Lent

What is Lent?

Lent is a forty-day season of repentance and self-examination that culminates in Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Just as we carefully prepare for big events in our personal lives—such as a wedding, graduation, or move to a new city—Lent invites us to draw near to God and prepare our hearts for remembering Jesus’ passion and celebrating his resurrection.

So Lent is a journey. It is a journey with Jesus into his life and into the life he has to offer to us. Perhaps Lent sounds strange or is new to you. Maybe you thought it was only for Catholics. We encourage you to give it a try this year. Experiment with this ancient pathway for drawing near to God.

The practice of a forty-day season began during the third and fourth centuries. The number forty is based on the forty years Israel spent in the wilderness and Jesus’ forty-day fast in the wilderness before he began his public ministry.

This year (2026), the forty days of Lent begin on Ash Wednesday (Feb 18) and continue through Holy Week (until Apr 5). Sundays are not “counted” as part of the forty days; they are considered days of “feasting” and rest. Lent culminates in the beginning of a new season on Easter morning (Apr 5).

Engaging Lent

Better Stories

This year, our Lenten series is called Better Stories, and it might be one of the most important series we’ve ever done!

Put very simply: we’re going to ask one extremely consequential question. It’s a question at the heart of what it means to follow Jesus. It’s a question that has often been answered poorly or incompletely or sometimes just incorrectly.

And, it’s a question that, if you answer it or it was answered for you poorly, will send you in a slightly wrong direction when it comes to everything you believe about God and yourself, that will, over years, take you farther and farther away from who he really is and who you really are. And it’s possible a lot of us (maybe most of us) have had this experience. We’re much farther away from understanding God and our true selves than we realize, and we need to go back to this foundational question and rethink it.

We invite you to engage Lent this year in a few tangible ways:

  • Join us for worship each Sunday and for our special services (see schedule below)
  • Give up an object or activity as a way to make space to experience God’s forgiveness
  • Take up a new practice in order to draw closer to God this season and prepare for Holy Week (e.g., a silent walk each day, prayer each morning, reading through the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John), an act of kindness, etc.)

Worship Service Schedule at NDC

Feb 18: Ash Wednesday services at noon and 7 pm
Feb 22: First Sunday of Lent services at 8:30 and 10 am
Mar 1: Second Sunday of Lent services at 8:30 and 10 am
Mar 8: Third Sunday of Lent services at 8:30 and 10 am
Mar 15: Fourth Sunday of Lent services at 8:30 and 10 am
Mar 22: Fifth Sunday of Lent services at 8:30 and 10 am
Mar 29: Palm Sunday services at 8:30 and 10 am
Apr 3: Good Friday gathering at 7:30 pm
Apr 5: Easter services at 8:30 and 10 am

Resources

NDC Songs for Lent Spotify playlist

NDC Kids Easter Spotify playlist

Creature Habits app on iOS or Android

Books we suggest:

Giving Up

Historically, Christians have ‘given something up’ during Lent as a way to focus on their relationship with God. This is the part of Lent most people do not like. It’s not very fun. And it can come across like we’re trying to impress God with our sacrifice.

But giving something up is more about letting go and making space. Consider giving up or letting go of something that has become a burden or distraction in your life, or perhaps something that has begun to exert too much influence over your heart. When you give something up for forty days—even a really simple object like dessert—it has a way of focusing your heart on something important that you may have been neglecting.

Here are a few suggestions of objects you might give up:

  • Certain foods such as meat, sugar/sweets/desserts, processed foods, a specific meal each day (like lunch), or going out to eat
  • Certain beverages such as coffee/caffeine, alcohol, soda, or anything other than water
  • Technology that often intrudes into our lives, like social media, certain apps, or surfing the internet
  • Forms of media/entertainment, such as television, movies, Netflix, music, blogs, podcasts, or the news
  • Shopping or purchasing anything that is not necessary
  • Any leisure activities that have become all-consuming

There are many options. The idea is not to kill yourself. But letting go of something for forty days may not be comfortable either. Ideally, it would be something that you miss regularly, something that unnecessarily fills up too much time, creates too much stress, or distracts you from more important endeavors. If you’re still not sure about this practice, give it a try and see what you learn. The goal is not perfection or success. Our intention is to make space in our hearts and lives to look inward and experience God’s kindness in a new way during this season.