Return to Me: A Pause for Lent, Week 2

Day 1:

This week in Return to Me: A Pause for Lent, our scripture for reflection comes from the prophet Jeremiah. Each day this week, we’ll reflect on this passage in a different way, but for today, simply read the passage and take it in. If you like, read it in more than one translation and see if anything sticks out to you.

Jeremiah 24:6-7

I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up. I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.

Day 2:

Re-read Jeremiah 24:6-7.

The Israelites have a colorful history as God’s Chosen People. Throughout the Old Testament, we see this group of people—given the blessing of being identified as God’s own people— squander away that designation by turning away from God and going their own way, time and time again. Jeremiah, one of the major prophets of the Old Testament, was witness to one of those seasons of wandering.

The Lord declares, in Jeremiah 5:11, “the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly treacherous to me” and in Jeremiah 9:3 that “they do not know me.” His words are not ambiguous. But our God is a God of mercy, grace and steadfast love; He is not done with them yet. Later in Jeremiah, in verse 7 of our passage, the Lord relents, saying, “I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God.”

Jeremiah shows us that God’s strong words of judgement are surpassed only by his promises of mercy. He won’t give up on his people. He miraculously offers—to those who did not know him—a heart to know him as Lord, to call them his own, and to be called upon by them as their God. Why? Because they would return to him with their whole heart.

In my pride, I so often want to look down upon the Israelites for their wandering, but if I search my heart, I know I am no better. May we have hearts softened to his conviction, to turn away from our sin and turn to him with our whole hearts. Thanks be to God— He won’t give up on his people. He won’t give up on us.

Continue to reflect on that which separates you from the Lord and his great invitation to return to him.

Day 3:

Re-read Jeremiah 24:6-7.

There are great benefits to hand copying scripture. It increases your focus on the words and aids in memorization. Today, pick a verse from Jeremiah 24:6-7 (or both!) to copy down in your own hand or to memorize. If neither of those fit with your personality, draw a picture that comes to mind while reading it or read the passage over multiple times, maybe in a different translation. The idea is to pause over the Word and let it sink in.

Day 4: 

Re-read Jeremiah 24:6-7.

Today in our Pause, we invite you to pray over this week’s passage. Using the scripture, your own personal study, and anything you may have learned on Day 2, spend some time in prayer. Is there something that you want God to make clear to you, some sin you need to turn over to him? He wants to hear from you. If you need some help, we’ve provided a prayer below.

Father,

Like the Israelites, I let the circumstances of life and counterfeit gods get in between us. Instead of holding tight to you, I wander. Search my heart and help me to see where there might be distance between us and put that sin in me to death. And thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your invitation. Thank you for your promise, that if I recognize that I have turned away from you and turn back, you will welcome me home.

Amen

Day 5:

Re-read Jeremiah 24:6-7.

Reflect and Apply:

• Spend time in quiet. Take a few moments of silence to let God bring anything to mind that may be putting distance between you. Which broken places and through which means is he inviting you back? Welcome him into those places.

• Reflect on the building and planting metaphors in verse 6. Where would you like to see God build new works or grow new life in you moving forward? Be specific!

• Think back through the Israelites’ history and your own past, remember God’s mercy to redeem and restore us when we turn back to him. Again, be specific. Remembering is vital to building our faith deeper and stronger.

Based on this week’s passage, take some time to think through an application that you can begin to carry out moving forward.

 Come back next Monday morning for the post on Week 3.

Return to Me: A Pause for Lent, Week 1

Week 1 

Day 1:

Each week of our Lenten series, Return to Me: a Pause for Lent, we will focus on one passage in which God invites us to be in relationship him. We begin our first day of reflection by reading this week’s passage, Nehemiah 1:8-10. After reading through the verses below, read it again, possibly even in more than one translation. Each day this week, we’ll build on this passage, but for now, simply read the passage and soak it in.

Nehemiah 1: 8-10, ESV

Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.

Day 2:

Re-read Nehemiah 1:8-10.

