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What is Lent?

Good Friday and Easter are two of the most important days of the Christian calendar, on which God made the riches of his grace known through the death and resurrection of Christ.

How do we get ready to celebrate Good Friday and Easter Sunday? Over the years, the church developed a tradition called Lent. Lent can be traced back to the 2nd century. During this season, new Christians would fast and study in preparation to be baptized on Easter Sunday. Eventually, entire congregations practiced Lent as a sign of Christian discipleship. It was a season of special emphasis on disciplines like living simply, prayer, fasting, giving to the poor, and doing acts of service.

Christians counted forty days back from Easter (excluding Sundays), like Christ’s forty-day fast in the desert (Luke 4), to determine the timeframe of the Lenten journey. Lent is a forty-day journey on which we can stop, look, and listen to what God is doing. It’s a journey for which we should ask ourselves, “What things do I need to leave behind so I can travel closer to Jesus? What things should I take with me?” On that journey, we stop to see what God wants us to do. We stop to see what it means to suffer for Jesus’ sake and to see what the Bible says about Jesus’ suffering. Finally, we walk, step by painful step, with Jesus on the road to the cross during Passion Week. It’s a hard road, but it shines with glory on Easter morning when we celebrate Christ’s resurrection!

LENT 2026: DO GOOD

Grace Sacramento’s 2026 Lenten theme is Do Good. Over Lent’s 40 days, we will continue to walk together through the book of James’ practical application of the Good News of the gospel through the good work we are called to do in the world as followers of Jesus. Each Sunday in Lent, we will emphasize one part of our worship service–call to worship, confession, prayer, the table, and benediction–the good things that together form our liturgy and tell us the gospel story again.

As part of Lent, it’s been our tradition at Grace Sacramento to hold a special season of giving in concert with the practices of Lent to empower healthy gospel ministry at home and around the world. This year, our desire is to emphasize the care for those who spiritually care for us by supporting the spiritual, emotional, and physical health of pastors’ families in our church and in churches like ours around the world. Grace Sacramento is committed to the care of our pastors by providing for needs like regular counseling and a sabbatical rest every seven years. The Lent 2026: Do Good fund will support Pastor Brad as he and his family take a 3-month sabbatical from June to August 2026, and also support the Geneva Benefits Pastoral Relief Fund, which supports pastors in our denomination whose income is below the poverty line, widows of pastors in financial distress, and counseling services for pastors and their families.

During Lent 2026: Do Good, we hope to give above and beyond our regular Sunday offering to champion Grace Sacramento’s commitment to provide our own pastors care and rest and to support the Pastoral Relief Fund that provides incredible care to other pastors’ families around the world. Our total goal for our Lenten giving campaign is $30K ($15K to sponsor sabbatical and counseling care for our own pastoral staff and $15K for the Pastoral Relief Fund). A gift towards the Lent 2026: Do Good giving campaign is tax deductible, and all monies raised will be divided dollar for dollar between these two goals.

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world,” [James 1:27]

CLICK HERE To Contribute towards our Lenten giving GOAL (Select "Lent 2026: Do GOOD" in the drop-down menu)

Special Lenten Events


Tuesday Prayer: The worship space will be available for prayer and the Stations of the Cross every Tuesday throughout Lent from 11am to 1pm, concluding with a 20 to 30-minute prayer gathering led by our staff at 12:30pm.

Passion Week
March 29: Palm Sunday worship services at 9 and 10:45am
April 3: Good Friday service at 7pm, communion served
April 5: All-Church Easter Sunday Celebration at 10:30am following a Pancake Breakfast at 9:15

CLICK HERE To SIGN UP FOR OUR DAILY LENTEN DEVOTIONALS!

Resources

Daily Devotionals

Lent for Children

Music/Video/Audio

Art and Poetry

Additional Resources