Church of the Holy Spirit's monthly e-newsletter, the Godsend.
March 2021 Godsend
The Lenten Edition
Holy Eucharist: Sundays 10:00 AM
Healing Service: First Saturday of the Month at 5:00 PM

Please mark events (at the end of the newsletter) on your personal calendars. 
Please send articles and feedback to our editors, Robbie Pruitt and Dean Schultz at robbie@holyspiritleesburg.org and dean@holyspiritleesburg.org

FOR PENITENTIAL OCCASIONS

Celebrant   Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins.
     People   His mercy endures for ever.
Table of Contents

1. Lent: With Christ In The Desert, by Pastor Dean Schultz
2. A Tribute To Sergey, by Aleona Isakova
3. Lenten Activities With Children, by Debbie Jones
4. A Silent And Solitary Place, by Pastor Robbie Pruitt
5. Center For Parent And Youth Understanding, linked photo to the March Parent Page
6. Church Community Builder: Is Your Information Up-To-Date?
7. Let's Get Social, by Robbie Pruitt
8. Schedule of Upcoming Events
9. Social Media Links: Join us on your favorite social media outlet
10. What is Lent? GotQuestions.org Linked Photo
Lent: With Christ In The Desert
By Pastor Dean Schultz
Would you describe yourself as a driven person? Perhaps you are driven to achieve specific goals in the areas of marriage, family, career, education, finances, health, travel, or spiritual growth. Or you may be driven by fear, resentment, anger, jealously, greed, an addiction, or an unquenchable need for affirmation. 
 
In any case, I want to encourage you that Jesus knew what it was like to be a driven person! Following his baptism, and before he started his public ministry, our Lord Jesus Christ was driven out into the desert by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by satan for 40 days and nights. The Greek word for driven (ekballei) essentially means to be led with compelling pressure that one cannot resist. In this case, being driven (led) by the Holy Spirit was part of our Savior's preparation to fulfill the ministry that he had received from our Holy Father in heaven.
 
So, let me ask you a question. Are you willing to be driven (joyfully led) by the Holy Spirit into the Lenten desert that God has providentially prepared for you to help you grow up into your identity in Christ?  
 
I like to think of our Lenten desert as a sacred place of solitude where the Holy Spirit dismantles the "scaffolding" that surrounds our self-identity. We can subconsciously construct this scaffolding with honorific titles, academic degrees, professional affinities, our socioeconomic status, political preferences, owning an American dream home, having nice cars, priding ourselves in being physically fit, wearing the latest fashions, or having a prosperous investment portfolio that makes us feel financially secure.  
 
Of course, in and of themselves, these are not wrong. The question is, are these pieces of scaffolding that have become an essential part of our self-identity instead of having our identity in Christ alone? Who would we be if these were suddenly removed from our lives?
 
The Desert Fathers and Mothers in the ancient Church wrestled with this same question as they journeyed through life. To get answers, they went to the desert to seek God's face in solitude. It was there where they experienced life-transforming encounters with the Holy Trinity catalyzed by fasting, confession, repentance, and prayer. During these transformative worship encounters, they cooperated with the Holy Spirit to remove the scaffolding of their self-identity so that their identity was first and foremost in Christ alone.  
 
Likewise, when we are willingly "driven" by the Holy Spirit into our Lenten desert of solitude to fast, confess and repent from all known sin, pray, and represent our bodies as living sacrifices to God, we experience a spiritual transformation. It's in this sacred space where the crucifixion of our self-identity takes place, making the Apostle Paul's words even dearer to us; "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20)
 
May I encourage you to schedule some sacred times to be with our Lord Jesus Christ in the Lenten desert of solitude as you journey toward Easter? This place of solitude can be in your home, at a picnic table in a park, in the nave at CHS, or some other quiet place (yes, with your phone turned off). 