Set in the time of the Israel’s captivity, Nehemiah is believed to be written by Ezra using the personal diaries of Nehemiah, the cupbearer to the King. Written 13 years after Ezra, the first chapter opens with Nehemiah learning of the deteriorating state of Jerusalem. Far from being a lowly service position, being cupbearer to the King was a critically important role. It was in this highly trusted capacity—as the one who drank from the king’s cup first to ensure it was not poisoned—that Nehemiah was in the position to approach the king on behalf of his people. But before he approaches the king with his mission, Nehemiah first appeals to God, citing God’s promise that if Israel would repent, he would restore them. (See also Deut. 4:29, 30:1-6.)

In this season of Lent, we pause and recognize the weight of our sin, that which separates us from the Lord. But first, we take a stop to dive into God’s call to us to return. If God did not call for us to return to him—if he did not promise to restore us if we did—no amount of recognition of sin could have eternal significance. But he did, and it does.

Pause and remember that even in your sin, God calls you back to him.

Day 3:

There are great benefits to hand-copying scripture. It increases your focus on the words and aids in memorization. Today, pick a verse from Nehemiah 1:8-10 (or the whole passage) to copy down in your own hand or to memorize. If neither of those fit with your personality, draw a picture that comes to mind while reading it, or read the passage over multiple times, maybe in a different translation. The idea is to pause over the Word and let it sink in.

Day 4: 

Today in our Pause, we invite you to pray over the passage. Re-read the passage and think through the scripture itself, what you may have learned from Day 2, or what has come to mind in your own personal study, then pray it out. If you need some help, we’ve provided a prayer below to get you started. 

Father,

In this season of Lent, we recognize all that separates us from you. But in order for our repentance and return to you to mean anything, we must first have the call, the invitation, the promise—that if we return to you, you will restore us. You have given that call throughout your Word. Most importantly, you gave that promise through the life, death, and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ, whose death made a way for us to join you eternally. Thank you that you invite us to return to you.

Amen

Day 5:

Re-read the passage.

Reflect and Apply:

• What does it mean to you that God invites you to come back to him, even though you’ve sinned?

• Spend a few minutes personalizing his invitation—he calls you, [insert name], to turn from your sin and return to him. There is no sin too great, time elapsed too long that he would not welcome you with open arms.

• Remember a time that the fullness of God’s invitation has settled over you and the weight of sin was lifted.

Based on this week’s passage, take some time to think through an application that you can begin to carry out moving forward. Be specific!

Come back next Monday morning for the post on Week 2.

Lent 2022: Holy Spirit's Indwelling

Editor’s Note: Lent is a season of personal reflection. As Advent provides a time to prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Lent offers us time to reflect on our sin, and the need for our Savior’s death and resurrection on the cross.

This year, our weekly reflections have focused on the mercy of God. In His goodness, God has displayed mercy towards us from the start. He knew sin would enter the world and created a means to have right-standing with Him. As we each spend time remembering God’s mercy and His pursuit of us—from our sinfulness and need, to the institution of sacrifices for the Israelites, culminating with the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, we remember that God has been always kind, always just, always loving, always merciful.

As this Sunday is Easter, we wanted to spend some time focusing on “what next”? Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again. So how now do we live in light of his work on the cross? In God’s mercy, He has not left us alone. After Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, God sent the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit, to be our constant companion and advocate. Even before his death, Jesus knew this was the plan and shared that promise with his friends in the upper room.

Holy Spirit’s Indwelling

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.  On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you”.

John 14:15-20

Reflect: 

1.     Describe the sense of comfort that this passage gives to you.  Imagine Jesus’ voice saying these words to you, “[fill in your name], I will not leave you. I will come to you.  Because I live in you, [your name], you will also live.”

2.     So many scriptures contrast the life of the orphan and the life of a beloved child. Especially in our current world crises, we see images of orphans. What one or two specific things is Jesus asking you to do, knowing that you are not an orphan, but you have the Holy Spirit in you?

Paul describes the reality that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit brings in Romans 8: 1-2, 6-11:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death…The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.”

1.     This scripture is both convicting and invigorating in its contrast of the flesh and the Spirit. What do you notice about the differences?  In your own life what do you notice when your flesh is more obvious?  What do you notice when the indwelling spirit is in evidence?

