Lent is a season of the church when Christ-followers turn their thoughts to the sacrificial death of Christ, and His victory over the grave. Quarry Ridge, while not celebrating Lent in its fullest application or expression, observes facets of this season to help believers recommit their lives to our Savior, Jesus.

The word “Lent” is derived from “Lente” which means “springtime.” Each spring, Christ-followers all over the world observe a season of repentance and renewal preceding the Christian celebration of Easter or Resurrection Sunday. As a season of new beginnings, Lent is a special time for meditation, prayer, personal contrition for the sins in our lives and a recommitment to lives devoted to Christ.

Lent allows us time to think through the events that led to the suffering of Jesus on the cross on our behalf, and to discover the true meaning of His Resurrection. Through devotions, spiritual disciplines such as fasting or self-denial, and acts of confession and repentance, we can thoughtfully and intentionally work towards a more devoted and disciplined life as unconditional followers of Jesus Christ.

You are encouraged to use these Lenten Meditations to help you think about your Savior, and on all that He has done for you. Create a specific time and a specific place to spend time in devotion, meditation and thanksgiving. Meditate on the love relationship God intended for you to have with Him, and the sinfulness that created a rift between you. Think, too, on the shortcomings in your life that get in the way of a meaningful relationship with your Heavenly Father, and commit to living your life unconditionally devoted to Him through Christ.

Ash Wednesday, February 25, 2009
The Shepherd gently leads His flock on the right paths

A path - the means by which we go one way or another. Sometimes we go the wrong way, at other times we turn back to go the right direction. The Christ-followers’ journey involves traveling down many paths - and making many course corrections along the way. Some people see these corrections as failures, but a follower of Christ sees a correction as a new chance; a re-committed life. This season reminds us that there is only one path we should take, although there are many paths available to us. The only direction to take is toward the cross of Calvary, and the Savior who died there for you. Is it time for a course correction in your life?

Read Luke 15:11-32

Perhaps this week you could pray in this manner: “Lord Jesus, in this special season of contemplation and devotion, may my thoughts be ever and always of You. Help me to live today and everyday fully connected to You. Help me to walk only with You.”

Week One, Sunday, March 1, 2009
The Crucified One is crucified anew?

Not only once, and long ago,
There on Golgotha’s side,
Has Christ, the Lord, been crucified
Because He loved a lost world so.
But hourly souls, sin-satisfied,
Mock His great love, flout His commands.
And I drive nails deep in His hands,
You thrust the spear within His side.
John Richard Moreland

Pray words like these: “Forgive me, Lord, for the role I play in crucifying You - then and today. Help me instead to crucify my own desires and nature - and to live my life wholly for You.”

Week Two, Sunday, March 8, 2009
The God of the universe hears our prayers

I acknowledge, O Lord, that there is so little in me that is loveable. So often I am not lovely in my thoughts, in my words, or in my deeds. And yet You love me still with a love that neither ebbs nor flows, a love that does not grow weary, but is constant - year after year.

O God, may my heart be opened to that love today. With bright skies above me, the fields and woods and gardens bursting with new life and beauty, how can I fail to respond? With the clear notes of bird songs challenging me to praise, with every lowly shrub and blooming tree catching new life and beauty, my heart indeed would proclaim You Lord, and I would invite You to reign over me and make me truly Your own. May Your healing love invade my inmost heart, healing sorrow, pain, frustration, defeat, and despair.

May this day create within me a love for You of stronger stuff than vague sentimentality - a love which seeks to know Your will and do it. So grant that this week may be the beginning of a new way of life for me, a new kind of living that shall be the best answer to the confusion and to the challenge of evil in this time. This I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
paraphrased from Peter Marshall

Make the prayer above your own; meditate on it this week.

Week Three, Sunday, March 15, 2009
The Innocent bears our punishment

O dearest Jesus, what law hast thou broken
that such sharp sentence should on Thee be spoken?
Of what great crime hast Thou to make confession -
What dark transgression?

They crown Thy head with thorns, they scourge Thee;
with cruel mockings to the cross they urge Thee;
they give Thee gall to drink, they still decry Thee;
they crucify Thee.

The sinless Son of God must die in sadness;
the sinful child of man may live in gladness;
man forfeited his life and is acquitted -
God is committed.

But since my strength will nevermore suffice me
to crucify desires that still entice me,
to all good deeds, oh, let Thy Spirit win me
and reign within me!

Whate'er of earthly good this life may grant me,
I'll risk for Thee; no shame, no cross, shall daunt me;
I shall not fear what man can do to harm me
nor death alarm me.

