Welcome to the Living Faith Lenten Series!

John and Charles Wesley began the Methodist movement in England with the premise that the church should be an active, positive force for change in the lives of individuals and society. Such a church needs "enthused disciples" who actively worship God, live in Christian community, practice spiritual disciplines, and model Christ in the world through service. This model of living faith re-energized the church of their day and spawned a new denomination called Methodism that quickly spread to America and beyond.

The Wesleyan model of living faith is still relevant over 200 years later because it is deeply rooted in scripture. In Mark 12:28-31 Jesus tells us that the two greatest commandments are to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love others as we love ourselves. This combination of piety and compassion formed the heart of the Wesley's faith. For John Wesley it was never a choice between personal faith or social justice-both are commanded of us as followers of Jesus Christ. Wesley celebrated the miracle of the "and" that joins word and spirit, faith and works, peace and power. This combination of faith and action has proven to have the power to transform our lives and our world.

Inspired by Paul Chilcote's Recapturing the Wesleys' Vision, this Lenten series will explore four dimensions of the Wesleys' holistic model for living faith: worship, spiritual formation, community, and service. Each week will begin with a sermon focused on one dimension of the model followed by daily devotionals containing scripture, meditations, reflection questions, and prayers. There are several ways you can access these devotionals:

• If you are on the church's email list, you will receive these through email
• You can access the Living Faith blog directly
• You can follow @PeacePulse on Twitter
• You can pick up a hard copy of the week's devotions at the back of the MPR each Sunday

We invite our congregation to enter into this season of Lent asking these important questions: "How can I personally grow in living faith?" and "How can Peace Church be a model of living faith in our community?" May we proclaim together on Easter: "Christ is alive, I am alive in Christ, the Church is alive in the world."