Lent & Easter Worship, Information and Activities
What is Lent?
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For years Christians have pondered the coming of Jesus’ passion and resurrection. The forty days of Lent have served as reminders of Noah’s forty days on the water, of the Israelites’ forty years of wandering in the wilderness, and of Jesus’ forty days of fasting and temptation in the wilderness.
Lent has been a time to consider the ways in which we separate ourselves from God and from one another. You are invited, in the name of Christ, to observe a holy Lent by self-examination, by prayer, by study, and by meditating on God’s word.
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Project Zion Podcast Episode 61: Common Grounds - Lent
Project Zion Podcast - Coffee to Go
Reflection on our Lenten Season Journey
Reflection on our Lenten Season Journey
Project Zion Podcast Episode 551: Coffee to Go - First Week of Lent
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Are you ready for a little time in the wilderness, or is life a wilderness from which you need a break? In this episode of Coffee to Go, join cohosts Karin Peter and Blake Smith on this first Sunday of Lent as they consider what it means to join Jesus in the wilderness. What does “wilderness” like for you? What might it look like for others? What temptations confront you in the wilderness?
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Project Zion Podcast Episode 554: Coffee to Go - Second Week of Lent
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How can these things be? On this, the second Sunday of Lent, join hosts Karin Peter and Blake Smith as they engage with Nicodemus and Jesus in a teachable moment about the natural and spiritual birth that God desires for all of us and creation. Consider the fact that some things having to do with God are complicated and confusing, and understanding is not always easy to come by… but that’s OK. In the midst of confusion, we can still make space for God and for others if we remember that “God so loved the world.” All of it.
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Project Zion Podcast Episode 556: Coffee to Go - Third Week of Lent
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It’s the third week of Lent and we find that Jesus has “crossed the line,” and it’s a good thing. Join cohosts Karin Peter and Blake Smith for this week’s episode of Coffee to Go in which they talk about Jesus’ encounter with the Woman at the Well, and how that relates to us in a world that too often draws lines in the sand and encourages an “us and them” mentality. See how you are being called to “cross the line” with Jesus.
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Project Zion Podcast Episode 559: Coffee to Go - Fourth Week of Lent
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Struggling with spiritual blindness? Held back by biases you’ve inherited or learned over your lifetime? Lent is the time to regain your sight… to put away those biases and blinders by intentionally working to see the world from another perspective. You don’t have to wait for Jesus to spit in the mud and rub it on your eyes to be able to see. Just start by taking an honest look at your own sin, whatever that (sin) looks like for you!
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Project Zion Podcast Episode 561: Coffee to Go - Fifth Week of Lent
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When was the last time you did something without thinking about the “cost,” simply because it was the right thing to do? Giving without thought of cost is central to the extravagant nature of God. This week, join cohosts Karin Peter and Blake Smith at the house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus for a lesson from Jesus on extravagant generosity. It’s always the “right thing.”
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What is Ash Wednesday?
The Lenten season begins with Ash Wednesday, an ancient holy day in the Christian calendar. In scripture, ashes signify grief, sin, and human mortality as well as joy, forgiveness, and victory over death. Christians often wear a smudge of ashes on the first day of Lent to symbolize repentance.
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Project Zion Podcast episode of Coffee to Go, co-hosts Karin Peter and Blake Smith, focus their conversation on Ash Wednesday… its purpose…and its call on our lives as disciples of and co-journeyers with Jesus. See how David’s heartfelt self-reflection and repentance in Psalm 51 connects with our own need to make space for God, and how we can move forward in a healing way.
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What is Palm Sunday?
Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem as recorded in all four gospels of the Bible: Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-44; and John 12:12-19.
When we think of the crowds that greeted Jesus on Palm Sunday with branches to create a pathway to enter the gates of Jerusalem, we are reminded that in just a few days another crowd shouted, “Crucify him!” How do we respond to Jesus’ presence? Which crowd are we a part of?
Whole-life stewardship is not about fleeting moments of praise, but rather a lifelong response of gratitude for the grace and generosity of God as expressed through the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. How will we respond, not just today, but every day to the ministry and mission of Jesus Christ?
Whole-life stewardship is not about fleeting moments of praise, but rather a lifelong response of gratitude for the grace and generosity of God as expressed through the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. How will we respond, not just today, but every day to the ministry and mission of Jesus Christ?
