How Did You Grow Closer To God this Lent?
We are almost at Easter. A few weeks ago we celebrated Ash Wednesday and
started our Lenten trip. Are you ready for Easter? Did you take time to be with
Jesus in the wilderness during these 40 days? If not, there is still time to be with
Jesus in the wilderness. Spend five more minutes with Him beginning today
whether reading the Bible and praying. A fun way of spending time with Jesus is
singing.
Old Testament – Jeremiah 31:31-34
Our friend, Jeremiah, is known as the “weeping prophet.” He lived in the difficult
years when Israel’s kingdom was coming to an end and Israel was constantly
being attacked by its enemies in war. Jeremiah would see Israel defeated and fall
to its enemies and his people taken away as exiles never to return. Most of
Jeremiah’s writings expressed these sad times with the hard messages that God
gave to him to speak to the Israelites.
This short passage is very different. We can feel a breath of Easter joy in these
verses. God says to Jeremiah that in the future God will make a new promise to
His people. God says it won’t be like the old promise that Israel broke even
though God did everything He promised to do for Israel. God says that in the
future no one will need to be taught about God. Everyone will know God
personally. What a beautiful promise!
Old Testament – Psalm 51:1-12
David wrote this song after he had done several terrible deeds. David had taken
another man’s wife and then David had her husband killed so he could marry her.
In this psalm, David asks for God’s forgiveness. God does give David forgiveness.
How merciful is our God!
The key to receiving God’s forgiveness is admitting to God that we have done
wrong. We will not receive His forgiveness by pretending we have not done
wrong. We need to then come to God, tell Him what we have done wrong and
ask for His forgiveness. God promises us that when we do these two things He
will forgive us. God is a promise keeper. Is there anything you need to tell God
about and ask for forgiveness? Come to Him and He will forgive you.
Listen to Psalm 51 below.
New Testament – Hebrews 5:5-10
No one knows who wrote the Book of Hebrews. The Book of Hebrews focuses on
Jesus’ saving work and how we are made perfect by faith in Him. This lesson says
that Jesus’ faith matured because He suffered. So we know that God uses our
suffering to grow our faith. This gives us hope because if Jesus needed to suffer
we also need to suffer so we will learn to rely on and trust God. So take a moment
and ask yourself how God may be using the hard times in your life to grow you.
New Testament – John 12:20-33
John, Jesus’ close friend, writes about the events that are leading up to Jesus’
death. Two Greek men have come to Jerusalem and they want to see Jesus.
When they are brought to Jesus, He is teaching a crowd. Jesus says that it is
necessary for Him to die so that His death will glorify God. Everyone is confused
because they don’t understand why He must die.
Younger Childrens Lesson:
Today’s Bible lessons tell us that God loves us even when we do things we
should not do. The Bible teaches us that God forgives us when we apologize to
Him. Today Jesus tells us that He must die for us so that one day we will get to
be in heaven with Him.
Spanish Lesson:
Pan Para El Mundo Reimprimer Quanto Domingo de Cuaresma
Oraciones para Terminar el Hambre: Jesús se acerca a Jerusalén y la Cruz
“Jesús les respondió diciendo: Ha llegado la hora para que el Hijo del
Hombre sea glorificado. De cierto, de cierto os digo, que si el grano de trigo
no cae en la tierra y muere, queda solo; pero si muere, lleva mucho fruto.”
Juan 12:23-24
Se cumple un año de pandemia y estamos demasiado familiarizados con la
muerte y su prevalencia. Pero la muerte no siempre es física o negativa y es
algo que, de hecho, podemos abrazar. La muerte puede señalar dejar ir el
poder, el privilegio y formas no saludables de estar en el mundo. La muerte
también puede presentarnos un comienzo nuevo y esperanzador.
En el Evangelio de Juan, se nos recuerda que un solo grano de trigo parece
estar muerto, pero cuando se sumerge en la tierra y se riega, puede germinar
y dar nueva vida que trae frutos. De igual manera, conforme seguimos a
Cristo hacia Jerusalén y nos acercamos hacia la cruz, sabemos que la nueva
vida en Cristo requiere dejar ir todo lo que nos impida seguirlo y poner
atención a su llamado de amar a Dios y amarnos los unos a los otros. Las
desigualdades raciales y de género existen porque hemos fallado en amarnos
los unos a los otros como Dios nos ha llamado a hacer. Conforme nos
arrepentimos de estas desigualdades y nos comprometemos a cultivar la
prosperidad para todas las personas, oremos:
Oh Cristo, te damos gracias porque, en nuestro sufrimiento y muerte, revelas
la gloria de Dios y nos ofreces el regalo de una nueva vida. Al crear un nuevo
corazón en nosotros, ayúdanos a que nuestros ojos se abran a nuevas formas
para crear esperanza y oportunidades para quienes experimentan hambre y
viven en la pobreza. Amén
Las disparidades y desigualdades forman parte del entramado social de todos
los países. Las mujeres y las niñas están en mayor desventaja que sus
contrapartes masculinas. En Estados Unidos, las comunidades
Afroamericanas y Latinas viven índices más altos de desempleo y niveles
más elevados de hambre y pobreza. Para verdaderamente acabar con el
hambre, deberán implementarse medidas para superar el racismo y la
desigualdad de género para quienes padecen hambre. Ora por que puedas
tener un corazón que se arrepienta de la desigualdad racial y de género, y que
pida la gracia de Dios para conmovernos a amar a todas las personas.
QUINTO DOMINGO INFANTIL DE CUARESMA
Hoy aprendemos que Jesus nos ama. Jesus nos ama incluso cuanda hemos
hecha mal. Nos perdona cuando nos disculpamos. Hoy Jesus nos dice qui debe
morir para que algun dia podamos estar en el cielo con el.
