For thousands of years, many traditions within the Church have celebrated a season called Lent leading up to Easter. The resurrection of Jesus is the central reality of the Christian faith. Yet to get to resurrection, we always journey through the cross. Lent is a cross-shaped season of life, focused on dying to ourselves and living into life in Christ.
Traditionally, Lent has centered on fasting. Typically Christians have chosen some form of food, entertainment, or activity that is given up in order to more fully focus on Christ. Recognizing the cluttered and busyness of life, Lent allows us to turn our hearts away from ourselves and look towards who God is calling us to be.
Lent this year begins on Wednesday, March 1st and lasts until Easter Sunday. For us at Restoration, we are encouraging an honest look in the mirror for everyone who is participating. We ask questions like:
What is cluttering my life and taking my attention away from God?
What consumes me and pulls me away from who God is calling me to be?
In what ways do I need to die to myself in order to live more fully for God?
In addition, we are encouraging everyone to have a fresh encounter with Jesus in the Scriptures through a Lent Reading Plan that takes us through the Gospels. Whether reading the story of Jesus for the first time or the fiftieth time, we’re asking ourselves 3 questions in what we are reading:
What does this say about who Jesus is?
What does this say about who I am?
How am I called to live as a result of it?
You can find the reading plan below, adapted from Bible Gateway. Our prayer is that this Lent season can be a fresh experience of Jesus that transforms us both as individuals and as a community.
