Additional Scriptures 

Exodus 17:1–7, Psalm 95, John 4:5–42 

Prelude  

 Welcome  

Lent is a time of preparation. A time when we move toward the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. A time to move intently toward God, ridding ourselves of the distance and distractions we have built into our relationships. Lent is when we are called to respond with radical generosity and spiritual discipline to God’s covenants that we may draw near to the One we seek.  

Call to Worship  

Leader: O come, let us sing joyfully to God;  

People: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!  

Leader: Let us come into God’s presence with thanksgiving;  

People: let us make a joyful noise to God with songs of praise!  

Leader: O come, let us worship and bow down,  

People: let us kneel before our Maker!  

Leader: For you are our God,  

All: and we the people you shepherd, the flock under your care.  

—Psalm 95, adapted  

Lenten Hymn  

“Soften My Heart”   sing twice   CCS 187  

OR “Come Now, You Hungry” CCS 227  

Encourage participants to sing in languages other than their own.  

OR “Jesus Walked This Lonesome Valley” CCS 452 

Opening Prayer  

Response 

Scripture Reading

Romans 5:1–11  

Focus Moment: Faith in Christ  

Invite several diverse participants to come forward and begin walking around in circles. 

Announce that they are going on a journey into the wilderness. Ask what in the wilderness scares them. Ask what would make them feel safer. Repeat each response and explain how Jesus walks with us in the wilderness and can help us feel safe. Finish with a testimony of Jesus’s love for every person and all of God’s creation.  

Hymn of Faith  

“Standing on the Promises” CCS 257  

OR “With a Steadfast Faith” CCS 649  

Translations into Spanish and French for these hymns can be found at HeraldHouse.org.

Encourage participants to sing in languages other than their own.  

Prayer for Peace  

Peace Story: Alma 12:172–180 and 14:25–47  

King Lamoni and Burying the Weapons of War 

Either read the story written below or read directly from the scripture verses provided.  

The name Lamoni will be familiar to many members of the church as the name of the town where the church’s university, Graceland University, is located. This name comes from a figure in Community of Christ scripture who shows us the way of peace that comes through faith in Jesus Christ and reconciliation to God through grace.  

King Lamoni was a violent leader who often made war with others and received violence in return. All this changes when King Lamoni has a miraculous experience with God that softens his heart and leads him and many of his people to baptism and conversion. As the Lord pours out God’s Spirit upon the people, they establish a church and change their ways from violence to peace.  

 This commitment to peace is tested when they are faced with incoming armies and those who wish to destroy them because of their newfound faith. Even as these armies approached, they refused to take up arms to defend themselves. They go a step further and bury their weapons of war as a testimony of the transformation they had experienced by the Spirit and the reconciliation they had with God after they repented of all the violence they had committed to others. They buried the weapons of war to embrace peace.  

Light the peace candle.  

Prayer 

God of Peace,  

Soften our hearts. 

Grant us wisdom and courage to pursue peace.  

Help us understand your will for the wholeness of all creation.  

May we embody the Peace of Jesus Christ in our daily living.  

In the name of the Prince of Peace, Amen. 

Hymn of Peace  

“Gonna Lay Down My Sword and Shield” CCS 321  

OR “Lord, Make Us Instruments” CCS 364  

Sermon 

Based on Romans 5:1–11  

Moments of Silent Reflection

Print or project question for all to see 

What is one insight I have had today for my Lenten journey? 

Disciples’ Generous Response  

Statement  

Just like the early Christians or King Lamoni and his people, when we faithfully respond to the ministry of Jesus Christ, we become accountable to one another, God, and ourselves. Our response to God’s gifts of love and grace is to serve others and let generosity become part of our nature.  

 During this season of Lent, we have a time to prepare and reflect on the ways that God has been generous with us. We have a chance to open our hearts and be prepared to receive new direction in how we can continue to live our lives in mission and service.  