2.     Both the passage in John 14 and Romans 8 talk about Christ giving us life.  What does that mean to you, especially if your own physical body is failing?  Or someone you know is declining physically?

Prayer:

A prayer adapted from “Every Moment Holy, vol. 11” by Douglas McKelvey 

“Oh Lord, you have appointed us to live in these very places, in these unsettled times. It is no surprise to you that we are here now, sharing in the turmoil. You have called us to be salt and light, to be your agents of forgiveness, salvation, healing, reconciliation, and hope.  And in these holy vocations, you have not left us helpless. You have not left us at all. Your Spirit indwells us.  Holy Spirit, equip us now for your work, this day. To all you have prepared for us, to the new and next, we say Yes.”

Additional scripture: Consider reading the verses above in their full chapter context (John 14 and Romans 8). You many also want to read and think about Jeremiah 31: 31-34

Lent 2022: Jesus as Sacrifice

Editor’s Note: Lent is a season of personal reflection. As Advent provides a time to prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Lent offers us time to reflect on our sin, and the need for our Savior’s death and resurrection on the cross.

This year, our weekly reflections will focus on the mercy of God. In His goodness, God has displayed mercy towards us from the start. He knew sin would enter the world and created a means to have right-standing with Him. In the coming weeks, we will spend time remembering God’s mercy and His pursuit of us—from our sinfulness and need, to the institution of sacrifices for the Israelites, culminating with the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. God has been always kind, always just, always loving, always merciful.

Last week, we put ourselves in the place of a lost sheep that God pursues and finds. This week, the apostle Peter reminds us we are all sheep who are going astray.

Jesus as Sacrifice

“’He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.’ When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. ‘He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’ For ‘you were like sheep going astray,’ but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

I Peter 2:22-25, quoting Isaiah 53

Reflect:

1.  You may have noticed in this translation that the sheep were going astray. It was an active situation of straying. What is something that is happening for you right now, this week, where you are straying? Sinning?  Jesus bore those sins so that we could live for righteousness. What righteous choice, by Jesus’ strength, do you want to do instead?  How can you create your own “But now…” chapter of your faith story?

2. What new awe do you have for Jesus, being reminded by scripture that he didn’t return insults or threats?  If Jesus entrusted himself to God as his judge, what do you think he wants each of us to do regarding judgment of others?  What specific circumstance is God bringing to your mind?

 “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”

1 John 2:1-2

Reflect: John calls Jesus both “the Righteous One” and our “advocate.”  Jesus’ righteousness is presented in stark contrast to our sinfulness. Even good people have sin.

1.  To atone means to compensate, to make amends. What is the largest chasm you can think of?  The largest number or price tag you can imagine? The most horrendous wrong?  Write those down. Contemplate the immensity of them.  Then recognize that Jesus is greater. He paid for the sins of the whole world!

2. Who “in the whole world” still needs to hear the good news of Jesus’ atonement?  Make a list. Pray that all may hear.

This week’s scriptures provide precious insights into our Savior—the righteous one, our advocate, the shepherd and overseer of our souls.  Spend time praising our Savior using these names.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, You are our perfect sacrifice. You are the righteous one who advocates for us with Your heavenly Father. You are the Great Shepherd, the one who pursues us, finds us, brings us back to the fold. You are the overseer of our souls. Because of your atoning sacrifice, we are healed. You are the hope of the whole world. We bow in awe of you, in devotion to you, in silence before you, the lamb who was slain.  Amen.

Additional scriptures: Luke 22:32-43, Isaiah 53:6-12, Genesis 22:1-14

*New International Version of the Bible was used for scriptures in this piece.

Lent 2022: Repentance

Editor’s Note: Lent is a season of personal reflection. As Advent provides a time to prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Lent offers us time to reflect on our sin, and the need for our Savior’s death and resurrection on the cross.

This year, our weekly reflections will focus on the mercy of God. In His goodness, God has displayed mercy towards us from the start. He knew sin would enter the world and created a means to have right-standing with Him. In the coming weeks, it is our hope that we each spend time remembering God’s mercy and His pursuit of us—from our sinfulness and need, to the institution of sacrifices for the Israelites, culminating with the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. God has been always kind, always just, always loving, always merciful.

