Lent 4 Devotional Resources

Again & Again, God Loves First

Devotional Resources

for the Fourth Week of Lent

Questions for personal reflection:

What associations or memories do you have related to John 3:16? In the past, perhaps when you first encountered this famous verse, what was the meaning you gleaned from it? What meaning do you glean from it now?

Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the night. What questions, longings, or wonderings stir you awake in the night?

Professor Anna Carter Florence notes that- “Nicodemus reminds us that even the best educated and most authoritative among us are still searching.” Is your congregation a community in which people feel safe to come with their questions about life in faith? How do you encourage each other both in the questing for deeper understanding and the call to deeper discipleship through action?

Credits: The Again & Again theme and logo are thanks to the creators of A Sanctified Art. Art from the series used in this video includes Light Wave by Lisa Gwynn Garrity. The first two sets of reflection questions come from the creators of this series.

Praying the Psalms

Psalm 107 (selected verses)

“Give thanks to the Lord because he is good,

because his faithful love lasts forever!”

Some of the redeemed had wandered into the desert, into the wasteland.

They couldn’t find their way to a city or town.

They were hungry and thirsty;

their lives were slipping away.

So they cried out to the Lord in their distress,

and God delivered them from their desperate circumstances.

God led them straight to human habitation.

Some of the redeemed had been sitting in darkness and deep gloom;

they were prisoners suffering in chains

So they cried out to the Lord in their distress,

and God saved them from their desperate circumstances.

God brought them out from the darkness and deep gloom;

he shattered their chains.

Some of the redeemed were fools because of their sinful ways.

They suffered because of their wickedness.

They had absolutely no appetite for food;

they had arrived at death’s gates.

So they cried out to the Lord in their distress,

and God saved them from their desperate circumstances.

God gave the order and healed them;

he rescued them from their pit.

Some of the redeemed had gone out on the ocean in ships,

making their living on the high seas.

The waves went as high as the sky;

they crashed down to the depths.

The sailors’ courage melted at this terrible situation.

They staggered and stumbled around like they were drunk.

None of their skill was of any help.

So they cried out to the Lord in their distress,

and God brought them out safe from their desperate circumstances.

God quieted the storm to a whisper;

the sea’s waves were hushed.

But God can also turn the desert into watery pools,

thirsty ground into watery springs,

where he settles the hungry.

They even build a city and live there!

They plant fields and vineyards

and obtain a fruitful harvest.

God blesses them, and they become many.

God won’t even let their cattle diminish.

But when they do diminish—

when they’re brought down by oppression, trouble, and grief—

God pours contempt on their leaders,

making them wander aimlessly in the wastelands.

But God raises the needy from their suffering;

he makes their families as numerous as sheep!

Those who do right see it and celebrate,

but every wicked person shuts their mouth.

Whoever is wise will pay attention to these things,

carefully considering the Lord’s faithful love.

This is a Psalm of Thanksgiving for God's salvific acts. Here redemption isn't a theological term but one addressing real world situations, some of them political. The first group are those who have lost home, perhaps family and support and are forced to wander, desperate for the basic necessities. The second are those who have been imprisoned, living literally in darkness and gloom. The third are those who seem to wallow in the shame of their misdeeds, giving up on their self-worth. The fourth are sailors, those who work difficult jobs that put their very lives on the line.

What would it look like to add yourself or someone you love who has struggled to this Psalm? What is your own real world redemption story? What are the moments you have felt lost?

A recurring refrain through the Psalm is "they cried out...and God saved them".

As you consider God's presence in your life, do you notice any repeating pattern, anything that is your own recurring prayer refrain?

The Psalm concludes with "Whoever is wise will pay attention to these things,

carefully considering the Lord’s faithful love."

In light of God's faithful love to you, offer your own prayer of thanksgiving.

Hold

by Rev. Sarah Are

If you hold a newborn in your arms,

All at once you will understand

The crook of your elbow

And the cup of your palm

As never before—

Ordinary curves of the body

Transformed into a resting space.

You were designed for love.

And if you’re lucky enough

To hold a newborn in your arms,

And that newborn curls

Its tiny fingers around yours,

Making your hands look

Like the hands of a giant—

Then time might stand still,

And those around you might point and say,

“Look! That little one is holding you back.”

And in that moment,

If you pay attention,

You will catch a glimpse

Of the circle that love was meant to be.

God is love,

Our resting place.

With small hands,

We hold back.

from A Sanctified Art Lenten Devotion, Again & Again

Spiritual Discipline for the Week

Reconciliation

The gospel of John reveals God's reconciling act in Jesus Christ. Similarly, we who are called in Christ are also called to reconciliation. The following is taken from an article on Reconciliation written by Jessica Tate director of Next Church. To read the entire article visit https://pres-outlook.org/2016/01/where-reconciliation-begins/.

Almost 50 years ago, the Presbyterian Church confessed reconciliation as the heart of the gospel and the “peculiar” need of reconciliation in Christ. Today we embrace the Belhar Confession and its witness to the reconciling power of the gospel. Perhaps we, too, find ourselves in a time in the life of the church and the world when much is demanded of us who profess Christ as Lord — a time when Christ’s work of reconciliation feels particularly urgent.

In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he calls us to this work, writing, “if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation.” Indeed, in Christ, on the cross, God was reconciling the world to Godself and entrusting the ministry of reconciliation to Christ’s followers. We are ambassadors for Christ, carrying on his work of reconciliation.

This is messy work. Theologian Robert Schreiter, in his book "Reconciliation: Mission and Ministry in a Changing Social Order" names the challenge. Reconciliation does not mean hasty peace. It does not take the place of liberation for the injured nor for the perpetrators of injury. Reconciliation is not a managed process that we achieve just by moving through a series of steps. Rather, reconciliation begins when we experience the power of God’s reconciling grace to break open our old lives and usher new life in its place. It is messy and powerful work.

Are there places in your life that need the healing power of reconciliation?

Five year later, with all that has happened in that time, where do you see the church needing to engage in reconciliation? What is your willingness to engage in this "messy" work?

Again and Again with Children

Lessons for Lent-Easter

Papa, Do You Love Me? by Barbara M. Joose

In the gospel lesson, Nicodemus comes to Jesus with his questions and learns the depths of God's love. In the story, Tender Heart asks his Papa, "Do you love me?" and more the extent of that love.

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Storypath by UPSem

provided by Edye Bender

A young Maasai boy explores the depths of his Papa’s love through the questions of a small child, and the reassurances of his father. This story introduces children to another culture, another land, and situations that they may not be familiar with, through the familiarity of the parent-child bond. The father promises young Tender Heart that he will protect him, help him learn to find water, and to do the other things he needs to do to survive in the Serengeti. Tender Heart also explores what would happen if he failed at his task, and finds reassurance from his father that even though a parent may be angry, they still love and forgive.

The unconditional love of the father in this story can lead to some good conversations about God. Even though earthly parents cannot show love, acceptance and protection perfectly, God’s love is much like the love of this Papa – never failing, always forgiving, and always near.

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