Fourth Sunday of Lent

 

Opening Prayer

Lord, Let us come to you,

when we are weak and weary.

Have us reach out to you,

when we don’t know the way.

May we cling to you,

when we are overcome…

with darkness AND with joy,

YOU, Father, are all we ever need!!!

Amen!

 

Journal/Reflection Questions

Joshua 5:9a, 10-12

• How does God care for the Israelite’s? How does He care for you today?
• The Israelite’s were guided to the Promised Land…can you relate your life to the journey of the Israelite’s? How is it similar?  How is it different?
• The Promised Land was home to the Israelite’s, how do you define home? What is home for you?

 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

• What do you give to Jesus to make Him righteous? How do your words or actions give Jesus “wings” or a “leg to stand on”?
• Read this scripture again and imagine you are in a courtroom. How does it play out in your head?  Can you find forgiveness?

 Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

• What message does Jesus send with this parable? Can you list at least three?
• Where do you find yourself in the parable at this point in your life? Are you working hard, doing what you are supposed to be doing like the Older Son?  Are you squandering away the gifts God has given you like the Younger Son?  Can you find it in yourself to welcome the sinner home with open arms like the Father?  Are you a bystander, a witness?
• What emotions does this scripture stir up in you? How do these emotions direct you to action?
• Identify how the Father and the Son’s in this parable have changed because of the experience. Can they return to how they were?  Why or why not?

 

 General Questions for Journaling

• How is Lent like the Israelite’s wandering in the desert? What was their final destination?  How is that like our Lent/Easter?
• Like Passover, what traditions do you hold in your life as important? Do they have the same significance as they did when you were a child?  What makes them important?
• Where did your traditions come from? Are they hereditary?  Are they cultural?  Are they religious?  How do these traditions form you?  What makes them so sacred?
• Make a list of at least ten things that you use/consume that come from the earth. Can you also make a list of ten ways you work to conserve/protect the earth?
• What can you do to learn from God about how to forgive and forget?
• Is it easier to give forgiveness or ask for forgiveness? Why?
• Does Christ live within you? How do you know?  Can others tell?
• What characteristics of Christ do you see in yourself? Reflect on these gifts and determine what purpose God has for you to use them!
• How do you rejoice when you find something you have lost?

Closing Prayer

Leader:  Each time we turn our backs on you…

ALL:  Lord, you welcome us home!

Leader:  Each time we ignore your Words…

 ALL:  Lord, you welcome us home!

Leader:  Each time we whine and complain…

 ALL:  Lord, you welcome us home!

Leader:  Each time we go in the wrong direction…

ALL:  Lord, you welcome us home!

Leader:  Each time we say the wrong thing…

ALL:  Lord, you welcome us home!

Leader:  Each time we sin…

ALL:  Lord, you welcome us home!

 

Challenge for the Week:   Make a list of the synonyms of forgive.  How many can you come up with?  Try this week to use these synonyms in your life through word and action.  Where can you “restore harmony”?  Is there a “hatchet” you need to “bury”?  Once you have used all of the synonyms on yourself in your own life, see what injustices there are which you can help to “reconcile” in your community.  Aim to use each synonym you come up with at least once, get out there and “patch things up”!

 

Third Sunday of Lent

 

Opening Prayer

Lord

We are planted in the garden of life

starting as a tiny seed;

tucked away in the darkness.

Your word feeds us…Good works nourish us…

We struggle to break through

emerging ever slowly;

reaching toward the SON!

Your spirit sustains us…Love surrounds us…

Amen!

 

Journal/Reflection Questions

Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15

• Put yourself in the place of Moses…what do you feel? What do you do?  How are you called to action?  How are you called to conversion?
• Can you see evidence of the trinity in this scripture?

 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12

• What spiritual food and drink do you consume?
• What evil do you desire?

 Luke 13:1-9

• A gardener needs to pull weeds, cut off dead branches and prune in order to generate new growth; when have you seen new growth in your life from pulling, cutting and pruning?
• How is God like a gardener to the world? To you?

 

General Questions for Journaling

• Where do you find holy ground? What is your definition?  What makes it holy?
• When have you witnessed something holy? Where were you?  Did you know it was holy at the time or was it revealed to you in retrospect?
• Is God’s voice clear and consistent or distant and hazy? What words do you use to describe God’s voice in your life?
• In what ways do you care for the earth? Do you do it out of obligation or another reason?  Be specific.
• How do you encourage or discourage others to care for the earth?
• How does care for the earth relate to your faith?
• What are some of the qualities you value in friendship? Who are the people whom you spend the most time?  What do you have in common with them?  What keeps you connected?
• Where does God/Jesus/Holy Spirit fall in line with your friends? What value do you place on your relationship with each of the members of the trinity?
• Are there some friends with whom you want to reconnect? What do you need to do to reestablish these relationships?  How can God help you do this?
• God wants us to tend to one another; what can you do to fertilize others around you?
• How do you cultivate your faith? What work do you do to keep your faith from producing bad fruit?  Share examples.
• How do you rate yourself as a giver of grace, mercy and forgiveness?
• How do you rate yourself as a receiver of grace, mercy and forgiveness?

 

Closing Prayer

Leader:  You call us by name…

ALL:  Here I am Lord!

Leader:  You wait patiently for our answer…

 ALL:  Here I am Lord!

Leader:  You walk with us through the desert…

 ALL:  Here I am Lord!

Leader:  You sit with us during the storm…

ALL:  Here I am Lord!

Leader:  You carry us when we turn away…

ALL:  Here I am Lord!

Leader:  You call us each to fulfill a purpose…

ALL:  Here I am Lord; find me READY!

