Lent Resources for Families
One day a few weeks ago when my daughter and I were driving home from school she asked me, “Why are the trees so scary?”
As we rode along we talked a little bit about how the trees look “scary” now but as the weather warms up, we'll start to see leaves and flowers come out—scary trees are a precursor to beautiful spring life just around the corner.
This week as I sat down to think about Lent, I was reminded of this conversation about the trees and thought about how Lent is a lot like the season of “scary trees.” As signs of life seem far off, we are reminded of what a world without hope would be like. Like bare tree branches, exposed to the elements, we would be subject to every whim of uncontrollable circumstance that came our way and dead in our own sin. Left to our own devices we would never bloom but as Christians we know, that was not God’s plan for us.
So what can your family do in this season of waiting, knowing that our hope is real and new life is just around the corner but not quite seeing it yet? I hope that you will take the time to read “God’s Rescue Story” together from the Jesus Storybook Bible Lent Guide that we are providing. This day-by-day guide will lead your kids (and you!) to remember how God’s plan for restoration for us has been there from the very beginning.
Sally Lloyd-Jones, the author of the Jesus Storybook Bible puts it this way:
"As we read this Great Rescue Story together, God wants us to remember: however we are feeling today, wherever we are today, whatever is happening in our lives today—however it looks, even if it looks like there is no hope at all—spring is coming. It may look like nothing is happening. It may even look like everything has died.
But...
Spring is coming!
Easter is coming!
Jesus dies—yes, but he comes alive again!"
I am praying that Lent would be a time for intentional conversations about the work of Jesus for you and your family—remembering and reflecting on our own inability to save ourselves and Christ’s mercy to bring hope into the darkest places of our hearts.
Use the button below to download a PDF version of the Lent guide mentioned above. You are also welcome to download the Lent Catechism for Families that we have shared over the last few years. Hard copies of both of these resources will be available at our worship services.