Some years, it feel like Lent never really ends, and we’re all forced to make sacrifices of the things that bring us joy. After a year like that, this sermon series encourages your congregation to give up what hurts them instead, bringing them closer to God and God’s abundant life offered in Christ. The scriptures follow the Revised Common Lectionary for Lent Year B.
Week 1: “I Give Up…”
Scripture: Mark 1:9-15 (Note: I have extended the RCL by a few verses)
After a year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve all been living in a sort of extended Lent, giving up many things and making hard sacrifices. I’ve heard many people say they feel like giving up–from real mental health crises to funny tweets. This Lent, rather than giving up anything that brings you joy or helps you cope (chocolate, coffee, social media), I encourage you to give up things that make your life worse and drive you away from the abundant life Christ offers us through his incarnation, ministry, death and resurrection. After all, Christ did not enter the wilderness just to be tired and hungry, but to prepare the way for the Kingdom of God.
Week 2: “I Give Up… Chasing Approval”
Scripture: Mark 8:31-38
In this scripture, Christ calls us to lose our life to find it. He explicitly contrasts the kind of life that wins fame and approval to a life following the gospel. How much of our time do we waste trying to seek other’s approval, from the mundane–keeping up with fashion trends–to the dangerous–maintaining white supremacy at all costs? What would our life be like if we relaxed into Christ’s love instead of chasing everyone else’s?
Week 3: “I Give Up… Exhausting Myself”
Scripture: Exodus 20:1-17
The 10 Commandments hinge on the agency of the Hebrew people, no longer slaves, to make life-giving choices about being together in community. One of the most empowering, enlivening, and rebellious choices they can make is to observe Sabbath, God’s commanded rest. In a world where exhaustion is a status symbol, how can we reprioritize our time to embrace Sabbath?
Week 4: “I Give Up… What’s Killing Me”
Scripture: Ephesians 2:1-10
In this scripture, Paul talks about being dead because our sins, contrasted to the life of good works Christ has saved us for. While some sins are universal, this is a great chance to walk people through an exercise identifying “their favorite sin.” An interactive sermon invites people to reflect what on what most frequently gets them into trouble, breaking their relationships with others, with themselves, and with God. At the close, invite them to explore a spiritual practice that combats the sin they’ve named.
Week 5: “I Give Up… What Used to Work”
Scripture: Jeremiah 31:31-34
In this scripture, God promises the Hebrew people a new covenant–not because it was never good, but because it’s broken now. So often we hold on to old ways of doing things, even when they no longer give us energy, joy, or meaning. As we navigate the “return to normal” and envision a post-COVID world, how can we write a new covenant on our hearts that honors the blessings of this time and seeks out new ways of being?
Week 6: “I Give Up… to Be Like Christ”
Palm/Passion Sunday
Scripture: Philippians 2:5-11
The so called “kenotic hymn” of Philippians reminds us that for Christ to show us his embodied love, he had to come emptied of glory. Giving up what separates us from abundant life is not merely a self-help exercise or a therapeutic tool, but a way of drawing close and imitating the Christ who gave up everything on the cross to show us love.
Week 7: “I Give Up.. and I Get Up”
Easter Sunday
Scripture: John 20:1-18
Having dwelt in the wilderness during Lent and learned to give up what keeps us from the fullness of life in Christ, we join Mary, Peter, and the other disciple in springing up to discover the joy, hope, and renewal of Christ’s resurrection. We rejoice that what we have given up has made room for God’s amazing Easter love.
Ministry Resources
I Give Up Liturgy
- Weekly Call to Worship
- Weekly Confessional Prayer
- a Communion Liturgy
- I Give Up… What’s Killing Me Supplemental Materials
I Give Up Lenten Disciplines
- Daily Lenten Calendar
- This calendar suggests something to give up each day—items from your home, goods to purchase, or simply some of your time. If you can follow this calendar every day, wonderful! If you can’t, do not beat yourself up. Do what you can, and what brings you joy to share with others. The food, clothes, and household goods you collect over these forty days can be donated at the end of the season. Celebrate the empty tomb by filling up someone else’s pantry or closet!
- Marking the Holy Days of Lent
- This guide for marking Lent’s Holy Days suggests cheap and easy objects to help bring the Lenten story to life. Participants will need flower seeds and dirt, a stone or other small heavy object, and a piece or two of thin paper.
I Give Up Graphics (editable Canva templates)
Deep Well Worship 