CROSSWALK 40-DAYS OF PRAYER
HAVE YOU SIGNED UP TO PARTICIPATE IN OUR SEASON OF PRAYER DURING LENT?
You can sign-up below for 1 or more of 120 time slots to pray for our church, our diaconate, our church council, our Converge task force, and our staff. We will offer opportunities each morning, afternoon, and evening from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.
When I was a teenager, our youth group choir chose a hymn to be our theme song. We enjoyed singing pieces that were new – written in the 1960s and 1970s. But we also enjoyed singing harmony on some hymn arrangements from the 19th century. The woman who directed us liked to tell hymn stories about the writers or situations that inspired the writing of the words.
One story we learned was about a young woman who started writing lyrics for hymns when she was a teenager. Jesse Brown Pounds was born in Ohio in the year 1861. She was an abolitionist. Because of poor health, she was taught at home and began writing verses for the Cleveland newspapers when she was fifteen years of age. The hymn we enjoyed singing was The Way of the Cross Leads Home. We discussed the theology of the verses which included phrases such as ‘Gates of Light’ and ‘blood sprinkled way.’ But we fully embraced the chorus.
The way of the cross leads home, The way of the cross leads home; It is sweet to know, as we onward go, The way of the cross leads home.
As our church unites in prayer through March and April, we will express our unity of commitment to God, our mutual dedication in discipleship, and our shared vision for St. John’s ministry in today’s world. Yes, the way of the cross leads home. And the way of prayer keeps us walking in the way of the cross.
Please join me in this season of prayer. Sign up here.
Shalom,
Dennis
