This Lent take your Place at the Table

 “Whenever I begin a fast, I do it in hopes of becoming a different man – a grateful man.  It is my greatest hope that through our willingness to be vulnerable, to be changed, to be active agents of hope in a world that so desperately needs it, we will encounter the risen Christ together and be renewed and changed forever.  Will you join me on this journey?”​                     
                                                                                                Chris Seay  "A Place at the Table"

For this church year Church of the Saviour has been focusing on the theme of hunger.  In the Fall we had Project 5000 when we set out to provide 5000 meals to the Cleveland Food Bank.      Our congregation responded in an amazing way, and we far surpassed that goal by providing the equivalent of 8000 meals.  We are looking forward to another whole-church hunger project in May, called Feed My Starving Children in which we will be providing 100,000 meals that will be distributed world-wide.

 Right now, though, we are approaching the season of Lent, and we have another opportunity for our whole church to focus on hunger in a different way.

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Several ministries at COTS have partnered to bring you a Lenten Study called “A Place at the Table, 40 Days of Solidarity with the Poor,” by Chris Seay, a pastor and church planter in Texas. When I picked up this book and started reading, I couldn’t put it down.  It is honest, funny, convicting, and inspiring. Chris Seay is a guy who loves food, and he challenges us to approach Lent in a new way:  to heighten our awareness of the way most people in the world eat on a daily basis.  The book encourages us to fast, but when I say “FAST,” I’m not talking about going without food for 40 days or even one day!  The fast may look different in every household: - 

​- One family may choose to eat the diet of a child they sponsor in a developing country.  

​- Another may choose to limit their grocery budget to the amount a family would receive on food stamps.  

​- One year during Lent, our family had Wednesday night simple meals from somewhere in the world -- a simple bean burrito or rice and beans or maize porridge and beans.  

​- Some individuals or families may choose to give up meat or soda or sugar or technology.  

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There are a variety of ideas in the book, and the point is for each person or family to intentionally choose how they want to participate in a way that will lead them to a deeper understanding of hunger in the world and a deeper relationship with Christ as we approach Easter.

The book includes daily devotions, and Chris Seay’s website includes abundant resources such as daily videos and meal ideas. On this blog we want to share our Lenten experiences with each other, and several of our church’s small groups have chosen to study this book together during Lent.  If you’d like more information about joining one of these groups, watch for it in your bulletin, the Chimes or here on the blog.

When you leave the worship on  February 10, there will be tables with books at each exit.  You are invited to take a book – they have already been purchased by the church.  If you would like to make a contribution, any donations will go toward the upcoming Feed My Starving Children project – the one where we are going to provide 100,000 meals that will be distributed worldwide.

Prayerfully consider stepping out on this Lenten journey. Be prepared for change.

“Whenever I begin a fast, I do it in hopes of becoming a different man – a grateful man.  It is my greatest hope that through our willingness to be vulnerable, to be changed, to be active agents of hope in a world that so desperately needs it, we will encounter the risen Christ together and be renewed and changed forever.  Will you join me on this journey?”​ 

Chris McCandless