Previously we focused on our sin, which necessitates our need for mercy from God. This week we turn our focus to repentance. Repentance acts as a bridge—after we have recognized our sin, it is important that we turn back to God in repentance to receive the full measure of his mercy.

Proverbs 28:13

Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,

    but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy

Psalm 32:1-5

1 Blessed is the one

    whose transgressions are forgiven,

    whose sins are covered.

2 Blessed is the one

    whose sin the Lord does not count against them

    and in whose spirit is no deceit.

3 When I kept silent,

    my bones wasted away

    through my groaning all day long.

4 For day and night

    your hand was heavy on me;

my strength was sapped

    as in the heat of summer.

5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you

    and did not cover up my iniquity.

I said, “I will confess

    my transgressions to the Lord.”

And you forgave

    the guilt of my sin.

Isaiah 1:16-20

16 Wash and make yourselves clean.

    Take your evil deeds out of my sight;

    stop doing wrong.

17 Learn to do right; seek justice.

    Defend the oppressed.

Take up the cause of the fatherless;

    plead the case of the widow.

18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,”

    says the Lord.

“Though your sins are like scarlet,

    they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red as crimson,

    they shall be like wool.

19 If you are willing and obedient,

    you will eat the good things of the land;

20 but if you resist and rebel,

    you will be devoured by the sword.”

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Psalm 51

1 Have mercy on me, O God,

    according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

    blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash away all my iniquity

    and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,

    and my sin is always before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned

    and done what is evil in your sight;

so you are right in your verdict

    and justified when you judge.

5 Surely I was sinful at birth,

    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;

    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;

    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness;

    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

9 Hide your face from my sins

    and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,

    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence

    or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation

    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

    so that sinners will turn back to you.

14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,

    you who are God my Savior,

    and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

15 Open my lips, Lord,

    and my mouth will declare your praise.

16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;

    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;

    a broken and contrite heart

    you, God, will not despise.

18 May it please you to prosper Zion,

    to build up the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,

    in burnt offerings offered whole;

    then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Reflect:

1. In these passages, sin refers to rebellion or violations of God's law. What sin currently has a grip on you? Can you acknowledge your sin to the Lord? Can you share your struggle with a trusted friend? Our Lord promises us forgiveness and release from sin’s grip if we will just acknowledge it and turn from it.

2. Have you felt the forgiveness of your Savior? Can you relate to David in Psalms 32 when he talks about the weight he felt from his sin and the contrast of that weight lifted once he repented?

Prayer:

Father, thank you that you are a God of mercy—a God of forgiveness.  Thank you for sending your Son to take on the weight and price of our sin so that we can be forgiven.  Father, you know us intimately and you know our struggles.  Praise the Lord that you call us into your presence, even in the midst of sin and shame.  Father, we ask that you would remind us of our sin; that you would push us to repentance.  Provide a trusted friend, spouse, or pastor that we can confide in.  We know that once sin is exposed it no longer has a hold on us.  It is exposed to the light (Ephesians 5:12-14).  Forgive us Lord for our failures.  Help us to strive toward holiness.  In your name we pray, Amen.

Lent 2022: Sacrifice

Editor’s Note: Lent is a season of personal reflection. As Advent provides a time to prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Lent offers us time to reflect on our sin, and the need for our Savior’s death and resurrection on the cross.

This year, our weekly reflections will focus on the mercy of God. In His goodness, God has displayed mercy towards us from the start. He knew sin would enter the world and created a means to have right-standing with Him. In the coming weeks, it is our hope that we each spend time remembering God’s mercy and His pursuit of us—from our sinfulness and need, to the institution of sacrifices for the Israelites, culminating with the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. God has been always kind, always just, always loving, always merciful. 

This week, we spend time reflecting on the institution of sacrifices. God, in His mercy, prescribed various sacrifices to allow His people to atone for their sins.

 Sacrifice

Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. This is how you are to deal with those who sin unintentionally by doing anything that violates one of the Lord’s commands.

3 “If the high priest sins, bringing guilt upon the entire community, he must give a sin offering for the sin he has committed. He must present to the Lord a young bull with no defects. 4 He must bring the bull to the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter it before the Lord. 

