Resources for Devotion and Study for Lent 2021

This year our church is offering you a rich variety of resources for devotion and study during the season of Lent. We hope that these will enrich your faith during the season and invite you into an even closer walk with God.

Connecting to God – the 2021 FPC Lenten Devotional Video Series
https://fpcspartanburg.org/devotionals/
Each weekday and Saturday during Lent, we will release a new video featuring members of our FPC Spartanburg faith community. Throughout this series, we will read through the entirety of the Gospel of Mark. On Wednesdays that reading will be accompanied by a musical mediation played or sung by members of our FPC family. On all of the other weekdays and Saturday, a different person will answer the important question, “What is connecting you to God right now?”

Lent Virtual Garden
https://fpcspartanburg.org/devotionals/
This innovative, interactive online resource for who families (of all ages!) is the product of collaboration between the Synod of Central, Northeastern Ontario and Bermuda in the Presbyterian Church of Canada and our own Foothills Presbytery. Families of all shapes and sizes are invited to interact with a garden scene to access all sorts of content. A similar garden scene with different content will be released each week of Lent, with two different ones released during Holy Week.

Both the Connecting to God Series and the Lent Virtual Garden will be posted to the Devotional Readings channel on our church website and shared via social media. You may also sign up to receive both of these (and future FPC devotional readings) by email each morning. If you have signed up to receive previous devotionals from the church, you are likely already signed up, but if you would like to be sure you are signed up, click the button below.

Sign up

Lent in a Box
This year, our congregation’s Children’s Ministry has put together “Lent in a Box” boxes which invite families into different kinds of daily practices of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving together. Blessings on each of the 50 families who are embarking on this journey of Lent through these boxes!

Lenten Study Series: Handel’s Messiah
Beginning February 24 via Zoom
Join Holt Andrews on Wednesday evenings during Lent for a theological/musical look at Parts II and III of this classic work. Our resource book will be “Hallelujah: The Bible and Handel’s Messiah.” Contact Holt Andrews to sign up, receive the Zoom link and secure a copy of the resource book. While the resource book is very helpful, it is not essential, and anyone may join for any of the six sessions.

Email Holt Andrews

The Pellet-Wearn Lecture Series presents:
From Lament of Love, The Journey of Pain Seeking Understanding in the Bible
with Dr. William P. Brown
Sundays, beginning February 21, 10:00am on Zoom (Registration Required)
This year, Fourth Presbyterian of Greenville, SC has moved their annual lecture series to Zoom, and we are invited! This year’s guest lecturer is Dr. William P. Brown. Dr. Brown is the William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA, the author of a number of books, and a frequent Adult Sunday School teacher at North Decatur Presbyterian Church. Many of you will remember Bill as our 2011 Theology Weekend speaker, when he spoke about “The Ecology of Wonder in the Bible.” This year’s offering is particularly timely and relevant to today’s world. Registration is required on the Fourth Presbyterian website (link). From February 21 – March 28, this will take the place of our usual Zoom Combined Adult Sunday School Class, but please still join in the Witness Season Sunday School livestream on February 28!

The Way to Shalom: A Lenten Journey to Peace and Wholeness (Presbyterians Today)
https://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/today/lent2021/
This year’s Lent devotional series from Presbyterians Today explores the biblical concept of shalom. This Hebrew word has a rich range of meanings, much deeper than the simple translation of “peace” that we often see. And in a world of so much unrest and uneasiness, this sustained reflection on God’s shalom is both timely and needed! These daily devotionals can be read online, or you may download the PDF version to print or read in your favorite ebook reader.

Praying with Scripture During Lent (The Presbyterian Outlook)
This year’s Lent devotional series from The Presbyterian Outlook invites us a richer practice of daily prayer using the scriptures. Each day features a different reading from the Bible, a brief reflection, and both a prayer practice and a journaling activity. These daily devotionals are released weekly in a downloadable and/or printable PDF, which will be attached to the Friday Weekly Updates each Friday.

Journey to the Cross (d365.org)
This year-round daily devotional includes meditative music, scripture, and reflection. d365 is produced by Passport, Inc., a national ecumenical student ministry organization, and is sponsored by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the Office of Christian Formation of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the Youth Ministries Office of The Episcopal Church. For more information about d365 and the movement of each daily devotional visit d365.org/about_d365/.