Blessing and Receiving of Local and Worldwide Mission Tithes  

Sending Forth Hymn  

“Christ has Called Us to New Visions” CCS 566  

OR “Let Our Earth Be Peaceful” CCS 371  

OR “What Is the World Like” CCS 385  

Closing Prayer  

Response  

Postlude 

Gathering

Welcome

We join with other Christians who for many centuries have observed Lent as the forty days between Ash Wednesday and Easter, not counting Sundays. During Lent, we center our attention on Jesus as we remember his life and ministry. Lent also provides a means to sharpen our focus on our lives in relationship to Jesus. And the Lenten Season encourages us to turn away from whatever distracts or blocks our commitment to discipleship. May the season of Lent help us walk with Jesus, though the path leads to the cross.

Prayer for Peace

Ring a bell or chime three times slowly.                                                                                                                                
Light the peace candle.

God of abundance, at times we forget that you are abundant in possibility! Humans have fought for centuries, and still we fight. Still we hunger. Still we make poor choices. Still, we choose ease over what is best. Still we harm and hurt until peace seems like a dream.

But you, God…you are the God of dreamers! May we dream boldly of peace, knowing your thoughts are higher than ours, your ways are higher than ours, and you are capable of peace! Open our hearts to the ways you are at work in our neighborhoods. Let us awake from our dreams, gather our building supplies, and build those dreams into being with you!

In the name of Jesus, the Dream Maker. Amen.

Spiritual Practice

Practice of Silence

Practicing silence may be difficult at first. The mind may run wild. Allow yourself grace in this practice. We will begin when I ring the chime. We will be silent for five minutes. I will ring the chime again at the conclusion of our time of silence.

Remember to breathe deeply. Focusing on each breath can help quiet the mind. Become aware of your surroundings; notice how the air feels on your skin; trust that you are in the presence of the holy—fully surrounding and embracing you. Allow your inner conversations to stop for a while. Be fully present with the One who is fully present with you.

Ring the chime to begin.

Wait five minutes.

Ring the chime to conclude the period of silence.

Ask: How does it feel to be present with God in silence?

Adapted from A Guide for Lent, Community of Christ 

Sharing Around the Table

Romans 5:1–11 NRSVue

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely, therefore, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Justification is about reconciliation. Reconciling ourselves with God. Restoring a harmonious relationship.

How do we apply this aspect to our lives today? If God is present in each of us, should not justification (reconciliation) be applied to each other in all our relationships and interactions? As previously was mentioned in Romans, all receive the gift of grace. This does not mean, however, that all our relationships will be perfect, that we won’t get in arguments, or set healthy boundaries with individuals and family members. But extending the same grace to others that has been extended to us brings reconciliation and peace into our relationships.

For in Christ, whom justification is based on, is he not the Prince of Peace? “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 1).

Questions

1. How do you experience God’s reconciling peace?
2. What does a reconciled relationship with boundaries look like?
3. A life full of grace and peace does not mean we won’t experience pain and suffering. How do you navigate finding God during difficult times?
4. Jesus was tempted in the desert. Do you think he experienced peace? If so, how? If not, why not?

Sending

Generosity Statement

Beloved Community of Christ, do not just speak and sing of Zion. Live, love, and share as Zion: those who strive to be visibly one in Christ, among whom there are no poor or oppressed.

—Doctrine and Covenants 165:6a

The offering basket is available if you would like to support ongoing, small-group ministries as part of your generous response.

The offering prayer for Lent is adapted from A Disciple’s Generous Response:

Ever-present God, forgive us when we are less than loving, less than hope-filled, less than you have created us to be. Your mercy and grace are always with us. May we find strength in your presence, and may we respond to your love with generous spirits. Amen.

Invitation to Next Meeting 

Closing Hymn

Community of Christ Sings 229, “When We Are Called to Sing”

Closing Prayer

Optional Additions Depending on Group

Blessing and serving bread and wine.

Thoughts for Children

You will need:

• Easter egg coloring pages
• coloring supplies

While Jesus was in the wilderness, he spent time talking to God. There are many ways to pray and talk to God. What is a way you or your family like to pray? Affirm all responses.

