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Multimedia Lent Devotional – Fifth Sunday of Lent

April 5, 2025

2025:

Fifth Sunday of Lent:

  • Scripture (Jeanne Vick) – Philippians 3:8-14
  • Reflection (Bart Parker)
  • Prayer (Candy Davidson)
  • Videos: John 8:1-11
  • Music: “Press On” (Selah) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIAPghCFfyg

2024:

Fifth Sunday of Lent:

Romans 8:8-11 – “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.”

Today’s text talks about the difference between being “in the flesh” and “in the Spirit.” The word “flesh” would have been a familiar term to the original recipients of the letter of Romans, used to describe human beings, with the connotation of weakness and mortality. By the time of Jesus, it also described moral weakness and self-centeredness. It’s important to realize that “flesh” is not inherently evil – after all, Jesus became flesh. To have flesh just means that we’re human. But to be “in the flesh” is to allow our flesh to rule us. And the problem with that is that our flesh is weak and very self-centered: our strength is limited, our days are numbered, our futures are uncertain, our ability to stand against sin is inadequate. The good news is, though, that in Jesus we are also “in the Spirit.” To be “in the Spirit” is to allow God’s Spirit to rule us, to allow the power of God’s presence to guide and empower us. To be in the flesh is to have a frame of mind that is merely human, which means it is inconsistent and susceptible to corruption. To be in the Spirit is to have a frame of mind that is directed by God’s inspiration. That’s like the difference between a triple-A battery and a hydroelectric power plant!

We cannot please God in the flesh, not because our flesh is bad – God created us and everything that God created is good! The problem is that when we are in the flesh, we’re trying to live life our own way on our own steam. To be in the Spirit is to live with and in and by the power, presence, grace, wisdom, and character of Christ. It is God’s Spirit that enables and empowers us to follow Jesus on the way of love. That’s what it’s all about, to love like Jesus loved!

2023:

Fifth Sunday of Lent:

  • Scripture (Judi Campbell) – Ezekiel 37:12-14
  • Reflection (Karen Sculley)
  • Prayer (Dawn Roberson)
  • Videos: John
  • Music: “Rise Up (Lazarus)” (CAIN)

Ezekiel 37:12-14 – “Therefore prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people, and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”

If we read God’s story from cover to cover, we notice there’s quite a few stories about graves opening up and people coming back to life again. The Old Testament tells us about Elijah raising a boy to life, Elisha raising up the son of a Shunnamite woman, and a dead man whose bones touched Elisha’s and was raised back to life. The New Testament mentions Jesus raising numerous people to life – Jairus’s daughter, an unnamed man during his own funeral procession, and Lazarus. Many credible accounts testify of the early church and saints through the ages raising people from death to life. Each of these people eventually died again, and their bodies rested in graves again. There’s only one person who has ever lived who died and was resurrected, never to die again. That person is Jesus Christ. The reason why he never died again is that he actually beat death once and for all. It is this defeating of death that actually proves that Jesus is who he said he was – fully God and fully human. Jesus beat not only physical death but spiritual death, which means that although we will all die a physical death eventually, we do not have to remain spiritually dead. Each person is deeply loved by God and invited into the resurrection life of Christ in which we receive God’s own Spirit so that life and love springs forth from within us, not by anything we do, but by God’s life in us. This is literally a life and death decision. As C. S. Lewis famously said, “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.” There’s a preponderance of evidence that Christianity is true, and I encourage you to look seriously at the evidence for yourself. Another C. S. Lewis treasure – “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen-not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

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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