To Turn, To Repent - March 20, 2022

Bible Study “To Turn, To Repent”

Share:  Your highs (something that made you happy) and lows (something that made you sad) this week with others around you or write them down.

 

Season of Lent.  The Lenten Season may not be the longest season in the Church Year, but it is certainly one of the most important seasons. It is a time for spiritual preparation through repentance of our sins and growth in our faith for Easter. It is the time of the Church Year when the suffering and death of our Savior come into focus.

To repent means to turn or return after seeing what you have done or not done is wrong.  It is a change of mind – turning away from the evil ways, toward the good ways. The first part of today’s Gospel may seem like another version of the age-old question: why are some people killed in bizarre accidents — and others amazingly spared?

However, today’s lesson is not about good guys or bad guys, but rather about turning your life around so you are ready to meet God.  It is about feeding our souls with the good, nurturing ourselves so we will produce good things, and turning over the soil of our lives so we can begin again and again.

 

Opening Prayer:  Thank you God, that you always forgive us and are ready to hear us when we say we are sorry. Amen.         

 

Please open your Bibles to Luke 13:1-9 and read or read the scriptures below. 

 

Luke 13:1-9

Jesus Calls the People to Repent

13 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

 

Reflection Questions:

  • The people are asking whether those who died were guilty than those who were spared.  What does Jesus say to this question? (Verse 5)
  • What does Jesus say that everyone needs to do about this situation?  (Repent, stop doing what they know is wrong, tell God they are sorry, and do things differently afterward.)
  • Repentance in the religious language means to “turn around” or to “turn away from.” When we turn our lives around or turn away from things, we need to let go of stuff we are hauling around.
  • What did the owner think needed to happen to the fruitless tree? (Chop it down. It was using up good soil!)
  • What did the gardener think needed to happen? (Some care, loosening up of the soil that was packed down, adding a bit of fertilizer…helping the tree turn around and bear the fruit he knew it could with some care and tending)

 

Click here for the young learner’s lesson

 

Videos (Click on the words or url)

Lent 3C 13:1-9 LUM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li-JLi8WUmc

Praying through the Word – Luke 13:1-9 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dw9pIOLqEk

Lectionary Study On Luke 13:1-9 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWWt1IAfoVg

Song

The Fruit of the Spirit – Song and lyrics by Wesley Putnam - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7mH6lVkUSY

 

Activities:

Story Bag:  Write something to put in your bag about a news story you heard about where a tragedy involves some and amazingly spares others. Perhaps it was a fire that some escaped, or an accident some walked away from. 

Fruit Puzzles: Draw a large piece of fruit on a piece of construction paper. Cut around the outside tracing of the fruit. Write fruits of the Spirit on their fruit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control). Then cut your puzzle into 10 or more pieces. Then give your puzzle to a child and let them put the puzzle together.

Crossword Puzzle: https://sermons4kids.com/parable_of_the_fig_tree_crossword.htm?fromSermonId=596

Decoder: https://sermons4kids.com/parable_of_the_fig_tree_decoder.htm?fromSermonId=596

Word Search: https://thewordsearch.com/puzzle/3442241/to-turn-to-repent/

 

Prayer:  Thank you, God, that you are full of compassion and mercy. Help us to turn toward you and away from the things that are weighing us down, or the things that are holding us back from doing what you call us to do.  Amen.