The Lent Challenge: Will you make it to the end?

By Gorham

Here we have a tool designed to support you and your family time during the season of Lent. It will guide you through the gospels as we explore the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The stories are all found in the bible and I have given you the references so you can check this. The purpose of telling them here it to introduce y

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cracked Coffee Cup
• Release date: Oct 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781739816315

Book preview

The Lent Challenge

The Lent Challenge

The Lent Challenge

Will you make it to the end?

Christina Gorham

Linda E Tipping

Cracked Coffee Cup

The Lent Challenge Copyright © 2020 by Christina Gorham. All Rights Reserved.

First Printing, 2020

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review. 

Cover design © Christina Gorham

www.CrackedCoffeeCup.co.uk

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With thanks to everyone who has helped edit, review, and check the biblical accuracy of this book. You know who you are.

I must also thank my family for their support during the development of this book. Without you, it’s possible this book would not exist.

Above all. I give thanks and glory to God who inspired me at every stage, from producing a lent calendar for my children and reciting the stories to them, to writing the words in this book for you to share. 

How to use this book

This book is designed to be used individually or as part of your family bible time during the season of Lent. It is unique in many ways. It is the only Lent book or calendar I can find that includes Sundays as part of Lent, meaning there are forty-seven stories instead of the traditional forty. It will take you all the way through the Gospel accounts of Jesus’s birth, life, death and resurrection. There are extra stories taking you up to Pentecost and some bonus stories at the end because the story doesn’t end at John 21:25.

To get the most out of this resource I recommend you: -

Read one story each day starting on Ash Wednesday.

Read the story aloud from this book so that everyone can join in. (It helps if the reader has pre-read the story)

Look up the story in a real bible using the bible references on each page. You don’t have to look up all of them, as the different references for each day will bring you to the same story found in different Gospels. (Sword drill makes this more exciting). Try reading the stories in a different translation of the bible.

Ask questions and get creative. I’ve included space for notes and doodles, but the rest is up to you.

Most importantly, remember to pray. God can bring these words to life if you ask him to.

If you have never heard of sword drill, this is how it works: -

The bible is the sword and your arm is the sheath.

The leader chooses a bible reference and helps the less experienced readers to find the correct book in the bible or the contents page as appropriate.

With fingers in the first page of the book or in the contents page everyone holds their bible in its sheath. The leader calls out the bible reference.

The command is given, Draw your sword prompting everyone to raise their bibles high in the air and then race to see who can find it first. The first to find the reference gets to read it out to everyone.

If you have more than one version of the bible, it can be fun to read the scripture in all the versions so you can see the different ways the same words have been translated from the original Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic.

May God bless you as you learn more of him this Lent.

The Lent Challenge

Hi

Thanks for choosing to read the Lent Challenge.

I challenge you to read a story from this book every day, from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday. You will be guided through many of the events of Jesus’s birth, life, teaching, death and resurrection. This book has been written to tell the stories truly while trying to explain things that were obvious to the original readers, but not so obvious to us because we were not born 2000 years ago, in Israel to a Jewish family.

I truly hope and pray you will be inspired to continue learning about this unique man long after you have finished using this book, and that you will be changed by what you find out.

May God bless you as the journey begins.

Christina

1

Birth of John the Baptist is foretold

Day 1, Ash Wednesday

Luke 1:5-25

Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth had been married so long they should have been grandparents, if not great grandparents, but they weren’t. They weren’t grandparents because they had never been parents. They had never had any children.

One day Zechariah was working in the temple. (The temple was the main place of worship for the Jews. It looked a bit like a big church or cathedral). He was chosen for a very special job; this was the first and possibly last time he would get to take a very special gift into the most Holy part of the temple, but he knew exactly what he had to do having been taught this as a child. He went into this most Holy place with his special gift for God, did everything he was meant to do, including saying a special prayer for the Jews.

As he was turning to leave an angel appeared saying, Do not be afraid! Can you imagine how he must have felt to suddenly see an angel? The angel had a message for Zechariah. You will be a father. Your wife Elizabeth will have a baby boy and you are to call him John. What a surprise that must have been! Not only to see a real angel but to hear that he and his wife were going to have a son, the one thing they had always longed for but had never had, and possibly had given up the hope of ever having.

Zechariah’s reply was not so surprising; Wow! You mean me? Really? I’m going to be a dad? That’s just not possible!

The angel was not expecting this response to such good news, so he told Zechariah off. How dare you doubt my words by saying it’s not possible? I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God! This will prove to you that with God all things are possible, even making you a father when you’re so very old. You will not be able to talk until the child is born!

And that’s just what happened. From that moment until the birth of John, Zechariah was completely silent. If he wanted to tell someone something, he had to write it down.

My Notes:

2

Birth of Jesus Christ is foretold

Day 2, Thursday

Luke 1:26-38

About six months after Zechariah saw the angel, Mary was busy at home looking forward to her wedding day. She was engaged to a wonderful young man called Joseph. A carpenter and builder by trade, he was busy building the home they would live in. She knew the date for the wedding would not be set until their new house was finished.

As she worked the angel Gabriel suddenly appeared to her too. Do not be afraid. I have a fantastic message for you. You are the most blessed woman of all time because God has chosen you to be the mother of his son. Call the boy Jesus.

Mary had just one question; How is this possible? I’ve never slept with, or even kissed a man before. She knew it was not possible for a woman to have a baby without the help of a man and that if she