Preparing for Lent 2025
Christians throughout history and across the world today have observed Lent as a 40 day season of “bright sadness” in which we enter an intentional desert with Jesus (cf. Luke 4) and give up certain things even as we take on new spiritual practices. In Lent, we focus on themes of penitence, lament, and our need for God. Entering intentionally into these practices and this season helps prepare our hearts to receive afresh the joyous Good News of Easter and Jesus’s resurrection. This year, we’ve prepared an intentional journey for you to engage in as much or as little as you desire or are able to help us press into the spiritual practices of Lent and draw closer to Christ in this time.
Sunday Sermons
We will spend Sundays in Lent preaching through Jesus’s Sermon on the Plain from Luke chapter 6. In Epiphany we hear Jesus commission His disciples to go into all nations making new disciples and “teaching them to obey all I commanded you.” The Sermon on the Plain, like its companion teaching The Sermon on the Mount is one of the core recorded teachings of Jesus in the Gospels. It speaks of the type of character and relationships with others that Jesus desires to see formed in the life of His followers through the power of the Holy Spirit. As we explore The Sermon on the Plain, each week we will highlight a different Lenten spiritual practice and involve that practice in some way in our weekly worship service.
God on the Ground Guide
In addition to teaching on different Lenten spiritual practices, we’ll offer a practical, easy-to-follow guide we hope you’ll use to press into these different spiritual practices of Fasting, Silence, Almsgiving, Forgiveness, & Service either by yourself or with others this Lent. The guide is centered around a weekly meal where you are invited to fast from your usual dinner choice and instead eat a simple meal of beans and rice. The guide provides a liturgy for each meal to help you reflect on and engage with a different practice. Some weeks you are called to reflect or be silent, other weeks you are challenged to act in generosity or service. You can follow the God on the Ground Guide on your own, with others you invite from our church, or as a part of your Mission Community. Printed copies of this guide will be available on the table in the hallway at church on Sundays 3/2 & 3/9 as well as after Ash Wednesday. You can view, download and/or print a digital version of the guide using the link below.
Seasonal Generosity & Serving Focus
Even as we engage practices to focus and find renewal in Christ inwardly, we will also invite you to engage outwardly in this season as we partner with 2 local ministries: Catholic Charities of Southwest OH and their refugee resettlement work & Last Mile Food Rescue and their mission to eliminate food waste and hunger in Cincinnati. How will we partner?
We’ll donate 100% of our loose offering on Sundays in March & April to these organizations (50% each)
The Mission will match up to $500 in loose offerings given as an additional donation from our operating funds to each organization
On Sunday, March 23rd we invite you to BRING ITEMS TO DONATE to local organizations to worship and pile them around the altar. These items include:
Large Stock Pots & ethnic food items for refugee families
Kroger Gifts Cards for local homeless (to be donated to Norwood resident Jeff Holmes to distribute through his compassion ministry to local homeless men and women)
Laundry detergent, hygeiene products, and household cleaning supplies to be donated to Diane Prather’s Norwood Helping Norwood Minsitry to distribute to local families in need.
On Sunday April 6th a representative from Last Mile Food Rescue will share with us in worship and you will be invited to serve on a food rescue mission that week as a part of the God on the Ground Lenten journey.
You can learn more about our Lenten Ministry Partner Organizations Below:
Ash Wednesday
Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, a day when Christians start the Lenten Journey by remembering our mortality. We’ll gather at 6:30 PM for a 1-hour service featuring a short reflection by Fr. William, seasonal music, the imposition of ashes and communion. Childcare will not be provided during this service, but children are welcome to join in worship!
Stations of the Cross
During Lent, our sanctuary seasonal artwork will be the 14 stations of the cross created by Benjamin Thomas who served on staff with us at the Mission from 2019 - 2021. These stations are partnered with a liturgy created by Rev. Kristen you can use to walk the stations on a prayerful journey of meditation on the sufferings of Jesus at any point you want during the season of Lent.
Holy Week
Beginning with Palm Sunday on April 13th and concluding with Easter Sunday on April 20th, Holy Week is the climax of the Christian year where we remember the Mighty Acts of Jesus from His triumphal entry into Jerusalem to His betrayal, Last Supper, and time of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, his washing of His disciples’ feet, His crucifixion, and His resurrection from the dead. We will host special gatherings on Maundy Thursday from 6-8 PM and a Good Friday service at 6:30 PM. More details to come, but mark your calendars and save these dates to join us for these special days!
Additional Resources
Looking for more personal devotional resources for the season of Lent? Check out this wonderful Lenten Guide created by Rev. Kristen: