Sculley Family

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Multimedia Lent Devotional – Friday of the Second Week of Lent

March 20, 2025

2025:

Friday of the Second Week of Lent:

  • Scripture (Declan Vick) – John 3:16
  • Reflection (Karen Sculley)
  • Prayer (Dawn Roberson)
  • Videos: Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46
  • Music: “God So Loved” (We the Kingdom) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq5URsXbKXs

Reflection on John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

John 3:16 has been termed as “the golden text of the Bible” or “the gospel in a nutshell”. The late Rachel Held Evans, an influential 30-something Christian columnist, blogger, and author, wisely noted that “Jesus did not simply die to save us from our sins; Jesus lived to save us from our sins. His life and teachings show us the way to liberation.” On the other end of the age spectrum, 90-something Christian writer, famer, academic, and activist Wendell Berry penned these words, “All my life I had heard preachers quoting John 3:16 … They would preach on the second part of the verse, to show the easiness of being saved (“only believe”). Where I hung now was the first part. If God loved the world even before the event at Bethlehem, that meant He loved it as it was, with all its faults.” God loves us as we are, with all our faults. Jesus lived to save us from our sins.

As I reflect on this very well-known Scripture today, I am drawn to the verbs, the actions. God loved, God gave, everyone who believes, may not perish, may have eternal life. In some languages and cultures, the most important phrase in a sentence is placed in the first or second position. In others, the most important phrase is placed last in the sentence. John 3:16 is enfolded between love and life. May we aim to both remember and practice the most important things. We, too, are enfolded between love and life. God loves us as we are, with all our faults. Jesus lived to save us from our sins. May all that we are and all that we do contribute to a single-minded devotion to Christ as we continually choose love and choose life.

2024:

Friday of the Second Week of Lent:

2023:

Friday of the Second Week of Lent:

  • Scripture (Karen Sculley) – Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46
  • Reflection (Dawn Roberson)
  • Prayer (Judi Campbell)
  • Videos: Matthew
  • Music: “Christ Is Our Cornerstone” (Music House Channel)

Each short Multimedia Lent Devotional is an invitation to set aside time each day during the season preceding Easter. Lent is a solemn 40-day period we observe as we seek to draw near to God prior to the great celebration of Easter. During Lent,

  • we intentionally practice sober reflection, serious repentance, and sincere restitution, in which we more fully recognize our brokenness as humans, looking always to Jesus Christ as our Savior and sanctifier;
  • we seek to live lives marked by simplicity, self-denial, and surrender, in imitation of Christ Jesus, who fasted for 40 days in the wilderness before He began His public ministry;
  • we look for ways in which we express love for neighbors and nations in need in practical ways through generously giving of our time, talents, and treasures.

This collaboration is brought to you by Liberty Vineyard Church

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