New Roots Lenten Season Experience 2024: Week 6 – Wednesday, March 20, 2024, to Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Living Life with Intentionality

During this Lenten Season, we have been considering the questions:
What is it about your spiritual life that you would like to be different? What is the change that you would like to see in yourself? How can your observance of Lent help you progress toward that desired change?

The invitation has centered around making this Lenten season a time of intentional spiritual lifestyle positive change that you want to see in your life. As this is the last week of this Lenten Season and as we approach Holy Week, we continue to ponder these questions and I hope that our exploration of these questions does not end here, but that we continue to be intentional about our pursuit of positive change in our spiritual lifestyle.

I invite you to consider Jesus, who demonstrated a new way of being, of thinking, and of living. Jesus lived life with intentionality.

I am grateful for Jesus’ example and for the opportunity to apply Jesus’ teachings in my own life and spiritual journey.

I hope you find value in doing so as well.

Invitation: Continue your pursuit of intentional spiritual lifestyle positive change in your life.

1. Continue to spend time with questions such as, what is the change that God wants to see in me, as well as other questions that enhance your spiritual journey.
2. Continue to ask God to help you with these questions.
3. Continue to engage in practices such as prayer, journaling, visioning, Bible reading and study, etc. to help explore these questions.
4. Continue to record your answers to these questions in a place where you can refer/add to them daily.
5. If you identify actions to take, then act, if/when the timing is right, continuing to seek God, recognizing that adjustment is a part of change.
6. Continue to add songs to your playlist and play them to remind you of the change you want to see in your life.
7. It may or may not be appropriate to share your decision with someone; continue to ask God regarding this as well and act accordingly.
8. Continue to celebrate the positive change you see in your life.

As you continue in these areas, I also invite you to incorporate activity with other like-minded
people in your continuing spiritual journey.

Featured Selection: “The Promise” by Andrae Crouch
https://youtu.be/bnXkDgM1B18?si=ByNf8v6RsYXP73TY
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New Roots Lenten Season Experience 2024: Week 5 – Wednesday, March 13, 2024, to Tuesday, March 19, 2024

The Spirit-spirit Connection

As we continue our consideration of the questions:

What is it about your spiritual life that you would like to be different? What is the change
that you would like to see in yourself? How can your observance of Lent help you progress
toward that desired change?

You may recall, the invitation has centered around making this Lenten season a time of
intentional spiritual lifestyle positive change that you want to see in your life.

As we continue to ponder these questions, I invite you to consider the Spirit-spirit connection,
because in doing so, the change that you would like to see in yourself may become more
apparent.

Human beings are comprised of body, soul and spirit and the soul is comprised of our will, mind,
and emotions (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23).

God, the Trinity, is comprised of God the Father/Parent, God the Son, and God the Spirit, also
called the Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:7-10 is about wisdom from the Spirit of God. The English Standard Version
(ESV) says,

“7 ... [The writers, followers of Jesus Christ,] impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, ...
8 None of the rulers of ...[their] age understood this, for if they had, they would not have
crucified ... [Jesus]. 9 But, as it is written,

‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love ... [God]’—

10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even
the depths of God”

The Spirit of God is available to reveal things to those who love God.

What do you want the Spirit of God to reveal to you?

Invitation: As you pursue intentional spiritual lifestyle positive change in your life, ask the Holy
Spirit.

1. Spend time with the questions:
2. Ask God to help you with these questions.
3. Engage in practices such as prayer, journaling, visioning, Bible reading and study, etc. to
help explore these questions.
4. Record your answers to these questions in a place that you can refer/add to them daily.
5. If you identify actions to take, then act, if/when the timing is right, continuing to seek
God, recognizing that adjustment is a part of change.
6. Perhaps there are songs that express the connection that you want to have with the Holy
Spirit. Add these songs to your playlist and play them to remind you of the change you
want to see in your life.
7. It may or may not be appropriate to share your decision with someone; you can seek God
regarding this as well and act accordingly.
8. Celebrate the positive change you are seeing in your life.

Featured Selection: Speak to My Heart (Donnie McClurkin)

https://youtu.be/mCbS_6uWWUA?si=kfLHMtu67_uTiROS
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New Roots Lenten Season Experience 2024: Week 3 – Wednesday, March 6, 2024, to Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Consider Examples from the Life of Jesus
For the last two weeks, we have been considering the following questions: 
What is it about your spiritual life that you would like to be different? What is the change that you would like to see in yourself? How can your observance of Lent help you progress toward that desired change? 

Perhaps you are yet considering these questions.

As you may recall, the invitation from the last two weeks has centered around making this Lenten season a time of intentional spiritual lifestyle positive change that you want to see in your life.