5 The high priest will then take some of the bull’s blood into the Tabernacle, 6 dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the inner curtain of the sanctuary. 7 The priest will then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for fragrant incense that stands in the Lord’s presence inside the Tabernacle. He will pour out the rest of the bull’s blood at the base of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 

8 Then the priest must remove all the fat of the bull to be offered as a sin offering. This includes all the fat around the internal organs, 9 the two kidneys and the fat around them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver. He must remove these along with the kidneys, 10 just as he does with cattle offered as a peace offering and burn them on the altar of burnt offerings. 11 But he must take whatever is left of the bull—its hide, meat, head, legs, internal organs, and dung— 12 and carry it away to a place outside the camp that is ceremonially clean, the place where the ashes are dumped. There, on the ash heap, he will burn it on a wood fire.

13 “If the entire Israelite community sins by violating one of the Lord’s commands, but the people don’t realize it, they are still guilty. 14 When they become aware of their sin, the people must bring a young bull as an offering for their sin and present it before the Tabernacle. 15 The elders of the community must then lay their hands on the bull’s head and slaughter it before the Lord. 16 The high priest will then take some of the bull’s blood into the Tabernacle, 17 dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord in front of the inner curtain. 

18 He will then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for fragrant incense that stands in the Lord’s presence inside the Tabernacle. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 

19 Then the priest must remove all the animal’s fat and burn it on the altar, 20 just as he does with the bull offered as a sin offering for the high priest. Through this process, the priest will purify the people, making them right with the Lord, and they will be forgiven. 21 Then the priest must take what is left of the bull and carry it outside the camp and burn it there, just as is done with the sin offering for the high priest. This offering is for the sin of the entire congregation of Israel.

22 “If one of Israel’s leaders sins by violating one of the commands of the Lord his God but doesn’t realize it, he is still guilty. 23 When he becomes aware of his sin, he must bring as his offering a male goat with no defects. 

24 He must lay his hand on the goat’s head and slaughter it at the place where burnt offerings are slaughtered before the Lord. This is an offering for his sin. 25 Then the priest will dip his finger in the blood of the sin offering and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 

26 Then he must burn all the goat’s fat on the altar, just as he does with the peace offering. Through this process, the priest will purify the leader from his sin, making him right with the Lord, and he will be forgiven.

27 “If any of the common people sin by violating one of the Lord’s commands, but they don’t realize it, they are still guilty. 28 When they become aware of their sin, they must bring as an offering for their sin a female goat with no defects. 29 They must lay a hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place where burnt offerings are slaughtered. 

30 Then the priest will dip his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 31 Then he must remove all the goat’s fat, just as he does with the fat of the peace offering. He will burn the fat on the altar, and it will be a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Through this process, the priest will purify the people, making them right with the Lord, and they will be forgiven.

32 “If the people bring a sheep as their sin offering, it must be a female with no defects. 33 They must lay a hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place where burnt offerings are slaughtered. 34 Then the priest will dip his finger in the blood of the sin offering and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 

35 Then he must remove all the sheep’s fat, just as he does with the fat of a sheep presented as a peace offering. He will burn the fat on the altar on top of the special gifts presented to the Lord. Through this process, the priest will purify the people from their sin, making them right with the Lord, and they will be forgiven.

Leviticus 4, emphasis added

Reflect:

1.     Why was such a violent, painful, and bloody offering required by God to make atonement for sin?

2.     Why didn’t God have his people perform another ritual or ceremony that didn’t require death?

3.     How do these requirements reveal how pure and holy He is?

4.     How does the sacrifices required by God show how He views our sin?

5.     How do these sacrifice requirements foreshadow the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross?

Psalm 139:24 says,

    “Search me, O God and know my heart, test me and know my thoughts.  Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting.”

Additional scripture: Leviticus 5:17-19, 6:1-7; Psalm 51:16-19

Prayer:

Heavenly Father,

   You are pure and holy.  Search my heart and know my thoughts.  Open my eyes to the sin in my life.  Help me to turn from it and respond to Your love.  Each day, make me the living sacrifice You’ve called me to be, so that all may see Jesus in me and know how much You love them. 

