For your further engagement with this liturgical season and our Lenten sermon series, several resources have been made available to you.
Worship Resources:
For this season we have dedicated a space for devotion and prayer. Our prayer is that this room would serve as a place to meet with Jesus for however long and as often as you might need during these next 40 days as we approach Good Friday and Easter. This room has been curated with thoughtfully chosen resources in order to provide a starting point for those who would like a prompt for reflection. In addition to print materials such as devotional books and prayer guides, two collections of images have been gathered as a visual way of initiating contemplation. These images depict various events from the life of Christ and 40-day periods in both the Old and New Testament. There are separate guides available with scripture references and questions for reflection that accompany these collections. Lastly, there is a prayer wall where you are welcome to leave prayers in response to the prompt that has been placed there.
Agnus Dei (Latin for “Lamb of God”) is an oil painting created by the Spanish Baroque artist Francisco de Zurbarán around 1635–1640. It is one of several versions he made of this theme and stands in contrast to other religious paintings of that era for its simplicity and use of a single powerful metaphor of the lamb placed on the altar silent, bound, unresisting. (John 1:29, Isaiah 53:7, John 10:18)
Following our series in Hebrews, the image of the bound lamb unmistakably points to Christ’s greater sacrifice. Yet in Zurbarán’s painting, our definitions of greatness are quietly undone. True greatness is not displayed in power, dominance, or the sword, but in surrender.
Peace with God, and ultimately peace with one another, comes not through force, but through sacrifice: the self-giving love of God Himself. As Jesus declares, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.”
And so, we join the song of heaven: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain” (Revelation 5:12).
As you look upon this image:
Behold the cost of your redemption.
Repent of the sin that required such sacrifice.
Rest in the peace secured by His obedience.
