The season of Lent reflects Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness, preparing our hearts for His resurrection.

Creating a Lenten sermon series involves a lot of planning ahead. So I've put together passages and illustrations you can use for each Sunday of Lent.

• Quadragesima Sunday: Reflecting on the 40 Days Ahead
• Reminiscere Sunday: Remembering God's Mercy
• Oculi Sunday: Fixing Our Eyes on Christ
• Mothering Sunday: God's Nurturing Love
• Passion Sunday: Journey to the Cross
• Tips for Crafting Impactful Lent Sermons
• Lent Sermon Series Ideas to Preach for Your Church

Quadragesima Sunday: Reflecting on the 40 Days Ahead

Quadragesima Sunday is the first Sunday of Lent. While Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and helps prepare members for the next 40 days, many of your members may be encountering the Lenten season for the first time with Quadragesima Sunday.

Use this Sunday to prepare members for the 40-day journey ahead. Encourage them in their fast and point to Jesus' time in the wilderness as our example.

Below are a few sermon ideas for Quadragesima Sunday to help you do that.

Journey into the Wilderness

What to Cover in This Sermon:

• Temptation and Testing: Highlight Jesus being tempted by the devil, illustrating the reality of facing trials and temptations in our lives.
• Spiritual Preparation: Jesus spends 40 days in the wilderness, emphasizing the significance of spiritual preparation and solitude
• Dependence on God's Word: Jesus responds to each temptation by quoting Scripture, showing the importance of relying on God's Word as a source of strength and guidance
• The Nature of Temptations: The temptations presented by the devil involve appealing to basic human needs and desires—hunger, safety, and power—highlighting the subtlety of temptations your members encounter
• Authority and Submission: The interaction between Jesus and the devil reveals the contrast between God's authority and Satan's attempts to undermine it

Example Illustration:

Fasting and prayer will be a key theme throughout Lent. Explore the transformative power of intentional reflection, fasting, and prayer as an illustration for the struggles your members face and how they can be overcome.

Repentance and Renewal

What to Cover in This Sermon:

• Renewal of the Heart: The passage begins with a plea for a clean heart, expressing David's desire for inner renewal
• Steadfast Spirit: David's request emphasizes the desire for a spirit that remains faithful and committed to God
• Restoration of Joy: David asks for the restoration of joy in God's salvation. This implies a longing for the joy that comes from a right relationship with God to be renewed after the experience of sin and repentance.
• Washing and Cleansing: David acknowledges the need for cleansing from sin, seeking a fresh start in his relationship with God. The season of Lent provides your members with the same fresh start
• Acknowledgment of Sin: The prayer is a candid acknowledgment of David's sin, particularly his infamous affair with Bathsheba. Help your members see the need for deep remorse and a genuine plea for forgiveness
• Desire for God's Presence: The plea for God not to take His Holy Spirit away expresses David's fear of being separated from God. Encourage your members to draw near to Him during Lent
• Sustain with a Willing Spirit: David's prayer concludes with a request for God to sustain him with a willing spirit. Conclude your sermon with the same request

Example Illustration:

A sermon like this would be perfect to launch a Lenten preaching series. The cry to "sustain in me a willing spirit" is exactly what members need as they embark on a long period of fasting.

Lead your congregation into a time of repentance and renewal, using David's heartfelt prayer in Psalm 51 as a guide. Illustrate the importance of approaching God with a contrite heart, seeking His forgiveness and cleansing during Lent.

True Fasting and Justice

What to Cover in This Sermon:

• True Fasting: The practice of fasting is about more than just abstinence. Emphasize "true fasting," which goes beyond abstaining from food to include acts of justice, mercy, and righteousness
• Loosing the Bonds of Wickedness: Isaiah highlights the transformative power of true fasting by suggesting that it leads to breaking the chains of wickedness. Many of your members are caught in such chains and need to be freed
• Undoing Heavy Burdens: The passage speaks to alleviating the burdens of those who are oppressed. It calls for responsibility and care for the poor and needy
• Setting the Oppressed Free: Speak to the connection between spiritual devotion and tangible actions for justice
• Sharing Bread with the Hungry: True fasting involves not only abstaining from food but also sharing resources with those in need, particularly providing for the hungry
• Providing Shelter for the Homeless: The call to "bring the homeless poor into your house" underscores the importance of hospitality and care for those who lack basic necessities. Encourage your members to find ways they can give to those less fortunate this Lenten season

Example Illustration:

If you have experience volunteering at soup kitchens, homeless shelters, crisis pregnancy centers, etc, this is a great chance to share your experience and call others to join you.

