Sermon, February 22nd, 2026 - Pastor Donnell T. Wyche - a2cc.org. Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborcommunitychurch

Preparing for Lent: Returning to God - Pastor Hannah Witte - a2cc.org. Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborcommunitychurch

Summary

As the church prepares for Lent, Pastor Hannah invites the congregation to see Genesis 3 not just as an ancient failure, but as a mirror for our own lives. The serpent's temptation begins with a subtle distortion of God's goodness, planting the lie that God cannot be trusted and is holding something back. Adam and Eve grasp for what they already possess—life with God—and shame fractures their intimacy. Yet even in their hiding, God comes walking toward them, asking three gentle, piercing questions: Where are you? Who told you? What have you done? These are not accusations, but invitations.

Lent, then, becomes an opportunity to step out from hiding and return to the God who still comes looking for us. What if we let God's questions lead us into honest repentance—naming the voices we've trusted, the ways we've withdrawn or blamed, the places we've taken rather than received? As we turn back toward God, we rediscover intimacy, freedom, and love that overflows into our relationships and our community. This season is not about shame—it's about coming home.

The Wilderness Between - Isaiah 43:16-21 - Pastor Donnell T. Wyche - a2cc.org. Watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborcommunitychurch

Pastor Donnell reflects on the church's journey through a six-week vision series by naming the season the congregation now inhabits: a wilderness. Rooted in Isaiah 43:16–21, the sermon draws together the threads of the series, from the Magi's attentive faith at Epiphany, through centered-set belonging, life across real difference, and freedom. Rather than rushing toward resolution, the message pauses to name the in-between, the space where the old has ended but the new has not yet fully arrived, and where God is still actively at work.

Using a three-phase framework for how real change unfolds, endings, the wilderness, and new beginnings, the sermon situates the church honestly in the middle of transition. Through Moses' long formation in the wilderness and Isaiah's word to a people in exile, Pastor Donnell emphasizes that God's presence is not delayed until clarity emerges. God is not waiting for stability before acting. "I am making a way in the wilderness" is spoken as a present reality, inviting the congregation to pay attention to what is already springing up.

As the church prepares to enter Lent, the sermon offers an invitation to deeper belonging. Membership is framed not as an institutional obligation, but as a shared commitment to walk the wilderness together. The message concludes at the communion table with an invitation to come with open hands, carrying endings, holding uncertainty, and trusting that the God who sets the table is the same God who makes a way in the wasteland.