Take the Lent Challenge!
This Lent we are challenging ourselves to use the season leading up to Easter as a time for personal and communal growth through daily Bible study and prayer; fellowship opportunities together; service in our community; and adventurous experiences outside our comfort zone. You are invited to take the challenge by committing to doing each of the following throughout the 40 days of Lent:
Daily Prayer and Bible Reading (daily)
Commit to take time each day to read from the Bible and pray in order to grow in your personal devotional life. You can use one of the devotional plans provided, or something of your own choosing.
Fellowship (weekly)
Commit to participating in at least one fellowship opportunity with the church family each week in order to grow in our relationships together. Examples could include participation in a small group, Sunday school class, Sunday fellowship time, or the weekly Tuesday evening meals.
Service (once during Lent)
Find one way to volunteer your time during Lent in order to help others and serve the community. Options could include volunteering through the church with the Food Pantry or Lunch & Love, volunteering with a local non-profit, or making phone calls to cheer up friends or neighbors.
Adventure (choose one to do at least once during Lent)
Select one option from the list below to do at least once during the season of Lent. Allow yourself to be stretched outside of our comfort zone and grow in your relationship with God in new ways.
Adapted from Lent: 40 Ideas to Transform Your Community by the Evangelical Alliance, UK, 2014
To sign up, write your name on one of the paper “fish” that will be available in the sanctuary lobby throughout Lent, and it will be posted on our display. Or simply email the church office with your name and we’ll fill one out for you. We’re hoping to have as many names represented as possible. Let’s take the challenge together!
This Lent we are challenging ourselves to use the season leading up to Easter as a time for personal and communal growth through daily Bible study and prayer; fellowship opportunities together; service in our community; and adventurous experiences outside our comfort zone. You are invited to take the challenge by committing to doing each of the following throughout the 40 days of Lent:
Daily Prayer and Bible Reading (daily)
Commit to take time each day to read from the Bible and pray in order to grow in your personal devotional life. You can use one of the devotional plans provided, or something of your own choosing.
Fellowship (weekly)
Commit to participating in at least one fellowship opportunity with the church family each week in order to grow in our relationships together. Examples could include participation in a small group, Sunday school class, Sunday fellowship time, or the weekly Tuesday evening meals.
Service (once during Lent)
Find one way to volunteer your time during Lent in order to help others and serve the community. Options could include volunteering through the church with the Food Pantry or Lunch & Love, volunteering with a local non-profit, or making phone calls to cheer up friends or neighbors.
Adventure (choose one to do at least once during Lent)
Select one option from the list below to do at least once during the season of Lent. Allow yourself to be stretched outside of our comfort zone and grow in your relationship with God in new ways.
Adapted from Lent: 40 Ideas to Transform Your Community by the Evangelical Alliance, UK, 2014
- Neighbor Night Invite one family from your block over for dinner. Or host a neighborhood block party. Prayerful, intentional hovering can sometimes be required to facilitate ‘bumping into’ people for invites, but might be the start to truly getting to know your neighbors!
- Prayer Walk Go on an intentional walk through your neighborhood while praying for people you have not met or spoken to. Take your time. Look up, look down, look around. Look into people’s eyes and say: ‘Hello.’ Chat with people you cross paths with. Spend some time people-watching. Ask God to show you where God is working and how God wants you to be part of it." Tell your neighbors you are giving up chocolate for Lent (or whatever you might be giving up!) and perhaps buy them a bag of sweets or some chocolate? The key is making an authentic connection with neighbors. If so led, step out and pray for people you meet, believing that the same power that guided Jesus’s life and raised him from the dead now lives in you!
- Party “Jesus was good at feasting and partying with people. Could you use the time of Lent to pray and plan an Easter party for your community, neighbors, your colleagues from work, or your friends? Let’s be the people who throw an amazing party as we’ve got the best reason ever to celebrate.”
- Be Creative If you’re the creative type, why not create something as an act of praise or as a form of prayer to God? Share what you’ve made with at least one other person or bring it in to church to be displayed in the sanctuary during Lent.
- Encourage leaders Think of a local leader in your community – politician, business owner, community group – who has to make difficult decisions which influence many lives. Research has shown that women in particular need a lot of encouragement before they step forward into leadership. Encourage your local community leaders by dropping them a letter or an email – cheer them on.
- Carbon Fast Participate in a carbon fast for a day, week, or more by checking out resources here. Use it as an opportunity to start conversations about why God cares about climate change, why it’s urgent, and why God gives us hope.
- Restore To 'restore' is to re-establish or bring back a previous practice or situation. Restored buildings can look breathtaking, and so too can restored relationships. In Lent, why not make the decision to restore relationships. Be bold enough to forgive failure - yours and others' - and take the first step to transforming communities by restoring relationships.
- Cross Racial Divides While we’ve come a long way in terms of racial equality, many of our churches and communities remain divided along ethnic lines. As the Church, we are called to radical diversity and godly hospitality. This Lent, why not try to be intentional about speaking to people or building relationships with people who don’t look like you?”
- Start some stuff This Lent, share some ideas. Talk about injustice and imagine solutions. Practice seeing your streets, towns, cultures and structures as places for Christ’s transformative love. Have a meal with an eclectic group of passionate people. Go around the table talking about social injustice and some answers. Join projects. Apply for funding. Start some stuff.
- Invite Invite people to church! You'll be surprised how many people have been thinking about trying a church, but never getting around to it. You'll also be surprised by the closedness of others. But that's what happens when you "scatter the seed" - you discover the different soil types (Mark 4). Try it!
- Say Thank You! Take two pieces of paper. On the first write a thank you letter to God. Think about the death and resurrection of Christ. What did Jesus go through for you? What hope does his resurrection bring you for the situations you face today? Don’t rush this... it’s important to thank God! Take the second piece of paper and write a thank you note to someone in your life. It might be someone who is often overlooked, someone you have taken for granted, or that you have not always gotten along with. Ask God to help you to see them with God’s eyes in light of the Cross and Resurrection. Find things that you are thankful for in them and offer it as a gift we offer in light of God’s HUGE gift to us.
To sign up, write your name on one of the paper “fish” that will be available in the sanctuary lobby throughout Lent, and it will be posted on our display. Or simply email the church office with your name and we’ll fill one out for you. We’re hoping to have as many names represented as possible. Let’s take the challenge together!
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