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Lent Guide

Lent Resources

City Daily Podcast

A short daily Lent devotional podcast from the staff and leaders of City Church.

Apple Podcasts   —  Spotify

 

The Wood Between the Worlds

This Lenten season, we invite you to journey through The Wood Between the Worlds by Brian Zahnd. In this powerful reflection, Zahnd explores the multifaceted mystery of the cross, reminding us that its meaning is vast, beautiful, and ever-unfolding. Through art, literature, and theology, he invites us to see the crucifixion not as a singular event, but as the axis of the gospel story that continues to shape our lives. Available in the bookstore.

What is the Christian Calendar?

As early as the mid 2nd century the early church began reorienting their calendar around the saving events of the life of Jesus instead of the culture around them. The church calendar is about placing ourselves into the story of God through traditions of the church. The Christian Calendar—also called the Liturgical Year—seeks to redeem our time and space through the seasons of Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and Pentecost. Through readings, prayers, songs, fasts and other practices, these seasons help to reorient our hearts and minds away from the false stories of the world and back toward the one true story of the Bible.

What is Lent?

The 40 days leading up to Easter (not including Sundays), where we focus on the cross and journey with Jesus to his crucifixion and resurrection.

During this time, as followers of Jesus, we give ourselves to:

  • Prayer
  • Fasting
  • Surrender
  • Self-examination
  • Repentance

Lent follows a biblical pattern throughout the Bible (Moses, Elijah, Jesus) of fasting for 40 days. Originally used as a time to prepare new followers of Jesus to be baptized on Easter, Lent was eventually observed by the entire church as a way of recognizing the need for God’s transforming work in us all through prayer, fasting, self-examination, repentance, and meditation on Scripture. Lent is a time to prepare our hearts and build anticipation for Holy Week and the resurrection of Easter. The goal of Lent is to let go of the things in our lives in
order to give our attention to Christ in a special way.

During this time, it is our prayer to:

  • Develop a deeper hunger for God
  • Experience breakthroughs in certain areas of our lives
  • Establish new patterns and rhythms

What is Ash Wednesday?

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent. On Ash Wednesday we stop to reflect on our mortality, our sinfulness, and the dying of self that comes with new life in Christ. It is a day of repentance, confession, and turning to God as we prepare ourselves to take up our cross and walk with Him. Traditionally, Christians attend liturgical gatherings & receive ashes on their foreheads in the form of a cross, as a sign of our sorrow and repentance for sin. With these ashes, we recall our origins from the earth, as well as how our bodies shall return one day to the same form. We spread ashes on our forehead as a visible reminder of our mortality.

Ash Wednesday Service — March 5th at 12pm

Why should we gather in corporate prayer?

 

3 Reasons:

  1. To model the life of Jesus and His continual rhythm of prayer.
  2. To usher in a move of the Spirit by making this house a house of prayer.
  3. To create a corporate space where we seek the transforming presence of God in our lives and in our city.

During the season of Lent, we are providing three weekly prayer sets. We invite you to choose one of these prayer sets where there will be live worship, praying through scripture, & corporate prayer.

 

Live Weekly Prayer Sets

(starting March 10th)
Mondays (sunrise) – 6:30-7:30am
Tuesdays (noonday) – 12-1pm
Thursdays (sunset) – 7-8pm

What is a Lenten Fast?

One of the primary ways that we lean into the observance of Lent is through the practice of fasting. While fasting allows us to enter into the suffering of Jesus, it is also meant to draw and center our hearts on the deeper gift we receive through his death, burial, and resurrection. It is an ancient practice of giving up superficial desires to get in touch with our deepest desires.

Lenten fasting begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter. In the Lenten fast, every Sunday remains a day of feasting, in which we pause our fast as a way of stirring up hope for what is to come — our celebration of the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. In Lent, we fast and feast as a way of anticipating Jesus’ gift of life.

Why should I fast during Lent?

 

The purpose of fasting during Lent is to abstain from things like food, drink, or certain routine actions in order to remind us that only God can truly satisfy our soul-level hunger.

We fast from things that bring us comfort
in order to feast on God’s presence.

 

 

Consider the following questions.

(Pay attention to any invitation you sense from the Spirit.)

  • Have I become dependent on something other than God to attend to the deeper aches of my soul?
  • What do I use to find pleasure, comfort, or emotional regulation?
  • What conveniences am I conditioned to automatically use? (e.g. elevators or escalators instead of stairs, sleeping in, close parking spaces, music/podcasts in the background, etc.)
  • What could I abstain from that might create more time/space in my day to help draw my attention to my deeper need for Jesus?

 

Consider the following list.

Below, you will find some frequent things people fast from in the season of Lent. (Pay attention to any invitation you sense from the Spirit.)

 

Foods that are generally associated with feasting: Chocolate, all desserts, coffee, caffeine, alcohol, meat, bread, etc.

 

Full Fast – liquids only (under doctor supervision)

Daniel Fast

Partial Fast – Day of the week, sunup to sundown, abstaining certain meals in the day, etc.

Media or Entertainment – cell phone apps, television, a streaming service, movies, radio or music in the car, computer at home, video games, social media, etc.

Habits and Comforts – shopping (online and/or in stores), using elevators instead of stairs, parking in a spot close to the store, finding the shortest checkout line, surfing the internet when bored, etc.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Yours is the kingdom,
and glory, and power
forever and ever.
Amen.