Sculley Family

encouragement, enrichment, education, engagement, equipping, empowering . . . for life.

Multimedia Lent Devotional – Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent

April 11, 2025

2025:

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent:

  • Scripture (Glen Penton) – John 11:45-56
  • Reflection (Nancy Penton)
  • Prayer (Kelsey Vick)
  • Videos: John 11:45-56
  • Music: “What Will You Do with Jesus?” (Angela Frances) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waia9B–xHQ

2024:

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent:

2023:

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent:

  • Scripture (Jim Roberson) – Ezekiel 37:21-28
  • Reflection (Karen Sculley)
  • Prayer (Patricia Dotson)
  • Videos: John
  • Music: “Crown Him with Many Crowns” (Oasis Chorale)

Ezekiel 37:21-28 – “Thus says the Lord God: I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone and will gather them from every quarter and bring them to their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king over them all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms. They shall never again defile themselves with their idols and their detestable things or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all the apostasies into which they have fallen and will cleanse them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God. My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall follow my ordinances and be careful to observe my statutes. They shall live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your ancestors lived; they and their children and their children’s children shall live there forever, and my servant David shall be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will bless them and multiply them and will set my sanctuary among them forevermore. My dwelling place shall be over them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations shall know that I the Lord sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary is among them forevermore.”

We notice in today’s Scripture that God sees separation, division, brokenness, and pollution, and these things move God to act in compassion. God’s desire is to give us peace, blessing, growth, and sanctuary. I often understand things better by considering something in the natural world. In a garden, obstacles such as rocks or other inorganic material can prevent plants from thriving. Plants can be damaged by external forces, careless intrusions, or through sheer neglect. Soil can become contaminated with chemicals or other pollutants. Flourishing occurs when plants are provided with all the nutrients and care they need. Trained gardeners know about depth and spacing, the care and tending of various species, and the proper timing for fertilization and pruning. Perhaps an even better way to understand these things is to consider people who have become displaced from their homes because of war, persecution, or violence. They may become separated – uprooted from, forced out of, expelled from – their land, their communities, their places of work or study, their homes, their families, their place of belonging. Can you imagine what life would be like if any or all of these things happened to you? How would you feel if these things happened to someone you love? God loves us each so much. He sees us and what he sees moves him to act with compassion. It is this compassion that helps us understand why God gave us his very self in the person of Jesus Christ. Lent is all about preparing our minds and hearts to commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter. Receive from God the gift of Christ Jesus. Receive new life in which you can flourish. Receive God’s peace. Receive God’s invitation to blessing and growth. Receive sanctuary, the very presence of God.

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

You may also like...