In some faith traditions, people use mandalas to help them pray or meditate. Mandalas are intricate, geometric designs. As people create them, their hands stay busy, and their minds are free to focus on praying or meditating. Pick an intricate Easter egg to color. While your hands are busy coloring, let your mind have a conversation with God. 

Handout color pages and colors and invite children to participate in this prayer practice during the gathering.

Exploring the Scripture

Paul’s letter to the Romans is key to Paul’s understanding of the gospel and his lived experience because of his conversion to Christ. Chapter 5 is best understood after considering the first four chapters in the letter. Romans 1-4 contain Paul’s argument for justification by faith. Chapter 5 moves into the implications of receiving God’s gift through Christ (justification by faith) and living lives as disciples of Christ. Paul’s other writings may provide added insights. 

Paul is writing to the Christians in Rome while also keeping in mind his deep understanding of Jerusalem’s Jewish Christian church. Paul’s letter addresses justification by faith from both the Jewish Christian and the Gentile Christian perspectives. Paul seeks to unite the increasingly diverse Christian community and equip them for the journey ahead as they experience both the blessings and challenges of their faith.

The good news of the gospel is that “this grace in which we stand” (verse 2) brings us peace with God now and hope for the future. Grace—justification by faith—is a gift. The Jewish frame of reference of keeping the Law to earn God’s favor is turned upside down by grace. Similarly, grace is not God’s reward for merely believing the “right thing.” All fall short, Jew and Gentile alike. We sin as individuals and as communities. God’s love through Christ embraces all, those who lived under the Covenant and those who did not. The power of that love is revealed on the cross through one seen as weak compared with the empire’s power.

Justification by faith is about a relationship with God revealed through Jesus Christ and a relationship with one another—not through our acts but through God’s (see Romans 8:31-39). It is grace and works, being and doing, receiving and responding. As we respond to “God’s love…poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (verse 5), the path of the disciple will be the way of suffering love. While the challenges and choices are challenging and may lead to death for some, they are also formative and life-giving. As faith brings us suffering, it also brings us a new perspective on suffering as an experience that yields endurance, character, and hope. Suffering also connects us with those who suffer injustices the world over. We “boast” in suffering because we know suffering and death do not have the final word. Paul communicates the gospel’s cosmic scope and the expansive yet inclusive nature of the good news of Jesus Christ.

Justification by faith is an invitation to receive reconciliation (peace with God) and a call to action. In our active response, we experience healing for self, others, and the world. There lies our hope.

Central Ideas

1. God’s love (grace/justification by faith) is a gift given to all.
2. Receiving God’s gift of love brings us peace with God and hope for the future.
3. The life of the disciple includes suffering, which produces endurance, character, and hope.
4. Justification by faith is an invitation to receive reconciliation (peace with God) and a call to action (hope for the future).

Questions for the Speaker

1. How does living as if what we do (our works) or what we believe (right thinking) earns God’s favor keep us from receiving God’s gift of boundless love and grace?
2. Receiving God’s gracious gift and being at peace with God does not mean a life free of suffering. How have you experienced suffering in your life of faith? How has suffering produced endurance, character, or hope in you?
3. As you consider your environment and culture, how can you make a difference by suffering for others in the way of Jesus? (Examples: using public transport to reduce traffic and pollution; education and awareness to address systemic change; sharing resources or living simply so others can simply live; risk speaking out for change; nonviolent action to address injustice.)
4. How has God’s love poured into your heart through the presence of the Holy Spirit changed your life and your relationships? How has it brought you peace now and hope for the future? How has it called you to action?
5. How does this text connect with the Lenten journey, Jesus’ ministry, and Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem and the cross?

Focus Scripture Passage

Romans 5:1–11 

Lesson Focus

Justification through Christ 

Objectives 

The learners will… 

• explore the dynamics of works, law, and grace. 
• understand Christ’s example of self-giving love. 

Supplies 

• Bible  
• Board or paper 
• Makers 
• Community of Christ Sings (CCS) 

Notes for Teachers

In preparation for this lesson, read “Exploring the Scripture” for Romans 5:1–11 in Sermon & Class Helps, Year A: New Testament (with focus on the Letters), pp. 53–54, available through Herald House. 

