Introduction to the Week

So far in our Lenten wilderness journey we have explored the remarkable lives of Noah, Abraham and Sarah, and Moses, and this week our guide through this chapter of Lent will be the people of Israel. In his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul says that the things that happened to Israel serve as examples to us and that they were written down and preserved in order that we might learn from them (1 Cor. 10:11)

It is easy, and therefore tempting, to look back on the failures and mistakes of the people of Israel and think that we would have never acted that way, but as we get older in our faith, the more we often realise that our journeys and struggles are very similar. It appears therefore, that there are truths about humanity’s relationship with God that transcends both time and place so that these moments in Israel’s story are profoundly relevant for us today. Therefore, let me invite you to sit humbly before the stories of our ancestors and to learn from both their successes and their failures, and to discover the grace of God in and through it all.

There will be a post on here from Monday to Friday that will contain a daily Scripture to read along with prayers, questions, quotes, songs and other bits and pieces. But before you jump into today’s reflection maybe just pause, turn your attention to God and pray the prayer below:

Daily Prayer

Lord of promise,
how quickly we forget,
how slow to understand,
The path is not the destination,
The desert not our land.
Amen.

Daily Scripture: Hebrews 10:24-25

Find the above scripture in your bible and read slowly – you might want to read it out loud. You can read it here.

Weekly Lenten Practice

This week, we would like to encourage the practice of spiritual friendship. This is to recognise the gift of our brother or sister in the journey of discipleship. It is an age-old practice, sometimes called ‘soul friendship’. At its simplest, it is about two (or perhaps three) fellow disciples of Jesus meeting to talk about their journeys and to encourage each other in the way of Christ. 

During this Lent I have asked a spiritual friend if we might meet more regularly – once a week instead of one or twice a month. This has been such an encouragement. Each of us have brought some challenges we have been facing and let the other probe a little and coach some holiness. I am so thankful for this friendship. I would like to encourage you to take some steps in spiritual friendship this week – which might mean asking someone known to you if the two of you might meet to share and pray or perhaps a stepping up of the practice with an existing spiritual friend.

A good question for spiritual friends to work on:

‘What are you and God working on at present?’

Lenten Quote

Larry Crabb communicates a deeply inspiring picture of the potential of spiritual community. He acknowledges our tendency to want to solve problems rather than looking for God in the midst of them … He encourages spiritual communities to walk together in costly brokenness, vulnerability and interdependence. The default for many Christian communities is to operate in what Crabb calls congenial, cooperative, consoling, counselling and conforming relationships, where everyday relationships are distant, functional, conflict-free and soothing and when life gets messy, we call in ‘experts’ who help us try to solve the situation with our own resources. Crabb urges his readers to be dissatisfied with this model and instead to pursue a life together which requires us to be broken, to love deeply, to avoid quick fixes and to be entirely reliant on the Spirit for our healing.

| taken from an essay by Caroline Oliveira

Lenten Image: Friends on the Emmaus Rd

Lenten Song: By Our Love

Closing Blessing

When memory forsakes us,
And we are tempted to return,
When forgetfulness makes us faithless
And truths remain unlearned,
When we run wild amidst the wilderness
And fashion idols amongst the sands
When the tester becomes the tested
And we lose sight of the promised land.

Forgive us Lord, we pray.

Deliverer, help us to remember,
And bring these things to mind,
That freedom stands before us.
And slavery behind.
That in the desert we are not deserted
And in our wanderings, we are not lost,
That no land is God-forsaken
And the promise worth the cost.

Bless us Lord, we pray

Evening Zoom Reflection at 9pm

We will be meeting tonight on Zoom to reflect on this together. You would be most welcome to join us. We start at 9pm and finish at 9:20pm. Maybe bring a Bible and a journal if you have them.

We are usually on a few moments before for a chat. Click here to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84743926286

We would love to make this a shared learning experience as much as possible so therefore please consider adding any thoughts, questions and insights that might arise for you in the comments section below. We would love to hear what God is up to in this time!