Lenten Sermon Series

Full to the Brim

The scriptures for this Lenten season are filled with parables and promises of God’s abundant and expansive grace. Jesus as a mother hen, a prodigal son welcomed home, a fig tree nurtured with care and hope, precious oil poured out lovingly and freely, stones shouting out with praise — these sacred texts are brimming with a gospel of grace.  We’ve done nothing to deserve or earn this grace, and yet, like water, it spills over. Full to the Brim is an invitation—into a radically different Lent, into a full life. It’s an invitation to be authentically who you are, to counter scarcity and injustice at every turn, to pour out even more grace wherever it is needed.  It disrupts the scarcity mentality that culture, oppression, and hierarchy can plant inside of us.  When we allow ourselves to be filled to the brim with God’s lavish love, that love spills over. It reaches beyond us; like water, it rushes and flows, touching everything in its path.  

We recognize that traditional iterations of Lent often emphasize restraint, confession, and piety. The origins of Lent were that one was to leave their old life behind to fast and prepare to be baptized into a new way of living. In essence, this was a practice of stepping away from the rat race, corrupt power, scarcity mentality, and empty rituals in order to live into a more expansive and full life of faith.  And so, our Lenten Sermon Series this year trusts the promise of our baptisms—God has already claimed us as God’s own and nothing we can do will ever change or erase that. 

Full to the Brim doesn’t ignore or deny sin and suffering. It doesn’t absolve accountability for wrongdoing. Instead, it contextualizes our faith. If love is our beginning, how can we live our lives led by love’s promises? It reminds us to live fully—as we pursue justice and hope, or express grief and gratitude. And so, this Lent, let us trust—fully—that we belong to God.  Let us increase our capacity to receive and give grace.  Let us discover the expansive life God dreams for each of us!

Ash Wednesday (Feb. 18): With All That You Are | Matthew 6:1 - 6, Joel 2:1 - 2, 12-17

First Sunday in Lent (Feb. 22): Even in the Desert | Luke 4:1 - 13, Deuteronomy 26:1 - 11

Second Sunday in Lent (Mar. 1):  Under God's Wing | Luke 13:31-35, Psalm 27

Third Sunday in Lent (Mar. 8):  You are Worthy | Luke 13:1-9, Isaiah 55:1-9

Fourth Sunday in Lent (Mar. 15):  Prodigal Grace | Luke 15:1 - 3, 11b-32, 2 Corinthians 5:16 -21

Fifth Sunday in Lent (Mar. 22) | Brazen Acts of Beauty | John 12:1-8, Isaiah 43:16 -21

Palm Sunday (Mar. 29) | Even the Stones Cry Out | Luke 19:28-40

Easter Sunday (Apr 5) | An Expansive Life | Luke 24:1 - 12