Discuss the concept of true fasting as described in Isaiah 58, emphasizing the call to justice, compassion, and mercy. Challenge the congregation to engage in acts of kindness and generosity during Lent.

Reminiscere Sunday: Remembering God's Mercy

Reminiscere Sunday is the second Sunday of Lent. The word Reminiscere is Latin for "Remember." Many churches open service by reading Psalm 25:6, which reads "Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old."

As we continue our sermon series ideas for Lent, we must give thanks to God for His mercy when we fail.

Below are a few sermon ideas for Reminiscere Sunday to help you lead your church to remember God's great mercy.

God's Compassionate Heart

What to Cover in This Sermon:

• Fatherly Compassion: Emphasize the tender, nurturing, and caring aspect of God's character
• Understanding Our Frame: The passage acknowledges that God understands the human condition. God recognizes our frailty, weaknesses, and limitations, demonstrating a deep and intimate understanding of His creation
• Awareness of Our Dust: The imagery of God remembering that we are dust highlights human mortality and the transient nature of our existence. Despite our temporal nature, God's compassion remains steadfast
• Transient Nature of Life: As members continue to give something up for Lent, connect their fasting with our dust-like nature. Help them see their need for God to sustain them and give them strength
• Paternal Pity: Show how God's heart is moved with tenderness and mercy toward those who fear Him
• Emphasis on Reverence: Share the importance of reverence and awe in our relationship with God

Example Illustration:

If you have children, let this sermon be an excuse to dote on them and publically share how much you love them. Tell about ways your kids have messed up and how much your love overcomes their shortcomings.

Explore the theme of God's mercy and compassion as expressed in Psalm 103. Illustrate how Lent is a time to reflect on God's loving nature and the forgiveness offered through Christ.

Prodigal Love

What to Cover in This Sermon:

• Repentance and Forgiveness: Focus on the theme of repentance and the forgiving nature of God
• Unconditional Love: The father's response to the prodigal son's return showcases unconditional love and mercy, illustrating God's endless love for His children
• Sin and Redemption: The prodigal son's reckless living and subsequent return depict the consequences of sin and the opportunity for redemption through repentance
• Jealousy and Grace: The older brother's reaction to the father's celebration reveals the destructive nature of jealousy, contrasting with the father's grace and forgiveness
• Understanding God's Heart: This parable provides insight into God's heart for lost souls. Lead your members in reflection on God's compassion, patience, and desire for reconciliation with every wayward child

Example Illustration:

Have you ever had to forgive someone who walked out on you or hurt you? Have you been the person who needed forgiveness and restoration? Share that story with your members to illustrate the power of repentance and God's forgiveness.

Use the powerful parable of the Prodigal Son to highlight the joy of reconciliation. Connect the themes of repentance and the Father's extravagant love during Lent.

Ministry of Reconciliation

What to Cover in This Sermon:

• New Creation in Christ: Preach on the transformative power of faith in Jesus, bringing about a spiritual rebirth and a new identity
• Old Things Passing Away: Fasting helps us deny our flesh and turn to God. Connect your members' fasting with old things passing away and new life
• Reconciliation with God: Believers are reconciled to God through Christ, signifying the restoration of the relationship between God and humanity that was broken by sin
• Ambassadors for Christ: Underscore the responsibility of believers to represent Christ and His message of reconciliation to the world
• Imputation of Righteousness: In Christ, believers are not only forgiven but also credited with the righteousness of Christ
• Christ Becoming Sin for Us: Christ, who knew no sin, becomes sin for humanity, demonstrating God's love and how reconciliation is achieved

Example Illustration:

According to the Oxford Dictionary, Reconciliation means, "an end to a disagreement or conflict with somebody and the start of a good relationship again."

