Lent: Remembering the Life of JesusSample

What is Lent?

Bible Reading: Luke 1:5-25; Luke 1:57-80; John 3:28-30

The season of Lent is a man-made tradition, and in most churches it begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes on Saturday before Easter Sunday. Typically, Lent consists of giving up something as a “penance” for our sins. Not everyone participates in this way, but it’s considered to be a time where we not only worship, pray, and remember what Jesus did for us, but also ask God to search our hearts and reveal any sinful ways where we consistently struggle.

Throughout this Plan, we will study the life of Jesus. We’ll start at His birth and go through His ministry, including miracles, healings, parables, and teachings. We’ll conclude the Plan by reading through the various events during the final week of Jesus’ life—Holy Week. Before we learn more about the life and death of Jesus, it’s important to understand one particular aspect leading up to His birth. 

Approximately six months before Jesus’s birth, a baby named John was born. He became known as John the Baptist, and His entrance into our world was for one purpose: to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. John knew his role. He told his followers that he wasn’t “the Christ,” but that he was sent ahead of Jesus. John knew that he must decrease in order for Jesus’s life to increase. 

From the moment Jesus came to earth until the day of His departure, there’s so much we can learn from His life. While this Plan is rather lengthy, our hope is that you will truly invest in this period of time leading up to Easter. If you start the first day of this Plan on Ash Wednesday, your final day will be on Easter Sunday. 

During these next several weeks, let’s open wide the door to our hearts in order to hear from God a little more. In doing this, we’ll arrive at Easter Sunday with a newfound hope and joy because we’ll have gotten to know Jesus more deeply and understand His sacrifice more fully. 

Each day will have three points of reflection: Further Study, Reflect, and A Kind Act. Would you consider making this investment over the next 47 days? We are confident you will walk away thankful that you did. We’re looking forward to this journey with you!

Further Study

• What happened to John’s father, Zechariah, when he questioned the angel?


• Besides being the one to prepare the way for Jesus, how else was John the Baptist connected/related to Him?


• What was the first thing Zechariah did when he could speak again? 

Reflect

• Worship: Write down one attribute of God and worship Him for who He is. (You’ll do this every day, so keep a list going.)


• Prayer: Make a list of the people in your life who don’t know Jesus and pray for their salvation. (Consider praying for these people every day of this Plan.)


• Remembrance: How often do you think about what Jesus did to save you? Meditate on what eternal life means to you.


• Self-Examination: Ask God to bring to light any sin that you aren’t aware of. Confess it and turn your back on it. (Make this a regular habit.) 

A Kind Act

• Write a note, email, or text message to someone who has gone before you and made your life better.