Our overall theme for Lent this year will be “Return from Exile: A Lenten Journey.” All journeys must have a starting point; and in the preaching and teaching this Lenten season, we will consider our starting point a land of exile, the wilderness of sin and death. However, as we contemplate the reality of our earthly journey this we will do so with our eyes fixed on its destination—the empty tomb and the open gates of everlasting life. What joy there is in knowing that we do not walk this way alone!