But worthless is my sacrifice, I own it;
yet, Lord, for love's sake Thou wilt not disown it;
Thou wilt accept my gift in Thy great meekness
nor shame my weakness.

And when, dear Lord, before Thy throne in heaven
to me the crown of joy at last is given,
where sweetest hymns Thy saints forever raise Thee,
I, too, shall praise Thee.
Johann Heermann, 1585-1647

You may wish to pray something like this: “Father - accept me as a living sacrifice of praise. Help me be holy; make me like Your Son. I surrender my life to You.”

Week Four, Sunday, March 22
The Resurrected One brings us life

Some years ago a newspaper editor telephoned and asked me to tell in a few words what the Easter season meant to me. My testimony was this: this season means Christ to me. It means Christ in His kingly splendor, Christ in His serene glory, Christ in His gracious condescension. This is because the resurrection is the return of Christ from inflicted violence, from induced death, from imprisonment in a tomb. The resurrection is Christ triumphant over all that sin and death and man could do to Him. The resurrection means Christ.

And where Christ goes, drama goes. For it is impossible to look anywhere in the Gospels and fail to find something powerful happening. This is because Christ is Himself the Gospel and He is life, abundant life, and His life means action, pilgrimage, arrival.

The resurrection means life. Christ defeated death in order that life in Him might always live. And it is life that we want, life in Christ. Whether we put it in words or not, our constant thought is “Life, more life, always more and more life.” We want life in ourselves, in our loved ones, in our friends, the kind of life that cannot be diminished, the kind of life that always expands. The resurrection is Christ’s victory over all that would restrict, deny and strangle life. “For to me to live is Christ.” That’s the meaning of this season.
Raymond Lindguist

Meditate on those words. What do the words “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” mean for you?

Week Five, Sunday, March 29, 2009
The Prince of Glory wears a crown of thorns

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
Save in the death of Christ, my God;
All the vain things that harm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were a tribute far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Isaac Watts, 1674-1748

Read Philippians 3:7-14

Pray a prayer like this each day this week: “My life unsurrendered means nothing; all my gains are but loss. My life totally surrendered means everything; I give You my soul, my life, my all.”

Palm Sunday - Passion Sunday, April 5
The King rescues His people

On Palm Sunday Jesus rode into Jerusalem. Its citizens hoped God would send a Savior to overthrow the Romans. “Hosanna! Save us!” they shouted, throwing victory branches in His path. Because Jesus knew they needed rescue from powers more deadly than the Romans, the Savior-King bowed to the crowd’s “Crucify him!” a few days later to rescue them from the powers of sin.

(Hosanna is a Hebrew form of acclamation meaning “Save now!” or “Save us, we implore You!”)

Read Luke 22:14 through 23:56

You could pray like this: “Forgive me. It was my sin that nailed You to the cross; it was my separation for God that cause You to die. As you erase in me the stain of sin, also remove from me the burden of guilt. Without me even being worthy - You still died for me. Hosanna - You saved me!”

Passion Week, Monday, April 6
The Savior’s passion was for us

This week in Jesus’ life was filled with hatred, intrigue, and conflict. The Friday was filled with outrageous injustice and unbelievable pain. His death was a horrendous act of evil perpetrated against an innocent. Yet, we call the week “holy” and the Friday “good” and His death was Jesus’ “passion.” Only a mighty, holy and loving God could extract goodness from such evil, and could bring forth glorious life from such ignominious death.

Maybe you can pray in this way: “Jesus, thank You for loving me so much that You would die for me. Forgive me that I sometimes forget what You did for me. Help me to live my life with the same passion and ardent zeal with which You died.”

Read Romans 8:1-14

Passion Week, Tuesday, April 7
The Hero comes to save us

Hosanna, loud hosanna
the little children sang.
Through pillared court and temple
the lovely anthem rang;
To Jesus, who had blessed them
close folded to His breast,
the children sang their praises
the simplest and the best.

“Hosanna in the highest!”
That ancient song we sing.
For Christ is our Redeemer,
the Lord of Heaven, our King.
O may we ever praise Him
with heart and life and voice,
and in His blissful presence
eternally rejoice!
Jenette Threlfall

(Hosanna is a Hebrew form of acclamation meaning “Save now!” or “Save us, we implore You!”)
Read Matthew 21:14-16

Pray: “Jesus, my Savior, You are my King and my Savior. May my life glorify You. May my voice rise up like the children who greeted you that day in Jerusalem. You have saved me! Hosanna!”

Passion Week, Wednesday, April 8
The Justifier makes us innocent

Consider the description of what our Lord did for us: all humanity sits indicted. Satan accuses us; even our own hearts convict us. God sits in judgment, His verdict is death, and He does not suspend the sentence; it must be carried out. Jesus steps forward, takes our death sentence on Himself. For His sake, God declares, we are “justified” (our punishment properly completed). By Christ’s sacrifice, we are made innocent, forgiven, made new.