 

Challenge for the Week:   In the first reading we see Moses’ conversion, his turning from the old ways and beginning anew with God.  When have you experienced a conversion?  During Lent each person is called to a conversion of self, turn away from sin and toward the Gospel.  We should be letting go of a bad habit or trying to practice a new life-giving habit.  Check in this week on how you are doing so far this Lent.  Have you made progress in developing a deeper relationship with God, yourself and others?  Can you see evidence of a conversion happening?  It is not too late to make this Lent a meaningful one…make sure you are on course for having a productive Lent!

Second Sunday of Lent

 

Opening Prayer

Father

Bring on the new day!

Allow my spirit to be awakened!

No more will I suffer, for YOU are my Lord!

I will keep your commands!

Your promises you keep!

Amen!

 

Journal/Reflection Questions

Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18

• Have you questioned your ability to achieve what God requests of you? Share an example.
• God gives Abram the stars to represent his promise. What has God used in your life to represent his promise to you?
• What does God ask for you to sacrifice for a relationship with him?

Philippians 3:17-4:1 or 3:20-4:1

• Do you know people who “shine”? Describe what this means.
• According to this scripture, what must you do?
• How can you better prepare yourself to achieve this?

 Luke 9:28b-36

• God’s voice comes from the cloud in this scripture, where else has God’s voice come from? Where have you heard God’s voice?
• How does being on a mountain top change one’s perspective?  Share a time when you have been on top of a mountain, what did you see, what did you feel?

 

General Questions for Journaling

• What is the difference between righteous and self-righteous? Can they lead you down the same path?  Why or why not?
• Does darkness come suddenly or does it creep up on you? Share an example.  Then compare the situation to your faith life.
• Do you trust God 100%? What keeps you from trusting God at all times, in all things?  Be specific and honest with yourself about what keeps you from trusting God all the way.
• Have you ever been afraid of the dark? What about the darkness frightened you?
• Describe the feeling you get when you come out of darkness into light.
• Would you describe yourself an being 1)lead blindly through life by God, 2)a consultant with God on your path in life, 3)going through life ready to face whatever comes your way
• Make a list of at least five things that boost your spirits. What happens within you when you get excited about something?
• Are you more often blinded by God’s goodness or blinded from God’s goodness? Explain and then give an example.
• Are you blinded by other things in your life? What are some of those things that can blind you from God’s goodness?
• What is the overall message you hear from these scripture readings?

 

Closing Prayer

Leader:  Lord, let me remember, each day the sun rises…

ALL:  Light overcomes the darkness.

Leader:  Open my eyes to see the extraordinary in the ordinary…

 ALL:  Light overcomes the darkness.

Leader:  Allow me patience to find your presence in each moment…

 ALL:  Light overcomes the darkness.

Leader:  Help me be disciplined enough to always see you…

ALL:  Light overcomes the darkness.

Leader:  Even when I see nothing before me…

ALL:  Light overcomes the darkness.

 

 Challenge for the Week:   In the Gospel, something spectacular is revealed and Jesus tells the disciples not to tell anyone.  However, our instinct when we hear good news is to share it with everyone!  Reflect this week on how these disciples must have felt to not be able to share.  Would you have the discipline to keep this experience to yourself?

First Sunday of Lent

 

Opening Prayer

Heavenly Father

You lead us through the desert places of our lives

so we may be refreshed and made new

You put before us a banquet feast to nourish us

so we may be filled with your goodness

You gave your life to show us love without conditions

so we may share that gift with others

Thank you Lord!

 

Journal/Reflection Questions

Deuteronomy 26:4-10

• What do you lay at the altar of God?
• How does being in the desert change your perspective?
• What good comes from this desert experience for the Isrealites? For you?

 Romans 10:8-13

• How do you proclaim Jesus as Lord? Is it evident you are a Christian through your words? Your actions? Both?
• When did you last call on God? What was it for and what was the response?
• How do you show love to God? How do you show God’s love for others?

 Luke 4:1-13

• The devil tempts Jesus to be self-glorifying; where do you see this behavior in the world today?
• How does the devil tempt you to turn away from God?

 

General Questions for Journaling

• When has God delivered you from a bad situation?
• Identify a time when you felt alone or abandoned. Can you look back and see God there with you?
• How does God nourish you? Do you allow God to nourish you?
• Describe what it feels like to be empty of God’s presence.
• Describe what it feels like to be full of God’s presence.
• Make a list of things you can bring to others between now and Easter to help you express your faith more openly.
• Are there people in your community/family who are crying out but you are ignoring them? Listen for what God wants you to do.
• What are the communities which you dwell? Give them each a rating on a 1-10 scale on how they show/share the Gospel message.
• How can love be blind?
• When did you first understand unconditional love?
• Does love require effort? Why or why not?
• How are you exercising your faith?
• How does having faith give power? What does faith have power over?

 

Closing Prayer

Leader:  We are called from the desert places

ALL:  to share your love with others.

Leader:  We are called from the desert places

 ALL:  to set captives free.

Leader:  We are called from the desert places

 ALL:  to visit the lonely and oppressed.

Leader:  We are called from the desert places

ALL:  to show mercy and kindness.

Leader:  We are called from the desert places

ALL:  to shine YOUR light for all to see!

 

Challenge for the Week:   Do you have a faith story?  Of course you do!  Just like in the business world where people have “elevator speeches” which describe and highlight their accomplishments and successes; Christians should have a faith story.  Spend time this week putting together your own personal faith story; include pivotal moments, desert places and mountain top experiences.  Include specific scripture passages which carried you through the bad times or sustain you in the good times.  Write it down and then put it in your Bible so it can be added to the many other stories of our salvation HIStory!