A flourishing faith is one that is both deeply rooted and reaching outward—grounded in scripture and growing in understanding. Colossians 2:6–7 says, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness” (NIV). Throughout the year, we will dwell in this theme of grounded and growing. We started in Advent when we saw the shoot from the stump, a promise of future flourishing. Epiphany brought the promise of a branch grafted onto that stump. Now we find ourselves in Lent where we follow Christ into the wilderness. The wilderness can be a scary, desolate space. In scripture, it is a place of testing and preparation for living the life to which we have been called. Those who survive the wilderness are those who are grounded in Christ, receiving nourishment through him, and continuing to grow in his ways. This process of growth often includes a time of refinement, branches need to be pruned and become ashes. What is diseased is cut down but yet the promise of Easter is that out of the ashes and decay life will arise.
During our Lenten journey through the wilderness we will pray,
Ground us in your grace.
Grow us in your love.
Lead us in your way.
This series will continue with an Ascension service focusing on Christ the first fruit. And finally, we will make our way to the season of Pentecost at which point we will see a tree laden with fruit of the Spirit—the abundant harvest of a flourishing faith. Jeremiah 17:7–8 says, “But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit” (NIV). We invite you this year to send out your roots and flourish: join us for a year of "grounded and growing".
About the Lent Season
In Lent we confront death and decay, the ashes of burnt branches and trees, making way for new life.
We have provided a service outline for each week of Lent as well as Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday, culminating with Easter Sunday. Ahead of each service you will find a reflection to aid you in your worship and sermon planning. Links to each week will be added to the chart below as they are posted.
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Service |
Scripture Passages |
Sermon Theme |
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Old Testament: Joel 2 |
Jesus in the Wilderness |
About the Image
Coming Soon!
The artwork, created by staff member Emma Oehler for the Lent installment of the Grounded and Growing series, is available for download below (coming soon!). Throughout this series, the olive tree serves as a central visual metaphor, showing progression through stages of growth: a shoot emerging from the tree (Advent), a branch grafted onto the tree (Epiphany), pruning (Lent), flowering branches (Easter), and the bearing of fruit (Pentecost).
The olive tree was chosen for its biblical resonance. It is one of the few trees in Scripture explicitly described as both flowering and fruit-bearing. In addition, olive branches hold deep symbolic meaning in the biblical tradition, representing peace and reconciliation. They are also key to the flourishing of the people of Israel, providing oil for lighting and cooking, food, and shade.
Two versions of the artwork are available: one with the accompanying Scripture text and one without.
This artwork is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution. You are free to share and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes, provided proper attribution is given to Reformed Worship. (Emma Oehler © 2025 ReformedWorship.org, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Used by permission.) The image can be adapted to fit your needs for bulletins, social media, or projection.
