11 Feb A Lenten devotional

Beginning with Ash Wednesday (17 February), churches the world over will be entering into the Lenten season. Over the next 40 days, we’re invited to strip back some of our habits and dependencies, to align ourselves more closely with Christ, and to understand more of how Christ’s death and resurrection speaks to our lives and the world. Lent is a type of return to Israel’s 40 years and Christ’s 40 days in the desert. Through Lent, we hope to listen more attentively to what God might be saying to and through us.

This is a significant season in the life of the church and we hope to support and encourage those who are leading churches, groups, friends, and families in their Lenten pilgrimage.

This year we’ve created a set of seven devotionals to help you and your communities on your Lenten pilgrimage. These seven devotionals begin with Ash Wednesday before tracing each of the six Sundays of Lent, finishing with Palm Sunday (look out for our Holy Week devotionals, which will follow these).

Each card includes: two Scriptures that help trace the contours of the Lenten themes; a reflection to help you enter into the week; a question to help you meditate on these themes; and a closing collect.

You can use these cards by yourself or with others as a community devotion–with children and family, or with flats or friends. Take turns reading aloud and involve everyone in the conversation around the reflective questions.

We encourage you to print out the cards and put away your devices. To print, click on each image and save the file to your computer. These can be printed on A5 or A4 card.

If you don’t have a printer and would like to receive weekly prompts for the devotionals, then please sign up to our mailing list. We’ll send the cards in email format to your inbox.

Our hope and prayer is that this resource will be a blessing to you and your communities, and that through your Lenten pilgrimage the God of all grace will strengthen his people.

(Images: Copyright Venn Foundation)