TODAY IS THE START OF LENT
It's also the beginning of our Lent resources for families. Each Monday, we will post a variety of Lent-related resources that you can use all at once, or throughout the week.
This week, we focus on Mark 14:1-9.
Jesus Anointed at Bethany
1Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 2 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.” 3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. 4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages[a] and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly. 6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you,[b] and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Wednesday - Feb. 14
So what is Lent? Ms. Elizabeth sat down with several school students to talk about Lent.
What about the ashes?
You may see something strange happening in church on Ash Wednesday. You’ll see your family and friends go forward to receive the sign of the cross on their foreheads. The strange part about all of this is that it will be done with the ashes from last year’s Palm Sunday palm branches.
Why do we do this?
Usually when someone gets dirty they know they need water to get clean. The ashes that are put on our foreheads remind us that in sin we are dirty and need to be cleaned. It also helps us to remember the first time the sign of the cross was made on us at our Baptism. In the waters of Baptism, we are cleaned and the dirt of sin is washed away. Ash Wednesday helps to remind us of this.
This information was provided courtesy of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.
Thursday - Feb. 15
We have plenty of resources for the next few weeks. We also have some activities you are going to love! On the right side of the Children and Family Lent Resources page, you will find a link to our Easter Bingo, a Spotify play list with music we hear in church during Lent. There are also prayer and discussion cards. We encourage you to explore those today. And if you fill your Easter Bingo sheet over the next 40 days and bring it to Ms. Elizabeth, she has a prize for you!
Friday - Feb. 16
Prayer is important. We know Jesus prayed and he taught the disciples to pray. We have designed prayers to fit the theme of the week. There is a printable sheet of all the prayers in the sidebar of the Children and Family Lent Resources page. We will also post them here each week.
Dear God,Thank You for the season of Lent. I am so grateful that You love me so much that You sent Jesus to earth to live for me, to die for me, and to rise again for me, so that I can be loved by You forever. Help me to keep my eyes of Jesus as I journey through Lent. In Jesus name, Amen.