Lent Devotional

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Thanks for your interest in the 2021 Lenten Resource Kit from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary! Explore the resources below and let us know how you found them helpful in your worship. E-mail us at info@pts.edu.

Coffee with the Dean Video Series

In this weekly series, the Rev. Dr. Heather Hartung Vacek discusses with a fellow faculty member the selected Letionary passages for each Sunday in Lent. Watch these videos for ideas on how to preach and teach these portions of Scripture.

The Rev Drs. Dean Heather Vacek and L. Roger Owens discuss John 20:1-18. The message remains the same each Easter season: Christ is risen! But in a year of pandemic and rising racial tensions, weeping at the tomb is closer to the surface in the text and in our pews. The passage moves from weeping to meeting the liberating risen Christ to freedom to speak about what Mary and the Apostles had seen. We too must stay open to what we don't expect to see.

Previous Weeks:

  • As we celebrate Palm Sunday, Dean Heather Vacek and Dr. Scott Hagley, associate professor of missiology, discuss Philippians 2:5-11. We are called as Christians to live a life worthy of the gospel of Christ. That means that as the Church we are to follow Christ's example and live together in a way that shows the Gospel truth to others. Watch Week 6
  • In this week's Coffee with the Dean, the Rev. Drs. Heather Vacek and Leanna Fuller discuss Jeremiah 31:31-34 and John 12:20-33. The theme across the texts is listening--listening to God and listening to one another, even when we disagree. Watch Week 5
  • Dean Heather Vacek and the Rev. Dr. R. Drew Smith, professor of urban ministry and director of the Metro-Urban Institute, discuss Ephesians 2 during Week 4 in Lent. This passage seems to say that God has already seated us with Christ in the heavenly places. The pair discuss what this imagery communicates about grace and our new life in Christ. Watch Week 4
  • Dean Heather Vacek and Professor Steve Tuell explore Exodus 20 and the Ten Commandments. This important passage begins with “Then God spoke all these words.” How do we think about divine speech that is mediated by human authors and recorded for us in the pages of Scripture? And how might we understand the idea of joining God in Sabbath rest? Watch Week 3
  • In Mark 8, Jesus tells his disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." Although this passage has borne much fruit, it has also caused a lot of destruction. Dean Heather Hartung Vacek and Dr. Tucker Ferda, assistant professor of New Testament, discuss discipleship throughout Mark and also Abraham as a model of faith in Romans 4. Watch Week 2
  • During week one, Dean Vacek Professor Ron Cole-Turner look at Mark 1:9-15. The Spirit’s activity in Jesus’ life is unique to Jesus and provides ways we might discern the Spirit’s work in our own lives. In this passage, Jesus bursts onto the scene in Galilee preaching the good news of the kingdom of God. Drs. Vacek and Cole-Turner also discuss how we might understand Jesus’ message in light of our current moment. Watch Week 1

 

BIG BOOK OF LENTEN DEVOTIONALS

The Seminary's 2021 “Big Book of Lenten Devotionals” gives you a valuable resource for personal and corporate Spiritual formation during the Lenten season. From Day 1 through Easter, each section includes multiple biblical passages from the daily lectionary, reflections based on those passages, and accompanying prayers based on each reflection. Seminary alumnae/i, faculty, staff, Board members, and students have contributed to this resource to help enrich your Lenten worship for many years to come.

DOWNLOAD THE BIG BOOK OF LENTEN DEVOTIONALS (WORD)

DOWNLOAD THE BIG BOOK OF LENTEN DEVOTIONALS (PDF)

 

Palm Sunday Sermon

Christians are called to be Christ’ presence in our world today. God is all-powerful, right? Jesus was able to do all things including healing the sick, and casting out demons, right? Then why would God need us to be his hands and feet? What we know from scripture is that Jesus himself chooses to use his disciples in order for him to accomplish his mission on this earth. The Rev. Bala Khyllep, associate director of the Seminary's World Mission Initiative, shares this Palm Sunday sermon based on Luke 19:29-44.

DOWNLOAD THIS PALM SUNDAY SERMON

 

Good Friday Meditation

Luke 23:26-47 tells the story of Jesus’ suffering as he hung on the cross. Though not to the degree of Jesus’ agony, last year the whole world experienced a kind of suffering unprecedented in our lifetime. As a result, this year Christians come to Good Friday with a more profound sense and understanding of suffering. The Rev. Carolyn Cranston '99 offers this Good Friday meditation. 

DOWNLOAD THE GOOD FRIDAY MEDITATION

 

“Grace to Help in Time of Need”—The Cross, the Christ, and the Coronavirus

As we enter the Lenten season in quarantine, we might wonder what this season means this year. But the season's Scripture readings still have rich treasures to offer! In this message from her podcast, Dr. Edith Humphrey, William F. Orr Professor of New Testament. walks us through a passage in the book of Hebrews and helps us see how wonderful it is to have Jesus as our "great High Priest who has passed through the heavens."

DOWNLOAD THIS BLOG POST AND LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

 

GALILEE TO GOLGOTHA SLIDESHOW

Via captioned lantern slides from the Kelso Museum of Near Eastern Archaeology’s historic collection, this PowerPoint resource, compiled by alumnus the Rev. Richard Byerly ’07, follows the Gospel of Luke’s account in taking you on a visual trip of the journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, the city of Jesus’ Passion. Use this slideshow as the basis of a Sunday school class at the start of Passion Week.

DOWNLOAD THE GALILEE TO GOLGOTHA POWERPOINT (To download the PowerPoint, right click on the link, and select "Save link as".)

DOWNLOAD THE GALILEE TO GOLGOTHA PDF

 

COMMON QUESTIONS KIDS ASK ABOUT LENT, HOLY WEEK, AND EASTER—AND HOW TO ANSWER THEM!

When kids ask questions about Lent, Holy Week, and Easter, you might find that you don’t really know how to answer them! Here you’ll find suggestions for what to say in response to some of those questions. You might even use them as the basis for a children’s sermon or Sunday school lesson, or for conversation at home around the dinner table.

DOWNLOAD EASTER QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

 

"SEE MY HANDS" VIDEO

This video looks at the stories related to Jesus' hands throughout the Gospels and could easily be used as a media presentation during a worship service, as part of a sunrise celebration, or as a jumping off point for an adult or youth education class. Be creative! DOWNLOAD LESSON PLAN

 

SYI HYMNAL FOR WIND INSTRUMENTS

The Miller Summer Youth Institute Hymnal for Wind Instruments coordinates with the 1990 Presbyterian Hymnal and the 2013 Glory to God: the Presbyterian Hymnal. This resource contains three charts for each song, and each chart shows the vocal lines from the hymnals transposed for a collection of instruments—the ones that the youth in your congregation learn to play for marching and symphonic band. Involve your kids and young adults in an upcoming service! Have them accompany your choir, perform special music in a small group, or play a solo on their flute, saxophone, trumpet, or other wind instrument. 

ACCESS THE SYI HYMNAL FOR WIND INSTRUMENTS

 

ADDITIONAL LENTEN RESOURCES

For additional Lenten resources, visit the Seasonal Resources - Lent section of our website. 

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