2nd Sunday of Lent

 

Opening Prayer

God of all creation,

You can turn the night into day;

the darkness into light.

You can create something out of nothing;

beauty from the ashes.

Shine your light into our dark places.

Transform our ashes into a new creation.

God you are with us!

Journal/Reflection Questions

Genesis 22: 1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18

• How does this story speak to you about Abraham’s love for God? His love for his son, Isaac?
• Can you imagine yourself as Abraham or Isaac in this story? Don’t listen to the scripture as though it is a story you are listening to or a movie you are watching, rather as a participant.  How does this change your perspective?

Romans 8: 31b-34

• Where has God interceded for you in your life?
• Is there someone who needs you to intercede for them? Make a plan to do so soon.

Mark 9: 2-10

• They were blinded by the light which shone on Jesus and were paralyzed. Share an experience when you felt God’s presence so intensely you were paralyzed.
• When was the last time you went away just to spend time alone with God?

 

General Questions for Journaling

• Can you recall the last time you just sat and gazed at the stars? Where were you?  Who was with you?  What did you see?  What did you reflect on?  When will you make time to do it again?
• How does your life reflect how much you blindly trust God? Is it something you can measure?
• Make a list of things you can truly turn over for God to control. What are the things you still need to control or be in charge of doing?  What makes it hard for you to let go and allow God to be in charge of the actions required of you in your life?
• Have you ever witnessed a heroic act?
• The world controls what news stories we hear about what is going on in the world, they are shining the light on one story to keep your gaze away from what is happening in the dark. What light do you follow?
• Are there things happening in your community, world which need illuminated? What can you do to shine light on them?
• In what events or activities do you experience or see the transfiguration happen in the world today?

Closing Prayer

Leader:  When we experience God’s presence

ALL:  We transform ourselves…

Leader:  When we live in God’s presence

ALL:  We transform others…

Leader:  When we share God’s presence

ALL:  We can transform the world…

ALL:  We are transforming agents of YOUR love!

Challenge for the Week:   If God is for us, then who can be against us?  Saint Paul reminds the Romans to be strong and courageous because God has a great plan for you.  YOU.  This is like the ultimate antidepressant!  So, why do so many of us feel like we are beaten up from drudging through each day, wondering why God hasn’t delivered us from the mess we wallow in.  It’s a fair question.  However, it’s all in our perspective.  Our alarm doesn’t go off so we grumble about how our day got off to a bad start and it just snowballs from there because we are thinking inwardly about all the bad things that are now going to happen to us; all because we got up late.  Imagine looking at it like this instead: The alarm doesn’t go off so we got some extra sleep we’d been trying to catch up on, we hustle to get ready and amazingly we do it in record time because we are not consumed with negative thoughts about all of the other things that can go wrong today, rather our focus is on praising God for all of the good things HE has in store for us today.  Many people hear about God’s promises and think they are too good to be true because they have not met anyone who truly lives their life like they KNOW, “If God is for me, then who can be against me”.  What can you do to become the person who lives like that!!!