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Lent 2022: Sin

Editor’s Note: Lent is a season of personal reflection. As Advent provides a time to prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Lent offers us time to reflect on our sin, and the need for our Savior’s death and resurrection on the cross.

This year, our weekly reflections will focus on the mercy of God. In His goodness, God has displayed mercy towards us from the start. He knew sin would enter the world and created a means to have right-standing with Him. In the coming weeks, we will spend time remembering God’s mercy and His pursuit of us—from our sinfulness and need, to the institution of sacrifices for the Israelites, culminating with the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. God has been always kind, always just, always loving, always merciful.

This week we focus on sin. To understand the depth of God’s mercy, we must also understand the weight of our sin.

Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,

    or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;

but your iniquities have made a separation

    between you and your God,

and your sins have hidden his face from you

    so that he does not hear.

For your hands are defiled with blood

    and your fingers with iniquity;

your lips have spoken lies;

    your tongue mutters wickedness.

No one enters suit justly;

    no one goes to law honestly;

they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,

    they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

They hatch adders' eggs;

    they weave the spider's web;

he who eats their eggs dies,

    and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched.

Their webs will not serve as clothing;

    men will not cover themselves with what they make.

Their works are works of iniquity,

    and deeds of violence are in their hands.

Their feet run to evil,

    and they are swift to shed innocent blood;

their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;

    desolation and destruction are in their highways.

The way of peace they do not know,

    and there is no justice in their paths;

they have made their roads crooked;

    no one who treads on them knows peace.

Therefore justice is far from us,

    and righteousness does not overtake us;

we hope for light, and behold, darkness,

    and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.

We grope for the wall like the blind;

    we grope like those who have no eyes;

we stumble at noon as in the twilight,

    among those in full vigor we are like dead men.

We all growl like bears;

    we moan and moan like doves;

we hope for justice, but there is none;

    for salvation, but it is far from us.

For our transgressions are multiplied before you,

    and our sins testify against us;

for our transgressions are with us,

    and we know our iniquities:

transgressing, and denying the Lord,

    and turning back from following our God,

speaking oppression and revolt,

    conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.

Isaiah 59:1-13

Reflect:

1. Reflect on the shift in this passage on those committing transgressions from second/third person (you/they) to first person (we/us). Who do you think about when you read verses criticizing “transgressors,” “sinners,” etc.? Is it ever yourself?

2. Timothy Keller says that the gospel message of Christianity is “We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” Why is it so critical to the core of Christianity that we realize sin dwells in “me” and is not just something that “those bad people do?”

3. Later, the apostle Paul says, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). What does the Isaiah 59 passage portray as the results of sin and iniquity? How could those things be equated to a spiritual, relational, or physical “death?”

4. The next part of the Romans 6:23 verse proclaims, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” What is the difference between “wages” and a “gift?” How does the Isaiah 59 passage depict our need for someone outside of ourselves to help us in our sinful state?

Additional reading: James 1:14-15; Romans 1:29-31; Romans 5:12-14; Ephesians 2:1-3

Lent 2022: Mercy

Editor’s Note: Lent is a season of personal reflection. As Advent provides a time to prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Lent offers us time to reflect on our sin, and the need for our Savior’s death and resurrection on the cross.

This year, our weekly reflections will focus on the mercy of God. In His goodness, God has displayed mercy towards us from the start. He knew sin would enter the world and created a means to have right-standing with Him. In the coming weeks, it is our hope that we each spend time remembering God’s mercy and His pursuit of us—from our sinfulness and need, to the institution of sacrifices for the Israelites, culminating with the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. God has been always kind, always just, always loving, always merciful. 

Mercy

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Reflect: “Mercy” is defined* as “compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.” When we talk about God's mercy, it is easy to focus on the high standards of a holy God that require mercy to be extended, and that is necessary and right, but we cannot neglect to reflect on what we are given instead because of the kindness of God and His love for us. God’s mercy never runs out on us.

How have you seen His steadfast love and mercies renewed each morning for you?

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But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Titus 3:4-7

Reflect: Have you ever tried to save yourself by “works done in righteousness?” When did you come to realize that your salvation comes from God’s mercy? How does that change how you view your sin and your thoughts towards God?  