Project Zion Podcast Episode 564: Coffee to Go - Palm Sunday
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“Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” The cries of desperation from a people waiting for their “victor” to enter Jerusalem and liberate them. Instead, they witness an incredibly humble event ironically referred to as the Triumphal Entry. How can a scripture telling of such deep humility in the midst of heightened expectations possibly be relevant to us today? Join co-hosts Karin Peter and Blake Smith for the first of several episodes taking us through Holy Week, and walk with Jesus as he “flips the script."
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What is Maundy Thursday?
Maundy Thursday is the night on which the Lord’s Supper was first celebrated. The central theme of that first Lord’s Supper was one of humble service. Jesus washed the feet of the disciples and commanded that they do the same for each other. Jesus taught that he came not to be served, but to serve; to share the hospitality of God and the intimacy of breaking bread together.
The word Maundy is derived from the Latin word for “command.” The “Maundy” in “Maundy Thursday” refers to the command Jesus gave to the disciples at the Last Supper, that they should love and serve one another.
The word Maundy is derived from the Latin word for “command.” The “Maundy” in “Maundy Thursday” refers to the command Jesus gave to the disciples at the Last Supper, that they should love and serve one another.
Project Zion Podcast Episode 69: Common Grounds - Maundy Thursday
Project Zion Podcast Episode 565: Coffee to Go - Maundy Thursday
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When was the last time you went to a dinner party and the host offered to wash your feet? How would you react if they did? Would you be embarrassed, or would you receive it as an extravagant gift? Once again Jesus does the unexpected. Co-hosts Karin Peter and Blake Smith take us to the upper room for a lesson in servant ministry in this Maundy Thursday episode of Coffee to Go where Jesus lays out the mandate to “love one another.”
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What is Good Friday?
Good Friday is a somber gathering as we observe the death of Jesus on the cross.
Why is Good Friday referred to as “good”, considering what the authorities did to Jesus was not good. Read the 26th and 27th chapters of Matthew, in the Bible, for the complete story of this event.
The results of Christ’s death are very good for us! “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.”
1 Peter 3:18
Why is Good Friday referred to as “good”, considering what the authorities did to Jesus was not good. Read the 26th and 27th chapters of Matthew, in the Bible, for the complete story of this event.
The results of Christ’s death are very good for us! “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.”
1 Peter 3:18
Project Zion Podcast Episode 70: Good Friday - Easter
Project Zion Podcast Episode 566: Coffee to Go - Good Friday
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Few people like the dark… especially when that darkness invades our everyday living. Ignoring it, however, will not make it go away. If anything, facing it head-on will only make the light that shines in the darkness that much brighter. Some say that you can’t celebrate the light of Easter without having experienced the darkness of Good Friday. In this episode of Coffee to Go, hosts Karin Peter and Blake Smith will explore the darkness of Good Friday, and offer some helpful thoughts to acknowledge it, struggle with it and know that God is there in the midst of it with us.
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Project Zion Podcast Episode 567: Coffee to Go - Holy Saturday
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"Anticipation, it’s making me wait.” These are not just the words to the refrain of a Carly Simon song or a ‘70s ketchup commercial. It is an expression of what we experience as we sit in the uncertainty of Holy Saturday… between the crucifixion of Good Friday and the resurrection of Easter. It’s also something experienced by many in the everyday uncertainty of life. Join hosts Karin Peter and Blake Smith for a look at the good and bad of waiting on Holy Saturday, and find ways to make that waiting meaningful.
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The Promise of Resurrection
Easter is the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter is the most important day in the Christian calendar as we rejoice in his eternal presence with us. Halleluiah! See Matthew 28-1-6, for the story of this event.
Project Zion Podcast Episode 568: Coffee to Go - Easter
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The stone has been rolled away. All that remains in the tomb are the linen cloths in which Jesus’ body had been wrapped for burial. He is Risen! He is Risen, indeed! But what does that mean for you? What does it mean that Jesus has risen? There are probably as many different answers to that question as there are people who will listen to this podcast…and then some. Join hosts Karin Peter and Blake Smith as they explore the events of Easter Sunday. No matter where you find yourself in the spectrum of belief regarding the events of that day, rest assured that there is a place for you in the Easter story.
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