Lent Week 5 (plus a few extra days)

Dear <<First Name>>,

This is the last full week of Lent before Holy Week!

This week, the final object for your altar and to guide your reflection is chocolate!

Is there anything better than chocolate? The perfect balance of bitter and sweet, richness and saltiness. I understand that chocolate is not everyone's favourite, but I think it should be! (Haha!)

It's a good reminder that if you think of Lent as the season of bitterness, then we need some sweetness to balance it out. If we're going to dwell on sin and shadows for forty days, then we need to ensure that we don't forget grace and the shining hope that we have in the living God resurrected in Christ Jesus.

So, our reflection this week is a simple one: let some chocolate melt on your tongue and just enjoy it for a few seconds. "Taste and see how good the Lord is!" In the midst of Lent, look ahead to the sweetness of Easter. If this is a season of sacrifice and loss for you, take a few moments to reflect on the gifts you've received and offer gratitude to God.

In Lent we remember all the brokenness of sin and the reasons that Christ's birth, life, and death were necessary for the salvation of the world. Let's spend this week savouring that Christ has come, Christ gave himself for us, and Christ will live again! There is sweetness and hope even in the bitterness of sin.

Join me in making this your meditation this week until we reflect on this a bit more this Sunday.

Rest assured that you are held in the grace of God and in my prayers,
Pastor Jared

Daily Prayer for Tuesday 16 March

Click here to download daily prayers for the coming week.

Let us contemplate Jesus the Lord:

Instead of the joy meant for him,

he endured the cross, disregarding its disgrace.

We worship you, Lord.

O Jesus Christ, born in humility

to confound the proud and to raise the humble:

We worship you, Lord.

You lived among us, healing the sick,

proclaiming good news to the poor and freedom to prisoners.

We worship you, Lord.

You came to unbind the chains of every slavery,

O friend of the humble, bread of hungry hearts.

We worship you, Lord.

Jesus, full of patience and goodness,

you showed forgiveness and kindness to the very end.

We worship you, Lord.

Jesus, gentle and humble of heart,

you call to yourself all who are weary and burdened.

We worship you, Lord.

Jesus, you came into the world to serve and to give your life;

you were betrayed for money, dragged before judges, and nailed to a cross.

We worship you, Lord.

Jesus, Lord of the universe,

by your resurrection from the dead you are alive at God’s side,

and there you prepare a place for us.

We worship you, Lord.

– The Worship Sourcebook, The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship

Daily Prayers

Click here to download a PDF of this week's daily Lenten prayers.
You can also receive the prayer daily via WhatsApp. Opt-in by adding Pastor Jared as a contact in your mobile device and sending him a WhatsApp message: Jared Jaggers, +44 75656 87333

Choose a Traditional Lenten Fast and Focus on Serving Others

Click here to download a calendar of "40 acts" to show love toward someone else that day. (It has been created for children, but is suitable for children of all ages!)
Sign up for International Justice Mission's “Slave Free Lent” – https://www.ijmuk.org/slavefreelent - IJM will send you text messages with ideas for how take action against human trafficking. Each week of Lent it will challenge you to give up something for that week that often involves labour of enslaved people.