Sermon Series

40: Spiritual Growth in the Season of Lent

Lent spans the forty days leading up to Easter. It’s an excellent opportunity for spiritual searching and growth. Why forty days? It echoes the forty days Jesus spent tempted by Satan in the wilderness. But that’s just one of many biblical texts connected to the number forty which this series explores. This isn’t about uncovering hidden codes or secret messages found in biblical numbers. It’s the substance of these passages that can help us cultivate a robust experience of Lent, inspiring us to develop our own rhythms of spiritual seeking and renewal.

April 13, 2025
Leo Schuster
Acts 1:1-9
Jesus’ ministry was bookended by important forty day periods of time. While he was alone in the wilderness during his first forty days, his final forty days was spent with others. What did he do during those fascinating forty days between his resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven? What does it mean for us today?
April 6, 2025
Leo Schuster
Matthew 4:1-11
Why does the season of Lent last 40 days? More than any other Biblical reference, Jesus’ 40 day experience in the wilderness is the backdrop for the 40 days of Lent. In this remarkable story we find invaluable insights about temptation, why it can feel so fierce and leave us feeling so frail. And we discover how we can resist it and grow healthier in the process.
March 30, 2025
Clint Wilson
Psalm 40:1-13
Life can feel like one crisis after another. It must have felt that way throughout David’s forty years on the throne of Israel. How do we find the space needed to set about spiritual growth and renewal? David’s psalms may hold a key.
March 23, 2025
Kai Chen
1 Kings 19:1-8
Coming off of an incredible victory, Elijah is physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted, and needing a true rest that only God can provide. What causes exhaustion in our lives and how does God respond to us?
March 16, 2025
Leo Schuster
Deuteronomy 1:1-3; 2:7; 8:2-3
It should have taken them less than two weeks. Instead it took 40 years. What can we learn from Israel’s 40 years wandering in the wilderness?
March 9, 2025
Leo Schuster
Acts 7:23-24, 26-34, 36
Moses, one of the most famous individuals in history, is more closely linked to the number forty than anyone in the Bible. His dramatic story helps to enrich our approach to the forty days of Lent as a season for spiritual growth.