Lent

When moments in our story suddenly feel like they are getting torn apart and the brokenness around us has our very soul crying out for help, where is Jesus when all of this is going on? Are my calls for help being heard? Why is this story in the Bible so important to us today? Maybe it is because the story we find ourselves surrounded by is in great need of a miracle. But is the miracle that we need the one we hope for or the one that is more than we could have imagined?

Scripture passage: John 11:1-45

This is Week 4 of our Lent Series

Reflect together:

• Take some time to read aloud the story of Lazarus: what words, whats phrases, or what detail jumps out at you? What seems to be afresh this reading?

• Paul Racine reminds us the of real living story (with real living people) that took place and was recorded in John’s gospel. How did the honesty of Martha and Mary’s statement to Jesus seem to you? Does this reflect your prayer life?

• In the scene surrounding the shortest verse in scripture, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35), we find an extraordinary (and perhaps unexpected) response of Jesus to those He loved (John 11:5). What is the Lord saying to you?

Our songs together:

• O Come to the Altar - Elevation Worship

• Brokenness Aside - All Songs and Daughters

• Goodness of God - Bethel

• Your Will Be Done - CityAlight

Lent

On the fourth Sunday of Lent, our journey continues through the gospel of John. Jesus’ encounter is a story of blindness. On the one hand, the blind man showcases the transformative power of God’s grace and love, Jesus invites all of us to open our eyes and see the world in a whole new way. In another sense, this story acts as a critique of the spiritual blindness of the religious authorities. Which response do we tend to gravitate towards?

Scripture passage: John 9:1-41

This is Week 4 of our Lent Series

Reflect together:

• The visible and incarnate Jesus Christ, makes God known to us. We are reminded of the beautiful hymn from Paul’s letter to the Colossians, and from the letter to the Hebrews:

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.  Hebrews 1:3

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Colossians 1:15-20

Our songs together:

• Only a Holy God - CityAlight

• Come Thou Fount

• Open the Eyes of My Heart - Paul Baloche

• He Will Hold Me Fast - The Gettys

Lent

This third week of Lent, we immerse ourselves into Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus breaks several conceived barriers to offer presence and new life to this woman. A woman, who becomes the first evangelist - announcing and inviting people to “come and see… could this be the Messiah?”

Scripture passage: John 4:1-42

This is Week 3 of our Lent Series

Respond Together:

• The Samaritan woman went back into the town - announcing the Messiah to people as the man who told me everything I ever did. Her past is precisely what tormented her and isolated her from others. The past that haunted her is now the channel by which she invites others to see Jesus. In what ways can our previous shame or wounds from the past become a channel to help others experience the living water available in Jesus?

• The Samaritan woman leaves her water jar announce this water “from above.” Jesus didn’t explicitly tell her to announce the news, but the wind of the Spirit is blowing and she is compelled to keep in step. In this season, where is the wind of the Spirit leading you to greater union and obedience to Christ? What inner transformation or outward act is being invited?

• The jar symbolizes a life she has been freed from. What aspects of your past / enslaved habits are you invited to leave behind in order to move into what is new?

Our songs together:

• O Come to the Altar - Elevation Worship

• Yours - Elevation Worship

• Gratitude - Maverick City

• Come Thou Fount

Lent

On the second Sunday of Lent, we have the opportunity to hear the night time conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus. In John 3, we see that we cannot choose the stories that we’ve inherited but Jesus gives us an invitation to be born from above - to trust him and participate in a whole new story of moving forward.

Scripture passage: John 3:1-17

This is Week 2 of our Lent Series

Respond together:

• What are God’s desires for you in this Lenten season? Some invitations from today:

  To receive Jesus, return to God and trust in him

  To participate with the Spirit to become a new self

• For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world…Recall accounts in the life of Jesus where he showcased a posture of not condemning but healing and saving. As Jesus’ apprentices, what does it look like to be truthful while maintaining a posture of not condemning others?

• The bronze serpent in the wilderness would later become an idol. A cautionary tale of worshipping the gift over the Giver. Though hard to discern, what are some of the ways we can value the ‘gifts that we receive from God’ over God himself? What practices help you prioritize deeper union with Christ over what we can receive from him?

Our songs together:

• Build Your Kingdom - Rend Collective

• Holy Spirit - Jesus Culture

• Speak O Lord - The Gettys

• Yet not I but through Christ in me - CityAlight

Lent

The season of Lent follows Jesus journey into the wilderness. The priority of this season is to draw near to Christ, while putting to death our allegiance to worldly desires. It is fitting to close our time in the book of James with a warning on the pursuit of wealth, the hope we have in a world of injustice, and the prayer of faith in community.

Scripture passage(s): James 5

This is week 7 (final week) of our James series and an introduction into Lent

Respond together:

• There are a number of faithful people in Scripture that had great wealth. James appears to be more concerned about the misuse of wealth in (5:1-6). Take some time to reflect upon the way in which you acquire your wealth (ie. consideration of, or oppressing of workers) and how you steward it (ie. hoarding or helping).

• James calls followers of Jesus, particularly those who are suffering to a high standard. Why is it important to practice integrity when being unjustly treated? How is the Spirit calling you to endure in this season?

• Prayer, for James; is not solely a private activity. Prayer is a formative action that shapes a kind of people in community. The sick call on others to pray for them, people confess to one another, the happy can sing together. In such a divided culture, in what ways have you seen and experienced prayer keep people together and build unity?

