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2012 Family Study for Lent The church season of Lent is a wonderful time to start weekly family devotions. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday (this year February 22) and lasts forty days (not including the Sundays). Sundays are excluded because those are the days we remember Jesus' resurrection. Every Sunday is a little celebration of Easter and thus a time of joy. Historically, the Christian church has recognized Lent as a time to deliberately bring oneself closer to God. Individuals and groups have engaged in Bible study, in mission and service, and in fasting to prepare themselves for Easter. The forty days of Lent are symbolic of Jesus' time in the wilderness before he began his ministry. During that time, he was tempted and stayed true to God. Provided here are Scriptures and suggestions of activities to use during a family time of devotion for the weeks of Lent. You may set aside one day a week to have your time of devotions and activities. You may decide it's better for your family to divide the activities so that several days during the week you will study and pray together.
Week 6 -- Week of April 1: The Meaning of the Resurrection Discussion & Activity: Invite family members to hold an egg in their hands. Ask them to think about how within the egg, there is life; but from the outside, we don't always see it. Name other things you see that hold life, but don't seem to do so just by appearance. Think about plant bulbs or bare tree limbs. While we remember Jesus' death, we also prepare to celebrate his new life. After being so sad about Jesus' death, we learn that he is alive; and this fills us with joy! Ask each person in the family to tell of one thing about Easter that makes him or her happy. As each person says what makes him or her happy about Easter, respond by saying "Alleluia!" Decorate Easter eggs together. We use eggs as symbols of the new life we have because of Jesus' death and resurrection. Make a list of other things that help us remember new life. Prayer:
Easter -- April 8: Alleluia Discussion & Activity: Sometimes Easter can be just a day when we eat chocolate, go to church, and are happy for a short time. But Easter gives us reason to be joyful every day. Look at a picture of a butterfly. Think about the beauty that emerges from a dull chrysalis. Decide on one or two Easter actions to continue during the next weeks that help spread the news of God's love. Ideas include continuing to give to a charity, taking food each week to a food pantry, praying for one another, writing a note each week to someone who might be lonely.
Prayer:
Previous Week's Devotion: Ash Wednesday -- February 22, 2012 Discussion & Activity: In reading Matthew 6:19-15, we are reminded to pray. And Jesus gives us some specific words to pray, which helps us remember specific people and things for which to pray. We pray for food, for treating people as we want to be treated, for forgiveness, for seeing God's goodness daily. Through the entire season of Lent, we will be observing practices of prayer and actions that help us live in ways that Jesus has taught us to live. Fold your hands in prayer. Spend a minute in silence looking at your hands and thinking of all the times and ways you pray. Talk together about times of prayer: meal times; morning prayers; evening prayers; quick thank-you prayers to God during the day. Talk about ways you can help one another remember to pray during this season of Lent. You may want to sing or read the words together of the hymn, "It's Me, It's Me, O Lord (Standing in the Need of Prayer)" found on page 352 in The United Methodist Hymnal. Often Lent is seen as a "giving up" time. Plan ways that Lent can be an "adding life" time. In order to "add to," we often have to "give up." For instance, maybe someone wants to give up an hour of television and add an hour for Bible study. Prepare a list with each person's name on the list. Together decide what each person will do to add life during Lent and what he or she might want to give up in order to do so. Think about such things as: recycling items; reading Scripture daily; sending a note of thanks to someone who has helped the family member feel God's love; adding a household task that helps everyone enjoy the home more; exercising each week. Prayer:
Week 1 -- Week of February 26: Jesus Begins His Ministry Discussion & Activity: Have water in a pitcher and an empty bowl. Pour water from the pitcher into the bowl. You may each want to dip your fingers into the water. Talk together about all the things that water does: It nourishes us. It cleans us. It offers us beauty. It provides transportation. Think together about these and other ways that water makes our life healthy and fun and beautiful. Talk together about baptism. When we use the water in baptism, we remember again Jesus' baptism. This was the start of his ministry of teaching us about God. When Jesus was baptized, he heard a voice saying, "You are my Son, the Beloved."" Naming is still an important part of our ritual of baptism. Take time for famly members to tell how they are doing with what they have added to and given up in their lives. Prayer:
Week 2 -- Week of March 4: Teach Me Lord Discussion & Activity: Spend time telling one another stories from the Bible. OR select two or three Bible stories to read together. Make your own "Important Scripture" booklets. Take one sheet of paper for each person in the family. Fold it so that you have four pages. On each page, name a Bible story or Scripture verse that is important to a member of the family. Draw pictures or write the Scripture or story on that page. Place these with your Bible and include these stories and verses in your prayer time during the week. Take time for family members to say how they are doing with what they have added to and given up in their lives. Prayer:
Week 3 -- Week of March 11: A Place of Worship Discussion & Activity: We often have interesting reactions to money. On the one hand, money helps us obtain shelter, food, and things we need for living. It enables us to take care of the poor, feed the hungry, and give so that others may come to know the love of God. On the other hand, money can also end up being the source of worship instead of God. Do you have a place in your home that helps you worship God? Maybe it's the table where you place a family Bible. Maybe it's a chair near a picture that reminds you of God. Maybe it's a worship center where you have placed a cross. If you don't have a place in your home that reminds you to stop and worship God, together decide on a place that will help you do so. Place something in the place you've selected to remind you of God: a Bible, a cross, a picture of Jesus, a poster of a Bible verse. Decide on a project either through your church or that you can do on your own that helps those in need. Collect money for the remainder of Lent to give to this project. Make a container in which to place the money you will donate. Take time for family members to say how they are doing with what they have added to and given up in their lives. Prayer:
Week 4 -- Week of of March 18: Jesus Brings Light
Discussion & Activity: This week's reading includes one of the most familiar verses of Scripture: John 3:16. You may want to recite this together each day this week. In addition to this verse, consider the message of light in the world contained in verses 19-21. Light the candle. Dim the lights and together look at the light from the candle. Think about these words in the Scripture: "…the light has come into the world…" Create a poster of light. Cut out paper candles. Each day, write on a candle one way you have experienced God's presence in the world. Glue this onto a larger sheet of paper or poster board. Daily give thanks for how you see God's light in the world. Take time for family members to say how they are doing with what they have added to and given up in their lives. Prayer: Week 5 -- Week of March 25: The Meaning of the Cross Discussion & Activity: Sometimes it is hard for us to talk about Jesus dying on the cross. Because we know that he rose from the dead, we sometimes try to skip over his death. But this was what he was willing to do for people to know of God's love and care for all. Pass around a cross. Tell family members to feel each part of the cross. Recall that the cross on which Jesus died was not a smooth, beautiful object like the jewelry we wear today. Think about the pain that was part of Jesus' cross. Ask each person in the family to say how it makes him or her feel to talk about Jesus dying on the cross. Remind one another that we use the sign of the cross to remember Jesus even today. A food that is part of the Lenten season is Hot Cross Buns. You can make these using prepared cinnamon roll dough or bread dough. Add a cross of white sugar frosting to the tops of the rolls. Eat these as a reminder that Jesus died so that all might know God. Take time for family members to say how they are doing with what they have added to and given up in their lives. Prayer:
Special thanks to: MaryJane Pierce Norton, author. Copyright General Board of Discipleship. www.GBOD.org Used by permission.
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