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But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:4-7

Reflect: Why do you think mercy and love seem to go hand-in-hand in each of these passages? In what ways has God shown His rich mercy—throughout the Bible, history, and your own life? What can you do in response to His rich mercy throughout this Lenten season?

Additional reading: Psalm 51:1

*Definition taken from the Oxford Languages Dictionary on Google.

All verses quoted are from the English Standard Version (ESV) translation of the Bible.

Reflections for Lent: Psalm 22

Editor’s Note:

Each Friday of the Lent season leading up to Easter, we have shared a passage of scripture that helps us reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. From before time, through Old Testament to New, this plan for God in the flesh to step down to earth and provide redemption has always been. This is the final week of Lent reflections*, and as we read the passage and think through the questions that follow, we invite you to reflect on what Christ did and His great love for us this Easter season.

The final reflection comes from Psalm 22. Written by David, in the most general sense, this psalm reflects his cry to God to save him from his enemies and ends with him thanking God for that salvation.  In a larger sense, this psalm, better than any other psalm, serves as a direct link between the Old Testament and Jesus’ passion.

Psalm 22

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

    Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,

    and by night, but I find no rest.

3 Yet you are holy,

    enthroned on the praises of Israel.

4 In you our fathers trusted;

    they trusted, and you delivered them.

5 To you they cried and were rescued;

    in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6 But I am a worm and not a man,

    scorned by mankind and despised by the people.

7 All who see me mock me;

    they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;

8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;

    let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb;

    you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.

10 On you was I cast from my birth,

    and from my mother's womb you have been my God.

11 Be not far from me,

    for trouble is near,

    and there is none to help.

12 Many bulls encompass me;

    strong bulls of Bashan surround me;

13 they open wide their mouths at me,

    like a ravening and roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water,

    and all my bones are out of joint;

my heart is like wax;

    it is melted within my breast;

15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,

    and my tongue sticks to my jaws;

    you lay me in the dust of death.

16 For dogs encompass me;

    a company of evildoers encircles me;

they have pierced my hands and feet—

17 I can count all my bones—

they stare and gloat over me;

18 they divide my garments among them,

    and for my clothing they cast lots.

19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off!

    O you my help, come quickly to my aid!

20 Deliver my soul from the sword,

    my precious life from the power of the dog!

21     Save me from the mouth of the lion!

You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!

22 I will tell of your name to my brothers;

    in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:

23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!

    All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,

    and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

24 For he has not despised or abhorred

    the affliction of the afflicted,

and he has not hidden his face from him,

    but has heard, when he cried to him. 

25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;

    my vows I will perform before those who fear him.

26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;

    those who seek him shall praise the Lord!

    May your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember

    and turn to the Lord,

and all the families of the nations

    shall worship before you.

28 For kingship belongs to the Lord,

    and he rules over the nations.

29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;

    before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,

    even the one who could not keep himself alive.

30 Posterity shall serve him;

    it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;

31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,

    that he has done it.

Reflection questions:

1. Jesus quoted David’s words in verse 1 while he was on the cross [Matthew 27:46]. What other verses in Psalm 22 point to the events of Good Friday?

2. Even as David is in distress, he chooses to praise God and remember His goodness. What characteristics of God does David reference in this passage?

 3. While praising God, David points to the finished work that will ultimately come through the cross. Through Jesus, salvation is available for all. How can you live in light of this truth this week—is there some truth you need to remember in your own walk with Jesus? Is there someone in your life who you can pray for, remind, tell for the first time, or in some other way show how greatly they are loved by the Savior?

*Although this is the final Lent reflection, check back next week, as three of our writers share thoughts on Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday.  

Reflections for Lent: 1 Peter 1:13-25

 Editor’s Note:

Each Friday of the Lent season leading up to Easter, we will share a passage of scripture that helps us reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. From before time, through Old Testament to New, this plan for God in the flesh to step down to earth and provide redemption has always been. As you read these passages and think through the questions that follow, we invite you to reflect on what Christ did and His great love for us this Easter season.