Our songs together:

• King of Kings - Hillsong Worship

• Highlands - Hillsong Worship

• Generous Love - Mosaic MSC

• Restless - Audrey Assad

Lent

In John 8, we are presented with a messy scene. This is a tale of how religion can be wrongfully wielded to harm others rather than setting them free. A woman stands humiliated in full display before the crowd, the religious accusers are setting a trap for Jesus. The angry crowd have stones in hand ready to execute her judgment. While others learn to drop the stone in light of Jesus. Who are we in this story? Jesus reminds us why Love is the way, the truth and the life. Jesus reminds us that new life and turning from sins flows from the grace of the God who saves.

Respond:

• “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

  • We don’t know the end of her story, but Jesus provided an invitation to true life.

  • Reflect on moments where God set in motion transformative seasons in your life.

• “The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

  • If asked in that setting, would you have remained silent? Jesus had the courage to respond against the angry crowd and extend grace to the ‘least’ .

  • What has been the result when the Spirit has given you the courage to challenge ways of thinking that harm others?

• The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees condemned the woman until Jesus’ disruptive remarks brought awareness to the fact that their lives also miss the mark.

  • Have there been times when your awareness of your own shortcomings has helped you extend grace to people around you? Think specifically.

Lent

The people of Israel were the people of God, the story of Naaman is an example of how God goes beyond the lines humans draw and the boundaries that we erect. This is a story of grace, humility, healing, new humanity and the dividing walls being brought down in God’s power.

Respond:

• Naaman’s journey to healing and wholeness encountered two common obstacles. 1) His ego - he almost turned away from healing because of his ego 2) His opinions that were contrary to God’s instruction.

  • In what ways do these obstacles surface in your own life? Have you found your own opinions and ego becoming a barrier for what God has been trying to cultivate in your life?

• What can we learn from how God works in the story of Naaman? How does each character (King of Aram, Naaman, Naaman’s wife, young maid, king of Israel, Elisha, Elisha’s messenger, Naaman’s officers etc.) uniquely participate or restrict what God had planned?

  • What does this story teach us about how God chooses to act and restore the world?

Lent

As the season of Lent continues, Jesus masterfully tells the story about the reckless and lavish love of the Father in Luke 15. Frederick Buechner says if we want to truly hear the stories of the Bible, we must hear them as stories about ourselves. The invitation is to imagine ourselves in this story as it perfectly captures the personal experience of God that is available to us.

Respond:

• Like the sons in the parable, each of us has a story. What is the narrative you find yourself rehearsing and repeating on loop?

• Reflect on a time where you “came to your senses.” Give thanks to God and for all those around you that were able to help you identify things and walk alongside you.

• Whose story do you trust? Do you trust the story you’ve rehearsed your whole life? The story that others say about you? Or do you trust the one that the Father says about you?

• The artist illustrates a Ukrainian mother having her feet washed by Jesus, another image shows a Russian soldier receiving the same love, she adds: “I don’t get to decide who is worthy or ready to sit on that stool.” Take some time to ask God about how he feels about the people you deem unworthy to sit on the stool. In what ways is the Spirit calling us to greater reckless love?

Lent

What stands at the center of spiritual practices? The prophet Isaiah’s audience was committed in their religious devotion to God, however their practices did not unsettle their hearts. Isaiah wants their love for neighbour to match the heart of God himself. In this Lent season, can we increasingly take Isaiah’s words to heart, to become agents of healing and work towards the world that is possible through the transforming power of God’s love?

Respond:

• When you engage in spiritual disciplines, do you yearn that God will notice the sacrifice that you are making and give you special favour?

  • Do you find yourself feeling ‘better than’ those who are not doing the same practice?

  • Ask the Spirit to reveal your heart and motives and for the grace to recalibrate.

• God’s problem was not their fasting, nor was it their sincerity in the acts of worship, it was that their hearts and lives did not exhibit God’s compassion.

  • Do your spiritual practices lead you to become a more understanding, compassionate and generous person?

• “The celebration of Sabbath is an act of both resistance and alternative. It is resistance because it is a visible insistence that our lives are not defined by the production and consumption of commodity goods.” - Walter Brueggemann

  • Have you adopted the practice of setting aside a day each week for rest, renewal, relationships and for delighting in God’s presence?

Lent

This Sunday is the first Sunday of Lent. Lent is a season of repentance and reflection, Christians are invited to put to death worldly attachments in order to draw closer to God. This week, we enter into Jesus’ wilderness experience in Luke 4. While his desires and physical needs were important, his love and commitment to God was greater still.

Respond:

• What if the deeper threat of temptation isn’t being tempted toward a certain act but the gradual progression of being tempted away from our truest identity - as someone deeply loved by, and belonging to God?

  • Have you thought of testing/temptation in this way?

• Jesus’ responds to the lies of the devil with Scripture. The devil often twists and undermines truth, what often sounds truthful but turn out to be lies?

  • How has time invested in God’s Word helped you unveil lies from all sources?

  • Can you speak to the evil in our mind and hearts? Can you speak to the tempter?

• Richard Rohr says “They are sequentially the misuse of practical everyday power, the misuse of religious power, and the misuse of political power. These are the constant tragedies that keep defeating humanity.”

  • In this season of Lent, consider how the devil appeals to your appetites and giving up those things that we cling to in order to draw closer to God.