Lent is the 40 days preceding Easter beginning with Ash Wednesday. In years past, when we used prepackaged curriculum, there was never a focus on Lent. We just kept going with regular lessons, but now that we’ve taken the reigns, we’ve decided to shine a spotlight on this important season.
Here’s why:
- Lent is a time of sacrifice and self-denial – We are culturally terrible at these things! My baby often holds out her hand like Spiderman shooting a web and grunts. This is to signal to me that she wants something. We all have a little Spiderman web slinger in us. We want. We want now. We do not do well when we don’t get what we want. But remember Jesus in the desert at the beginning of his ministry? Remember Jesus in the garden right before he was arrested? Lent is a time when we get a little bit closer to Jesus by denying ourselves as he did.
- Lent is not about giving up sweets – Giving up something for Lent has kind of come back in vogue. It’s normally used as a dieting tactic. “Ugh, I can’t stop eating Girl Scout cookies…so I’ll give up cookies for Lent. That’ll do it!” That’s not what the self-denial is supposed to be about. Oh, and you’re also not supposed to “give up” something you don’t actually care about simply to get the holy points. If you’re going to give something up, use this Scripture as a guide. “He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30) How can you be less about yourself and more about Jesus this Lent?
- A lot happened during Holy Week! – Palm Sunday and Easter are incredible! They are highlights, but a lot happened in between those two days. Our kids could easily miss the whole Jesus dying part if we don’t spend some time talking about what happened.
When Easter rolls around this year, we want our kids to have a much better understanding of why it’s such a big deal. We put up a giant tent and celebrate the heck out of that day because it is the final stamp saying Jesus wins! Sin and death lose! It is the confirmation that God is who he says he is and does what he says he will do! It’s hard for us to understand that without the full picture.
We hope your kids will be in Sunday school this Lent!
Munger Kids 