Admittedly, these are not trivial questions and hopefully you are finding that the time spent in this exploration is worthwhile.
 
As we continue to ponder these questions, I invite you to consider examples from the life of Jesus, because in doing so, the change that you would like to see in yourself may become more apparent.

Examples from the life of Jesus include his prayer life, his compassion, his wisdom, …
Invitation: Consider examples from the life of Jesus as you pursue the intentional spiritual lifestyle positive change that you want to see in your life.

1. Spend time with the questions:  
   • What is the change that I want to see in myself?  
   • How can my observance of Lent help me progress toward this desired positive change? 
   • What examples from the life of Jesus can help in this endeavor? 

2. Ask God to help you with these questions. 

3. Engage in practices such as prayer, journaling, visioning, Bible reading and study, etc. to help explore these questions. 

4. Record your answers to these questions in a place that you can refer/add to them daily. 

5. If you identify actions to take, then act, if/when the timing is right, continuing to seek God, recognizing that adjustment is a part of change. 

6. Perhaps there are songs that express aspects of the life of Christ that you are seeking to imitate. Add these songs to your playlist and play them to remind you of the change you want to see in your life. 

7. It may or may not be appropriate to share your decision with someone; you can seek God regarding this as well and act accordingly. 

8. Celebrate the positive change you are seeing in your life.

Featured Selection: Jesus is Love (Lionel Richie and The Commodores) 
https://youtu.be/E62ZfiHiCYc?si=zAGUe1rdIBg2UoR2 
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Week 3 // Wednesday, February 28, 2024- Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Consider Aspects of the Character of God

Last week we posed the following questions:

What is it about your spiritual life that you would like to be different? What is the change
that you would like to see in yourself? How can your observance of Lent help you progress toward that desired change?

Perhaps you are yet considering these questions.

As you may recall, the invitation from last week was to make this Lenten season a time of intentional spiritual lifestyle positive change that you want to see in your life.

As you ponder these questions, I invite you to consider aspects of the character of God, because in doing so, the change that you would like to see in yourself may become apparent.

For example, we can consider the mercy of God.

Luke 6:36 says to be merciful as God is merciful.

As we think about the mercy of God, the mercy of God which we have been the benefactors of, perhaps considering it will enable us to see more clearly how we can show mercy to others, thereby affecting the spiritual lifestyle positive change that we want to see in ourselves.

Perhaps there are other aspects of God’s character that can help us in this endeavor.

Invitation: Consider aspects of the character of God as you pursue the intentional spiritual
lifestyle positive change that you want to see in your life.

1. Spend time with the questions:2. Ask God to help you with these questions.
3. Engage in practices such as prayer, journaling, visioning, Bible reading and study, etc. to
help explore these questions.
4. Record your answers to these questions in a place that you can refer/add to them daily.
5. If you identify actions to take, then act, if/when the timing is right, continuing to seek
God, recognizing that adjustment is a part of change.
6. Perhaps there are songs that express aspects of God’s character that you are seeking to
imitate. Add these songs to your playlist and play them to remind you of the change you
want to see in your life.
7. It may or may not be appropriate to share your decision with someone; you can seek God
regarding this as well and act accordingly.
8. Celebrate the positive change on which you are embarking.

Featured Selection: Great is Thy Faithfulness-Great is Your Mercy (Donnie McLurkin & CeCe
Winans)

Week 2 // Wednesday, February 21, 2024 -  Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Observing Lent as a Lifestyle Change
What is it about your spiritual life that you would like to be different? What is the change that you would like to see in yourself? How can your observance of Lent help you progress toward that desired change?

This question came to the forefront during a conversation with some of my colleagues over the weekend and the response to the question centered on how to observe Lent as a lifestyle change. This next part is my contribution to the discussion.

What if we considered our observance of Lent as a lifestyle change instead of as a spiritual diet?

Well, what is the difference, you may ask.Consider our relationship with food to answer this question. What if you had an outfit that you needed to lose a few pounds to fit into for a special occasion? You may adjust your diet to meet that goal, but afterwards, you would go back to your previous eating habits.

On the other hand, what if you decided that the way you were eating was having a negative impact on how you show up in the world and that you want to improve your eating habits going forward?
 
Your approach would be different. That principle can be applied to our observance of Lent. Our observance of Lent can be a time of making changes in our lives that will help improve how we show up in the world. What does how we show up in the world have to do with Lent? How we show up in the world and the extent to which we consider how Christ showed up in the world impacts the lives that we live.

