During Jesus’s last days on this Earth, He spent time serving the disciples. He did this by washing their feet. Footwashing was a servant’s job, because feet can be very dirty—especially when wearing sandals and living in a desert. As you wash hands or feet, let the soap be a reminder that Jesus washes us clean and teaches us how to love.

Reflection:
Discuss or think about the following questions:

– Have you ever found yourself unwilling to do something that Jesus would have done if he were in your shoes?

– What needs to change in your life in order for you to love and serve people the way that Jesus did?

Prayer:

Dear God, thank you for your Son, Jesus. Help us remember what Jesus taught and did—so that we may take the good news to others. Let our lives bear the shape of the One who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen.

Download Soap Card

Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 coins—about one third of a year’s worth of wages in this time period. The prospect of this amount of money tempted and persuaded Judas to his betray his friend and teacher. The truth is that the prospect of coin has tempted not only Judas, but countless people throughout the history of our existence. We have all been tempted by things that are not of God. Let this coin remind you of Judas’s betrayal.

Reflection:
Discuss or think about the following questions:

– In what ways have you betrayed Jesus or been tempted to sin?

Prayer:

Dear God, thank you for Your Son, Jesus. You know that he was betrayed in human life by a friend and a disciple. Help us to resist the temptation to repeat the betrayal of Judas. Help us to love You with all our hearts. Amen.

Download Coin Card

God is the ultimate potter, who makes beautiful and useful things, like bowls and flower vases. The potter molds the clay, always re-working and re-shaping it into something beautiful and useful. God does the same thing with our hearts and our lives. Think about the clay in your hands. Let it remind you that God is always shaping and molding us—God is never finished with us!

Reflection:
Discuss or think about the following questions:

– Do you feel God working in your life? Is God molding and shaping you into something new?

– What do you think that might be?

Prayer:

Thank you, God, for being the One who shapes us and molds us. Melt us. Mold us. Use us. Help me to trust my whole life to Your hands. Amen.

Download Clay Card

– Read Joshua 7:6.
– Find dirt in your backyard or at the park, and rub the dirt between your fingers.
– Spend a few moments in prayer.

God created dirt, and God created us from the dirt. But dirt is also a symbol of repentance, of asking for forgiveness for our sins. Tearing your clothes and putting dirt on your face or forehead was a symbol of grief and regret throughout the Bible, and this is exactly what Joshua is doing in this story. Dirt reminds us of wholeness and harvest, but it also reminds us of emptiness and sorrow.

Reflection:
Discuss or think about the following questions:
– What parts of your life are full of healing and harvest? How can you thank God for this?

– What parts of your life are giving you grief and sorrow? How can you repent to God for this?

Prayer:
Creator God, thank you for forming us from the dirt. Thank you for creating the world and everything in it—including us. Help us to know you more, to love you more, to love others more, and to see the world that you created. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Download Dirt Card

The people of the Old Testament often struggled with leadership. So often, their leaders and kings were evil and unrepentant. Even when their leaders and kings were good, they failed often. Yet, Isaiah reminds us that God is the cornerstone, the foundation, not kings. Stones have been a symbol of strength and stability. Let this stone remind you that God alone is our foundation. Even we falter and fail, God is there.

Reflection:
Discuss or think about the following questions:
– Is there anything in your life that prevents you from having God as your foundation, your cornerstone? If so, what is it?

– How can you rely on God and God alone?

Prayer:
God, thank you for being our strong foundation—unchanging throughout the centuries. Help us rely on you, even when our lives seem unpredictable, weak, and unstable. When we get caught up in the storm, Lord, help us remember that You alone are our foundation of stone. Amen.

Download Stone Card

God chose the Israelite people as the people of God. But in their exile, they felt alone, hopeless, and lost. And they forgot who they were—the people of God, God’s Anointed people. When the Israelites remembered God’s unending love, they changed from hopeless into hopeful. They remembered that they had been anointed by God. Jesus also was chosen by God—to show us how to love, to take on the sins of the world, and most importantly, to save us. Just as God chose Jesus, God has chosen you.

Reflection:
Discuss or think about the following questions:
– Just as kings and priests were anointed, you have also been anointed as God’s own. Remember that as oil softens rough and broken places, so too can God’s love soften our hearts. Where in your life needs God’s softening?

Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for Your healing hand. We ask You to help soften and heal our broken and hurting hearts. Thank You for loving and choosing us. Amen.

Download Oil Card

– Read John 4:13-14.
– Take the clear pebbles from your Lent at Home Kit and place them into a small bowl of water. Then touch the pebbles in the water.
– Spend a few moments in prayer.

The season of Lent is a time for all Christians to do the hard work of tearing down the walls and barriers that separate us from each other and from God. Sin is the ultimate thing that separates us from God and from our neighbors. Through the waters of baptism, we are born anew into God’s family and into the church, where sin no longer has the ultimate hold on our lives. The water reminds us that we are washed clean as God’s children.

Reflection:
Discuss or think a bout the following questions:
-Are you baptized? Do you remember your baptism? If not, ask your parent(s) about your baptism on the way home.
– What does baptism mean to you?
-What needs to be “washed clean” in your life?

PRAYER:
Dear God, thank You for the gift of baptism. By water and the Spirit, you claimed us as Your own—cleansing us from sin and death, and giving us new life. Renew in us the covenant we made with you at our baptism, so that we can be Your people in this world. Amen.

Download Water Card

Ash Wednesday:
– Read Genesis 2:7
– Take the ashes from your Lent at Home Kit, dip your finger into the ash, and draw a cross on your or your family member’s forehead or hand.
– Spend a few moments in prayer.

When the Israelite people were exiled to an unknown and unfamiliar land, they felt hopeless and alone in the empty wilderness. But our Creator God is the breath of life, filling and inspiring both ourselves and the Israelite people. The palm branches remind us of the life of Jesus and the gifts of the Earth. After we wave palm branches on Palm Sunday, we store the branches until the next year, when they are burned to create the ashes needed for Ash Wednesday. The ashes remind us who are—people who were and are made out of the dust and dirt and ash. They also remind us whose we are—children of God.

Reflection:
Discuss or think about the following questions:
– Have you felt God asking you to change anything about yourself today?
– If so, what?

Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for forming us out of dust and ashes, breathing life into us. Help us to remember that our entire lives depend upon You. Fill us with the Holy Spirit, so that we can be faithful followers of Jesus. Amen.

Download Ash Card