Category: Lent

A Mutual Covenant of All Participants for Group Discussion

Group Discussion is promoted among participants who have signed up for this journey together. As a participant, you are invited or encouraged to join a group discussion below on “Comment” section. Surely, it will help one another (you & other participants) so that participants may learn more, deepened your understanding, and expand your view on each day as we continue for 40 days. Note that what you share on daily group discussion will be limited to participants only of 40-day daily reading.

Click the link of the day’s reflection which you join. Daily, a new post will be added to the list below for daily group reflection and discussion. Please read the covenant statement below among participants. If possible, join this daily group discussion sometime between 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. with what comes to your mind as you have finished the day’s reading assignment.

 

Daily Reflection on 40-Day Daily Bible Reading

Scripture:                                                                   Date: _________

Theme of the Day:

Topical Sentence and/or Keywords:

Personal Reflection with Life Applications:

Questions/Comments:

20201 Reflection Journal Form in PDF

 

The resources for 40-Day Daily Bible Reading are available here.

LENT – 40-Day Daily Bible Reading as a Congregational Journey
(February 17 – April 3, 2021, 40 days not counting Sundays)

• Books to Read in Order: Matthew, Luke, John, Ezra, Nehemiah, Acts, and Mark

	Date	Scripture	Reflection Journal? (Y: Yes; N: No)	Daily Prayer? (Y: Yes; N: No)
1	Feb. 17 (Wed)	Matthew 1:1-4:25	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
2	Feb. 18 (Thu)	Matthew 5:1-8:34	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
3	Feb. 19 (Fri)	Matthew 9:1-12:50	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
4	Feb. 20 (Sat)	Matthew 13:1-16:28	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
	Feb. 21  (Sun)	Gen. 9:8-17	Psalm 25:1-10	1 Peter 3:18-22
5	Feb. 22  (Mon)	Matthew 17:1-20:34	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
6	Feb. 23 (Tue)	Matthew 21:1-24:51	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
7	Feb. 24 (Wed)	Matthew 25:1-28:20	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
8	Feb. 25 (Thu)	Luke 1:1-4:44	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
9	Feb. 26 (Fri)	Luke 5:1-8:56	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
10	Feb. 27 (Sat)	Luke 9:1-12:59	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
	Feb. 28  (Sun)	Gen. 17:1-7, 15-16	Psalm 22:23-31	Romans 4:13-25
11	March 1 (Mon)	Luke 13:1-16:31	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
12	March 2 (Tue)	Luke 17:1-20:47	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
13	March 3 (Wed)	Luke 21:1-24:53	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
14	March 4 (Thu)	John 1:1-3:36	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
15	March 5 (Fri)	John 4:1-5:47	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
16	March 6 (Sat)	John 6:1-7:52	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
	March 7 (Sun)	Exodus 20:1-17	Psalm 19	1 Cor. 1:18-25
17	March 8 (Mon)	John 8:1-9:41	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
18	March 9 (Tue)	John 10:1-12:50	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
19	March 10 (Wed)	John 13:1-15:27	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
20	March 11 (Thu)	John 16:1-18:40	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
21	March 12 (Fri)	John 19:1-21:25	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
22	March 13 (Sat)	Ezra 1:1-6:22	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
	March 14 (Sun)	Numbers 21:4-9	Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22	Ephesians 2:1-10
23	March 15 (Mon)	Ezra 7:1-10:44	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
24	March 16 (Tue)	Nehemiah 1:1-4:23	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
25	March 17 (Wed)	Nehemiah 5:1-7:73	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
26	March 18 (Thu)	Nehemiah 8:1-10:39	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
27	March 19 (Fri)	Nehemiah 11:1-13:31	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
28	March 20 (Sat)	Acts 1:1-3:26	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
	March 21 (Sun)	Jeremiah 31:31-34	Psalm 51:1-12	Hebrews 5:5-10
29	March 22 (Mon)	Acts 4:1-6:15	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
30	March 23 (Tue)	Acts 7:1-9:43	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
31	March 24 (Wed)	Acts 10:1-12:25	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
32	March 25 (Thu)	Acts 13:1-15:41	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
33	March 26 (Fri)	Acts 16:1-18:28	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
34	March 27 (Sat)	Acts 19:1-21:40	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
	March 28 (Sun)	Isaiah 50:4-9a	Psalm 31:9-16	Philippians 2:5-11
35	March 29 (Mon)	Acts 22:1-24:27	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
36	March 30 (Tue)	Acts 25:1-28:31	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
37	March 31 (Wed)	Mark 1:1-4:41	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
38	April 1 (Thu)	Mark 5:1-8:38	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
39	April 2 (Fri)	Mark 9:1-12:44	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
40	April 3 (Sat)	Mark 13:1-16:20	(  ) Y; (  ) N	(  ) Y; (  ) N
	April 4 (Easter)	Acts 10:34-43	Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24	Colossians 3:1-4

