This year our church is offering these daily devotionals for the season of Lent. You can purchase them for $10 from the church office.

Lent for Everyone: Mark, Year B provides readers with a gentle guide through the Lenten season, from Ash Wednesday through the week after Easter. Popular biblical scholar and author N. T. Wright provides his own Scripture translation, brief reflection, and a prayer for each of the days of the season, helping the reader ponder how the text is relevant to their own life today.

Suitable for both personal and group reflection, Wright’s guide through Lent will make the Bible–and the season–come alive in inspiring new ways.

As multi-layered as an onion, Professor N T Wright‘s new book on Mark draws you in at once with its matter-of-fact, chatty, deceptively simple prose.  Each ‘chapter’ covers one day between Ash Wednesday and Easter Saturday. Using the prescribed lectionary for the day, Professor Wright focuses on a few verses and offers us his translation, and his exegesis. If, like me, you prefer a more traditional version of the bible, I suggest you begin by reading the passage in that version before plunging into the Wright text. Like all the best teachers, he makes some of the expected points about each passage, so that you are to some extent lulled into thinking you are keeping up well (if not actually ahead of him), but he then slips in an explanation, a twist or a new perspective, which sends you back to the beginning of the chapter to start again. I do not mean to suggest that the text is difficult, far from it, but there is a good deal more meat on the bones that you might anticipate at first glance. From The Lay Anglican review.

‘Wednesday at the Word’ is one of the programs we offer at Church of the Word in Gainesville. It is a mid week program with something for everyone in the family. It has four essential elements.

A simple but home cooked meal offered from 6:00pm until 6:45pm. The cost is only $1 per person, but you must sign up ahead of time! You can do this by calling the office at 703-754-9673 or pastor@churchoftheword.net. Usually about 40+ people sign up for this and about as many again join us later for the programs.

Three programs run from 6:45 – 8:15pm

1. AWANA for children age 4 to 12. Cynthia DuBusc children@churchoftheword.net heads up this ministry. Find out about AWANA here.
2. Youth group for teenagers including both Junior and senior high groups. Liz McCaslin youth@churchoftheword.net heads up this ministry.
3. Adult Forum led by Pastor Robin pastor@churchoftheword.net. The format varies but always encourages debate and sharing. Sometimes it is an interactive bible study, sometimes we hear about a local or foreign ministry from a guest speaker.

If you can’t make the meal at 6pm do please come along later to one of the other events, no need to register ahead of time. In case of inclement weather please call the church ahead of time or check with one of the leaders.

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