Fifth Week of Lent

Monday--The Desert Experience

The following is an excerpt from the "40 Ideas for 40 Days" website by Joe Paprocki:

"We all know that the image of the desert plays a very important role in Scripture, especially the desert experience of the people of Israel (40 years of wandering) and the temptations of Jesus in the desert.  

" Unfortunately, too often only the negative aspects of the desert experience are emphasized, leaving people with an understanding of Lent as a dry, barren, punishing experience. On the other hand, for the people of Israel, the desert experience was/is recalled quite nostalgically and even romantically.

• The 40-year desert experience is thought of as a graced moment when God was leading and guiding his people

• it was a time of testing but also of strengthening

• it was a time when, deprived of comforts, people were much more aware of their dependence on God

• it was a time of experiencing God’s presence intimately: God traveled with them (as opposed to “dwelling” in a fixed temple)

• it was a time of true worship with no distractions

• it was the place of covenant – a “honeymoon” experience

• BTW – many Scripture scholars think this is why Peter suggests erecting three booths at the site of Jesus' transfiguration: he likens this intimate experience of God’s presence to the desert experience (when the nomadic Israelites lived in tents and the Ark of the Covenant was kept in a tent) and nostalgically wants to sustain the experience

"Because the desert experience was recalled so nostalgically, Hosea refers to it as a place to go to reunite with his estranged wife: 'I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart' (Hosea 2:16) – he’s planning a 'second honeymoon'."

•   I thought it would be a good exercise for each person in our family to write down some of our "desert" experiences on note cards, either ones we have had in our personal lives, or ones our family has walked together.  

• What are some of the ways God met us there?  How did he show his protection?  What lessons did we learn there?  

• Each person can write down the desert experience on the front of the card.  The mercies and graces can be written on the back, along with any Bible verses which became extra meaningful during that time.  

I think of this exercise as the beginning of a "journal of God's faithfulness" for us.  I have jotted down prayer requests and their eventual answers over the years, and found it to be faith strengthening to look back at the record of God's care.  

I plan to keep our note cards in a box in the kitchen so that people can add to them as time goes by.  What a beautiful thing it would be to give to our grandchildren one day!  Maybe they will even add to it and continue the record of God's generational faithfulness to our family.

Tuesday--Names of Christ:  Alpha and Omega

•  Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, and are a pointed reference to the deity of Christ when used in Scripture. 

• Christ and the Father are both referred to with this term. (See Revelation 1:8, 21:6, 22:13)  Christ is eternal in nature.  He has no beginning and the end.  In Isaiah 44:6 and 48:12 God the Father says "I am the first and I am the last", and Jesus applies those same words to himself in Revelation.  What a lovely unity!

• Jamey will probably cover what this means in terms of the Easter story.  Because He is the living One, the first and the last, Christ holds the keys to death and hell.  (Revelation 1:18, John 11:25, Romans 6:9)   He has all the power to carry out the Father's plan of redemption!  That is good news indeed!

•  Jesus is the "author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2)   Discuss this and end by singing "Man of Sorrows"  It is a powerful hymn and can be found in most hymnals, or online at http://www.opc.org/hymn.html?hymn_id=453 

Wednesday--Enjoying Easter Books

•  Because we have Bible Study on Wednesday nights, I decided to do an activity earlier in the day today.  We have collected some wonderful Easter books over the years, so I am planning to have the children help me gather them into a basket and we will set aside a time in the late afternoon to read some of them together.  I will list some of our favorites later this week (after the kids gather them into one pile for me:) 

Thursday--Sin in Myself and Sin in My Brother

•  Get a clear glass of water and a bottle of food coloring.  Have the children watch you put several drops of dye in the water.  It will eventually spread throughout the water, changing the color.

• Explain that there is no such thing as a little sin.  One sin is enough to condemn us.  (James 2:10,  Ecclesiastes 7:20)

• It is easy to compare ourselves to others and downplay the seriousness of the sin in our own lives, but that is not how God judges sin!  (1 John 1:8-10)  He judges us by His standards of perfection.  

• Read and discuss Matthew 5:22-48.  It is the part of the Sermon on the Mount that deals specifically with human relationships and God's standards for them.  It is clear that our inclination is to judge ourselves more lightly than we ought and to judge others more harshly.  Instead we ought to follow the advice laid out in Hebrews 3:6-19 and not harden our hearts when we hear God's voice of conviction in our lives.  

•  For our brothers, we should exhort and encourage them toward love and good works. (previous passage as well as Hebrews 10:24)

• End by singing Blest be the Tie That Binds http://www.opc.org/hymn.html?hymn_id=86 

Friday--Examination of Baptism

One of the first acts of obedience for a Christian should be baptism.

• Read and discuss Acts 16:23-34 and Acts 8:36-38

• Baptism is a picture of what Christ did for us--death, burial, and resurrection to new life. (Romans 6:3-4, Colossians 2:12) The word comes from the Greek word BAPTIZO, which means to dip.  Immersion in the waters of baptism is the biblical model (Acts 8:38)

•  Baptism helps remind us of our identification with Christ (Galatians 3:27)

• The examples given in the Bible show that baptism should be done soon after we place our trust in Christ, but it should be done for the right reasons--after true repentence and conviction by the Holy Spirit.  Not because our friends are doing it, or to please others, but out of a heart of obedience to Christ.  (The end of the beautiful story of Cornelius, Acts 10:47-48)

 Again, I'm sure Jamey will flesh this out more, but this is the basic theme we wanted to cover.

 
 Saturday--Examination of Christ's Prayer for His Disciples

John 17:1-26 is Jesus' longest recorded prayer.  It is full of beauty and power and encouragement.  We plan to read it as a family and discuss the themes it contains.  Again, Jamey will likely have many insights to share, which I will update later, but for now, I can point to one website which has a very nice outline of the passage for those who might find one to be useful.  It is http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/John/Jesus-Concludes-Time-Alone 

How amazing that we have a record of Jesus praying for US, as we are included in those who will become believers through the witness of the 11!   

I also love the beautiful reminder of how the church ought to mirror the oneness of Christ and the Father--a subject I touched on in a previous post (http://jdbirmingham.blogspot.com/2013/01/these-people-dont-fit-can-i-get-refund.html