Discuss the ministry of reconciliation outlined in 2 Corinthians 5, emphasizing how Lent provides an opportunity to reconcile with God and others. Share stories of restored relationships as a testament to God's grace.

Oculi Sunday: Fixing Our Eyes on Christ

The theme of the day is conversion, mercy, and relying on God to keep us in His love. These themes are important for the middle of Lent because by now, your members will be struggling to maintain their enthusiasm for their lenten fast.

The goal of your sermon should be to offer your people encouragement and hope to carry on. Help them see that only God can keep them and give them strength to keep going.

Below are a few sermon ideas for Oculi Sunday to help you do that.

Running with Endurance

What to Cover in This Sermon:

• The Great Cloud of Witnesses: Highlight the faithfulness of those who have gone before as examples for us to follow
• Laying Aside Every Weight: Urge believers to lay aside every weight or burden that hinders their progress. This includes sins and distractions that may impede us on our journey
• Running with Endurance: Encouraged members to run with perseverance, keeping their eyes fixed on Christ
• Looking to Jesus: The central focus is on looking to Jesus as the ultimate example and source of faith
• Enduring the Cross: Jesus endured the cross and its shame for the joy set before Him, revealing the sacrificial nature of Christ's mission and encouraging believers to endure hardships in light of the ultimate joy that awaits them at Easter

Example Illustration:

The passage already offers running a race as an illustration. The pain and ultimate joy of childbirth is also an excellent metaphor for this lesson.

Explore the idea of fixing our eyes on Jesus as the ultimate source of strength and guidance. Ask some leaders or members to share a time when they remained steadfast in their faith during challenging times.

Trusting the Keeper

What to Cover in This Sermon:

• God is Your Keeper: Assure believers of God's protection and provision
• The Lord as a Shade: The Lord being a shade at one's right hand suggests a source of comfort and shelter. In the context of the Middle East, where shade is precious, this metaphor underscores God's provision and care
• The Sun and the Moon: The passage speaks of God protecting from the sun by day and the moon by night, emphasizing God's continuous care, addressing both daytime challenges and nighttime uncertainties
• Preservation from Harm: The promise that the Lord will preserve believers from all evil indicates God safeguarding them from harm
• Confidence in God's Faithfulness: The overall tone of the passage reflects confidence in God's faithfulness. Believers can trust that God will fulfill His promises and protect them forever

Example Illustration:

Part of your lent series needs to share the importance of trusting God to get us through. Refer back to the ashes you used at the beginning of Lent to preach that God is who keeps us in His hand from beginning to end.

Reflect on the reassuring words of Psalm 121, emphasizing God as our keeper and source of help. Illustrate the importance of trusting in God's providence during the Lenten journey

Setting Minds on Things Above

What to Cover in This Sermon:

• Risen with Christ: Point to the transformative nature of salvation, where believers share in the resurrection life of Jesus
• Seeking Things Above: Believers are urged to set their minds on things above. This includes seeking God's will and kingdom
• Death to Earthly Desires: Highlight the process of sanctification and the call to live a life that aligns with the values of God's kingdom.
• New Life in Christ: Emphasize that believers' lives are hidden with Christ in God. Our security and identity are found in the new life granted through faith in Christ
• Christ, Our Life: The declaration that "Christ is our life" underscores the centrality of Jesus for our identity, purpose, and source of true life
• Appearing with Christ in Glory: The passage looks forward to the future hope of appearing with Christ in glory, the culmination of the Christian's journey, emphasizing the glorious transformation that awaits us

Example Illustration:

Share your struggles so far this lenten season to focus on what matters and remain committed to your fast. Seeing your honesty will help your people feel understood, while giving them encouragement to keep going.

Discuss the call to set our minds on things above, as outlined in Colossians 3. Use visual metaphors to convey the idea of lifting our gaze from earthly concerns to the eternal perspective found in Christ.

