No fear . . .What can we learn from the past as we begin Lent?

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7) 

When God leads, He provides. What can we learn from the past as we approach Lent? 

Despite challenges, closed doors, uphill battles and more, God can use each of us to make change. We must not allow fear to hold us back! When God leads, chains can and will be broken. There is much to be done in our society today. We must lead as a Church, as a Body of Christ, as ONE!  As we prepare to lead up to Resurrection Day, let's pray for God to use each of us for change!

Here is another HIS-tory lesson . . . .

The Lord was pleased to strengthen us, and remove all fear from us, and disposed our hearts to be as useful as possibleRichard Allen

Minister, educator and writer Richard Allen ((1760–1831) was born into slavery. He later converted to Methodism and bought his freedom. Fed up with the treatment of African American parishioners at the St. George Episcopal congregation, he eventually founded the first national Black church in the United States, the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He was also an activist and abolitionist whose ardent writings would inspire future visionaries. 

In 1794, Allen and several other Black Methodists founded the Bethel Church, a Black Episcopal meeting, in an old blacksmith’s shop. Bethel Church became known as "Mother Bethel" because it eventually birthed the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Helped by his second wife, Sarah, Allen also helped to hide escaped enslaved people, as the basement of the Bethel Church was a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Then, in 1816, with support from representatives from other Black Methodist churches, Allen founded the first national Black church in the United States, the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Today, the AME Church boasts more than 2.5 million members. Understanding the power of an economic boycott, Allen went on to form the Free Produce Society, where members would only purchase products from non-enslaved labor, in 1830. With a vision of equal treatment for all, he railed against slavery, influencing later civil rights leaders such as Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King Jr.                                                                                                                   For more information see (https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/denominationalfounders/richard-allen.html).