Lenten Devotional
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LENT 2021 LENTEN DEVOTIONAL A DEVOTIONAL TO TRANSFORM MIND, BODY, AND SPIRIT AS WE JOURNEY THROUGH THIS LENTEN SEASON INTO THE EASTER PROMISE WHAT TO EXPECT SARAH ALTENBURG As you journey through Lent, I have prepared devotional materials for you that have four key elements each day. These elements are intended to help you grow in your call as a disciple of Christ. This growth will likely look far different for all of us and each component might reach us all in different ways. It is my hope that at least one of the components is able to reach you each day and speak to your spirit. 1. Scripture - Each day will have a passage from Scripture that I will encourage you to read and reflect on. This reflecting can be done in spoken or written word. It can be done in prayer or conversation. It can be as short or as long as your time allows. 2. Song - Each day will provide a new song to listen to as well as printed lyrics. Links will be available to these songs on YouTube. If you do not have access to YouTube, please contact the church for CD options. 3. Quote - Each day will provide a quote from the perspective of a person of color. Black and brown voices are voices we do not lift up often enough. You are invited to reflect on the quote throughout the day. 4. Prayer - Each day will have a prayer that you are able to pray out loud or silently. It is my hope that these devotionals are able to meet you where you need to be met as we journey through this Lenten season. As we begin our journey to the cross, I pray that you feel the love that Jesus has for you and that the love that Jesus has for you is able to move you into a place of discipleship and purpose. Our individual call stories all look a bit different and we each have a unique purpose. It is my hope that through these Lenten devotionals, we can all close in on what our unique purpose is. Sarah Altenburg FEBRUARY 17 - ASH WEDNESDAY SCRIPTURE: ROMANS 12:1-8 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. SONG: DUST WE ARE AND SHALL RETURN - THE BRILLIANCE HTTPS://YOUTU.BE/15UXFI_U2UY From dust we've come and dust we are and shall return Be still my soul and let it go, just let it g Glory to God, glory to God in the highest Glory to God, glory to God in the highest Naked we came and shall return into the grave Be still my soul and let it go, just let it go Glory to God, glory to God in the highest Glory to God, glory to God in the highest Be still my soul, Lord make me whole Lord make me whole Be still my soul, Lord make me whole Lord make me whole Lord make me whole Be still my soul, Lord make me whole Lord make me whole Glory to God, glory to God Glory to God, glory to God Dust We Are And Shall Return was written specifically for Ash Wednesday and focuses on accepting our own mortality. "Growing up as a young evangelical kid, I did not like to talk about death," David said. "I only wanted to think about life and Heaven. But preparing to die... I never thought of anything like that. So dealing with your own mortality, it can sound dark, but it actually is a really beautiful process." Not only do the lyrics require thoughtful consideration, the instrumentation reflects the central theme of the song, ending on the very same note where it begins and mirroring the arc of the human life. FEBRUARY 17 - ASH WEDNESDAY QUOTE: AMANDA GORMAN "We've braved the belly of the beast We've learned that quiet isn't always peace." -Amanda Gorman- Amanda Gorman is the young poet you may have seen delivering a poem at the Presidential Inauguration of President Joe Biden. She is an American poet and activist and she was the first person to ever be named a National Youth Poet Laureate. She has an auditory processing disorder and had a speech impediment as a young person that she used speech therapy and literature and speaking to help overcome. She graduated Harvard in 2020 and has a published book entitled The One for Whom Food is Not Enough with some of her poetry. A PRAYER FOR ASH WEDNESDAY Holy one, We remember this day something we have known all too well this past year. Our bodies will one day return to dust. The world around us seems chaotic and death seems closer to some of us than ever imagined. Help center us in these days ahead. Center us in your promise of love. Center us in your promise of hope. Center us in your promise of life eternal. So that we can spend the days that we are blessed with on this earth serving as Your hands and Your feet and making the difference that this world so desperately needs. It is in Your Son's Holy and Magnificent Name that we pray, Amen. FEBRUARY 18 - THURSDAY SCRIPTURE: GALATIANS 2: 15-21 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing. SONG: HERE'S MY HEART - I AM THEY HTTPS://YOUTU.BE/HKB_I0C0UPY Here's my heart, Lord 'Cause I am found, Here's my life, Lord Here's my heart, Lord I am Yours I am loved, Here's my life, Lord Here's my heart, Lord I'm made pure I have life, Here's my life, Lord Speak what is true I can breathe I am healed, Speak what is true I am free Speak what is true' Here's my heart, Lord Here's my heart, Lord 'Cause You are strong, Cause You are more than enough Here's my heart, Lord You are sure You are life, You are here, You are love Speak what is true You endure You are hope, You are grace 'Cause I am found, You are good, always true You're all I have, You're everything I am YoursI am loved, You are light breaking through I'm made pure I have life, Here's my heart, Lord I can breathe I am healed, Here's my heart, Lord Here's my heart, Lord I am free Here's my heart, Lord Here's my heart, Lord Here's my heart, Lord Here's my heart, Lord Speak what is true Here's my heart, Lord Speak what is true Here's my life, Lord (You can have it all) Here's my heart, Lord Here's my life, Lord (here's my life, Lord) Speak what is true Here's my life, Lord Speak what is true (speak what is true) Speak what is true I AM THEY is an American Contemporary Christian music band from Nevada. They recorded this song, which has been recorded by many other artists, on their debut album in 2015. This song actually started with a concept by famous Christian artist, Chris Tomlin, but was made most popular by other artists. This song is known for its more intimate take on praise and worship music, stripping down the music to a vulnerable and simple offering of one's heart to God.