Read Romans 8:33-34

“So often, Lord Jesus, I am like the disciples in their weakest moments. I fall asleep when I ought to be encouraging, supporting, and praying. I turn and run when I ought to be standing for You and Your cause. Forgive me for my lethargy, for my lack of loyalty, for my sleepiness in the path of imminent disaster, for my nonchalance in the mid of grow injustice. Alert my mind, strength my will and prepare me to accept the challenges of living for You.”

Passion Week, Maundy Thursday, April 9
The Reconciler makes a New Covenant

The word “maundy” comes from the Latin word “mandatum” which means “commandment.” It’s in reference to Jesus’ instructions to His disciples on the night He was betrayed and handed over for crucifixion: “A new command I give you: Love one another.” He exhibited this kind of sacrificial love by washing the feet of His disciples - an act of humility, servitude and compassion. On Maundy Thursday or “New Commandment Thursday” Jesus tells us He makes a new covenant - a new contract between God and those who follow Him. The Old Testament covenant between God and His people was sealed with the blood of animals. Through it God promised to take care of the nation; the people promised to keep God’s laws. But they failed to keep their end of the covenant. In His sacrificial act of love, Jesus brought together - reconciled - God and the people of His old covenant, along with the Gentile nations, in a new covenant made possible and sealed through His blood.

Read John 13.

Passion Week, Good Friday, April 10
The Sacrifice offers Himself for our sins

On this day, Jesus offered His body on the cross as a sacrifice. The ancient people of God sacrificed animals for the forgiveness of sins. The Son of God gave His life for our lives - the only kind of sacrifice the people would understand, and the only sacrifice capable of purging us from our sinfulness to make us pure before our Holy God.

Read Mark 14:12-41; Luke 22:1-49; Matthew 26:17-27:56

Perhaps your prayer time can include personally answering the questions that Jesus posed to His followers on the night of His betrayal: “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?” “Will you not watch with me one hour?” Prayerfully consider these challenges with care. How will you respond?

Passion Week, Holy Saturday, April 11
The Redeemer gains our freedom

On Holy Saturday before Resurrection Sunday, we know that death released Jesus. But will sin and death continue to enslave us? Most of us have never known slavery. But we do know about addictions and being victims of greed and oppression. And we sense the power of evil everywhere to corrupt God’s good creation. This season announces that Jesus’ payment with His life frees us - even today - from such slavery and futility. With Him we can walk alive and free!

Spend the day in prayer. Reflect on Jesus’ love for you and His willingness to die in your place to bring you forgiveness and newness of life.

Read Mark 14:42-47; Matthew 27:57-66

Easter – Resurrection Day, Sunday, April 12
The Conqueror has defeated death - for us

We awake in wonderment, in anticipation, and in awe of the mystery which God has placed before us in the resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. As the disciples ran to witness an empty tomb where Christ had been buried, so today we run to a celebration of worship with that same message: Christ is alive! Today, open your heart for the spirit of the Risen Christ. Come as a follower and a fan of the living Jesus Christ! Be a part of the drama: “Jesus is alive!”

Christ, the Lord, is risen today! Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say: “Alleluia!”
Raise your joys and triumphs high - Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply: “Alleluia!”

Lives again our glorious King! Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Dying once He all doth save! Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ as led! Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head! Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise! Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies! Alleluia!

("Alleluia" is the Greek form of the Hebrew "Hallelujah" which means, “Praise the Lord.”)

Read John 20:1-18; Matthew 28:1-10; 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, 50-57; Romans 8:17-18.

Through His resurrection, Jesus shows us that death is only temporary!

Author and theologian, John R. Stott says: “The resurrection of Christ matters because survival and resurrection are not the same thing. The immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body are two quite different things. You can believe in immortality and be pagan. The distinctively Christian doctrine is a belief in resurrection.

“This is what the Gospel of the New Testament asserts of Christ and promised to us also. According to Scripture, God has made us neither a soul inhabiting a body, nor a body housing a soul, but a body-soul, a soul experiencing itself and expressing itself through the functions and faculties of the body. True, death sunders the soul from the body, but death is an enemy and the separation unnatural. It is only temporary too; it is not eternal.”

Today, and for the days to come, may your prayers follow this thought: “Lord Jesus, how amazing it is that You made a way for me to share in Your resurrection, if in fact I share in Your suffering. Help me to follow You more closely, and live in You more fully. Amen.”

Live today and everyday in the joy of the resurrected Christ! He is risen! Hallelujah!