St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, located at 171 Closter Dock Road in Closter, New Jersey, will begin the season of Lent with a Soup and Sandwich Supper and an Ash Wednesday evening worship service on Wednesday, March 6. The Soup and Sandwich Supper will take place at 6:30 PM in St. Paul’s Koepchen Fellowship Hall. The Ash Wednesday service will take place at 7:30 PM in St. Paul’s sanctuary. Members and friends of the community are invited to attend the supper and the worship service. For information, please contact St. Paul’s church office at 201 768-6310.
“Our theme for our Lenten midweek services is, ‘What Kind of Love Is This?’ Our theme is based on the refrain of the hymn, ‘When I Behold Jesus Christ,’ notes Rev. Robert Holsten, pastor of St. Paul’s. “The words and tune of this hymn come from Ethiopia. The Christian church in Ethiopia is one of the oldest in the world. It survived and actually thrived under intense government persecution in the latter half of the twentieth century. The hymn recalls the amazing love of Jesus, God’s Son and our Savior,” Pastor Holsten continues. “Jesus loved us so much that He willingly laid down His life, suffering and dying on the cross for each one of us. Lent is the time we remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us,” Pastor Holsten adds. “On Easter morning, April 21, we will celebrate the fact that God raised Jesus from death. Jesus’ death paid for all the things we have done wrong in our lives. Jesus’ resurrection gives us life with God now, life with God when we die, and the sure hope of our own resurrection on the Last Day,” Pastor Holsten shares.
“A devotional booklet entitled, ‘Behold the Man’ will be shared with those who come to worship during Lent. We look forward to sharing God’s love in Jesus in this coming Lent and Easter season,” Pastor Holsten concludes.
Photo caption: St. Paul’s members prepare St. Paul’s Koepchen Hall for a meal and a time of fellowship. The church will serve soup and sandwich on Wednesdays at 6:30 PM during the season of Lent, which begins March 6.