Upon your arrival, I recommend meditating on Psalm 51 and Ephesians chapter 1 with a journal and pen in hand! As you begin to write down what God is showing you from these scriptures, invite the Holy Spirit to point out any scaffolding in your life that is hindering your Christian growth so that your identity is in Christ alone! Then return to the everyday world that our Good Shepherd has providentially placed you in to fulfill the unique ministry that you have received in the Lord!  +

A Tribute To Sergey
By Aleona Isakova 
On January 24, 2021, my beloved husband went to heaven.

Sergey, my happiness, my knight, a gift from God, the love of my life, was suddenly taken from me by a heart attack.

I write below all that he meant to me - that and more.

I let him go with faith in my heart and with gratitude for 37 years of happiness.
We came to the USA 11 years ago to help witness God's love for American and keep the USA strong for God. I believe a great revival is coming soon. I believe that our mission "Beauty by God" is not over, it is just beginning, the harvest is great and we need creative ways to draw the hearts of a new generation to Christ. I believe that Beauty and Art reflect God's Truth and are powerful tools for God's glory.

We don't want to be stoped by the enemy and we will continue Beauty by God mission in USA and over the World. 

Please will you pray with me, and for me? I cannot do this without you.
Please pray: 

  • for our daughter Alisa and son in law Daniel, he needs healing.
  • for grandkids Thomas 5,5 and Sophia 3,5 yers old.
  • for my mom Svetlana and Sergey mother Luba, for his sister Anna .
  • for me, for my body and soul power to pass the test and for the continuation of the mission Beauty by God. 

We dreamed of growing old together, two old folks holding hands ... The have our human dreams and plans, sometimes they coincide with God's plan, and sometimes they crumble to dust. His plan for us is much more beautiful than all our Dreams, but not always can we understand and comprehend it on Earth.

Now it hurts me very, very much, my soul grieves to death. But my heart is overflowing with gratitude to God, for every second spent with Sergei; he was such a special person, I have never met a anyone who knew how to love so much, forgetting about himself, giving himself entirely, he had a heart of serving people. A kind pastor, a brave and unbridled heart, an adventurer and a loyal friend, an endlessly loving husband, the best father in the world, a wonderful grandfather of wonderful grandson and granddaughter.

I bathed in his love for 37 years, through the love of my husband I felt how much God loves me. My soul is torn with sadness. Lord, thank you for these years of happiness, for every hour together, for every second, for every look, touch. I am blessed by you beyond measure. I am overwhelmed with the love that my husband loved me, the trace of his beautiful soul will forever remain on my soul, my cup is overflowing with love.

God prepared my heart, when Sergei went skiing, I was sitting in the car and reading Psalm 22, the Bible verses penetrated so deeply into my soul: “If I go through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear evil, because You are with me, your rod and Your staff, they comfort me." I fell asleep calmly, and when I woke up, I saw the ambulance go to the trail. I immediately realized that something had happened to Sergei, I probably ran for a kilometer along a snow-covered forest path, screaming, crying, praying. They could not save him, my son-in-law says that Sergey died of happiness, his heart could not stand the joy. He was so happy all these years and days.

They let me into the ambulance, and I was able to touch my beloved one last time, I saw his eyes ... and there was Heaven! With God, life on earth is only a moment, it is the threshold of true life, which is revealed in God, who created the entire Universe. Death, where is your sting? Hell, where is your victory? Death is defeated by the Blood of Christ. And Sergei went to the Lord straight from the snow-covered path of his beloved park, overflowing with happiness and love. He did not want to grow old, my wild lion. He was the best, I always thought, and what can I repent of to him? Kind, meek, helpful, brave, his heart always for others ... He left young and strong at 59 years old.

And me, and us? God's Love has not dried up for me, and although now I only feel pain and I want to howl from longing, I know that God is near, and I believe that one day, when my time comes, I will see my best friend, my Seryozha, and we will be together dancing in heavenly glades, and God will smile at us.

Love you in Jesus,

Aleona

Thank you for your prayers, dear ones, I can feel them.
Children's Ministry: Lenten Activities With Children
by Debbie Jones
Our lives revolve around the calendar with birthdays, weddings and other events. Teaching about the calendar is an important skill for early childhood educators. But we do not want to forget to include the spiritual element in our teachings.  