Mothering Sunday: God's Nurturing Love

Mothering Sunday is a time when many Christians visit the church they attended when they first became a believer and were baptized into the faith. It's a chance to celebrate the beginning of our faith journey and appreciate the people and places that brought us where we are.

This Sunday is an opportunity to focus on our family of faith, on how God nurtures and sustains us, and the family reunion that awaits when our journey is over.

Below are a few sermon ideas for Mothering Sunday to help you do that.

Comfort of a Mother

What to Cover in This Sermon:

• Divine Comfort: Preach about God's comforting nature, particularly connecting God's comforting to that of a mother comforting her child
• Tender Care: The imagery of a mother comforting her child evokes a sense of tender care and gentleness. Highlight the nurturing aspect of God's character in providing support to His people
• Sympathy for His People: The comparison to a mother's comfort suggests an intimate understanding of the needs and emotions of those who turn to Him
• Restoration and Healing: Share how God's comforting presence implies a restoration of hope and peace for those who seek Him
• Response to Repentance: The context of Isaiah 66 involves God's response to genuine repentance. The comforting nature described in this verse is part of God's response to those who repent and turn to Him. Hallelujah!

Example Illustration:

Devote time during the service for one of the mothers in your congregation to share their perspective on this verse and how they understand God's love through their relationship with their child. Illustrate God's care and comfort during Lent, emphasizing the idea that God's love is like that of a compassionate mother.

Longing for Reunion

What to Cover in This Sermon:

• Desire to Gather the People: This verse reflects Jesus' longing for the salvation of the people
• Symbolic Imagery of a Hen: This metaphor or a hen gathering her chicks emphasizes Jesus' protective and nurturing nature
• Resistance and Rejection: Despite Jesus' desire to gather them, the verse also acknowledges the resistance and rejection from the people of Jerusalem. This is the perfect opportunity to encourage your congregation to set aside all that keeps us from Jesus during this time of fasting
• Consequences of Rejection: The verse hints at the consequences that follow the rejection of God's protection. The city faces destruction

Example Illustration:

Psalm 91:4 says, He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler." Share your experience as a parent and the protective instincts you've felt for them to convey God's heart for your members.

Reflect on Jesus' lament over Jerusalem, expressing a motherly desire to gather her children. Connect this with God's longing for His people, illustrating the profound love that seeks reconciliation during Lent.

Adopted into God's Family

What to Cover in This Sermon:

• The Fullness of Time: Share that the divine timing and fulfillment of God's plan for salvation is through the incarnation
• God Sent His Son: This act of sending underscores God's purpose to redeem humanity through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ
• Redemption for Those Under the Law: The verse emphasizes the purpose of Christ's coming under the law—to redeem those who were under the law. This includes both Jews and Gentiles, revealing God's heart to call all people His children
• Adoption as Sons: The passage speaks of believers receiving adoption as sons through faith in Christ
• Cry of "Abba, Father": The Holy Spirit's work in believers' hearts is highlighted as they cry out, "Abba, Father." This expression conveys a sense of intimacy and closeness in the relationship between God and His adopted children

Example Illustration:

Has anyone at your church adopted a child? Or was someone in your church adopted as a child? If they're willing, have them share what they've learned about God and His love for us through their experience.

Explore the imagery of adoption in Galatians 4, highlighting the intimate relationship between believers and God as Father. Illustrate the idea of Lent as a season to recognize and celebrate our identity as children of God.

Passion Sunday: Journey to the Cross

Passion Sunday is a day to celebrate new life through Christ's victory over death! The power of the resurrection over death means that Christ can conquer anything in our lives.

The goal of today is to praise God's power to bring life out of death and hope out of despair.

Below are a few sermon ideas for Passion Sunday to help you do that.