This week’s reflection comes from 1 Peter 1:13-25

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”  And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for

“All flesh is like grass

    and all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers,

    and the flower falls,

   but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

Reflection questions:

1. Verse 20 tells us that Christ was chosen before the creation of the world to take on the penalty of our sins by dying on the cross.  This was not a plan B; this was God’s plan all along. 

Why do you think God orchestrated it in this way?

2. We are told in these verses that, as we wait for Christ’s coming, we are to be self-controlled and holy as God is holy.  What does this mean practically for you, to be self-controlled and set apart?  How are you living as an obedient child—not conforming to this world (v. 14)?

Reflections for Lent: 2 Corinthians 5: 14-21

Editor’s Note:

Each Friday of the Lent season leading up to Easter, we will share a passage of scripture that helps us reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. From before time, through Old Testament to New, this plan for God in the flesh to step down to earth and provide redemption has always been. As you read these passages and think through the questions that follow, we invite you to reflect on what Christ did and His great love for us this Easter season.

This week, we turn to 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Reflection questions:

Verse 17 states that, if you are in Christ, you are a new creation—the old ways leading to death are gone, replaced by the righteousness of Christ. Take a minute and reflect on that truth.

1. In what areas of your life are you living as a new creation?

2. If there are areas where you currently don’t feel like you are living out this promise, what needs to change (e.g. thoughts, actions) to help you better live in light of Christ’s victory on the cross?

3. If there is some area you identify as needing change, remembering what Drew touched on in this past week’s message and Pastor Joe reiterated at the end, is there someone you can invite into that space to help hold you accountable?

The definition of reconciliation is to restore to friendship or harmony two opposing sides; to end estrangement. In the biblical sense, reconciliation is to restore a right relationship between God and man. Take a minute to reflect that Jesus surrendered to God’s plan for reconciliation between God and man by dying on the cross for our sins, and gives us the ministry of reconciliation—to share the news of Christ with others.

4. Who is one person you can pray for this Lent season, that they would come to a right relationship with God?

Reflections for Lent: Isaiah 53

Editor’s Note:

Each Friday of the Lent season leading up to Easter, we will share a passage of scripture that helps us reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. From before time, through Old Testament to New, this plan for God in the flesh to step down to earth and provide redemption has always been. As you read these passages and think through the questions that follow, we invite you to reflect on what Christ did and His great love for us this Easter season.

Isaiah 53

“Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?

And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”

Reflection Questions:

Isaiah prophesies the coming Messiah as lowly and unimpressive, yet when Jesus came to earth, many were still looking for a mighty, flashy king— so much so, that many missed their Savior right in front of them.

Even though we don't have Jesus face to face with us today, He still wants to meet with us.

1. How are we seeking Him out?  Are we too preoccupied with wanting to see Him through big signs and miracles, that we are missing Him in the everyday, mundane moments of life?

2. How can you be more aware of your Savior today?

3. In what ways is He revealing Himself to you today?

Reflections for Lent: Romans 5:6-21

Editor’s Note:

Each Friday of the Lent season leading up to Easter, we will share a passage of scripture that helps us reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. From before time, through Old Testament to New, this plan for God in the flesh to step down to earth and provide redemption has always been. As you read these passages and think through the questions that follow, we invite you to reflect on what Christ did and His great love for us this Easter season.

Last week, we saw in Genesis 3 that at the first instance of sin, God revealed His plan for salvation. In Romans 5, we see a connection drawn between Jesus and Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. Let’s read Romans 5:6-21:

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Reflection Questions:

1.    We can rejoice because we have been made friends of God.  What does it mean to be a friend of God?

2.   How is a friendship with God unique from any other friendship?

3.   How can we deepen our friendship with God?

Reflections for Lent: Genesis 3:13-15

Editor’s Note:

Each Friday of the Lent season leading up to Easter, we will share a passage of scripture that helps us reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. From before time, through Old Testament to New, this plan for God in the flesh to step down to earth and provide redemption has always been. As you read these passages and think through the questions that follow, we invite you to reflect on what Christ did and His great love for us this Easter season.

Genesis 3:13-15

“Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Reflection Questions:

1) At the first instance of sin, God already revealed His plan of salvation. Why do you think He chose to reveal this promise right then?

2) How has the Gospel shown itself while you were at your lowest?