Observing Lent isn’t about a denomination, or whether your church is liturgical or not. Lent helps us to put the Christian life into a biblical perspective. It’s a time to practice saying “no” to ourselves in little things so we can say a bigger “yes” to God in the bigger decisions of life. It can truly be a time for significant spiritual growth for the individuals in your church as well the church as a whole.
Following is motivation for celebrating Lent and descriptions of resources, including free handouts and a Lenten Devotional and Journal. If you are in a hurry and don’t want to bother listening to all, go to www.Bible805.com and the resource links will all be on the home page.
Text and resources for Lenten resources follow. You can listen to a podcast of the content below or read the text that follows it. The Resource links are at the end of the article.
This lesson completes Genesis by showing how God narrowed His focus from all humanity to one family that would become the nation of Israel. It reviews Genesis as four major events (creation, the fall, the flood, Babel) followed by four major people (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph). The lesson explains that God’s focus on Israel does not mean He stopped caring about the rest of humanity, but that through Israel God would preserve His Word, model worship, and serve as witnesses so that all nations would ultimately be blessed through the coming Savior, Jesus.
This lesson introduces Abraham as a central figure in Genesis and a key example of how God chooses and shapes His people. While Abraham is often called a hero of the faith, the lesson makes clear that the true hero throughout the Bible is God Himself. Abraham’s story is not primarily about human greatness, but about God’s grace, initiative, patience, and faithfulness in working through imperfect people.
This lesson introduces three foundational questions that shape the entire story of the Bible: Why we are here, what went wrong, and whether this life is all there is. Using the books of Genesis and Job, the lesson begins with God as Creator, establishing that human life is intentional, dependent, and designed for meaning and purpose. Job reinforces this truth when God speaks of creation as the basis of His authority and wisdom.
Reading through your Bible in Chronological Order is one of the most important things you can do to grow in your Christian life. At the same time, it is one of the most difficult because our Bibles are not in Chronological Order and it can be difficult both to know where to start and how to sustain your reading.