Gather

Activates background knowledge, prepares, and motivates for lesson (15% of total lesson time)

Read aloud Romans 5:1–11. 

Have class members ask questions of the scripture. Write these questions on a board to reference during the class. 

Reread the scripture passage. Identify any additional questions. 

Offer a prayer for insight. 

Engage

Invites exploration and interaction (35% of lesson time)

Today we explore the concept of justification by faith. In his theological discourse to the Romans, Paul describes the relationship of works and law to God’s grace and unconditional love. Ward B. Ewing, in his theological perspective, states: 

Paul’s theology of justification by faith is about relationships. Presumably from his own experience, Paul developed this theology negatively—law is unable to bring us into a joyful, empowering, free, and full relationship with God. No matter how sincerely we try, we always fall short of fulfilling the requirements of the law. There are always things we have done we should not have done and things we have not done we should have done. 

—Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Year A, Vol. 2, p. 85 

• Discuss the difficulties of making things right by following the law. 
• In what ways does grace inform these difficulties? 
• Share instances where law outweighs grace. Where does grace outweigh the law? 

God’s love does not require perfection on our part. In relationship with God, we can discover joy, hope, love, and peace even during times of human suffering. The only requirement on our part is to accept God’s love. 

As we accept God’s unconditional love and deepen our relationship with God, we extend that love to others. We become less focused inwardly and we tend to the needs of others. Ewing continues: 

The psychology of attraction is very complicated, but the emotional and motivational commitment of love—the willingness to set aside our own needs to respond to the needs of the other—is always a gift. While hurtful actions—be they betrayal of trust, physical violence, emotional neglect, or isolation—can destroy a relationship, what creates the relationship is acceptance of the other with [their] character defects as well as with those aspects of personality that are attractive and represent strengths. 

—Feasting on the Word, Year A, Vol. 2, p. 85 

• Share with someone a time you received selfless, unconditional love. How did it affect your relationship with that person? 
• Share a time when you extended unconditional love when it may have been difficult for you. 
• What are things that keep us from extending or accepting this kind of love? 

Respond

Takes the learners from hearing to doing (35% of lesson time)

Works and the law are important. Without works, nothing would be accomplished. Without law, chaos and uncertainty would reign. But Paul understood that law and works alone would not build relationship with God. It is through emptying of self and accepting God’s love and grace as exemplified by Christ that justification occurs. Life becomes balanced. 

When our identity is rooted in our relationship with a loving God, understanding that nothing can separate us from that love, the choice can only be to share that love in harmony with works and law. We no longer compare ourselves with others to define our worth. We see all persons as worthy of God’s love and grace. We tend to the legitimate needs of others, have greater empathy, and invite them to experience God’s grace. 

• Where, in your circle of influence, does your sense of worth and empathy for others create conflict? 
• Share times when you have felt separated from God’s love. What brought you back into relationship? What might you still need to restore that relationship? 
• When might empathy with another call for a different response than what the “law” applies? 

Send

Explores how the lesson might be lived (10% of lesson time)

Examine your relationship with God this week as you continue your Lenten journey. Create space to pray and engage in spiritual practices to deepen your relationship. 

Seek those whom God puts in your path—at home, work, school, or play—who need to experience the good news of God’s love. Then share with those you’ve identified. 

Bless

Time of prayer, praise, blessing, and hope (5% of lesson time)

Close by singing together “Bear Each Other’s Burdens” CCS 374. 

Background for Teachers

Focus Scripture Passage

Romans 5:1–11 

Lesson Focus

How do I live and love as Jesus taught? 

Objectives 

The learners will… 

• recognize situations as conditional love and unconditional love. 
• learn how hard it is to change your way of thinking. 
• identify ways in which our culture causes suffering. 
• find how to participate in ways to reduce or end suffering. 
• use the Mission Prayer to invite the Holy Spirit to help them live Christ’s love. 

