Lent Resources
Lent
We hope you find these devotionals and resources to be a great source of Spiritual formation during the Lenten season.
Music and Worship
Worship Tuell-Kit
Old Testament professor emeritus the Rev. Dr. Steven Tuell provides a Lenten reflection, Palm Sunday Bible Study lesson, and Easter invitation to celebrate the Risen Lord in this “Tuell-kit” for Lenten worship.
"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! This video comes with a lesson plan. Compliments of the Miller Summer Youth Institute.
Psalm 131 - Original Liturgical Translation
Jazz musician, Hebrew scholar, and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary graduate Jeremy Fisher set his original liturgical translation of Psalm 131 to music. Please share this with your church group during worship (lyrics provided) or use the lesson plan in an adult education class to compare the King James, Revised Standard, and this original version. Compliments of the Miller Summer Youth Institute.
Lenten Liturgy
The Rev. Smith and seminarians planned this Lenten worship service at PTS. Use this service of readings, songs, Scripture, and communion as a way to imagine what it must have been like to witness Christ's crucifixion.
Hymns for the Lenten Season
The list of Lenten hymns includes both familiar and less familiar songs for enriching and expanding your congregation’s Lenten repertoire.
Easter Breads - A Brief Overview and Sample Recipes
Special (mostly) sweet breads are traditional Holy Week and Easter fare from Great Britain eastward across Europe and through Russia, and also in the United States. Find out why, take a look at some recipes, and try out a few of them at home and/or your church for coffee hour—or Communion!
Devotionals and Prayers
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.
Big Book of Lent Devotionals
The Seminary's “Big Book of Lent Devotionals” gives you a valuable resource for personal and corporate Spiritual formation during the Lent season. From Day 1 through Day 47 (Easter), each section includes multiple biblical passages from the daily Revised Common Lectionary, reflections based on those passages, and accompanying prayers based on each reflection.
Faculty E-book Lent Reflections
We hope that you’ll find these reflections by PTS faculty scholars to be helpful. Perhaps these sermons will inspire your own message, lead to a small group Bible study, or simply bring you closer to God—the One who in Christ has drawn close to us. "What Color is Lent?" Steven Tuell, Deut 7:6-11; "Trusting God in the Wilderness," Leanna Fuller, Luke 4:1-13; "Let Go of Jesus," John Burgess, Luke 24:13-35; "Twin Doubts," L. Roger Owens, John 20:24-31.
Standing at this tomb of water . . .
This reflection on Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection by Old Testament and Hebrew professor the Rev. Dr. Steve Tuell gives food for thought—and hope!—especially on Holy Saturday as we contemplate Christ as he lay in the tomb.
Don’t Be a Hero! And Other Guidelines for Choosing a Lenten Discipline
These insights by Christian spirituality and ministry professor the Rev. Dr. Roger Owens can aid you in forming Lenten disciplines that are helpful, realistic, and focused on honoring God, not yourself.
Thoughts for Ash Wednesday on Fasting and Forgiveness
Particularly appropriate for Ash Wednesday, this 20-minute audio by professor emerita Edith Humphrey relates the Old Testament’s teaching on fasting to the New Testament’s teaching on forgiveness.
Why and How do Christians Fast?
The Rev. Chris Brown ’08 helps us understand the reasons for and spiritual benefits of the practice of fasting and the ways Christians have practiced fasting in the past and the present.
Daily Lent Devotionals
Sign up to receive our daily Lent devotionals. Written each year by members of the PTS community, these daily messages are available online, via e-mail, and can be printed and shared. You can also access past years.
Children and Youth
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.
"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! This video comes with a lesson plan. Compliments of the Miller Summer Youth Institute.
Sermons and Studies
"The Lord Needs It" A Palm Sunday Sermon Based on Luke 19:29-44
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.
Galilee to Golgotha Slideshow
Via captioned lantern slides from the Kelso Museum of Near Eastern Archaeology’s historic collection, this PowerPoint resource 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.
Old Testament Texts Elucidate New Testament Passages
As you move through Lent and celebrate Easter, learn from New Testament professor emerita Dr. Edith M. Humphrey how Old Testament texts elucidate New Testament passages on these themes via her blog and podcast, A Lamp for Today: Understanding the Old Testament with Jesus and the Apostles, which examines Scripture from an Eastern Christian perspective.
Lent: What about Melchizedek?
In this 15-minute talk, Dr. Humphrey considers the strange figure of Melchizedek in Hebrews 4:14-5:10 read in the light of Mark 8:27-9:1, Genesis 14, Isaiah 53, and Psalm 44/45. Why is the figure of Melchizedek compared with our Lord, and how must we go beyond this comparison to embrace the cross?
For a written version of Dr. Humphrey’s talk with the same title, see her blog.
Easter: The Lightning of His Godhead
In this 15-minute talk, Dr. Humphrey considers the astonishing resurrectional hymns in the second tone and understands their dramatic language in the light of the book of Job, the prophecy of Isaiah, and the Transfiguration narratives.
For a written version of Dr. Humphrey’s talk with the same title, see her blog.
Sermon based on John 12:1-8
Consider the extravagant expression of gratitude shown in Mary’s anointing of Jesus’ feet in this 14-minute audio version of a chapel sermon by the Rev. Dr. Leanna Fuller, Joan Marshall Associate Professor of Pastoral Care.
Lectionary Video Series
Are you a Lectionary preacher? For many years, PTS created weekly commentary on Lectionary Scriptures for Lent, called "Coffee with the Dean." Many of these are now archived on the PTS YouTube page.
Jesus Fulfills the Meaning of His Names
Professor emeritus Steven Tuell shows how Jesus the Christ, by his resurrection and ascension, completes the meaning of both of his names. He is Yeshua, our Savior, who destroys our death. He is Emmanuel, God with us, who makes us fully “at one” with God.
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