In the early days of the church the season of Lent was a time to prepare new believers for the sacrament of baptism. While some Christians still participate in Lent for this, most Christians today embrace Lent as a time of repentance, reflection and fasting and strive to turn their full attention to God. One of the ways Christians turn their attention to God is to choose to give up something they value—chocolate, screen-time or social media, candy, food or certain foods, etc. We choose to give something up to remind ourselves who really sustains us—Jesus Christ, our risen Lord. For this reason, Church of the Resurrection encourages people to not only give something up, but to take something on. For example, some take on more regular Scripture reading and study, giving time to volunteer or in some other way giving something of themselves for the sake of others.
Thus, this journal is built around the questions:
What will you give up?
What will you take on?
We’ve created this Lenten Journal for you to use as a guide. A spiritual guide, that will work with our weekend Lenten worship services. We pray the guide will help you in giving something up, but also in taking something on. The guide is designed to help you read Scripture daily, reflect on and apply what you read, pray and consider tangible responses to serve God and others.