Lent is an opportunity to introduce the church calendar to our children.  The liturgical year helps us walk through the seasons of our life as we discover the seasons of Christ’s life and grow closer to Him.

            Lent is a time to focus on God and prepare to remember and celebrate Jesus dying on the cross and rising from the grave to save each of us. As we involve our children in the season of Lent, we need to provide hands-on experiences of repentance, forgiveness, community, sadness and joy. 

At the beginning of Lent, we mark the time when Jesus is sent into the wilderness. While there he prays and prepares for what lies ahead for him.

The season of Lent can be presented to children as a time to pause, to pray, and to prepare for what lies ahead. This is a good season to discuss and memorize the Lord’s Prayer or to read passages about the prayers of Jesus.  Use this time as an opportunity to begin a family prayer time.

Here are a few hands-on activities to do with your children during this time:

  • Find a Lent devotional for children and spend time reading the Bible and praying.
  • Give up something as a family. (Jesus fasted for 40 days.)
  • 40 bags in 40 days- Instead of giving up something for Lent, you could purge a bag’s worth of stuff every day during Lent.  Make it a family affair.
  • Build a Lenten Cross- This is similar to an Advent wreath, but in the shape of a cross. You light one or more candles each night during dinner for the Lenten season.
  • Serve 40 ways in 40 days-Teach your children to be the hands of God (Prov. 3:27) and complete 40 acts of kindness.
  • Write a card to someone you love.
  • Give up complaining for the entire day.
  • Bake pretzels-Pretzels were first baked during Lent because they can be made with only water, flour and salt. The shape came from a posture of prayer, with arms crossed and hands on opposite shoulders.  A monk made dough into this crisscrossed shape and the pretzel was born.

No matter how you choose to observe Lent with your children, the key is that you actually do it!   Talk about His sacrifice, about their Savior.  It will be a wonderful chance to learn and grow, to think more about what Jesus sacrificed, and to examine how we are living day-to-day.
A Silent And Solitary Place
By Robbie Pruitt

When was the last time you had some solitude and silence where you could peacefully pray, listen, and hear from God? 

Silence is difficult. We live in a very loud world. 

We live noisy lives filled with a deafening bombardment of clamor coming at us at rapid speed from and from every direction. 

Everyone and everything is competing for our attention and affection. 

It becomes increasingly difficult to hear the voice of God through the clattering haze of noise pollution that envelops us.

There is a frenetic soundtrack to this life that is both mind numbing and soul killing. 

Mark’s Gospel tells us that between the noise of an abundance of ministry demand and healings Jesus sought out solitude with his Father. Mark writes, “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” (Mark 1:35, ESV). 

If Jesus needed and desired to escape the noisy demands of life, ministry and deep desperation, we need to pull away and seek solitude and silence with God as well. 

Like Jesus, we all need some solitude and silence where we can pray, listen, and hear from God. We need to pull away from the busyness, the clamor, the demands, the crowds, and the ambient noise of life and meet with our God in the silent solitude. 

May we pull away from the noise, pulling down the master volume, to receive the quiet calm and solitude of listening to God’s voice. 

Robbie +

A Prayer For The Spirit Of Prayer: “O Almighty God, you pour out on all who desire it the spirit of grace and of supplication: Deliver us, when we draw near to you, from coldness of heart and wanderings of mind, that with steadfast thoughts and kindled affections we may worship you in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” (#5, Book of Common Prayer, 2019).

Photo by David Marcu, from Unsplash. More photography can be found here: https://unsplash.com/photos/78A265wPiO4
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Let's Get Social
by Pastor Robbie Pruitt

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 Schedule of Upcoming Events
Mark Your Calendar


March 6th - Healing Service at 5:00 PM, with Jay Baylor

March and April - Holy Week Services

March 28th - Palm Sunday
April 1st - Maundy Thursday
April 2nd - Good Friday
April 3rd - Easter Vigil
April 4th - Easter Sunday