Lord Jesus, as we walk together with you and one another through this Lent in the Desert, please help us to show-up and be ready for the challenges of faith. We honestly and earnestly come before you, open to transformation, and ask that you will gently lead us to a new way of being. May we speak the truth in love and dwell together in your sight remembering that you are with us as we journey on. Please empower us and equip us to serve you and others in love. Amen.
We will join together for an hour on zoom each week to reflect and share our journey through the desert with Jesus.
We will be using two resources which need to be downloaded and accessed before we meet.
The first resource is the Into the Desert Lent app which has been developed by the Anglican Board of Mission.
This app enables us to journey into the Australian desert during Lent with 40 days of bible readings, reflections, sayings and prayer suggestions. These Lent resources have a particular focus on Australian landscape, history and writing, Aboriginal reconciliation and the long Christian tradition of desert-shaped theology. The app is available for iPhone, iPad and Android devices.
Download the free app for Apple devices by following this link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id823229503
Download the free app for Android devices by following this link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.abm.lent.app
The second resource we are going to engage with is Silence and Honey Cakes, The Wisdom of the Desert, by Rowan Williams, which delves into the writings and stories of the desert Fathers and Mothers (Some of the original Holy Hermits).
This can be purchased as a book from Koorong by clicking here, as an Ebook on Kindle by clicking here, or accessed as a podcast on youtube for listening to in chapter segments here.
This does involve committing extra time during the week to read/listen to each chapter before our study. It would also be a beautiful promise to do the ABM daily reflection starting on Ash Wednesday and all through Lent. As we progress through the weeks of lent, making this a discipline as part of our own journey through the wilderness with Jesus, is a great opportunity to deeply commit and connect to God.
If you would like to join in for this study please sign up below so that you can receive the emails which will provide direction and guidance. You can still sign up and follow the study even if you can't attend on zoom.