Church family,
Here are a few ways to deepen your Holy Week worship:
#1: Use the this Bible reading plan (Holy Week) for yourself and your family that leads up to Resurrection Sunday. There’s also a useful daily Bible App called “Join the Journey” that will highlight Bible verses that line up with each day of Holy Week. I encourage you to be in the Word daily this week. (BTW: today read Matthew 21:10-17 and Mark 11:15-18)
#2: Join me for a Wednesday prayer gathering from 12:15PM-12:45PM in Room 101. We’ll read passages of Scripture from the final week of Jesus’ life and pray back words of gratitude for Christ’s death and resurrection. (For those willing, join me also in a day of fasting unto the LORD. I’m going to fast from breakfast and lunch that day.)
#3: Come to the 7PM Good Friday Service. We will consider the gravity of Christ’s death. Come early, 6-6:45PM, for cookies and conversation. (There is also a city-wide Good Friday Prayer Breakfast from 7-9AM that has served our community well for many years – https://goodfridayprayerbreakfast.org/home )
#4: Declare Christ as Risen with us on Resurrection Sunday @9:25AM. (Remember to park far and sit close that day to bless guests.)
I’m commonly asked, “Do Christians have to celebrate Holy Week and Easter?” The short answer is, “No. We don’t.” Paul warns in Galatians 4:8-11 that we can get overly fixated on holy days and seasons. These can turn our trust away from Jesus Christ who lived, died, and rose again, and instead put confidence in whether we’ve fulfilled a religious duty. Some Christians traditions have become so overly fixated on Christian holidays that they think celebrating Christmas and Easter keeps them in God’s mercy. Our hope is in Christ alone.
That said, there is a pattern in the Bible to have regular rhythms in our lives to focus on the LORD. Think of the commands related to Sabbath, Jewish festivals, and Christ’s own practice of regular, solitary prayer. All that to say, let me invite you to take Holy Week seriously. Make it a different week for yourself and your family. May it sweeten the salvation that is ours by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
May Christ be glorified and His people edified.
Under grace,
Pastor Matt
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