So, I ask again,

What is the change that you would like to see in yourself? How can your observance of Lent help you progress toward that desired change? Just to be clear, the change that you would like to see in yourself need not have anything to do with food. My hope is that the change that you want to see is one that will have lasting positive impact and that will be reflective of the gift that Christ gave us.

Invitation: Make this Lenten season a time of intentional spiritual lifestyle positive change.

1. Spend time with the questions: 
   • What is the change that I want to see in myself? 
   • How can my observance of Lent help me progress toward this desired positive change?
2. Ask God to help you with these questions.
3. Engage in practices such as prayer, journaling, visioning, etc. to help explore these questions.
4. Record your answers to these questions in a place that you can refer/add to them daily.
5. If you identify actions to take, then act, if/when the timing is right, continuing to seek God, recognizing that adjustment is a part of change.
6. It may or may not be appropriate to share your decision with someone; you can seek God regarding this as well and act accordingly.
7. Celebrate the positive change you are embarking on.

Featured Selection: Moving Forward by Hezekiah Walker
https://open.spotify.com/track/4dwSbiKzRYfx4wjS6Yoyiu?si=05e5431d28904b5d

Week 1 // Wednesday, February 14, 2024 - Tuesday, February 20, 2024

What is the Lent that God would have you/us observe in this season?
To answer this question, there are some other questions that we may want to consider first.

1. Q:  What is Lent?
   • A:  Lent is a 40-day period of time leading up to Easter that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/lent-101-honoring-the-sacrifice-of-jesus-1382259.html
2. Q:  When is Lent this year?
   • A:  Lent begins on Wednesday, February 14, 2024 (Ash Wednesday) and ends on Saturday, March 30, 2024 (the day before Easter, also known as Resurrection Sunday).
3. Q:  What is the meaning of Lent?
   • A:  There are many possible answers to this question. Here is one to consider. Perhaps you have a response to this question from your own experience. Just as we set aside time to spiritually prepare for Christmas Day, it makes sense to set aside time to prepare for the two most important days of the Christian year - Good Friday and Easter. …  Lent is a time to open the doors of our hearts a little wider and understand … [God] a little deeper so that when Good Friday and Easter come, it is not just another day at church but an opportunity to receive the overflowing graces God has to offer. https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/lent-101-honoring-the-sacrifice-of-jesus-1382259.html
4. Q:  What are some examples of how to observe Lent?
   • A:  While some examples of how to observe Lent are given below, the answer to how you are to observe Lent at this time is one that is dynamic and it may be different than these examples. Being intentional about your observance and spending time in spiritual discernment regarding how to observe Lent in a way that is meaningful to you is the goal.

Here are some examples of how to observe Lent.
 
Here are some of the key elements of the Lenten season and some of the symbolism that comes with it. Many of these practices can be celebrated both individually and as a community:

•  Purple: Like Advent, the official color for Lent is purple. Usually, churches that celebrate Lent choose the deepest, darkest shade of purple for this special season. …
• Confession: … Lent is a penitential season or expressed sorrow and repentance...  A … way to start an examination of conscience is by praying Psalm 139, verses 23-24: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
• Fasting and Prayer: Fasting is a practice that … can be a powerful time to renew your relationship with God. Fasting can be found in both the Old Testament and the New, with Moses (Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 9:9,18 ), Elijah (1 Kings 19:8), and … [Jesus] (Matthew 4:2) all participating in 40-day fasts. Fasting is a way of denying ourselves the excesses of life so that we might be more attuned to the …  voice [of God]. It is also a way of disciplining yourself, strengthening your "spiritual muscles," so to speak, so that when temptations arise in life, you are already used to saying "no" to your desires. And finally, fasting is also a way of participating, in a small way, in the sufferings of Christ and can be particularly powerful when accompanied by prayer and confession.
• Meditating on Christ's Sacrifice for … [Humanity]: In addition to periodic fasting and prayer, our scriptural meditations typically turn to the salvation offered to us through Christ's suffering. Read Old Testament Scriptures prophesying the suffering of Christ and the New Testament Gospel accounts.
• Charity/Almsgiving: A very important element of the Lenten season is becoming aware of not only the suffering and sacrifice of Christ but also the suffering of others. … [How can] you … increase your giving to those in need? It could be through extra financial offerings, donating goods you no longer need or use to charity, or increasing your personal time commitment to a ministry or cause close to your heart.

Invitation: Make this Lenten season experience personal.

1. Engage in individual practices that reflect who you are and/or that are informed by how you connect with God.
2. Engage in practices with others as well (e.g., family and/or friends, church community)
3. Share from your resources and/or experience with others in helpful ways.

Featured Selection:  Show Me Your Way