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Welcome on this Lenten journey!
 
Lent takes us on the path of remembrance, reflection, and repentance. When we open ourselves up to the invitation that God sends to us, we may find that we are transformed and deepened in faith and love.
Each week we invite you to really spend your week meditating, praying, using this as a guide on this journey…  take some quiet time throughout the week to be center yourself, putting God IN that center, with all of the hope and grace that Jesus’ resurrection brings.
 
LENT WEEK FOUR!
 
What do we celebrate this week?
Everywhere we look in the Bible, we find passages coaxing us to go to a quiet place to reflect on who God is and why we are in relationship with Him. Lent is the season of the Christian year that gives us opportunity to practice that spiritual discipline in a focused manner.
Beginning with Ash Wednesday through to Easter we journey with Jesus. We consider his embodying the love of God for the world through his preaching, teaching, healing the sick, and his raising the dead.
We follow him to his death… but stand at a distance along with disciples who denied him.
AND we wait with great eagerness and anticipation for the Easter sunrise when we realize that there is no power greater than God’s undying love. In the resurrection of Jesus Christ, life on earth and the life eternal are victorious.
THIS WEEK WE CELEBRATE our God for giving us that undying love and the gift of Salvation, recognizing the sacrifice that it took to give it to us. We spend time in quiet prayer for the amazing love and gift that God has given in Jesus, and we try to move forward in our faith, instead of standing in that distance…
 
 
 
What do we lift up to God for help in prayer this week?
This week we ask for God to hold all the people who are affected in the violence and crime that keeps flooding the news this week.
We ask for love and protection during all of the grief and pain. To show them hope.
Pray for the needs in your own life, as well. Spend as much time as you are able in prayer for help, healing, and love.
Loving God, we open our hearts to You in times of stillness so that we may feel Your presence and unending grace. We open our hearts in faith. We open our hearts to you in hope. We open our hearts in gratitude. We pray these things in Your holy name… Amen
 
 
Scriptures for the Week
Psalm 46:10
Be still and know that I am God.
 
Luke 18:9–14
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.’
 
Jeremiah 33:15
In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
 
John 15:5
I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.
 
 
Week FOUR: PHOTO OPP:
What do you see in God’s Creation that will make you reflect on the wonder that is God. Each week try to capture a photo so that you can go back and look at it when you’re having some just you time with God, or doing your Lenten Devotions, or whenever you need to look at something that God has created and not something man-made.
 
Trees Show Us God’s Wisdom and Protection, and keep His Presence Connected to Us.
 
Trees can show us a perspective so we can begin to understand God’s wisdom and protection for us.

Trees, which stand tall make us think of silent guardians all around us, putting roots into the solid ground, like God’s loving care and protection He has for us.
 
Trees tower over us and live well past us, and make our perspective bigger and they show we are each part of something much bigger than ourselves, so we can look beyond our own circumstances to God.
 
Take your photos this week of Trees in nature… ALL kinds of Trees!
Put them together with your other photos of the sunrise and water and rocks from our first three weeks.
Enjoy God’s creation and remind yourself how beautiful God’s work can be.
 
 
Families:
On a sunny day go out and discover trees! Run around them… try to hug a tree together haha! All of you pick a place around the tree and do a group hug around the trunk. While you’re hugging, notice how big it is! Talk about how old it could be. Examine it – the bark, the branches… are any birds or squirrels using the branches to seek a place to hang out? The tree has a lot of responsibility to take care of everything around it, like God takes care of us.
 
Talk about how amazing God’s creation is! Tell some jokes and enjoy your time together!