Jesus Brings Good News 

In this season of Lent, the children of SPL Kids will be looking at Jesus. More specifically, they will examine six important truths about Jesus:

1. Jesus brings good news
2. Jesus loves others
3. Jesus is good
4. Jesus lives his life with God
5. Jesus prays
6. Jesus works with the Holy Spirit

This first week, we will consider how we follow Jesus as He brings us good news. We will look at the call of His first disciples and how He invited His disciples to come and be fishers of men.

We will praise God that His invitation is for all and be blessed to realize He wants us to help Him reflect His love and good news into the world around us.

In this past sermon series, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, we learned some very tangible steps we can take to position ourselves to be transformed by God through grace. We position ourselves with spiritual disciplines including solitude, silence, daily office, and more. We learned about the value of having a Rule of Life which helps us be intentional about ordering our lives in such a way that we are drawn closer to God and transformed by Him. We learned this way of life is not easy, but that it is the only life worth living.

If we are going to lead our children to respond to God’s Good News in such a way that is transformational to ourselves, our families, our communities, and our world, we must take these tasks seriously and therefore prayerfully.

If this call has been speaking to you, I want to invite you to consider some resources:

On Crafting a Rule of Life:

• Rule of Life Website
• Rule of Life Podcast

On Spiritual Disciplines:

• Book, Celebration of Discipline

As a part of a two-year master’s degree in Spiritual Formation I am now 7 months into, I am gathering information for the crafting of my own Rule of Life – one which considers the specific ways God has formed me to relate to Him.

If you are feeling a tug to do the same, I would love to connect with you. You can email me at jennifer@spldecatur.org and we can encourage one another in this process. It is too hard to walk this path alone.

Maybe you are not yet ready for such a step. God’s plan and timing is different for us all. If that is the case for you, I would encourage you to consider one small step you can take in this Lenten season.

Maybe it is faithfully attending Wednesday and Sunday Lenten worship services as a family.

Maybe you have decided to give something up for Lent. If that is the case, I encourage you pray every time you think about whatever it is you gave up. Maybe you will use these longings as an opportunity to pray the Jesus prayer quickly under your breath: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Maybe you will use it as an opportunity to pray for a specific group of suffering people or for someone you know who is going through a difficult time.

Maybe it is reading Reliving the Passion and daily remembering the suffering Jesus went through on our behalf.

Maybe it is being intentional about a life-breathing activity such as encouraging someone once a day or engaging in a humbling act of service once a week.

Sometimes the fast pace of our lives makes it too easy to move on to the next thing. I have suggested in the past that you pick one activity at a time and recognize you cannot do it all. I encourage you in this Lenten season to use it as an opportunity to slow down by focusing on something specific in this season and sticking with it until the beauty of Easter morning comes.

My prayer for us all this Lenten season is that God would draw us nearer to Him, that as we come nearer, we more clearly reflect His radiant love on all who come near to us.

Jesus brings good news.

How are you responding this Lenten season?