An Invitation to Daily Bible Reading during 2021 Lent:

• All participants start on Feb. 17 and continue through April 3 as a Congregational spiritual journey together. Each participant takes this journey as a self-discipline.
• Sign-up to join this congregational project at https://Hillside.cLifej.net/sign-up. Likewise, sign up your completion at the same site by April 3, Saturday; or contact the pastor about your completion.
• During the Holy Week (March 28-April 3), all participants will be invited to join Group Reflection and Discussion (e.g., passion narratives of the Four Gospels) in online or in-person sessions. On Easter Sunday, there will be a time of congregational celebration.

 

Time is running fast! Do you feel the same way? It feels as if we are running faster toward a place where we will be. That place may be different for different people, being some place between where you are now and the place at your finish line. What might that place and setting be like for you? Some church families have tough times with their health issues; others may go through a time of satisfaction, dissatisfaction, hopelessness, concern, challenge, or hope for various reasons. You may find your life to keep running toward something in a fast forward mode, especially when you care more about that. Yet God gave us the power of choice, choice we need to make even in the midst of a tough time. At the time of an ultimate crisis to human eyes, Jesus chose God the Father to walk with Him toward the cross for the sake of those who would hear his word and love him keeping his word in action rather than seeking a human will. What is your choice at the time of a crisis in your life? Jesus said to his disciples “Did I not choose you, the twelve?” (John 6:70). He confirmed them with his choice. Jesus invites you to choose him to follow in your journey, seeking God’s will and His glory, neither human will nor human glory.

One and a half months have already passed since 2021 began to unfold its course of life. As we truly follow Jesus, we are given a new opportunity to choose: spiritual renewal and growth being ushered into a Christian season of 40 days, which is called Lent. The origin of Lent is the Anglo-Saxon word lencten, which means “spring.” This season is a time for Christian believers to prepare for Easter. Lent used to be a period of fasting and preparation for baptism by converts and later became a time for penance by all Christian believers. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (Feb. 17, 2021) and continues for 40 days, not counting Sundays. The first Sunday of Lent points them to Jesus’s temptation by Satan whereas the sixth Sunday marks Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his passion and death on the cross. Keeping Sundays as little Easters, the journey of Lent is tempered with joyful expectation of his Resurrection.

When Jesus entered into the wilderness, he needed God’s help to defeat the devil’s temptations and upheld God’s sovereignty. Ash Wednesday reminds us that only with God’s help can we overcome our sins and sufferings as human beings because we cannot deny that we are vulnerable numerous temptations and need God’s help to deny them and defeat their forces. I invite you to think about the meaning of Lent and to reflect it on your own life. God may bless your choice while you seek to walk with Jesus in a spiritual journey.  

So, what does Ash Wednesday mean to you?  What does the season of Lent mean to you as a personal seeker for God’s presence? As you enter into your symbolic wilderness, my prayer is that you may participate in your walk with Jesus in this sacred journey of 40 days, refresh your heart, and renew your commitment to Jesus, and help you grow closer in your personal relationship with him. 

As you enter into a special season of 40 days of Lent, I invite you to participate in a congregational spiritual journey together as 40-day Daily Bible Reading. If you choose to join this journey, click here to sign up at the top folder, or go to SIGN-UP page. The daily reading schedule is available at by clicking here. May God’s grace overflow in your spiritual walk with Jesus!  God is good!

In God’s Grace,

Pastor Paul Lee