Supplies 

• Bible 
• Poster, chart paper, or board and markers  
• Copies of the Mission Prayer for each student (see end of lesson) 

Notes for Teachers

In preparation for this lesson, read “Exploring the Scripture” for Romans 5:1–11 in Sermon & Class Helps, Year B: New Testament (with focus on the Letters), pp. 53–54, available through Herald House. 

Gather

Activates background knowledge, prepares, and motivates for lesson (15% of total lesson time)

Write on the board or poster paper a T chart like the one below. 

As students enter, have them write and discuss situations that demonstrate both kinds of love. 

Examples may be: 

Engage

Invites exploration and interaction (35% of lesson time)

Before reading the scripture passage, share that Paul counseled the Jewish Romans (Romans 4) that God’s love did not come to them because they studied the Torah, lived the Mosaic Law, or checked every box that they felt was a condition of being good with God. 

The Jewish Roman understanding of God’s relationship was that if you personally were suffering, then that meant you had done something to displease God, and the suffering would continue until you fixed the error of your ways. 

Read Romans 5:1–11. 

Share: Let’s start with verses 3–5. Paul is trying to help the Romans change their understanding of suffering—that it does not mean that you are out of relationship with God. Instead, God is with you always and that should help you in your time of suffering. That is a huge culture change for this group. And did you hear that the Holy Spirit is with you? That was one of Jesus’s promises before he died. The group is learning that God’s love is not conditional. That was something completely unknown to them before! 

Let’s go on to verses 6–9. This part is a bit tricky because we live with a much different understanding of God’s love. This might help: 

• Verse 8 says, “…while we still were sinners.” — Think of sin as meaning rejecting God, and that rejection was shown in Christ’s death. The people did not understand Jesus’s teachings of God’s love. Jesus tried over and over in many ways to help them understand. By rejecting Jesus, they rejected God, and that was sin. 

• Verse 9 says, “…now that we have been justified by his blood, we will be saved through him from the wrath of God.” — “Justified” really means we have peace with God. And the word “wrath” doesn’t mean violence and anger of God. It means there will be times when we fall short of living God’s love, but God will still be with us. Remember their understanding was if you suffer, you are out of relationship with God. Think of how Jesus suffered as he was dying on the cross. And yet he was never out of favor with God. That just wasn’t logical to their way of thinking. So, this verse helps them move from the idea of God’s love being conditional to God’s love is unconditional. God, through the Holy Spirit, will be with you. What a huge lesson to learn in this one verse! 

• Verse 10 “…we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.” — This restates that your actions and relationship with God do not cause suffering when you fall short, but instead, God’s love is unconditional. When we really understand that, we grow and transform into living God’s love to the world (that’s the “saved” part). 

Remember, Paul was Jewish. He also had to learn to let go of the “God’s conditional love” mindset and understand more fully God’s unconditional love. Paul did his best to teach that to this group of Romans who were building a community that hadn’t yet existed! 

Respond

Takes the learners from hearing to doing (35% of lesson time)

Write the sentence below on the board: 

Following Jesus’s example is living so that love of humanity outmaneuvers all cultural ideals. 

Ask: 

1. What do you think that means? 
2. What are cultural ideals in your daily life that cause suffering, whether physical or emotional? (Take lots of time here.) 
3. How could you live Jesus’s mission to change those cultural ideals? To alleviate suffering? (Take lots of time here and use resources to find groups that are doing this, if you choose.) 
4. Will this be easy to do? Why or why not? 

Note

Pass along this information to the youth group leader or pastor so they can follow up with ideas of how to involve the congregation in the ideas generated in question 3. 

Send

Explores how the lesson might be lived (10% of lesson time)

Reread verse 5, aloud together, if possible. 

Give each student a copy of the Mission Prayer (below). Have them silently read it to themselves. 

Ask: 

• Which sentence do you like the most? Why? 
• Which sentence makes you uncomfortable? Why? 
• How could offering this prayer each day influence how you love as Jesus loved? Would it be effective? How?

Bless

Time of prayer, praise, blessing, and hope (5% of lesson time)

Read the Mission Prayer together as a group and send them with peace and blessings. 

