part of the worship experience.

Join us and walk alongside Jesus:
1. Jesus in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane
2. Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested
3. Jesus is condemned.
4. Peter denies Jesus
5. Jesus is judged by Pontius Pilate
6. Jesus is mocked and crowned with thorns, and more…

In addition, we invite you to walk “the way of sorrows” to the cross, but through the eyes and experiences of one of Jesus’ closest disciples. As a nod to the Stations of the Cross, this service highlights Peter’s role in the crucifixion narrative. In this way, we follow Jesus to his death with Peter as our companion. By focusing on Peter, we imagine how we might have acted and behaved had we been there as one of Jesus’ followers and friends.

Each station provides multisensory ways to engage, confess, and lament. The 6 stations focus on the following narratives:
1. John 13:1-20 (Peter resists then receives the foot washing)
2. John 13:31-38 (Jesus foretells Peter’s denials)
3. John 18:1-11 (Peter draws his sword)
4. John 18:12-18 (Jesus is arrested and Peter denies Christ)
5. John 18:19-27 (Peter denies Christ again and again)
6. John 19:1-30 (Jesus is crucified)

Easter Sunday
Sunday, March 31 at 7AM (beginning in the cemetery, weather permitting) and 10AM Wandering Heart: "And I Hope"
We might expect that, after denying Christ, Peter would cower in shame—or perhaps even run away in an attempt to leave his past behind him. Instead, when he hears the news from the women, he doesn’t dismiss them like the other disciples. He gets up and runs to the tomb. When he peers into the empty tomb and sees the linen cloth, he is filled with awe. Even after the biggest failures, even after the worst-case scenario has happened, can we run toward hope? Like Peter, will we keep going? Will we keep looking for God in our midst? (reflections from Sanctified Art)

On Easter Sunday, March 31, join us for an early worship service at 7AM, followed by a free Easter Breakfast in our Fellowship Hall from 8-9:45AM. We will enjoy bagels, eggs, pancakes, sausage and more! We will then have a second Easter service during our regular worship time at 10AM.

Our Lenten Series

Our series is created and written by A Sanctified Art

Wandering Heart - Sermon Series and Personal Devotional

This Lent, we are focusing on the life and faith of one of Jesus’ most famous disciples. In Peter, we see a person who is both steadfast and unsteady, a dear friend and a betrayer, a follower and a wanderer. In Peter, we often see ourselves. By following Peter’s journey, we watch the story of Jesus unfold through the eyes of a very normal human trying to figure it all out—just like us.

As we were studying Peter’s faith journey, the lyrics of “Come Thou Fount” came to mind. It’s as if Peter himself wrote this song. Like many of us, Peter has a wandering heart. His journey is not polished, or linear, or perfect, but he is always tethered to the love of God.

In this series, we want to affirm that faith is a constant journey of steadfast pursuit, one that ebbs and flows. We want to affirm the ways Peter keeps going: he drops his nets, he walks on water, he runs to the empty tomb, he swims to the shore to meet the risen Christ. He keeps searching and yearning and loving, even after missteps or mistakes. Ultimately, in Peter’s story, we are reminded that God loves imperfect people—in fact, time and again, that’s precisely who God claims and calls.

This Lent, we will look for ourselves in the stepping stones of Peter’s story. We will reflect on the stages of our own faith journeys as well as who and what has shaped us along the way. As we wander, let us tune our hearts to sing God’s grace. May we rest in streams of mercy, never ceasing.

Lent Book & Bible Studies

Join us here at Emmanuel and our cluster churches in these studies

Rev. Edgardo's Book Study

This group meets on Monday mornings and nights starting Monday 2/19

The morning group meets at 9:30 AM in the Ministry Center at Emmanuel UMC

The night group meets at 7 PM via zoom

Current Book: Restored: “Finding Redemption in Our Mess” – by Tom Berlin

Contact Pastor Edgardo for more information at pastoredgardo@eumclaurel.org.

Cluster Lent Study

Join people from Oak Chapel, Emmanuel, Colesville & Liberty Grove UMCs in study. This study will be lead by the pastors of the cluster churches.

This group will meet via Zoom on Thursday nights at 7 PM starting on 2/15

We will be studying “Restored: Finding Redemption in Our Mess” by Tom Berlin

for more information contact Dr. Sherri Wood-Powe

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