Taking Up the Cross

What to Cover in This Sermon:

• Denying Self: Jesus emphasizes denying oneself as a fundamental part of discipleship. This involves putting aside personal desires, ambitions, and selfish pursuits to follow Christ
• Taking Up the Cross: Share with your members the need for a willingness to endure difficulties for the sake of the Gospel
• Losing and Gaining Life: Contrast losing one's life for Jesus' sake with gaining true life in Him
• Worldly vs. Spiritual Values: Challenge members to prioritize eternal and spiritual concerns over temporary worldly pursuits
• Forfeiting the Soul: Raise the question of what profit it is for someone to gain the whole world but forfeit their soul.

Example Illustration:

Though Good Friday hasn't arrived yet, look ahead to Jesus' punishment and crucifixion. The image of Him carrying His cross up Calvary is exactly what we are to follow.

Discuss the call to take up the cross and follow Jesus. Illustrate the concept of dying to self during Lent as a preparation for the deeper experience of Easter joy.

Redemptive Suffering

What to Cover in This Sermon:

• The Suffering Messiah: This week is the perfect time to anticipate the suffering that Jesus would endure
• Familiarity with Suffering: The Messiah would be acquainted with grief and sorrow. Celebrate with your members that we have a Savior who understands our struggles
• Atonement for Sin: The suffering described serves a redemptive purpose. The Messiah's wounds and afflictions are a means of atonement for the sins of humanity
• Healing and Restoration: Speak about the healing and restoration that would come through the Messiah's sacrifice
• The Righteous One for the Unrighteous: Highlight the righteous nature of the Suffering Servant and how His suffering serves as a substitution for us

Example Illustration:

Have you ever endured a difficult season, only to look back and see all the ways God was working through that time in your life? Use that experience to help your people understand that God will use their struggles to help them grow.

Explore the prophetic passage in Isaiah 53, focusing on the suffering servant. Illustrate the redemptive power of Christ's suffering and how Lent calls us to identify with His sacrifice.

Humility and Exaltation

What to Cover in This Sermon:

• Kenosis (Self-Emptying): Jesus emptied Himself, taking on the form of a servant. This speaks to the humbling of Jesus in the incarnation
• Human Likeness: The passage describes Jesus taking on the likeness of humanity. This underscores the profound act of the Son of God becoming fully human while maintaining His divine nature
• Obedience to Death: Jesus' humility extends to obedience, even to the point of death on the cross
• Exaltation by God: As a result of His obedience, God highly exalted Jesus and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name
• The Name Above Every Name: The exaltation of Jesus includes the bestowal of a name above every name, signifying His supreme authority and lordship
• Confession of Jesus as Lord: The ultimate result of Jesus' exaltation is that every knee bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord

Example Illustration:

Your members have been fasting for weeks now. Many are struggling to continue. Use their fasting and struggles to help them identify with Jesus' humble obedience, resulting in His resurrection.

Reflect on the humility and exaltation of Christ as described in Philippians 2. Illustrate how Lent invites us to embrace humility, following the example of Christ on the journey to the cross.

Tips for Crafting Impactful Lent Sermons

• Connect With Your Congregation: Like Jesus, your members will spend Lent wandering through the wilderness, fighting temptations. Connect the sermons to their struggles and assure them that they are not alone.
• Use Relevant Illustrations: Relatable stories and examples help your congregation grasp complex spiritual concepts
• Encourage Reflection: Lent is a season of introspection. Include moments in your sermon for personal reflection and encourage your congregation to engage in contemplative practices.
• Incorporate Scripture Thoughtfully: Choose scriptures that align with your theme and resonate with the message you want to convey. Provide context and help your congregation understand the relevance of the selected passages.
• Balance Growth and Grace: While challenging your congregation to grow, also offer comfort and assurance. Lent is a time for both repentance and experiencing God's grace.

The goal is to inspire spiritual growth and transformation during the Lenten season. May your sermons lead your congregation toward a deeper connection with God and a richer understanding of the significance of Lent.

Lent Sermon Series Ideas to Preach for Your Church

While Easter is the most important day of the year, Lent is the most important season of the year. We get to humble ourselves along with our Savior and join Him in His work.

May your 2025 Lent sermon series transform your church and prepare everyone for the resurrection of the Messiah!

Matt Church Engagement