This year’s Lent begins on 22 February and ends on 9 April at Easter. The origin of Lent is the ancient Christian practice of penance and fasting to prepare one’s heart to remember the Lord’s suffering for our sins and to prepare for His resurrection.
When we confess and reflect on our sins, there is a perspective that cannot be overlooked, namely, that human beings, who were originally created from dust by God, think that they can dominate the world in a way we do not care it and we damage it on purpose or inadvertently.
To help believers reconcile with the world created by the Lord, CEDAR has added the element of creation care to the Lenten exercises by designing the ’40-day Lenten Challenge Calendar’ under the theme of ‘Walking Together in Caring for the Created World’.
Apart from participating on your own, we encourage you to participate in this challenge with your fellowship or group members to support each other on your spiritual journey.
How to Use the Calendar
1. Download the calendar and participate with your family, friends and fellowship group.
2. Follow the daily instructions (actions, reading scriptures, sharing with companions, etc.) during Lent (22 February to 9 April).
3. If you find the practice difficult, just choose to complete at least one item per week.
4. After completing the challenges, review your take-aways in the whole period and write them down or share them with others.
Scriptures Chosen in the Calendar
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.Genesis 3:19b
Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights above.
Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars.
Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for at his command they were created,
and he established them for ever and ever—
he issued a decree that will never pass away.Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,
you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,
young men and women,
old men and children.Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
And he has raised up for his people a horn,[b]
the praise of all his faithful servants,
of Israel, the people close to his heart.Praise the Lord.
Psalm 148
For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
1 Timothy 6:7-8
and said:
‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.’Job 1:21
Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’
Genesis 1:26
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
Matthew 6:25-30
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!Psalm 8:3-9