What is Lent?
Have you ever seen a movie that had something very sad happen? Think about how the different parts of the movie helped you feel sad as you watched. The sky outside was probably gray or rainy. There might have been some sad music. Maybe everything in the movie was a little bit slower and quieter. It was a very serious part of the story! Lent is a serious part of the church year because we are admitting that we choose sin instead of God’s love. During Lent we turn away from our sin and choose to go the other way, back to God. This is called repentance.
Why do we have Lent?
Sometimes our church has big celebrations to remember something that is very happy. Can you think of any examples of those times? We celebrate the gift of Jesus at Christmas and Easter, a life committed to obedience when someone is baptized, and Christ’s sacrifice on the cross at Communion each week. We are so happy that we want to come together and share our joy with each other! It’s also important to take time to remember hard and sad things; we do this with our church family, too. Everyone in our whole church- kids, grown-ups, and even pastors- sometimes disobey God’s commandments. During Lent, our whole church family, just like any family, will stick close together as we learn more about following God with our whole hearts.