Mission Prayer 
God, where will your Spirit lead today? 
Help me be fully awake and ready to respond. 
Grant me courage to risk something new, 
and become a blessing of your love and peace. 
Amen. 

Focus Scripture Passage

Romans 5:1–11 

Lesson Focus

Even in our suffering, we hope because God’s loves us.  

Objectives 

The learners will… 

• recite scripture from Romans. 
• learn about God’s love for all people. 
• explain how the mosaic is like God’s love in our lives. 

Supplies 

• Bible  
• Paper for each child 
• Glue  
• Cotton swab for each child 
• Baking soda 
• Vinegar 
• Food coloring 
• Eyedropper 
• A book 
• Contact paper (clear, self-adhesive paper) or construction paper and glue if contact paper is not available 
• Tissue paper, cut into small pieces 
• Scissors 
• Ball or beanbag 
• Community of Christ Sings (CCS) 

Notes for Teachers

In preparation for this lesson, read “Exploring the Scripture” for Romans 5:1–11 in Sermon & Class Helps, Year A: New Testament (with focus on the Letters), pp. 53–54, available through Herald House. 

Gather

Activates background knowledge, prepares, and motivates for lesson (15% of total lesson time)

Fizzy hearts 

God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. 

Give each child a piece of paper, a cotton swab, and a small amount of glue. Invite them to “draw” a heart or a few hearts on their paper. Help them sprinkle some baking soda on the glue. Then let them use an eyedropper to drop vinegar onto the hearts. You might want to use food coloring to give the vinegar some color. Watch as the hearts “explode” with fizz as the baking soda reacts to the vinegar. 

Engage

Invites exploration and interaction (35% of lesson time)

In our gathering time today, we created fizzy or exploding hearts. Sometimes we feel so much love, excitement, or joy, we feel like our hearts are bursting or fizzing like in the experiment we did. 

Our scripture passage today is from Romans 5:3–5. In this passage, Paul is writing a letter to the early church in Rome. He tells them about how even in our suffering, we can have hope because God’s love has been poured into our hearts (like in our experiment). 

Romans 5:3–5: 

…we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. 

Discuss: What does it mean when it says our suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character? (Define character—when you practice over time, you form self-discipline.) 

Try an experiment. Have a child hold a book with one hand, with their arm outstretched. At first the book doesn’t seem very heavy. However, the longer you hold it, the heavier it seems. The book is like our problems. Sometimes our problems can start to make us feel weary and tired, like we can’t handle them any longer. But working through our problems can also make us stronger. If you practiced lifting weights every day, you would get stronger. Sometimes our suffering can make us stronger, can make us more empathetic to others, and can build character. This does not mean God wants us to suffer. But it does mean we can have hope because “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (v. 5). Even in our suffering, God is with us and loves us. 

Discuss: 

• What does it mean to say God’s love has been poured into our hearts? 
• How can this give us hope? 
• What is the Holy Spirit? 
• How do we know the Holy Spirit is with us? 

Respond

Takes the learners from hearing to doing (35% of lesson time)

Mosaic Craft 

Remind children that God has poured God’s love into our hearts. Today we will make a craft that reminds us that even though we are imperfect, God loves us and all the perfect and imperfect things that make us who we are. 

Give each child a piece of contact paper cut into the shape of a heart. They can place pieces of tissue paper all over the heart to make a mosaic. When finished, help them place a second piece of contact paper over the first, making a suncatcher to hang in a window. If contact paper is not available, children can make a mosaic out of alternative materials, such as construction paper pieces glued onto a larger piece of construction paper. 

Send

Explores how the lesson might be lived (10% of lesson time)

Invite children to stand in a circle. Toss a ball or beanbag around the circle. Whenever anyone tosses the ball, they have to say something that makes the next person feel loved. They could say, “I love you,” “You are awesome,” “You are amazing,” “God loves you,” or something else. 

Bless

Time of prayer, praise, blessing, and hope (5% of lesson time)

Check in with children to see how their Lenten practices are going. Remind them to continue the practice in the coming weeks. 

Sing “Jesus Loves Me!” CCS 251.