Lent & Easter Sermon Series 2024: Christian Somatics

 Lent & Easter 2024 Sermon Series

Christian Somatics: A Celebration of Incarnation

February 14 - March 31

We are called to follow Jesus with our whole self. This is what Jesus meant when he affirmed that the two greatest commandments are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Our “self” or “me-ness” does not just live in our heads or our minds. We are also our bodies. (Soma is the Greek word for “body” in the New Testament.) Our “self” is just as much in our shoulders, knees, and toes as it is in our head. I am my body and you are your body. In this series we will go to Scripture to learn what it means to follow Christ with our whole body. Along the way, each Sunday we will introduce a new body-prayer practice into our discipleship: somatic awareness, conscious breathing, radical resonance, mindful movement, attuned touch, and the like, as we seek to become more and more like Christ.

Ash Wednesday, February 14 (Dinner, 5:00 p.m. in Fellowship Hall; Service and Imposition of Ashes, 6:00 p.m. in Sanctuary)

This Mortal Body - Psalm 51:1–17, Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21

Sundays in Lent (10:00 a.m. in Sanctuary)

February 18 This Sinful Body - Romans 7:22-25, 8:5-17

February 25 This Strong Body - Proverbs 31:10-31, Psalm 73:1-14, 21-28

March 3 This Ritual Body - 2 Kings 5:5-18, Mark 14:1-11

March 10 This Broken Body - Isaiah 53:1-12, Mark 15:6-20

March 17 This Healed Body - Mark 5:21-34, 35-43

Palm & Passion Sunday, March 24 (10:00 a.m.)

This Traumatized Body - Mark 11:1-11, 15:21-39

Maundy Thursday, March 28 (Dinner and Communion, 6:00 p.m. in Fellowship Hall)

Communion of the Body - 1 Corinthians 11:23–26, John 13:1–17, 31b–35

Easter Sunrise Service, March 31 (6:30 a.m. in the Downtown Commons)

Easter Sunday Morning, March 31 (10:00 a.m.)

Resurrection of the Body - 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Mark 16:1-8